Monday, May 27, 2024

RIP Bill Walton

Obviously the focus today is on the memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending our country and way of life, so I hope all are enjoying Memorial Day celebrations.

Completely unrelated is the news that Bill Walton has passed away. When I played off my all-time great college basketball teams it was Bill Walton and his UCLA 1972 team that eventually defeated Jalen Brunson's Villanova team (link to Final Four here in my all-time Final Four and then Michael Jordan's 1982 UNC team to take my all-time Value Add Basketball GameValue Add Basketball Game title. RIP Bill Walton! Here is his card in the game.




Saturday, May 25, 2024

Updated Scoresheet and Value Add Basketball Instructions - UCLA 2018 & Texas 1986 Advance, 12 debut games left

We just updated our Value Add Basketball Game instructions with some new screen shots of key players as well. You can still read the entire instruction this main post for playing the free game, but here is the new beginning of the post. Now that we have the 64 women's teams in place, we also tweaked the scoresheet to show where quarters end.

Our most recent game was a 71-63 win by UCLA 2018 over USC 1994. In that game the double dimes indicate USC star center Lisa Leslie gets the ball on a 5, 7 or 8 while the UCLA star points guard Jordin Canada (20 points and 5 steals in this win) gets the ball on a 1, 6 or 7. UCLA moved up from 43rd to 35th in our updated all-time rankings, while USC dropped from 44th to 54th, but Cheryl Miller's USC team from 11 years earlier is 12th all-time. 

The 2010 Oklahoma team looked strong despite the 66-76 loss vs the first undefeated team - Texas 1986. Texas dropped from 3rd to 4th all-time due to the closer than expected loss, while Oklahoma shot up from 52nd to 45th all-time with the strong showing.





You can print out the scoresheet below in 2 pages, or open this google sheet to score a game. You do need this scoresheet to determine who gets rebounds and for the starting stats for a Value Add Basketball Games since we start players with two points and some other stats and a 20-20 score to keep the play time for the game to 30 to 45 minutes.



Choose the teams you want to play. Click on one of the following links to choose your men's team ...

... or to choose a woman's team:

We added 11 great women's teams due to more stats becoming available and us finding the coveted Texas 1985-86 stats to make that team (they actually recorded even blocked shots and steals that many did not record until years later).

On this link, Women's Great Teams - Arizona 2021 to Marquette 2019, we added Arizona 2021 (page 1), Auburn 1989 (page 2), Louisiana Tech 1987 (page 19) and LSU 2005 (page 23).

On this link, Women's Great Teams - Maryland 2006 to Stanford 2021, we added Michigan State 2005 (page 2), Notre Dame 2012 (page 8), Oklahoma 2002 (page 12), Old Dominion 1985 (page 15) and Old Dominion 1997 (page 16).

The big two changes were to the third and final - Women's Greats Hoops - Tennessee (8 of greatest 50 ever and we included 3) to Washington 2007Tennessee (8 of greatest 50 ever and we included 3) to Washington 2007 - with perhaps the greatest team ever (Texas 1986) added as well as Tennessee 1989 to give Pat Summit perhaps three of the top seven teams in the game. They are on pages 1 and 4 respectively.

4/24/2024 Note - below the dunk chart used to double check what the DUNK or STOP range are, we have added the new Advanced Jack Gohlke "Dunk Range" Rule.

We track all results - click here for all-time men's results and here for all-time women's results.

College  Basketball Reference references to player cards listed above - Caitlin Clark, Jalen Brunson, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird (her UConn teammate Diana Taurasi may have been the greatest pro), Maya Moore, Tamika Catchings, Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird




Here are the games in our new 64 team tournament - but only the 14 games matching teams yet to play in the game. All men's teams have been played in a game.

