tpd
Coach on the Floor
Posts: 122
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Post by tpd on Apr 8, 2024 11:08:05 GMT -5
With regard to Muhl, I have already said that I like her as a player, but had originally thought, back when the Lynx still had a second round pick, that maybe we could pick her up with our second round pick at 19th overall. Still, with the decision of all the more prominent PG prospects other than Caitlin Clark to return for another year of college (I'm talking about Bueckers, Paopao, Amoore, and even Leger-Walker), I can kind of see why Maloney has her going in the first round to back up Jordin Canada in Atlanta. Muhl is a plus defender, with good size for the position, and is someone whom I personally prefer over a player like Sarah Andrews. She also sees the floor well and is also a pretty good passer with a per game average of 6.5 assists for every 2.6 turnovers. For whatever reason, she happens to be a very unwilling scorer. Still, her shooting percentages are good, albeit on a limited volume of shots. This year, she is shooting 54.2% on her two-point shots and 40.2% from three, which is an improvement from last year when she shot 49% from two and 34.3% from three. Curiously, she is not a very good free throw shooter, connecting on just 57.1% of her shots from the charity stripe this season.
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Post by clayk on Apr 8, 2024 13:48:41 GMT -5
If someone who scored 6.9 ppg is a first-round draft pick -- or even in the top 20 -- then this is an awful draft.
I like Muhl -- she's gritty, plays hard, plays smart. But so does Katie Martin and a lot of other players.
You win the game by scoring points, and Muhl doesn't do that. She's a decent defender, but face-guarding Clark with help behind her is a lot different than dealing with Kelsey Plum when every other defender has to worry about who they're guarding.
Then again, the other choices aren't that appealing. Borlase? Doesn't even start. Puoch? 11.8 ppg on 41.8% shooting. Sure, they're draft and stash, but is that the best you can do?
If Haley Jones is a backup in the WNBA, where does that put Muhl? Or, to put it another way, if Muhl played for Ole Miss and doubled her scoring, would anyone be talking about her?
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tpd
Coach on the Floor
Posts: 122
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Post by tpd on Apr 8, 2024 15:49:48 GMT -5
Clay, I think that the reason that Maloney has Muhl going at 12 to Atlanta is because he feels that the Dream are pretty well set except at the back-up PG spot, and that he sees Muhl as a better prospect than the other PGs still available following the decision of Bueckers, Papao, etc. to return to college. In other words, I don't think that he has Atlanta taking the best player available, but rather drafting for need after the surer-fire prospects have been selected. As I said in my previous post, that's something that I can understand.
It is certainly true that Muhl has a pretty anemic scoring average. She just doesn't shoot much. In fact, she averaged just 5.7 shot attempts per game, not only this year, but in 2022-23 when Paige Bueckers was out because of injury. While I think that's something that will have to change if she is going to be successful in the pros (even pass-first point guards have to be more willing to shoot in order to be a threat and to keep opponents from sagging off them on defense), I would have been happy, assuming that the Lynx still had the 19th pick, if they had used it on Muhl. Basically, I think that they would have been betting on her passing and defensive abilities, on her overall shooting percentages (which are good), and on their ability to coax her into being more assertive offensively.
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Post by clayk on Apr 8, 2024 17:17:56 GMT -5
All makes sense. But if this is the best world basketball has to offer to the WNBA, it's pretty depressing.
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Post by toad455 on Apr 8, 2024 19:07:39 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't get the Muhl hype. Non-scoring PG that's a good passer and decent defender.
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Post by awhom111 on Apr 8, 2024 22:10:22 GMT -5
I have always been a big Muhl fan. She chose to go to a program that runs offense completely differently than how she would be asked to run an offense in Europe, but still managed to be their all-time career leader in assists. Supposedly her pick and roll efficiency is near the tops in the country even though she runs it at such low volume. Assuming that she has not completely forgotten what to do in a pick and roll heavy offense, I think that she could be quite impactful on the right team. In a more pro-style offense where the 3 and 4 are both corner three threats, she is going to get a lot more room to operate. If you can get a Lindsay Allen-level player or so at the back end of the first round, that would probable be pretty acceptable.
