Stef - Has there ever been a better passing center at Uconn ?

[pvdoggy]

Sometimes her passing instinct kinds of remind me of Sue Bird who I think has the best passing
instinct among the UConn players that I have watched.

 

[Icebear]

I do not believe there has ever been a better passer out of the post than Stef although Kaili could be close. There has never been a better total package than Stef. That is not to say that she is better than Tina just that she has more breadth to her game.

As presumed in this thread Stef is a tremendous passer. Part of that is that she so completely understands the UCONN offense. She knows where people are, where they should be and where they should be going. She can use the bounce pass, the burner, and the soft arcing change up over the top. She makes interior passes and kick outs. She sees the back door cut with Stewie and Kiah so well that she sees its movement in her periphial vision and sometimes even when it seems completely behind her back.

Besides her passing Stef can score with either hand in the low post. She pivots and rolls both directions with the mini hook. Her shooting reliably extends to just inside the 3 and is a threat even farther out.

Stef sets more picks per minute than any player I have ever watched. She is constantly active with picks and screens. They are good screens, big screens, coming and going screens. She seeks out opportunities to set them and can run a tremendous pick and roll off them.

What is newest is that Stef has attacked the hoop off the dribble from the top of the key successfully two or three times recently. While far from a ball handler she has been effective and this is an indication that she is still trying to grow and expand her game.

Her game on the boards this year has changed. In the past she often boxed people off the boards, often more than one and got the rebounds that came to her but left others to pursue the ball. This year in her growth she pursues the ball.

Besides rebounding she often gets out and runs the length of the court and is now a threat to finish at the other end. She battles inside as a real warrior at both ends.

She plays through pain and is a true leader. And there is more that could be said.

Stef is simply the most complete package ever at UCONN in the post. And she is still adding to her game every year and I don't think she is done yet.

 

[UcMiami]

I think the player Stef most reminds me of is Jane Appel both in the passing and offensive game but also in the process they both made in college to change their stamina and physique. The other college player I think of - a taller version of McCarville?

 

[Blakeon18]

I don't know her stats but Rebecca Lobo was very good at dishing out dimes from the post position..sometimes
wth a touch of Taurasi flair.

 

[Icebear]

I don't know her stats but Rebecca Lobo was very good at dishing out dimes from the post position..sometimes
wth a touch of Taurasi flair.

Yeah, but Rebecca was too dang narrow to set a pick.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Lobo was very good and had an assist style that was more similar to Dolson's than was McLaren's who usually set up at the top of the key, held the ball high, and fed it in down low.

But no post has been able to dish like Stef, who has a career 2.4 apg. Lobo was at 2.0, and McLaren was at 1.7.

 

[magic]

Stef is going to have a great wnba career. I mean, who wouldn't love to have a skilled unselfish, physical, yet mobile post on their team !

 

[HGN]

The quick and dirty answer is NO.

 

[VAMike23]

Kaili was the best pure passer, IMO, when it came to threading the needle and making the impossible pass look easy with some regularity. Similar to Maya in this regard.

As Dobbs notes, many of Kaili's incredible passes came from the top of the key. Like an NFL quarterback, she could see the gaps through the maze of hands. And she had incredibly good touch---really, really outstanding hands. Kaili's minutes were not that high, so assists/min would be a better indicator than APG in her case, but in any event, one had to see Kaili play to appreciate how good a passer she was.

Stef IMO is a even better passer overall than Kaili in terms of facilitating offense, recognizing and then deftly executing a wider variety of passes from a lot of different positions on the floor. Particularly when it comes to interior bounce passes, back-door passes, etc. She also executes the over-the-top pass to the post very well. Sometimes makes passes that make you go "Wow!" or "How did she do that?", just not quite as often as Kaili. But in the context of making our offense work, her passing makes her the best passing center in recent years for UCONN. I didn't see Lobo play so I can't compare the two.

 

[Icebear]

Kaili frequently used English on the ball feeding those passes through holes.

 

[diggerfoot]

I do not believe there has ever been a better passer out of the post than Stef although Kaili could be close. There has never been a better total package than Stef. That is not to say that she is better than Tina just that she has more breadth to her game.

Stef is simply the most complete package ever at UCONN in the post. And she is still adding to her game every year and I don't think she is done yet.

You summed up much of what I've been thinking, Ice. As to the original question, I will qualify that I think McLaren had as much potential as a passer as Dolson. Her fewer apg obviously is due to less mpg. McLaren could anticipate and thread the needle to the right spot as well as Dolson. However, you could tell that McLaren identified herself too much as a passer and occasionally forced things. If she was the complete player Dolson is I think she would be virtually the same in passing ability as she would let that part of her game naturally flow.

