Moriah Jefferson is 1 of 5 Finalists for Lieberman Award

[RadyLady]

LINK

OK, this time I think that it worked.

Congratulations, Moriah!!

 

[Lurker]

Absolutely - congratulations and well earned (and in very exciting style for us fans)!

I don't have the statistics to make a comparison with the other candidates, but I'm assuming our MoJet stacks up very well against the competition. And I'm thinking that her pure point guard stats (assists, steals, A/T ratio, # of turnovers) probably compare very favorably relative to Odyssey Sims for similar minutes played against similar competition.

Perhaps the point differential with Odyssey will not carry the final vote and our MoJet will win the award! How great that would be for our sophomore.

 

[Shenandoah]

I absolutely LOVE MoJeff; her overall game, enthusiasm, defense, and especially the huge leap that she has made from her freshman year. However, Odyssey is a senior, and to voters, points per game is still eye catching.

 

[bballnut90]

Well deserved nomination. Should have a great chance to win it next year without Sims in the mix.

 

[UcMiami]

Stats:
Jerica Coley FIU - min 38.7, .425/.315/.822, 6.8 rebounds, 130 assts, 90 TO, 41 Blks, 61 Stls, 29.5 ppg, 1.44 A/TO (33 games) Senior
Brittany Boyd Cal - min 33.0, .378/.250/.632, 6.8 rebounds, 168 assts, 109 TO, 4 Blks, 83 Stls, 14.5 ppg, A/TO 1.54 (29 games) Junior
Heather Butler UofTN-Martin - min 35.9, .413/.373/.839, 3.9 rebounds, 107 assts, 54 TO, 2 Blks, 48 Stls, 23.7 ppg, A/TO 1.98 (31) Senior
Odyssey Sims Baylor - min 32.6, .445/.405/.799, 4.5 rebounds, 151 assts, 92 TO, 3 Blks, 63 Stls, 28.4 ppg, A/TO 1.64 (33) Senior
Moriah Jefferson UCONN - min 29.1, .577/.403/.758, 3.2 rebounds, 170 assts, 59 TO, 8 Blks, 88 Stls, 10.0 ppg, A/TO 2.93 (34) Sophomore

So on PPG Coley leads the group, PPM would be Odyssey. On efficiency - hands down it is Moriah. This is an interesting line-up as there are a number of players putting up seriously good assist and A/TO numbers as their team's true point guard but they aren't here in the final list. One junior, one sophomore, and 3 seniors.
Plusses for Moriah - shooting 132 points higher than anyone else from the field and is .95 better than anyone else in A/TO - leads in raw assists and steals numbers. And she is doing this in 3.5 minutes less per game.

 

[Zorro]

Sims will get it, but MoJet is a better point guard than is Sims. Or anyone. If she put up as many shots as Sims does, she would have a pretty impressive point total too.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Stats:
Jerica Coley FIU - min 38.7, .425/.315/.822, 6.8 rebounds, 130 assts, 90 TO, 41 Blks, 61 Stls, 29.5 ppg, 1.44 A/TO (33 games) Senior
Brittany Boyd Cal - min 33.0, .378/.250/.632, 6.8 rebounds, 168 assts, 109 TO, 4 Blks, 83 Stls, 14.5 ppg, A/TO 1.54 (29 games) Junior
Heather Butler UofTN-Martin - min 35.9, .413/.373/.839, 3.9 rebounds, 107 assts, 54 TO, 2 Blks, 48 Stls, 23.7 ppg, A/TO 1.98 (31) Senior
Odyssey Sims Baylor - min 32.6, .445/.405/.799, 4.5 rebounds, 151 assts, 92 TO, 3 Blks, 63 Stls, 28.4 ppg, A/TO 1.64 (33) Senior
Moriah Jefferson UCONN - min 29.1, .577/.403/.758, 3.2 rebounds, 170 assts, 59 TO, 8 Blks, 88 Stls, 10.0 ppg, A/TO 2.93 (34) Sophomore

So on PPG Coley leads the group, PPM would be Odyssey. On efficiency - hands down it is Moriah. This is an interesting line-up as there are a number of players putting up seriously good assist and A/TO numbers as their team's true point guard but they aren't here in the final list. One junior, one sophomore, and 3 seniors.
Plusses for Moriah - shooting 132 points higher than anyone else from the field and is .95 better than anyone else in A/TO - leads in raw assists and steals numbers. And she is doing this in 3.5 minutes less per game.

I'm convinced. Nice work!

I always like a high shooting percentage. Tiff had it her senior year, but didn't get enough recognition for it. Maya always had it and still does. Kaleena has it. Moriah certainly has it. She has the most assists, despite playing the fewest minutes (it helps to have great finishers!), and by far the fewest TOs. Those aren't just Lieberman numbers, they are AA numbers.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I absolutely LOVE MoJeff; her overall game, enthusiasm, defense, and especially the huge leap that she has made from her freshman year. However, Odyssey is a senior, and to voters, points per game is still eye catching.

