All big 12?

[Jennifer]

I do not envy those whose responsibility it is to pick the All-Conference team at the end of the season. Geez, how do you do it, how to pick only 10 and divide them into 1st and 2nd teams?
Though it's early, I tried to take a stab at it on the morning commute, but not by position.

1-LaNeishea Caufield
1-Sheila Lambert
1-Nicole Ohlde
1-Kendra Wecker/Stacy Dales (I'm torn here)
1-Angie Welle

2-Jia Perkins
2-Mandy Nightingale
2-Danielle Crockrom
2-Stacy Stephens
2-Stacy Dales/Kendra Wecker

and some others:
Tracy Gahan
Lindsey Wilson
Caton Hill
Rosalind Ross
Kerensa Barr

Hmmm. Tough call all around, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others that are deserving.

On a seperate note, there was an interview at the halftime of the OU/A&M game with Cynthia Cooper, who was scouting Stacy and LaNeishea. She was surprised to see both of them posting up, especially LaNeishea. She said that any player who can run the point, play the 2, and post up is valuable to any team, and also pointed out that stats don't tell the whole story (which we all know). That comment was in reference to Stacy's overall numbers being down this year.

[Bevo]

You are right, Jennifer, hard to pick just 10 and harder still to say 1st vs. 2nd team. But I'll throw in my 2 cents:

1st team:

G Lambert
G Perkins
G/F Caufield
F/P Stephens
F/P Ohlde

All but Ohlde are from the South division. Hmmm...

2nd team:

G Wilson
G Dales
F Wecker
F Hill
P Welle

[RaiderPower1]

gotta agree with Bevo's picks though choosing 3 sophomores is going to be tough. They certainly all deserve first team honors but if it came down to a senior and a soph...the senior would get the spot. There are just soooooo many great players this year and soooooo many great players that will be gone. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/frown.gif

[KSUron]

Well here comes ole KSU homer ron. Actually I pretty much agree with Bevo's choices and also RaiderPower's comment. I think for this year I'd go with Welle at the post for 1st team.

[Jennifer]

As great a player she is and will end up being when her career is over, I don't think Jia is yet a 1st team selection. She seems to inconsistant at this point. Maybe when those around her develop more and take some of her load off, her overall game will improve (poor choice of words, but I'm tired).
If I were to do my team by position rather than by player, I'd still have her on 2nd team. I think I'd also chose Ohlde over Welle, but don't see that happening when the picks are made for real.
IMO, I think the only sure picks for 1st team are Lambert and Caufield. The rest is a toss up! But, there's still a lot of games left to be played to help decide.

And I think an often overlooked player is Mandy Nightingale of Colorado. She has an A/TO ratio of nearly 3 (Wilson's is about 1.45 and Perkins 1.22) and usually manages to nail big shots.

[KSUron]

Nightingale is REALLY good and I ought to be nice to her. She gets another shot at us. I think the two best post players are Welle and Ohlde. The guards? The Big 12 is loaded with good guards. IMO Perkins and Lambert are very hard to top. Of course they are featured on their teams but they are featured for a reason. Outstanding players.

[dem]

I would like to do some lobbying for Angie Welle, so I will list her field-goal shooting percentages for every game so far this season:

1. 88%
2. 67%
3. 76%
4. 62%
5. 55%
6. 69%
7. 75%
8. 73%
9. 78%
10. 83%
11. 71%
12. 100%
13. 71%
14. 86%
15. 75%
16. 57%
17. 91%
18. 61%
19. 71%
20. 86%

Now for some perspective, here is a list of the national leaders in FG% as of 1/21:

1. Angie Welle,ISU: 72%
2. Teana McKiver, Tulane 68%
3. Chantelle Anderson, Vanderbilt: 68%
4. Jocelyn Penn, South Carolina: 64%
5. Iveta Marcauskaite, Illinois: 63%
6. April Cromartie, Campbell: 63%
7. Colleen Fitzpatrick, Lafayette: 63%
8. Chasity Campbell, Belmont: 62%
9. Kate Kreager, Xavier: 61%
10. Courtney Coleman, Ohio St.: 60%
11. Evita Rogers, Georgia St.: 60%
12. Kayte Christensen, UC Santa Barb.: 60%
13. Pam O'Connor, Eastern Ill.: 60%