Dolson IS the complete package. I've mentioned before that when I'm blessed enough to attend a game I focus on what's happening in the post rather than what the television screen shows. I was at the USF game ... long story, pursuing a bucket list ... and was amazed at how hard both Dolson and Stewart worked in the post. Actually, I was more amazed by Stewart, no more "soft" label for her, but Dolson works the hardest, harder than any post I've seen from UConn. She also is so instinctively cerebral out there ... I understand why Auriemma gushes over her role in making things run smoothly.

Dolson also happens to be my wife's favorite player. Certain actions taken in regard to that "bucket list" led to the UConn staff finding us in our seats at USF and giving Cindy a UConn practice shirt signed by Stefanie Dolson. She's likely to remain a favorite in this household.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Kaili's minutes were not that high, so assists/min would be a better indicator than APG in her case, but in any event, one had to see Kaili play to appreciate how good a passer she was.

Kaili was equally outstanding at zipping assists in toward the basket or at hug-and-hoists during NC celebrations.

She did have a much better minutes-per-assist average of 8.6 to Stef's 11.0, but there was a big difference in roles. When Kaili was in for her minutes, she was the point and the ball was fed through her, so she had a much greater chance per minute of play to make an assist. Stef has always had many more roles to play at center than Kaili and is not the primary assist machine when she is on the court, though in her senior year her role had become a bit closer to Kaili's career role and this year's mpa is almost the same as Kaili's career average.

 

[UcMiami]

I also think the most important aspect of the great assist post player is have good high low options - Stef has had Stewart now for most of two season and started out with Maya. Lobo had Wolters, and Kaili had Tina. While the back doors and pass outs from the post are good, the best assist help comes from someone tall inside that can finish at the basket.

 

[Kibitzer]

I do not believe there has ever been a better passer out of the post than Stef although Kaili could be close. There has never been a better total package than Stef. That is not to say that she is better than Tina just that she has more breadth to her game.

As presumed in this thread Stef is a tremendous passer. Part of that is that she so completely understands the UCONN offense. She knows where people are, where they should be and where they should be going. She can use the bounce pass, the burner, and the soft arcing change up over the top. She makes interior passes and kick outs. She sees the back door cut with Stewie and Kiah so well that she sees its movement in her periphial vision and sometimes even when it seems completely behind her back.

Besides her passing Stef can score with either hand in the low post. She pivots and rolls both directions with the mini hook. Her shooting reliably extends to just inside the 3 and is a threat even farther out.

Stef sets more picks per minute than any player I have ever watched. She is constantly active with picks and screens. They are good screens, big screens, coming and going screens. She seeks out opportunities to set them and can run a tremendous pick and roll off them.

What is newest is that Stef has attacked the hoop off the dribble from the top of the key successfully two or three times recently. While far from a ball handler she has been effective and this is an indication that she is still trying to grow and expand her game.

Her game on the boards this year has changed. In the past she often boxed people off the boards, often more than one and got the rebounds that came to her but left others to pursue the ball. This year in her growth she pursues the ball.

Besides rebounding she often gets out and runs the length of the court and is now a threat to finish at the other end. She battles inside as a real warrior at both ends.

She plays through pain and is a true leader. And there is more that could be said.

Stef is simply the most complete package ever at UCONN in the post. And she is still adding to her game every year and I don't think she is done yet.

So your short answer to the title to this thread by the OP is "No"?

Or more like

NO!​

 

[ndmb]

Stef had 3 inches on McLaren which gave her a boost in her passing because of the ability to throw it over other players. Having said that, I think that McLaren may have had a slightly better touch. If Kaili was 6'5" and able to change her conditioning the way Stef has, I think they may have had very similar careers.

 

[tomcat]

Ok, I'll admit that Stef is my all-time favorite player, having even passed the beloved Sveta in my estimation. But it is not out of prejudice that I ask this question, but out of honest curiosity (since I don't see as many non-UConn games as many BYers): Has there been a better passing center not at UConn, but in WCBB? I'm sure there probably has, but I'd be interested in this discussion, in part because passing is not a skill I see discussed much (here or elsewhere) when applied to centers. And by asking, I am not applying that she's the best -- just that I'd enjoy seeing people's responses. Thanks.

 

[Icebear]

McCarville was excellent in college as a passing center.

 

[VAMike23]

McCarville was excellent in college as a passing center.

And Maya is very happy to have her on the Lynx squad