SB Nation Seattle - WNBA Draft 2011: Seattle Storm Select Duke's Jasmine Thomas In First Round

WNBA Draft 2011 Praise For Courtney Vandersloot: 'Many Play The Point. Courtney Owns It.'

2011-04-12T15:07:08Z

Way back in the late 90's, I had the opportunity to see Ticha Penicheiro play at Old Dominion University.

In fact, Penicheiro was probably one of the people who first got me intrigued by women's basketball - she literally controlled the entire floor and, more impressively, did so without being a real scoring threat. Using a combination of ball fakes, changes of pace, and look-aways, Penicheiro had a level of game awareness that we can attribute to few point guards - male or female - in this generation.

So I fully understand why people are resistant to saying Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot has the best court vision ever and why there's an impulse to temper claims about her - plenty of great point guards have come through the women's college basketball ranks and Seattle fans have among the best ever.

However, what makes Vandersloot unique is a combination of passing and scoring efficiency that is simply unheard of. As the only college point guard ever to cross the 2000 points, 1000 assists threshold, at the very least we can say that her place in college basketball history might be as the player who exhibits the best balance of scoring and playmaking.

And in a Chicago Sun-Times article written by Tina Akouris, Chicago Sky coach and general manager Pokey Chatman had no absolutely reservations in making more lofty claims about the 5'8" point guard whose draft prospects nearly everyone doubted prior to the season.

Sky’s Pokey Chatman elated to snag Courtney Vandersloot - Chicago Sun-Times
Vandersloot was too enticing to Sky first-year coach/general manager Pokey Chatman.

"She’s the total package at the premier position," Chatman said. "Many play the point. Courtney owns it. Her ability is not only being able to finish the break, but how she initiates it. She can be a deep, moving outlet, peek at the rim and still be in total control."

Of course, coaches are bound to be as hyperbolic on draft day as a kid is on Christmas morning when it seems like that freshly unwrapped toy is the best in the universe. But the thing about Vandersloot is that none of the praise is really that exaggerated - there are few point guards anywhere about which we can describe in the way Chatman described Vandersloot.

The only downside of Vandersloot going as high as she did is that she will only return to Washington to play once a year when the Eastern Conference Sky make their trip to KeyArena. But if you missed her in KeyArena in December when Gonzaga played NCAA runner-up Notre Dame, in Hec Ed during the 2010 NCAA tournament, or over in Spokane, it's worth catching a glimpse of her when she comes to play the Seattle Storm on September 11 this summer.

WNBA Draft 2011: More On The Seattle Storm's Second Round Pick Ify Ibekwe

2011-04-12T03:39:56Z

As with any player drafted to play professional basketball, Seattle Storm first round pick Jasmine Thomas is excited about the possibility of playing for the WNBA champs and learning from Sue Bird.

"Being selected by the Storm is a dream come true," said Jasmine Thomas in a Storm release. "Sharing this experience with my family and coaches has been amazing and I am ready to do whatever it takes to make the team. I also look forward to learning from Seattle’s great players, including Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Swin Cash."

However, even though the Storm were pleasantly surprised to find Thomas at that spot, making the team will be a tall order when considering all those great players they already have. And that might be even more difficult for second round pick Ify Ibekwe, who was listed on Swish Appeal's mock draft as a first round pick possibility for the Storm.

STORM: Storm Happy to Add Thomas, Two Others
"We talked about Ify being a possibility even at No. 12, so it was nice to get somebody we considered at that spot later on in the draft," Agler said. "Krystal gives us some size in training camp. It will be interesting to see her come in and compete for a spot."

Ibekwe had an accomplished career at Arizona, including a Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award, as described in a Storm release.

She was twice named the Pac-10 Player of the Week during the regular season. For postseason awards, she was named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Pac-10 and a member of the Pac-10 All-Defensive team. In the awards given out by the Pac-10 media, Ibekwe was named All-Pac-10 and a member of the All-Pac-10 Defensive Team.