So, in other words: in 18 out of 20 games this season, Welle has exceeded the season average shooting percentage of every other player in the country except for the 12 listed here. In her WORST game, she shot 55%. Her current FG% of 72.4% is exactly equal to the current NCAA all-time single-season record. Only six players in NCAA WBB history have exceeded 70% for a season. (Oh, and she is by far the Big 12 rebounding leader, and ranks 12th in the country on that stat.) Personally, I think this kind of consistency is pretty incredible.

So even if Ohlde may have more talent (and she may), and even if she becomes consistent with the brilliant performance level of Sunday's second half (but please, not until next weekend is over!), I think Angie gets the edge this year on consistency. So far, anyway.

And next year . . . well, maybe next year Nicole will test the WNBA early admission rule. (Don't worry KSUron, just kidding. I know she's going to stay around to torment us for two more years!)

[two cents]

very persuasive dem!

I agree Welle has to be first team, but I like Jennifer's list. It includes both Angie and Nicole as first-teamers. I'd have to go with Dales over Wecker. Stacey's numbers may be down a little from last year, but she is the floor general that keeps that great team in sync on both offense and defense.

I love Jia, but Caufield and Lambert are both having better seasons so far. Stacy Stephens is a tremendously admirable player. She will get her due in the next couple of years, but Welle is still the dominant post player in this league.

[metromaniac]

1st Team:

Caulfield---POY
Lambert
Dales
Welle
Ohlde


2nd Team:

Nightingale
Koehn
Crockrom
Stephens
Hill/Gahan/Wilson

Picking just 10 is impossible!!!!!

[Big12Bear]

I agree with Jennifer's picks. How easy was that? http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[elfdenmom]

I agree with Bevo's picks.

[cyfanatic]

Ditto...except I would go with Wecker....

[RaiderPower1]

1st
Angie Welle-POY
LaNeishea Caufield
Sheila Lambert
Nicole Ohlde
Danielle Crockrum


2nd
Stacy Stephens
Jia Perkins
Stacy Dales
Lindsey Wilson
Caton Hill

I went about a different approach as to how to pick my players. I kinda did the "by position" thing. But the question I asked myself was, "Which teams without ___________ would not be near as great as they are with them?" I then developed 1st and 2nd teams by position. So IMO all 10 of these players should be 1st teamers but of course there is only room for 5 on each.

[kate dawg]

i agree with jennifer's initial picks. and as far as raiderpower's thing, colorado doesn't win a game this year without mandy nightingale. she makes them go. she is the angie welle of CU.

[Bball Girl]

There are some intangibles that should go into these picks. Like someone said stats don't tell everything. Dales' numbers might be down this season, but her leadership on and off the court speaks volumes. Wecker is pretty special and her day will come, but I'd go with Dales on the 1st team.

No flies on Welle, but watching Oldhe play the other day...there are so many things that she does that Welle doesn't do (and FG% is only one aspect). I'm sorry folks but Welle has been shut down this year a few times...when you take away her shot, she struggles. Oldhe can shoot over either shoulder, can pull out of a double team and elevate over them and nail the shot. If there's a choice between the two, I'd have to go with Oldhe.

I would agree about Jia...she's ours and we won't trade her, but she's had her struggles this season and I think will mature into an All American and a first team Big 12 before the end of her Tech career..but she's not there yet.

[RaiderPower1]

Originally posted by kate dawg:
and as far as raiderpower's thing, colorado doesn't win a game this year without mandy nightingale.

Well...opinions are opinions and that is mine. The thing with MG is that she is very important to the team but so are all the other starters IMO. They are all equal in deserving of big xii honors but I couldn't very well put 5 players from one team on the list. MG would go on my honorable mention list and maybe along with jenny roulier.