UConn's Mount Rushmore | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn's Mount Rushmore

Carnac

That venerable sage from the west
Joined
Jan 9, 2015
Messages
15,932
Reaction Score
78,988
I would love to see them in a special Conference of Champions tournament, maybe here in Vegas. You have the previous years Conference champions from the Big East, ACC, PAC 12, SEC, Big 12, and B1G play in two groups of 3 who play each other. Then have the winner of each group play for the trophy. Have all games on National TV and hold it in Allegiant Stadium. They would most likely have the highest attendance record of any Women's basketball game.
Serge, that's a great idea!! You know teams (and their fans) love to visit Las Vegas. That's why so many conferences hold their end of season conference tournaments there every year. That's a tournament I would not miss. Only 3 hours away by car for me. Great food and entertainment and plenty of affordable rooms. My favorite hotel is "South Pointe" Right off the freeway, and away from the strip. :D
 
Last edited:

MooseJaw

Bullmoose#1
Joined
Aug 18, 2020
Messages
1,181
Reaction Score
5,297
Since this is all about speculation, why not speculate about Azzi? As a matter of fact, there’s probably a 6 yr old somewhere with some serious skills that we should be talking about as well. ?
I hope that 6 year old is on UConn's radar, and that I'm still around to enjoy her contributions, we can enjoy her play together. :)
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
600
Reaction Score
3,057
This reminds me of all the time spent discussing whether Sabrina Ionescu was the greatest of all time. I don't see how we could even consider Paige with Maya, Stewie, and DT until she plays a whole season. It would be good to see how she performs in a NCAA tournament as well.
 
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
2,321
Reaction Score
5,534
Collier was indeed a great player for UConn. She finished as the number 3 ALL TIME leading scorer in program history (behind Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore). The only "wart" I can think of on her resume is the FF game against Mississippi State that she came up short in. Geno had to bench her during portions of that game. She couldn't hit anything. She even missed bunnies that had become a staple in her overall game.

She proved how good she was/is when she was voted the WNBA rookie of the year. I doubt players up for consideration can have any warts on their resume'. They must have won at least one championship (preferably more) during their career. Being on a championship team is not enough. They MUST have played an integral part (ring leader) of that team's overall success.
24-0 is the standard.
 
Joined
Apr 23, 2019
Messages
1,876
Reaction Score
9,615
I think most of us have seen enough to feel pretty confident that over her career, Paige will likely be considered as a legitimate fourth Mt Rushmore candidate. That is partly because the other three were on another level from the many great Uconn players of the past, and Paige appears to belong there too.

I remember the program where they were trying to come up with the ten best Uconn players ever, and there were some really good players that didn't make that list, Swin Cash, Kara Walters etc. and I believe Jefferson was number 10 on that list. As they were moving toward revealing the top three, the discussion was not did that player win a national championship, but how many!

Paige could be a player that will be as good as Diana, Maya, or Stewie, but to match their standards or legend, she will need not one, but a couple of championships. We have to wait a little for that before we can start carving on the mountain.
 
Joined
Feb 3, 2018
Messages
1,280
Reaction Score
3,990
Debate has already begun as to whether Paige Bueckers (based upon her magnificent year thus far) deserves enshrinement among UConn’s holy holies - Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Breanna Stewart. Based upon a freshman season of less than twenty games, she ranks with the best in the storied history of the Huskies. Her stats and heroics against Tennessee and South Carolina make this clear.

A deeper dive into frosh play reveals some differences that helps shed light on the extraordinary play of Bueckers thus far. We can do so by looking at the players around each super star. Lest we forget the player who held the first year scoring record until Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart came along was Svetlana Abrosimova. The seventeen year old phenom came from Russia to Storrs for the 1997-98 basketball season, one that seemed to offer a lot of promise, but Nykesha Sales suffered a season ending injury in the next to the last game against Notre Dame and the team lost in the regional final. Shea Ralph missed the entire season, but it was a pretty good team featuring seniors Sales and Rita Williams, junior Amy Duran, sophs Stacy Hansmeyer and Paige Sauer, and Abrosimova.