TeamYrPlayerRateSpreadOpponentYrResult   
Arizona2021Aari McDonald-8-14Louisiana Tech1988 
Auburn1989Carolyn Jones611Rutgers1988 
Colorado St.1999Becky Hammon-4-2Stanford2012 
Indiana2024MacKenzie Holmes-5-13Notre Dame2012 
Kentucky2013DeNesha Stallworth-33LSU2005 
Louisiana Tech1988Teresa Weatherspoon614Arizona2021 
Louisville2009Angel McCoughtry-5-4Old Dominion1985 
LSU2005Sylvia FowlesSeimone Augustus-6-3Kentucky2013 
Marquette2019Chloe Marotta, N Hiedeman-5-17Tennessee1989 
Maryland2006Crystal Langhorne12NC State2024 
Michigan St.2005Liz Shimek01Rutgers2005 
NC State2024Aziaha James-1-2Maryland2006 
North Carolina2007Ivory Latta-1-6Old Dominion1997 
Notre Dame2012Kylar Diggins813Indiana2024 
Ohio State1993Katie Smith13Vanderbilt2002 
Oklahoma2010Abi Olajuwon-5-19Texas1986L66-76
Oklahoma2002Stacey Dales-40Texas Tech1993 
Old Dominion1985Adrienne Goodson611Louisville2009 
Old Dominion1997Ticha Penicheiro56North Carolina2007 
Rutgers1988Sue Wicks-5-11Auburn1989 
Rutgers2005Cappie Poindexter-1-1Michigan St.2005 
Stanford2012Nnemkadi Ogwumike-22Colorado St.1999 
Tennessee1989Bridgette Gordon1217Marquette2019 
Texas1986Clarissa Davis1419Oklahoma2010WW76-66
Texas Tech1993Sheryl Swoopes-40Oklahoma2002 
UCLA2018Monique Billings-30USC1994W71-63
USC1994Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson-30UCLA2018L63-71
Vanderbilt2002Chantelle Anderson-2-3Ohio State1993

Friday, May 24, 2024

Roethlisberger, Olajuwon Strong Oklahoma Challenge Survived by 1-seed Texas 1986

Ben Roethlisberger sister Carlee Roethlisberger and Hakeem Olajuwon's daughter Abi Olajuwon certainly wouldn't be scared of the limelight of facing one of the greatest teams in history in the 1986 Texas Longhorns - the only undefeated champion in the first 15 years of NCAA women's titles.

Between their tough play, and early back-to-back three pointers by Nyeshia Stevenson to give the 2010 Oklahoma team a 29-26 lead in hopes of pulling off a 16- vs. 1-seed game in our Western Conference championships.

                                    Q1    Q2    Q3    Q4     Final
Texas 19861425211676
Oklahoma 20101418161866

Clarissa Davis, a freshman who came off the bench in the first year of her Hall of Fame career, lead the steady play with a team-high 15 points and five blocked shots, to keep a steady lead en route to a 76-66 win against the upset-minded 16-seed Oklahoma in our Value Add Basketball Game.Value Add Basketball Game.

While there was no 3-point line in the 1980s when Texas played, and Davis hit their only 3-pointer of the day, they do have three cards with good 1-3 ranges on the 20-sided die for 3-pointers made. This is based on Davis as well as Fran Harris and Andrea Lloyd were all still good enough 3-point shooters more than a decade later when the WNBA was formed and drafted all three. Despite being in their 30s for these debuts, all three hit 3-pointers in the new WNBA league.

The game was much more balanced across the categories then we expected, but the 31-22 rebound advantage for a Texas was.likely the difference, as they hage much stronger rebounding cards than Oklahoma.

They will await the winner of the 8- vs 9-seed game between the 2018 UCLA and 1994 USC teams.
 
Pos        Texas 1986                     Pts    3pt   2pt   FT  Att   Reb   Stl   Blk   Fl     Actual Stats
1-PGKamie Ethridge11043422015'5, 5.2 Pts
2-SGBeverly Williams12060030015'8, 11.6 Pts
3-SFFran Harris9041141046'0, 13.8 Pts
4-PFAndrea Lloyd12060052116'2, 9.2 Pts
5-CAnnette Smith10034471135'11, 10.4 Pts
PosBenchPts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFl Actual Stats
1-PGAudrey Smith2010010015'7, 3.8 Pts
2-SGYulonda Wimbish4020010015'9, 7.5 Pts
3-SFGay Hemphill2010010015'11, 7.2 Pts
4-PFClarissa Davis15152260526'1, 13.5 Pts
5-CCara Priddy2010010016'2, 4.9 Pts
 13 Turnovers791331011316716 
            
