(04-05-2021, 11:50 AM)bl82 Wrote: Just curious: am I the only one who was surprised that Lexie was not named the MOP? I have no doubt she earned it with her contributions in all the big and little things she does in so many aspects of the game across each of our tournament games. Some of what she does is subtle and a lot of it doesn't show up in the box score, but between her competitive drive and incredible situational basketball IQ I was really impressed by her tournament (even though she has showcased all these skills during the course of the regular season)
Barring something spectacular, a priori, there were only 3 players that were going to be voted as MOP from Stanford. At least, that's the script as I heard it from the announcers. They talked up 4 players. 3 of those didn't deserve it based on the NC game. And then there was Lexie.
I think it was pretty clear that the announcers had not been watching Stanford through the season. Probably they only saw highlights. But, I think the announcers did recognize Lexie appropriately based on her play. But when it came time to vote for MOP, they wouldn't have had a nameplate already made up with her name.
No doubt that Haley had good offense. She outscored Lexie. And, much of the time she played good defense. But too often, I'd see her in no-woman's land on defense.
I would have been surprised if, but would have agreed with, Lexie being named MOP, but it wasn't going to happen. I'm not surprised that Haley won it. But Haley has a lot more room to improve to be as effective as she can be.