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Post by dreamfan12 on Apr 9, 2024 5:08:30 GMT -5
With regard to Muhl, I have already said that I like her as a player, but had originally thought, back when the Lynx still had a second round pick, that maybe we could pick her up with our second round pick at 19th overall. Still, with the decision of all the more prominent PG prospects other than Caitlin Clark to return for another year of college (I'm talking about Bueckers, Paopao, Amoore, and even Leger-Walker), I can kind of see why Maloney has her going in the first round to back up Jordin Canada in Atlanta. Muhl is a plus defender, with good size for the position, and is someone whom I personally prefer over a player like Sarah Andrews. She also sees the floor well and is also a pretty good passer with a per game average of 6.5 assists for every 2.6 turnovers. For whatever reason, she happens to be a very unwilling scorer. Still, her shooting percentages are good, albeit on a limited volume of shots. This year, she is shooting 54.2% on her two-point shots and 40.2% from three, which is an improvement from last year when she shot 49% from two and 34.3% from three. Curiously, she is not a very good free throw shooter, connecting on just 57.1% of her shots from the charity stripe this season. Once again Nika Muhl is not a first round talent. If she didn’t go to UConn no one would be placing her in the first round And backup PG is not the biggest need for the Dream. We still need size(Taiyanna Jackson, etc) and some bench scoring so that Rhyne and Allisha Gray do not have to play 35+ minutes every other night.
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tpd
Coach on the Floor
Posts: 122
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Post by tpd on Apr 9, 2024 8:44:23 GMT -5
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Post by toad455 on Apr 9, 2024 10:36:54 GMT -5
Lacan is definitely the wrench in this year's draft. I've seen her as high as #5 and in others she's in the second round. For what is such a deep draft, taking a foreigner that early on that may never show up is a tremendous risk.
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Post by pilight on Apr 9, 2024 16:41:52 GMT -5
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Post by dreamfan12 on Apr 9, 2024 19:33:00 GMT -5
Lacan is definitely the wrench in this year's draft. I've seen her as high as #5 and in others she's in the second round. For what is such a deep draft, taking a foreigner that early on that may never show up is a tremendous risk. Dallas is going to reach for her. Watch.
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Post by pilight on Apr 9, 2024 22:00:35 GMT -5
Lacan is definitely the wrench in this year's draft. I've seen her as high as #5 and in others she's in the second round. For what is such a deep draft, taking a foreigner that early on that may never show up is a tremendous risk. Drafting French players is just asking for disappointment. They never show up with any regularity. Johannes appearing three out of five seasons is the high water mark for their dependability.
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tpd
Coach on the Floor
Posts: 122
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Post by tpd on Apr 10, 2024 7:39:50 GMT -5
I understand what Toad455 and pilight are saying about French prospects and their less than stellar history of actually showing up in the United States to play. I think that Stormeo expressed much the same sentiments. Still, there is a French prospect that I wouldn't mind the Lynx taking a chance on in the 2025 draft, at least if the real blue chip domestic prospects (players like Bueckers, Miles, Harmon, and Iriafen) are off the board when they pick. From the video that I've seen, she is an extremely mobile, athletic, 6'6" post, who averaged 19.8 points and 9.8 boards per game in FIBA U16 competition, and 18 points and 10 boards per game in FIBA U17 competition. As an 18-year-old playing against adult professionals in the French league, she is currently averaging 29.8 minutes per game, to go with 11.4 points and 8.8 rebounds. I am speaking, of course, about Dominique Malonga, whom Tony Parker dubbed the female Victor Wembanyama. I think that she could be sufficiently impactful as a player that teams would have to consider drafting her, despite concerns about whether and how much she will come over, when she becomes eligible to be drafted in 2025.
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Post by toad455 on Apr 10, 2024 8:14:51 GMT -5
Hoping @stormeo comes back from his hiatus for draft night even though Seattle doesn't have a first round pick.
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Post by toad455 on Apr 10, 2024 8:25:56 GMT -5
In case anyone had her in the third round.
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tpd
Coach on the Floor
Posts: 122
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Post by tpd on Apr 10, 2024 10:35:33 GMT -5
Voepel just recently came out with an updated three-round mock draft, in which Cardoso again moves up to the 3 spot and Rickea Jacklson is selected 4th by L.A. Voepel has Minnesota passing on Reese in favor of Isobel; Borlase, with Angel dropping to Chicago at 8. Finally, Dyaisha Fair again enters the first round, at number 10 to Connecticut, with Atlanta selecting a post, Jessika Carter, and Muhl going to the Storm at pick 14. Here's a link to the new mock: www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/wnba-mock-draft-2024-who-are-the-lottery-picks-after-clark/ar-BB1lozUs
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Post by toad455 on Apr 10, 2024 11:22:49 GMT -5
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Post by WBBDaily on Apr 10, 2024 11:29:15 GMT -5
Yes! The only one that matters!
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Post by WBBDaily on Apr 10, 2024 11:45:20 GMT -5
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Post by WBBDaily on Apr 10, 2024 13:17:50 GMT -5
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