PosOklahoma 2010Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlActual Stats
1-PGDanielle Robinson14070011035'9, 16.8 Pts
2-SGNyeshia Stevenson18341133015'9, 14.6 Pts
3-SFCarlee Roethlisberger5021240016'1, 6.7 Pts
4-PFAbi Olajuwon4020010126'4, 10.6 Pts
5-CAmanda Thompson16072380036'0, 13.1 Pts
PosVisitor BenchPts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFl Actual Stats
1-PGJasmine Hartman3011210015'10, 2.2 Pts
2-SGLauren Willis2010010015'11, 1.5 Pts
3-SFWhitney Hand3011211016'1, 13.4 Pts
4-PFJoanna McFarland2010010016'3, 3.8 Pts
5-CLyndsey Cloman2010010016'3, 1.7 Pts
 12 Turnovers69327610225115

UCLA-USC Then 183-0 Texas vs. Olajuwan's Daugher

Everyone, especially those in Texas, know attention firmly shifts to baseball on Memorial Day.

But a Texas flavor for hoops as we found detailed stats for perhaps the greatest women's basketball team ever in the undefeated national champion 1986 Texas Longhorns who as our all-time 1-seed in the west will draw the 16-seed Oklahoma 2010 team featuring Hakeem Olajuwan's daughter Abi Olajuwan. 

We currently rank Texas as 3rd all-time and a 19-point favorite against Oklahoma - the 53rd ranked team in the game. The Longhorns were in the midst of winning 183 straight Southwest Conference games.

The other half of the double header to kick off our all-time tournament that will mainly be played last year is the perfect 8- vs 9- western matchup with the 2018 UCLA Ladies ranked 43rd in our game and facing the 1994 USC Lady Trojans ranked just one spot behind them at 44th of all-time great teams in our game.

We will have a big Statis-Pro NL update shortly for our baseball fans, but here is the 16 vs. 1 match-up for the Value Add Basketball Game Value Add Basketball Game tonight.

 

Thursday, May 23, 2024

West Bracket - Tournament of Greatest Women's Teams In History


West                                                   Seed           Player(s)                                        
Texas 1986, 0-01Clarissa Davis 
Oklahoma 2010, 0-016Abi Olajuwon
  Texas won 76-66 
USC 1994, 0-09Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson
UCLA 2018, 0-08Monique Billings
   UCLA won 71-63
Baylor 2012, 1-15Kalani Brown
Washington 2017, 0-112Kelsey Plum
   
Virginia Tech 2024, 0-113Elizabeth Kitley
Stanford 2021, 1-14Kiana Williams
   
WestSeedPlayer(s)
USC 1983, 2-13Cheryl Miller
Texas 2018, 0-114Ariel Atkins
   
Mississippi State 2018, 0-111Victoria Vivans
Oregon 2019, 0-16Sabrina Ionescu
   
Stanford 2012, 0-07Nnemkadi Ogwumike
Colorado St. 1999, 0-010Becky Hammon
   Stanford won 81-58
Long Beach State 1987, 0-115Cindy Brown
Louisiana Tech 1982, 3-12Pam Kelly

Here are the debut games in our all-time great West bracket - note the new updated teams.

We added 11 great women's teams due to more stats becoming available and us finding the coveted Texas 1985-86 stats to make that team (they actually recorded even blocked shots and steals that many did not record until years later).

On this link, Women's Great Teams - Arizona 2021 to Marquette 2019, we added Arizona 2021 (page 1), Auburn 1989 (page 2), Louisiana Tech 1987 (page 19) and LSU 2005 (page 23).

On this link, Women's Great Teams - Maryland 2006 to Stanford 2021, we added Michigan State 2005 (page 2), Notre Dame 2012 (page 8), Oklahoma 2002 (page 12), Old Dominion 1985 (page 15) and Old Dominion 1997 (page 16).