Ibekwe ended her collegiate career as the only player in Arizona history to record 1,000-plus points and 1,000-plus rebounds and the only player to average a career double-double (14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds). She is Arizona's career leader in rebounds with 1,194 and career leader in double-doubles with 55.

WNBA Draft 2011: Seattle Storm Select Ify Ibekwe, Krystal Thomas

2011-04-11T21:58:00Z

With their second and third picks, the Seattle Storm chose to go big selecting Arizona's 6-foot-2 forward Ify Ibekwe 24th overall to close the second round and 6'5" center Krystal Thomas 36th overall as the last pick in the third round and the draft.

Seattle basketball fans might be familiar with Ibekwe from her most days of lighting up the Washington Huskies in Hec Ed, both with her rebounding and scoring. For the Storm, her ability to step out and hit the 3-point shot (42.4%) will be essential to show the versatility to challenge for a roster spot on a veteran-laden championship team. Ibekwe nearly averaged a double-double with 16.1 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game.

Thomas was an excellent defender at Duke, but the question will be whether she is able to do enough offensively to truly have a shot at making the team.

With the drafting of Jasmine and Krystal Thomas in addition to the signing of Bridgette Mitchell as a free agent recently, the Storm will have a trio of Duke players in camp this year.

Mitchell Signs Training Camp Contract With Seattle - Duke University Blue Devils | Official Athletics Site - GoDuke.com
A 6-1 wing, Mitchell graduated from Duke in 2010. She averaged 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a senior. Mitchell started 43 of 131 games played over her career and was one of Duke's all-time best offensive rebounders as she pulled down 276 over her four-year career.

WNBA Draft 2011: Chicago Sky Select Angie Bjorklund 17th Overall

2011-04-11T20:46:40Z

It's difficult to find a better shooter than Tennessee Lady Vols wing Angie Bjorklund at 45% this past season.

And as she joins Courtney Vandersloot with the Chicago Sky this season, she has a chance to make the roster as someone to help spread the court as a target for guards off drives and viable kick out options for their post players, including 15th pick Carolyn Swords.

The issue for Bjorklund is what else she can do for a team.

2011 WNBA Draft: How Should We Evaluate The Draft Stock Of "Glue Players" Like Melissa Jones? - Swish Appeal
...she quite clearly projects as a long-range specialist with a 45.3% three point percentage in 27 games this year (although the numbers in the table above are only from her 21 starts before her injury). She has a great sense of spacing and can get her shot off relatively well. Defensively, she is the type of player who will make good decisions within a team concept. Her scoring is down this year, but yours would be too if you were playing with a player like freshman gunner Meighan Simmons who used up a team-high 30% of the possessions during Bjorklund's 21 starts.

However, outside of that, her numbers speak to that of a jump shooter - although she shoots nearly 80% from the free throw line, she doesn't get to the line often and is almost as strong a three point shooter as two point shooter meaning that ultimately, she's primarily a spot up or jump shooting player. Although it's been noted that she's not a mistake-prone ball handler, she's not exactly an efficient playmaker statistically from the wing either.

But overall, to have three Washington natives selected in the top 17 picks is a testament to how much talent exist in the area, albeit rather surprising.

WNBA Draft 2011: Seattle Storm Select Duke's Jasmine Thomas 12th In First Round

2011-04-11T20:19:59Z

There was really no way to predict who the Seattle Storm might select with their first round pick, but many fans were concerned about the point guard situation with Svetlana Abrosimova leaving and that's the direction Brian Agler went.

The Storm selected Duke Blue Devils point guard Jasmine Thomas with the first round draft pick and she was definitely considered one of the most talented guards in the draft.

WNBA Draft 2011 Prospect Capsule: Jasmine Thomas – "She Means What She Says & She Leads By Example" - Swish Appeal
A combo guard with good size and strength, Jasmine Thomas really carried a heavy load for Duke this season. As a senior captain, Thomas not only helped bring along a talented group of freshmen, but she was also the leader in scoring, assists, and minutes played. While she is only 5'9, she is physically strong, and has no problem shedding defenders while driving the lane. Duke's post players have struggled offensively, so it's a bit of an unknown how her ability to penetrate and lay the ball off will develop in the pros.

