Full Court Draft Grades

[Jennifer]

OK, he calls Stacy Dales-Schuman a natural 2 and questions whether she can make the adjustment to the 1 at this level. As swok has mentioned, did anyone watch OU play her Jr. year???

He says Caufield is a guard who "can't handle".
He thinks Ross may have a shot at making the roster at LA.
He does speak positively of Lambert, saying next year she'll be able to step in. Thinks Crockrum is not strong enough at this point, but could be useful in the future.
http://www.fullcourt.com/wnba01/draftgrades02c.html

[swok34]

The more I read of Clay Kallam....and I don't visit his site frequently.....the less I value his opinions. I think his pre-draft write-up got about the same response this write up is getting over on the WNBA board......who is Clay Kallam?

Not only did Stacey run the point LAST year, she ran it all through her OU career until her senior year......do they all forget that she was up for the PG award last year? Obviously.
Summitt said in her post-draft comments, that Stacey can certainly run the point, but she is valuable as well on the perimeter....
at least the folks who are doing the actual position picking are in the know.

[schooner2]

I lost a lot of respect for Clay when he seemed to be so easily swayed by Drib's comments on the wbball email list concerning how bad the Big 12 will do in the postseason for so many different reasons. Drib was engaged in Big 12 bashing early in the season and it was easily refutable which I did - but Clay seemed to climb on board and accept his rantings.

[metromaniac]

Stacey Dales-Schuman is the best 1-5 in women's college bball. Although asking her to play 5 in the WNBA is a bit of a reach ---but, if her team needed her to do it---it would be reminiscent(sp?) of Magic Johnson his first year in LA or was it at MSU? I think she is the most versatile(sp? - this is getting embarrassing)player I have ever seen.

where is my dictionary and memory when I need it.

[This message has been edited by metromaniac (edited 04-24-2002).]

[cyfanatic]

What do you all think of Clay saying that the second and third rounds in the draft are "nothing more than a PR exercise?"

[swok34]

I don't know about 2nd round, a lot of those players did make the rosters last year, if I recall last year correctly.....though no single 3rd or 4th round player made a roster last year....

my memory fails me the year Whaley was drafted, and that was the first draft and WNBA season I really followed.

A lot of folks are predicting that Welle will make Cleveland's roster due to their lack of depth at center because I believe a lot of the post players are foreign and may not be playing in the WNBA this year....

I suspect Gahan will not, New York is too guard heavy as it is.
Didn't Gahan play PF last season for Iowa State?

I think Mandy Nightingale has a really good chance to make the Portland roster....though I noticed in the NCAA's, Nightingale didn't take a single 3-point shot in Idaho....can Colorado fans enlighten me, I was really puzzled by that. Anytime I've seen her play previously, she has a really deadly 3-point shot.

[kate dawg]

She sprained her ankle very early in the Stanford game and was not as mobile as usual during SU or OU..it was obvious. She reportedly did not practice before the OU game. She takes awhile to get that shot off so i think her lack of mobility hurt her there and she had to rush the three's she did take.

Also, during the OU broadcast, the commentators said OU focused on limiting CU's threes, which they did very well. For the first time all season, CU didn't hit one.

[mred]

Originally posted by swok34:

I suspect Gahan will not, New York is too guard heavy as it is.
Didn't Gahan play PF last season for Iowa State?


Yes. She was ISU's starting PF as a junior and switched to starting 2-guard and backup point as a senior after Junod got hurt. Her post defense skills are good enough that she could be a good fit for a team who wants to run some 4-guard offenses. The Liberty have already traded away two guards since the draft, so it's not quite as stacked as it was before.

[dem]

Originally posted by swok34:
I don't know about 2nd round, a lot of those players did make the rosters last year, if I recall last year correctly.....though no single 3rd or 4th round player made a roster last year....



The following 3rd and 4th round draft picks made rosters in 2001:

Third Round:

Levys Torres (played in two games for the Sol; waived last week)
Shea Ralph (on IR for the Starzz all season)
Jaclyn Johnson (8.2 mpg in 17 games for the Miracle, a surprise)


Fourth Round:

Kelly Santos (10.9 mpg in 14 games for the Shock)
Cara Consuegra (3.3 mpg in 15 games for the Starzz)


[Marlena Williams (fourth round) was on the suspended roster for the Fever all season, and was just waived last week.]


[There might have been more, but I couldn't document them.]



[This message has been edited by dem (edited 04-30-2002).]

[OhMandy]

Look I think a lot of you are taking somethings too personal. Look a "natural" point guard is somebody who is 5'8 or under and has great quickness, court vision, and passing skills. In the men's game, John Stockton is the best natural point guard. He fits that mold. But Magic Johnson at 6'9 isn't a natural point guard. He's a basketball player who can handle the ball as well as most guards.

Dales is a basketball player who really doesn't have a position.

Look making the jump to the WNBA is a tough leap. Many star players from college don't make it or are sitting on the bench. Being a Stanford fan I see Jamila Wideman not in the WNBA, I see Kate Starbird on the bench. They were great players in college but they either weren't athletic enough or just not talented enough for the WNBA.

[swok34]

thank you for correcting me, dem.......I really thought all 3rd and 4th round players were cut from last season. I didn't realize Jacklyn Johnson was 3rd round, I heard she really did well overinwhatevercountry she went to for the fall and winter.

As for Stacey.....she was compared to Nancy Lieberman-Cline last year....I'll just let her skills speak for themself for here on out. I've just had trouble understanding how folks can say she's not a PG, when we OU fans watched her play PG for 3 seasons with our own eyeballs. It was actually when she was playing for Canada that she played out on the wing and that was her first position change that I was aware of.