The big two changes were to the third and final - Women's Greats Hoops - Tennessee (8 of greatest 50 ever and we included 3) to Washington 2007Tennessee (8 of greatest 50 ever and we included 3) to Washington 2007 - with perhaps the greatest team ever (Texas 1986) added as well as Tennessee 1989 to give Pat Summit perhaps three of the top seven teams in the game. They are on pages 1 and 4 respectively.

1-seed Texas 1986 vs. 16-seed Oklahoma 2010

8-seed UCLA 2018 vs. 9-seed USC 1994 - what fun to get this rivalry game paired with Texas.

7-seed Stanford 2012 vs. 10-seed Colorado St. 1999

The outline for how we got here is below:

We found complete stats for one of the best few women's basketball teams in history, the Texas Longhorns 1985-86 undefeated national champs. This holiday weekend we plan to produce eight new all-time great women's teams which will give us a set of 64 - the perfect number for a new Value Add Basketball Game tournament.

The 64 teams we have selected for the game were chosen on the following basis:

If a team had one of these players we list as the greatest 40 college players of all time, then that team is in the game.

In addition, these 50 teams we rank as the best of all time are in the game EXCEPT when a team has several of the top 50 teams over the course of a few years, we just keep one of the teams so no player is on more than one team.

In addition to those teams, we took the best team from some other very strong programs.

Finally, I took a point of personal preference of two teams I used to watch in person - the first Marquette team to beat UConn and the first Auburn team to beat Tennessee.

I broke down the 64 teams into the four regular March Madness regions - East, South, Midwest and West - and seeded them based basically on these current rankings I keep for my game - but I tweaked a bit to line up seeds so that the teams I have yet to use in the game play each other first - so every 0-0 team is playing another 0-0 team until all teams have played once in order to catch any mistakes on any cards. 

South Bracket - Kentucky Downs LSU in Tournament of Greatest Women's Teams In History

Our 7-seed Kentucky 2013 won our final "debut" game in an SEC match-up 10-seed LSU 2005. Kentucky improves from 45th to 38th in our all-time rankings, while LSU dropped from 52nd to 58th. We did accidentally list LSU as a +0 in the ratings originally, but it has always been a -6 (6-points worse than "average" great teams in the game.  We plan to shift to baseball after these final debut games in each of the four regions. The results for the rest of the bracket so far are below this box score.
 
Pos      LSU Tigers 2005                 Pts   3pt2pt  FTAtt   RebStlBlkFlPts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PGTemeka Johnson40124210310.4, 3.3, 7.7, 5'3,wnba
2-SGScholanda Dorrell9041221028.9, 2.5, 2.1, 5'10,wnba
3-SGSeimone Augustus220944701320.1, 4.6, 2.1, 6'1,wnba
4-PFWendlyn Jones2010040114.7, 5.1, 0.8, 6'1
5-CSylvia Fowles130614412111.8, 9.0, 0.3, 6'6,wnba
PosLSU BenchPts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlPts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PGRaShonta LeBlanc2010010011.5, 1.2, 1.0, 5'7
2-SGQuianna Chaney2010012014.8, 0.9, 0.8, 5'11,wnba
3-SGFlorence Williams2010010012.9, 2.4, 0.4, 6'1
4-PFTillie Willis4020040011.8, 2.2, 0.2, 6'5
5-CCrystal White3011210013.1, 3.6, 0.4, 6'3
 11 Turnovers63027916275415 
            
PosKentucky Wildcats 2013Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlPts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PGJennifer O'Neill151523210310.9, 2.3, 2.8, 5'6,wnba
2-SGA'dia Mathies192611510216.1, 4.5, 2.2, 5'9,wnba
3-SGBria Goss14062272038.8, 2.9, 1.2, 5'10
4-PFSamarie Walker6030092238.7, 8.1, 1.2, 6'1
5-CDeNesha Stallworth40200301512.5, 6.0, 1.9, 6'3
PosKentucky BenchPts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlPts, Reb,Ast,Ht,pro?
1-PGJanee Thompson2010010014.0, 1.0, 0.9, 5'7
2-SGKastine Evans4020020014.3, 2.0, 1.0, 5'8
3-SGBernisha Pinkett2010010012.8, 1.6, 0.6, 5'7
4-PFSamantha Drake2010010012.6, 1.4, 0.2, 6'3
5-CAzia Bishop4020050013.7, 3.2, 0.4, 6'3
 15 Turnovers7232956366321

