Last week we identified the LA Sports Riot Player of the Year for 2010, now its time to figure out who will gain the prestigious prize on the women’s side. We will use the same criteria we used for the men’s POY award (Check out the men’s POY column for a complete breakdown of the criteria):
1.) Fantasy Value: Does the POY candidate put up big enough numbers that she would be a top draft pick in an imaginary GPAC fantasy basketball league.
2.) Piggyback Corollary: Basketball is all about winning and losing as a team. Individuals are valuable, but would the POY candidate’s team be any good without them? The easiest way to gauge this very subjective category would be to imagine how the POY candidate’s team would do, if you replaced her with an average player at that position. For example, if Briar Cliff replaced Liz Grider with an average player at her position, would Briar Cliff be where they are?
3.) Swiss Cheese Test: A player may be great at bringing certain skill sets to the floor that improve their team, just as Swiss cheese can make a boring ham sandwich taste better. But Swiss cheese has holes, and the POY needs to have a well rounded game without a backbreaking Achilles heel.
4.) Captain Crunch Time: Putting up huge numbers is great, but once again, numbers without wins are meaningless. Any serious POY candidate needs to raise her level of play against quality teams, especially in the fourth quarter.
5.) Spread the Wealth: Truly great players make their teammates better as well. There are many ways this can be done, but players who put up numbers without making the game easier for teammates need not apply.
Unlike the men’s POY, which could go to several players, the women’s POY is basically a two woman race between Liz Grider from Briar Cliff and Lindsay Ducey from Hastings, but nonetheless, these women deserve some recognition as well, so before we break down Grider and Ducey, here are the honorable mention LA Sports Riot Player of the Year candidates this season in descending order from easiest to exclude to hardest to exclude:
Kelli Hermsmeyer-Midland Lutheran, Michelle Amundson- Mt. Marty, Tanaeya Worden-Morningside, Randa Hulstein-Northwestern, Becca Hurley-Northwestern.
Now I’ll break down the POY plusses and minuses for Grider and Ducey for each of the five criteria.
1.) Who has the greater fantasy value: Liz Grider averages 26.8 points per game, which not only leads the GPAC, but also leads the country. She is about as unstoppable of a scorer as the GPAC has seen. What makes this especially is impressive is that she does this while shooting 47% from the field and 39% from downtown, despite defenses concentrating stopping her each and every game. Grider also averages 3.3 assists and 2.8 steals which is good enough for 7th and third in the conference. One might think that that would make anyone a number one draft pick in a fantasy draft, but they would be wrong, Lindsay Ducey’s numbers are even better.
Ducey scores more often than every player in the conference not named Liz Grider, with an average of 19 points per game, but Ducey is second in the GPAC in rebounding, with an average of 9 boards per game. Ducey is a post player, so naturally she shoots a higher percentage from the field than Grider, but 51% in a talented GPAC is still pretty impressive. What really impresses me is that she shoots nearly 86% from the free throw line, good enough for second in the GPAC, and gets to the line more than anyone else but Grider. Finally, Ducey also blocks 1.5 shots per game, which is fourth in the GPAC. Both players have fantastic stat lines, but I give criteria one to Ducey by the thinnest of margins, due to her prowess in both scoring and rebounding. (Ducey 1- Grider 0)
2.) Piggyback Corollary: Once again, this is a very close call. Grider averages 26 points, which as we mentioned before is tops in the nation, as well as 3 assists per game. If we assume that all three of those assists end up in two pointers, then Grider is directly responsible for 32 points per game. Briar Cliff averages 87 points per game, which means that Grider is more or less singularly responsible for 37% of Briar Cliffs offensive output. She also creates fast break opportunities by stealing the basketball just under three times per game. There is just no way that if you replaced Grider with an average player at her position that Briar Cliff would be as good as they are. I personally think that without Grider they would be struggling to play .500 basketball, which adds to Griders value.
In an ordinary season, Grider would run away with this category, but Ducey’s importance to her team can not be understated. Ducey scores 19 points a game and averages 2.5 assists, while playing for a Hastings team that is more deliberate on offense, scoring at a 78 points per game pace. So if you consider Ducey is directly responsible for 24 points per game, or 31% of her team’s offense, and is generally considered to be a better defender than Grider, you see why this category is so close. In the end, I think that if you replaced Ducey with an average player at her position, that Hastings would still have enough talent that to finish in the top half of the conference. This makes Grider the victor in the Piggyback Corollary category. (Ducey 1- Grider 1)
3.) Who passes the Swiss Cheese Test?: Once again, both Grider and Ducey are solid all around players. Grider scores in bunches, is a good distributer, gets lots of steals, and carries Briar Cliff on her back. Ducey scores a lot, rebounds well, averages 2.5 assists from the center position, and anchors Hastings defensively with her shot blocking ability. However, there are no ties, and Grider gambles a bit to much going for steals, while Ducey is always rock solid defensively. Edge Ducey.
(Ducey 2- Grider 1)
4.) Captain Crunch Time: Both players have shown the ability to step up in big games. Grider averages 24 points, 5 rebounds, and just under 4 assists per game against the other top 5 teams in the GPAC. In her eight games against the top tier teams she has scored 28 or more in four of those games, including two games in the 40 point range. However, against elite competition she has struggled to maintain possession of the basketball, with 4 or more turnovers in 7 of 8 games; and her gaudy scoring numbers haven’t led to wins, as Briar Cliff has only secured 3 wins in their 8 games against the GPAC’s upper crust.
With averages of 19 points, 9 rebounds, and three assists per game, Ducey’s numbers against top competition are equally as impressive as Grider’s. She dominates games both offensively and defensively, and unlike Grider, and with a record of 6-1 against the top five GPAC teams, Ducey’s impressive statistics have led to wins against tough competition. That on its own wins Ducey this category, but when you remember that she has lead her team to the final four, including one championship appearance, in the national tournament each of her first three seasons, while Grider has not played in the national tourney, it becomes clear that Ducey has to be the winner of this category.
(Ducey 3- Grider 1)
5.) Spread the Wealth: If you are keeping track at home, Ducey has already won three categories, and thus the imaginary LA Sports Riot Women’s Player of the Year trophy. As a result we are going to use this section to congratulate both players on terrific seasons. Ducey has led her team to number one in the nation and are the prohibitive favorites to win the national championship. Grider has been equally as impressive bringing Briar Cliff back to GPAC relevancy and back to the national tournament for the first time in recent memory. Both players have done this by being good teammates and playing the game the right way, Ducey just does it a little better. So Lindsay Ducey from Hastings College is the LA Sports Riot Women’s Player of the Year.