UConn's Aaliyah Edwards has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2023 Naismith Player of the Year.

[Rowdy831]

If you go by which team would be impacted most by losing this player I would say it would come down to Iowa and UCONN. If you take out Edwards or Clark their teams as they were this season would have struggled to win half their games. Edwards was very impressive in the big games on offense while defending the other teams best player. Clark is just an incredible player that also has eye popping stats so I would say the people out there voting will go with her.

With that said the list of players up for the award is quite impressive and I would say at least half of them could win the award and there wouldn't be too much argument about it.

 

[EdSaid]

If you go by which team would be impacted most by losing this player I would say it would come down to Iowa and UCONN. If you take out Edwards or Clark their teams as they were this season would have struggled to win half their games. Edwards was very impressive in the big games on offense while defending the other teams best player. Clark is just an incredible player that also has eye popping stats so I would say the people out there voting will go with her.

With that said the list of players up for the award is quite impressive and I would say at least half of them could win the award and there wouldn't be too much argument about it.

How much weight do you put on the team the potential POY plays for? In Iowa's case, they are 315th (2 years ago they were last) among 351 teams in opponent's points per game. Some people say they are "defensively challenged", I say they suck defensively. Iowa would be a far better team if CC averaged 6-8 points less per game and the team shaved off 10-12 opponent points per game. They will get beat by the first strong defensive team they play, probably the 3rd or 4th game.

What's more important a POY or a National Championship?