A'dia Mathies, who was initially accidentally left out of the game, had the big game with 19 points including two 3-pointers.  The SEC player of the year in 2013 was slightly outscored by LSU's star Seimone Augustus, but Kentucky outrebounded LSU 36-27. LSU's center Sylvia Fowles drew a 5th foul on DeNesha Stallworth and scored and hit the free throw to pull LSU within 46042 with 2:35 left in the 3rd quarter (21 possessions left in game), but Kentucky's Kastine Evans came off the bench with plenty of stamina left to let the Wildcats play the rest of the game without a tired player.

If you look at the bracket below, you will see that Kentucky will likely get a much tougher next game when we resume basketball later, with our all-time 2-seed and current national champ South Carolina 2024 and Kamilla Cardoso next up unless a 15-seed Virginia team pulls a huge upset.

Note June 18, 2024, favorites are 3-0 so far in bracket below.

Tennessee's 4-0 mark was in our initial all-time great championship of the 1st 20 great teams we created, so they are defending their title in this bigger tournament of 64 teams.

South                                               Seed         Player(s)                                                   
Tennessee 1998, 4-01Tamika CatchingsChamique Holdsclaw
Auburn 2009, 0-116Keke Carrier, DeWanna Bonner
   
Oklahoma 2002, 0-09Stacey Dales (cards being made)
Texas Tech 1993, 0-0 Won 85-79 OT8Sheryl Swoopes
   
Louisiana Tech 1988 0-0 W80-645Teresa Weatherspoon (cards being made)
Arizona 2021, 0-012Sylvia FowlesSeimone Augustus
   
South Carolina 2017, 1-113A'ja Wilson
LSU 2023, 1-04Angel Reese
   
SouthSeedPlayer(s)
Connecticut 2010, 2-13Breanna Stewart
Duke 2006, 0-114Alison Bales
   
Virginia 1991, 1-011Dawn Staley
Baylor 2019, 1-16Brittney Griner
   
Kentucky 2013, 0-0 WON 72-637DeNesha Stallworth, A'dia Mathias
LSU 2005, 0-0 10Sylvia Fowles, Seimone Augustus
   
Virginia 2018, 0-115Dominique Toussaint
South Carolina 2024, 1-02Kamilla Cardoso

 The outline for how we got here is below: 

We found complete stats for one of the best few women's basketball teams in history, the Texas Longhorns 1985-86 undefeated national champs. This holiday weekend we plan to produce eight new all-time great women's teams which will give us a set of 64 - the perfect number for a new Value Add Basketball Game tournament.

The 64 teams we have selected for the game were chosen on the following basis:

If a team had one of these players we list as the greatest 40 college players of all time, then that team is in the game.

In addition, these 50 teams we rank as the best of all time are in the game EXCEPT when a team has several of the top 50 teams over the course of a few years, we just keep one of the teams so no player is on more than one team.

In addition to those teams, we took the best team from some other very strong programs.

Finally, I took a point of personal preference of two teams I used to watch in person - the first Marquette team to beat UConn and the first Auburn team to beat Tennessee.

I broke down the 64 teams into the four regular March Madness regions - East, South, Midwest and West - and seeded them based basically on these current rankings I keep for my game - but I tweaked a bit to line up seeds so that the teams I have yet to use in the game play each other first - so every 0-0 team is playing another 0-0 team until all teams have played once in order to catch any mistakes on any cards. 


Midwest Bracket - Tournament of Greatest Women's Teams In History

Here are the debut games in our all-time great Midwest bracket:

8-seed Michigan State 2005 vs. 9-seed Rutgers 2005

4-seed Notre Dame 2012 vs. 13-seed Indiana 2024

7-seed Ohio State 1993 vs. 10-seed Vanderbilt 2002

2-seed Tennessee 1989 vs. 15-seed Marquette 2019 

While favorites have won exactly as many as expected in our hundreds of games to date, this is the upset bracket at of June 16, 2024 with the favorites 0-3.