The question is where she fits in the Storm's rotation or if she fits. For all the concern about their backcourt, Sue Bird can play extensive minutes and Agler is not afraid to play Tanisha Wright at point and seems comfortable with Erin Phillips there as well.

WNBA Draft 2011: New York Liberty Select Tacoma Native Alex Montgomery 10th In First Round

2011-04-11T20:04:51Z

The first round of the WNBA Draft has been very kind to prospects from Washington state, with Courtney Vandersloot a lottery pick and now Tacoma native Alex Montgomery surprisingly being selected 10th by the New York Liberty.

Swish Appeal writers figured her as a second round pick and she was never really considered among the top prospects, but what she offers a New York team led by new coach John Whisenant is defense on the wing for his "White Line Defense".

Time to Dance: Georgia Tech - Swish Appeal
Never has a team been more suited to its name than the frenetic, pesky, and occasionally painful Yellow Jackets. They cause a lot of turnovers and they commit a lot of turnovers. High-scoring senior forward Alex Montgomery is the star of the show, putting up 14 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

The question mark about Montgomery has to begin with her relatively low shooting percentages at the college level, which make her immediate impact as definitely on the defensive end.

WNBA Draft 2011: Chicago Sky Select Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot Third

2011-04-11T19:32:28Z

Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot didn't have to wait long to figure out where she'll be playing professionally.

After the Tulsa Shock selected Australian Liz Cambage second, the Sky wasted no time in selecting the best point guard on the board.

With Chicago having a number of other guards as well, now you also have to wonder about how Chicago balances those their guard rotation.

More notes on Vandersloot from Swish Appeal:

WNBA Draft 2011 Prospects: How Much Better Is Courtney Vandersloot Than Other Point Guards? - Swish Appeal
Against Stanford, Vandersloot used 28.30% of her team's possessions which is just above her 26.79% rate for the season. She had a strong true shooting of 60.56% - including 3-for-5 shooting from 3-point land - and a free throw rate of 33.33%, both of which were close to her scoring efficiency levels for the season (her pre-tournament true shooting percentage was 56.80%, while her free throw rate was 32.02%). But naturally, with her assuming responsibility for 70% of the team's statistical production (45% above normal), her assist ratio was 5% lower than the norm at 29.37%. No problem: committing only one turnover in 38 minutes of play against Stanford's suffocating zone defense was good for a pure point rating of 12.82. As astounding as that number is, it was only marginally above her season pure point rating of 11.63.

In short, most video game player creators wouldn't even allow you to make a player that efficient - to lead a team in scoring and assists for a night is one thing. To do both extremely efficiently is another. To do it for an entire season at about that same level is almost mind boggling.

WNBA Draft 2011: Maya Moore Picked No. 1 Overall By Minnesota Lynx

2011-04-11T19:09:19Z

In a move that's been expected for quite some time, the Minnesota Lynx selected UConn's Maya Moore with the No. 1 pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft on Monday. Moore has been the most dominant player in college basketball throughout her career in Storrs, and was a no-brainer No. 1 pick in the draft. It's a game-changing pick for Minnesota, who have a franchise player to build around and someone who can step in and immediately command attention at the professional level in Moore.

Moore has won at every level, leading her high school team to three state championships before moving on to play for Geno Auriemma at Connecticut. All she did at UConn was lead her team to two consecutive NCAA Championships while racking up accolades along the way. Oh, and there was that record winning-streak, which measured 90 games before Stanford finally ended it in Palo Alto this past season.

In 2011, Moore won her second Wooden Award -- her first came in 2009 -- as college basketball's most outstanding player, capping her career at Connecticut with a plethora of awards and honors. She did not, however, finish her career with a win after UConn was upset by Notre Dame in the Final Four, denying Moore and the Huskies a chance for a third-straight NCAA title.

Stay tuned to our WNBA Draft storystream for updates on the Storm's pick and Swish Appeal for running analysis of the entire draft.