Your comments are sad but true. The most obvious statistic, points scored is all that matter to a lot of sports people just like in baseball where to some the home run hitter gets all the glory even though it's often the timely hit or the great defensive play that wins the game. Being a big points scorer can clearly overshadow all the other things someone brings to the game. It's unfortunate because scoring isn't the most important thing for a point to do, it's much more essential for them to run the offense and insure that the teammate with the best opportunity to score has the ball at the appropriate time. Assists trump everything and a great assist to turnover ratio is so important to a teams success. You also factor in steals where you rob your opponent of a possession which can ultimately mean the difference between victory and defeat. Mo Jeff has been outstanding all year long on both ends of the court and is so important to our teams success. Hope she wins it but if nothing else, Odyssey's reputation will be hard to overcome.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I have a bit of a bias toward taller (Bria like, SueB like, DT like ) guards, but from last year's NCAAs on out MoJo (yeah, I know it is MoJeff) has just plain knocked me down and knocked me out. Where she comes up biggest is where a point should: this kid just does not TO. Of course, when she pulls off the Beep Beep lay up or the 3 feet behind the big kids line 3, well I am there for those too. This is one exceptionally tough and talented young lady and I would not trade her for anyone else.

PS. Best smile in the bunch too.

 

[UcMiami]

Sims will get it, but MoJet is a better point guard than is Sims. Or anyone. If she put up as many shots as Sims does, she would have a pretty impressive point total too.

Moriah averages 6.68 shots per game and scores 10 points per game. Sims is averaging 21.72 shots per game for her 28.4 points. So if Moriah took 3.25 times as many shots as she currently does to match up with Sims, she should be scoring around 32.5 ppg.
Actually I lie - if Moriah started taking a shot every 90 seconds she played, she would be sitting at the end of the bench after the first media time-out and would not see the court again until Geno had her tested for a concussion.

 

[Vowelguy]

Stats alone can be misleading.
It's a lot easier to get assists when you're passing the ball to Stewie and Dolson, than it is for whoever Baylor has. This doesn't take away from his great mojet is , but to merely look at her assists vs Sims doesn't give the full picture.

Sims carried her team, nearly single-handedly, to a top 10 ranking. I have a lot of respect for what she's done.

 

[Fiftyish]

Congrats to MoJet! Very big deal making the final five, regardless of who eventually gets it. She's only a sophomore and we get to see her get even better for the next two years. If Sims gets it this year you can pencil in MoJet for the next 2 years IMHO. Just following UConn tradition of world class PG's.

 

[Geno-ista]

That is such an honor for her and well deserved as well. But it is very difficult to imagine that this year, Sr Odyssey Sims who single handedly almost carried a marginal team to a victory against us, shouldn't be considered the best point guard in the country. She dominated the summer national team, and dominates every game she is in. She is two years older and really deserves to be the winner this year IMO. She would lead the world in assists if she had our team to pass to.

 

[semper]

So great. Think of how she has "grown."

 

[UcMiami]

Stats alone can be misleading.
It's a lot easier to get assists when you're passing the ball to Stewie and Dolson, than it is for whoever Baylor has. This doesn't take away from his great mojet is , but to merely look at her assists vs Sims doesn't give the full picture.

Sims carried her team, nearly single-handedly, to a top 10 ranking. I have a lot of respect for what she's done.

That is part of the stats - 28.4 points. But this is a point guard award and being a point guard means setting up your teammates, playing killer defense, taking care of the ball and scoring as needed. Sims shoots 32% of Baylor's shots at basically the same percentage as the rest of the team (.445 vs. .442 for the team) Moriah takes 11% of the teams shots but shoots a significantly higher percentage than the team (.577 vs. .505) while leading her team in assists, steals, and A/TO ratio. The actual point guard on the Baylor team is Johnson who has 60 more assists than Sims and 37 fewer turnovers. Her numbers are outstanding - assets 211, TO 55, A/TO 3.84! But I guess since she only scores 5.1 ppg she isn't considered worthy. (admittedly her shooting percentage is pretty mediocre at .371 and she basically doesn't shoot the three.)
I think Sims is one of the best three players in WCBB this year, but ... I am not sure she should win a point guard award - last year, yes she was a point guard who scored - this year, she is the shooting guard and the best one out there.

 

[Geno-ista]

That is part of the stats - 28.4 points. But this is a point guard award and being a point guard means setting up your teammates, playing killer defense, taking care of the ball and scoring as needed. Sims shoots 32% of Baylor's shots at basically the same percentage as the rest of the team (.445 vs. .442 for the team) Moriah takes 11% of the teams shots but shoots a significantly higher percentage than the team (.577 vs. .505) while leading her team in assists, steals, and A/TO ratio. The actual point guard on the Baylor team is Johnson who has 60 more assists than Sims and 37 fewer turnovers. Her numbers are outstanding - assets 211, TO 55, A/TO 3.84! But I guess since she only scores 5.1 ppg she isn't considered worthy. (admittedly her shooting percentage is pretty mediocre at .371 and she basically doesn't shoot the three.)
I think Sims is one of the best three players in WCBB this year, but ... I am not sure she should win a point guard award - last year, yes she was a point guard who scored - this year, she is the shooting guard and the best one out there.

Great points Uc- nice analysis- thank you- she really is intimidating and I think she will be one of the few immediate impact players from college to the pros- not saying all star- I think she won't take long to develop a pro game-

 

[HGN]

Cngratulations MoJeff on just being considered and Nominated as 1 of the 5 Best in the country in WCBB for the Nancy Lieberman Award..... Its a great Honor , win , lose , or draw.