Midwest                                         Seed             Player(s)                                             
Tennessee 2007, 1-01Candace Parker
Purdue 2003, 0-116Shereka Wright
   
Rutgers 2005, 0-09Cappie Poindexter
Michigan St. 2005, 0-08Liz Shimek (cards being made)
   
Iowa 2024, 1-05Caitlin Clark
Minnesota 2004, 0-112Lindsay Whalen
   
Indiana 2024, 0-0 Won 78-7013MacKenzie Holmes
Notre Dame 2012, 0-04Kylar Diggins (cards being made)
   
MidwestSeedPlayer(s)
Notre Dame 2018, 3-13Arike Ogunbowales
Ohio State 2016, 0-114Kelsey Mitchell
   
Notre Dame 2001, 1-011Ruth Riley
Texas A&M 2011, 0-16Danielle Adams
   
Ohio State 1993, 0-07Katie Smith
Vanderbilt 2002, 0-0 Won 85-7610Chantelle Anderson
   
Marquette 2019, 0-0 won 68-6415Chloe Marotta, Natisha Hiedeman
Tennessee 1989, 0-02Bridgette Gordon (cards being made)

The outline for how we got here is below:

We found complete stats for one of the best few women's basketball teams in history, the Texas Longhorns 1985-86 undefeated national champs. This holiday weekend we plan to produce eight new all-time great women's teams which will give us a set of 64 - the perfect number for a new Value Add Basketball Game tournament.

The 64 teams we have selected for the game were chosen on the following basis:

If a team had one of these players we list as the greatest 40 college players of all time, then that team is in the game.

In addition, these 50 teams we rank as the best of all time are in the game EXCEPT when a team has several of the top 50 teams over the course of a few years, we just keep one of the teams so no player is on more than one team.

In addition to those teams, we took the best team from some other very strong programs.

Finally, I took a point of personal preference of two teams I used to watch in person - the first Marquette team to beat UConn and the first Auburn team to beat Tennessee.

I broke down the 64 teams into the four regular March Madness regions - East, South, Midwest and West - and seeded them based basically on these current rankings I keep for my game - but I tweaked a bit to line up seeds so that the teams I have yet to use in the game play each other first - so every 0-0 team is playing another 0-0 team until all teams have played once in order to catch any mistakes on any cards. 

East Bracket - Tournament of Greatest Women's Teams In History

East Bracket - Tournament of Greatest Women's Teams In History

Here are the debut games in our all-time great East bracket:

9-seed NC State 2024 vs. 8-seed Maryland 2006

5-seed Old Dominion (ODU) 1985 vs. 12-seed Louisville 2009

6-seed Old Dominion (ODU) 1997 vs. 11-seed North Carolina (UNC) 2007

Note: June 16, 2024, favorites 2-1 so far in bracket.

East                                           Seed       Player(s)                                                
Connecticut 2002, 1-01Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi
Delaware 2013, 0-116Elena Delle Donne
   
NC State 2024, 0-09Aziaha James
Maryland 2006, 0-08Crystal Langhorne
   Maryland 78-72
Old Dominion 1985, 0-05Adrienne Goodson (cards being made)
Louisville 2009, 0-0 Won 74-68 12Angel McCoughtry
   
Rutgers 1988, 0-013Sue Wicks
Auburn1989, 0-0 won 66-624Carolyn Jones (cards being made)
   
EastSeedPlayer(s)
Connecticut 1995, 1-03Nykesha Sales, Rebecca Lobo
Georgia 2013, 0-114Jasmine James
   
North Carolina 2007, 0-011Ivory Latta
Old Dominion 1997, 0-0 Won 85-696Ticha Penicheiro (cards being made)
   
Old Dominion 1980, 0-17Nancy Lieberman
Louisville 2014, 0-110Shoni Schimmel
   
Penn State 2012, 0-115Maggie Lucas
Connecticut 2016, 1-12Maya Moore

The outline for how we got here is below:

We found complete stats for one of the best few women's basketball teams in history, the Texas Longhorns 1985-86 undefeated national champs. This holiday weekend we plan to produce eight new all-time great women's teams which will give us a set of 64 - the perfect number for a new Value Add Basketball Game tournament.