Diana Taurasi came to UConn in 2000 and that team was the most talented in Husky history - Abrosimova, Shea Ralph, Kelly Schumacher, Sue Bird, Ashja Jones, Swin Cash, and Tamika Williams. She came off the bench for much of the season. Most of Di’s heroics occurred in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. No superstars were on these teams, but Maria Conlon, Jessica Moore, Ashley Battle, Wilnett Crockett, Ann Strother, and Barbara Turner were not exactly chopped liver. Moore, Turner, and Strother were all quality players.

Maya Moore’s freshman season featured seniors Charde Houston, Brittany Hunter, and Mel Thomas, junior Renee Montgomery, and sophomores Tina Charles and Kalana Greene, and fellow frosh Lorin Dixon. Moore, if my memory is correct, moved into the starting lineup after the injuries to Thomas and Greene. As with Abrosimova, you knew Moore was special the first time she stepped onto the floor.

Breanna Stewart’s first team was also a deep one with Caroline Doty, Kelly Faris, Stephanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosquera-Lewis, Kiah Stokes, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck. Stewart had a solid freshman year and began to ascend into the ranks of the immortal with her play in the NCAA tournament.

As regards to Paige Bueckers, the supporting cast of upperclassmen is not as high as with the previous teams mentioned. Had Megan Walker returned for her senior year, the dynamics of the entire season would have been different. Walker would have been the returning star, senior leader, and first offensive option, thus Paige may have come off the bench until the Makurat injury. Since this year’s roster is not as strong as many previous ones, Bueckers has taken over. She has been the best player on the floor since her first game in a Husky uniform and this is not likely to change. What is also unprecedented is that she is also the team leader and a vocal one at that. All in all, her play thus far has set a new standard, as in her first 15 games she has led the squad in scoring in 9 and tied in 1.
Beautiful piece!
I hate the premise of the start of the last paragraph that somehow Paige would not be starting from the jump. Reminds me of a preseason thread talking about playing time of the guards. I said, hold on, Paige is the kind of player that you do not take out of the game. Maybe Meg would be having the same or similar issues as CW regarding a frosh being the leader of the team. Ugh, sorry no offense, but can you imagine this year's team with Meg not starting Paige. Talk about struggling to move the ball! No Guns! Would have never happened in a trillion billion years as Paige would say.
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2018
Messages
691
Reaction Score
4,175
I know many feel Lobo should be the 4th currently, but Bird had better overall success. 2 NC's, 3 Leiberman awards, and probably would have been NPOY if not for Diana.
Sue Bird won the Wade Trophy and Naismith Award for the 2001-2002 (Wooden wasn't given in women's basketball yet)., and was also AP Player of the Year and the Honda Award winner for basketball. Taurasi didn't win until after Bird graduated.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
2,596
Reaction Score
6,342
Bigger mountain indeed! I know many feel Lobo should be the 4th currently, but Bird had better overall success. 2 NC's, 3 Leiberman awards, and probably would have been NPOY if not for Diana. Rebecca had 1 NPOY and 1 NC. If you want to given a award for "most important recruits", Lobo would be up at the top since she opened the door for others to flock to the little agricultural college in NE Connecticut.

Regardless, I think when Azzi and Paige are done, the top 5 will be (in no particular order), Dee, Maya, Stewie, Paige, Azzi.

Then we can continue the debate on #6 and lower! ;)
Bird was NPOY her Sr. Year.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
2,596
Reaction Score
6,342
Yea there will never be agreement, but I don’t understand why Pheesa doesn’t get more consideration as one of the handful of best of the best. Her Freshman year the team was stacked, yet she contributed. Ridiculous as a sophomore. Played as an undersized post most of the time. Her rebounding and point totals are near the top. Could it be not winning the NC her last 3 years? Can you imagine Collier with her mid range touch on this team?
No NC her last 3 years and no POY either. She's not even top 10
 

Online statistics

Members online
498
Guests online
3,206
Total visitors
3,704

Forum statistics

Threads
155,759
Messages
4,030,613
Members
9,864
Latest member
leepaul


Top Bottom