Spring Break
Who is more important to their team?
Max Jabbonsky and Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Sports
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The women's basketball just team finished an undefeated and, frankly, untested regular season. No single player has been more responsible for the Huskies' success than sophomore Maya Moore. Moore is leading the team in scoring, rebounding and steals, and continues to further her reputation as the best female player in the country - and quite possibly of all-time. Taking a player of Moore's caliber away from this team would immediately remove them from such elite status.
Hasheem Thabeet!
Jim Calhoun has said it time and time again. So have opposing coaches: No player changes a game like Thabeet. His 13.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.5 blocks - which are by no means bad - don't' even come close to doing justice to how dominant Thabeet is. Without him, No. 1 UConn wouldn't even be in the top 15. He is definitely more valuable to the men's team than Maya Moore is to the women's.
Max: If Moore's value to UConn wasn't already clear, it became so during halftime of Monday's game against Rutgers. When asked if there was any chance for opposing teams to stop the Huskies, each panelist responded with a different version of "only if Moore, Tina Charles or Renee Montgomery gets hurt." With all due respect to Charles and Montgomery, they would not be able account for the production - 18.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and three assists - that Moore gives on a daily basis.
Kevin: OK, first of all, the women's basketball team has two other First Team All-Americans - Charles and Montgomery. If you take Moore off that team, Charles would be in discussion for National Player of the Year and the Huskies would still be ranked in the top five. If you take Thabeet off his team, UConn is suddenly undersized and without any shot-blocking presence in the paint. Calhoun and co. couldn't even think about a national championship without Thabeet.
Max: A loss of Thabeet would not devastate the Huskies nearly as much as you may think - it would simply force them to play a different style. They would be able to use Stanley Robinson in a more interior role and emphasize the play of their talented backcourt, even without injured Jerome Dyson. The women, on the other hand, do not have the depth to replace Moore after already losing guard Caroline Doty. Charles is a great center and Montgomery runs the point as well as anyone in the country, but losing the team's top two scorers from the wing would be too much.
Kevin: Moore is far and away the best player in college basketball, but that's not the question at hand here. The UConn women still have the pieces (with or without Caroline Doty) to win a title. Have you ever heard of Kalana Greene or Lorin Dixon? How about the men? Gavin Edwards is a fine player, but he's not a true center. The only other center on the active roster is Jonathan Mandeldove. I rest my case.
Max: Greene and Dixon are both very talented players, but losing Moore would force them to play far more minutes per game then they are accustomed to. The team's depth would be completely shot, and any additional injury or player getting into foul trouble would leave them in an insurmountable hole. The men, on the other hand, are deep enough to withstand another loss and continue to play at a high level.
Kevin: The men are extremely thin at this point. They are playing with a seven-man rotation (although we are all praying that Scottie Haralson turns that into an eight-man rotation). If Thabeet went down - and actually was hurt this time - the men would make the Sweet 16 and that's it. Aside from Blake Griffin, Thabeet is the most valuable player in the nation.
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