The 64 teams we have selected for the game were chosen on the following basis:

If a team had one of these players we list as the greatest 40 college players of all time, then that team is in the game.

In addition, these 50 teams we rank as the best of all time are in the game EXCEPT when a team has several of the top 50 teams over the course of a few years, we just keep one of the teams so no player is on more than one team.

In addition to those teams, we took the best team from some other very strong programs.

Finally, I took a point of personal preference of two teams I used to watch in person - the first Marquette team to beat UConn and the first Auburn team to beat Tennessee.

I broke down the 64 teams into the four regular March Madness regions - East, South, Midwest and West - and seeded them based basically on these current rankings I keep for my game - but I tweaked a bit to line up seeds so that the teams I have yet to use in the game play each other first - so every 0-0 team is playing another 0-0 team until all teams have played once in order to catch any mistakes on any cards. 

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Actual Greatest 50 Women's Teams of All-Time, and Which Teams We Plan to Add to the Game

We mentioned that our ranking of the 58 great teams in our Value Add Basketball Game are not actually the 58 greatest teams of all time because, 1) we have not used multiple teams from one school with overlapping players, 2) the best 50 teams so far are all from the same 12 schools and we want to have a lot more colleges represented by their best team even if that might be the 100th best team of all-time, and 3) we have not had stats for some of the great teams from the past century.

The top dozen or so teams of all time are in the game, but for example 13 of 19 UConn teams from 2000 to 2018 are among the greatest 50 teams of all time - so we just picked the three best to include in the game to cover most of the UConn players from those 19 years but just one of their teams during their 4 year career.

In response, the question was, "Who are the greatest 50 women's teams of all time?" We believe the following are the 50 greatest women's teams of all time - 14 of them were UConn teams - and we break them down into the teams that are in the game, the seven teams we plan to add, and then a third column of teams that will not be added because players on their team also played in another season already in the game.

 
Team                  Top 50  Teams  In Game               Need StatsAdjacent Team                                            
Auburn1 1989 
Baylor72012, 2019 2011, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2020

Connecticut


14


1995, 2002, 2010, 2016

 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018

Louisiana Tech2198219881990
Maryland12006  
Notre Dame42001, 201820122014
Old Dominion319801985, 1997 
Oregon22019 2020
South Carolina42017, 2024 2019, 2023
Tennessee81998, 200719891987, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2008
Texas1 1986 
USC21983 1984

Here are the seven teams we would like to add that are among the top 50 women's teams of all-time, are not in the game and do not have another team from the same school within a few years with overlapping players.

Auburn 1989 - 2nd straight undefeated SEC team and 95-7 over 3 years and finished top 3 in AP all three years, 2nd of 3 straight Nat'l title games - future 5'8 WNBA backcourt in Carolyn Jones and Ruthie Bolton. Basketball Reference has found the Auburn 1989 stats now so we can add the team. We added a Auburn team from this century to have the school represented.

Louisiana Tech 1988 - Won title in middle of 4 Final 4s, with future WNBA player Teresa Weatherspoon only 5th on the team in scoring due to dishing 6 assists per game. Basketball References does not have the La Tech 1988 stats so we can now make the cards.

Notre Dame 2012 - 11th best SRS of any team ever besides UConn, and 2nd of 4 National Runner-up in 5 years, and all 5 starters went WNBA. We held off just because we were only allowing two teams for school, but now that we've set the precedent of trying to just keep teams about 6 years apart (e.g. UConn 1995, 2002, 2010 and 2016) we will add them based on these Notre Dame 2012 stats.

Old Dominion 1985 - Won only official title in 1985 after winning 1980 title before women's hoops was official sport. We did piece together enough 1980 stats to put together that ODU team as the first great women's team in the games, but do not have 1985 cards.

Old Dominion 1997 - National runner up in 1997 with 4 players going onto WNBA with highest scoring team in country. We do now have the ODU 1997 stats so can make the team.

