More interested in what we have than what's gone
8 votes for Collier, 6 for Arike. Pretty close.
Writer's name is Ben Dull and he does a very good job of seeting context for what Ogunbowale and Collier were put into, how they performed within those parameters, statistics and perceptions.
Most notably, he addresses the common perceptions that this is the "team player" vs. the "me-focused" one in b-ball terms and the shooting efficiency of both players.
As for Arike, he believes that "High-volume initiators play by different rules," and says that such players are rare to find.
And he actually thinks Collier's scoring was very good and could/should get better.
Good read. I learned some things.
Whats intersting to me is that while both players could be better professionals next year, their individual stats could come down due to being joined by other top-notch players:
- Arike, joined by Skylar and/or MoJeff
- Napheesa Collier, possibly by Maya Moore and -- at some point -- Jessica Shepard.
...the shooting percentages that all of the writers and UConn WNBA fans have been banging their drums about.
Arike got the lion's share of the attention, for obvious reasons, but:
- Jackie played a steady point guard where she was easily the 5th -- or even 6th -- scoring option;
- Brianna was plastered to the bench when she was used as the back-up #5, but blossomed as Griner's wing power forward in the latter part of the season.
- And although she had a very small sample size, Jess Shepard played really well in the games she did play in. Hoping and assuming for a full recovery, I think she'll have a very successful WNBA career.
- While we're at it, Marina had her moments when they were available, while also getting stuck on the bench for runs. Still, got a whole season averaging 4.0 ppg (same as Bri, I believe) when a lot of folks didn't think she'd even make the team.