Tennessee 1989 - The middle of 3 titles in 5 years, and this was the one of the 3 that was No. 1 all season with 5 future WNBA players lead by Bridgette Gordon (20.4 pts, 7.0 Reb, 2.7 Asts). We do now have stats so they will be added at some point. Like Notre Dame we were holding off on going to three teams from one school, but spreading them out by about 6 years between teams, we will add this team based on the Tennessee 1987 stats to give them one team each decade of Pat Summit's incredible run.

Texas 1986 - No stats for the undefeated national champs - someone with the biggest alumni base in the country needs to have these stats.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

LSU & Angel Reese Crush 2003 Purdue 89-61 to Move Up to #12 All-Time

Angel Reese stole the ball with 26 possessions (15:38) to go in the game, fed ahead to Jasmine Carson for a fast break 3-pointer (all shot rolls on the 20-sided dice are lowered one on a fast break, meaning the "5" was changed to a "4" for the 3-pointer) and LSU was off to the races with a 53-36 lead.

We knew their -1 defense and Reese' ability to steal, block shots and dominate the boards gave them a chance to shut down Purdue 2003. But as a 8-point favorite we did not expect all five LSU starters to score in double figures for a 89-61 blowout. The win was so dominant, that in our ratings and score tracker, LSU 2023 moved up form #20 all-time to #12 all-time, and Purdue 2003 dropped from #49 to #55 all-time.

If you allowed an unlimited number of teams from each school, the greatest 25 teams of all-time would probably all be from 8 schools.

Baylor, Connecticut, Louisiana Tech, Notre Dame, South Carolina,  Stanford, Tennessee and USC. However, in the game we do no more than two teams from each school except for a 3rd from UConn since they might have 10 or the top 25 teams of all time. Explanation at bottom of blog.




The other reason we try to play each team at least once is to catch any mistakes on the cards, and there were a few minor ones which you can see handwritten in the photos at the bottom. 

On the Purdue team sheet the only mistake is the possessions 32-30 at SF (Small Forward) should be played by Carol Duncan instead of Emily Helkes Sabrina Keys, who we accidentally had playing at two positions at once in the suggested rotation. Remember you can rotate the players in any order you want, but just keep to the number of possessions that match the Stamina.

Got LSU, we had no one written in to be at the power foward (PF) position from on possessions 35-31, so we have now added those possessions for Sa'Myah Smith. Also we had accidentally written in the rating of -6 based on another LSU team in the game, but actually this LSU team calculated as a +1, so one point better than the average GREAT team in the Value Add Basketball Game

We ranked Reese as the 23rd best women's college player of all time in our top 40 rankings, and she certainly looked like that in this dominant 89-61 as she was the top in points (22), field goals (10) and tied for tops in Rebounds (8) and Steals (2). This LSU team did win the title, defeating Caitlin Clark and Iowa, while this Purdue team went Elite 8 thought they had gone to the title game two years earlier.

 
 
Pos        Purdue 2003             Pts  3pt  2pt  FT  Att  Reb  Stl  Blk  Fl   Actual Stats
1-PGErika Valek11140012015'6,14.0 Pts
2-SGBeth Jones7120022025'9,8.7 Pts
3-SFLindsey Hicks2010040016'1, 7.4 Pts
4-PFShereka Wright19083471115'10,18.9 Pts
5-CMary Jo Noon8032280126'5, 11.0 Pts
Pos Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFl Actual Stats
1-PGSharika Webb2010011015'9,2.8 Pts
2-SGCarol Duncan3011210016'1, 1.9 Pts
3-SFMissy Taylor2010010016'3, 1.7 Pts
4-PFSabrina Keys2010020016'3,1.3 Pts
5-CEmily Heikes5021320016'0, 6.0 Pts
 13 Turnovers61224711296212 
            
PosLSU 2023Pts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlActual Stats
1-PGAlexis Morris19180041015'6,15.4 Pts
2-SGAngel Reese220102282326'3,23.0 Pts
3-SFFlau'jae Johnson10050040015'10,11.0 Pts
4-PFJasmine Carson11140061035'10,8.8 Pts
5-CLaDazhia Williams10042250246'4, 9.9 Pts
PosHome BenchPts3pt2ptFTAttRebStlBlkFlActual Stats
1-PGKateri Poole7120020015'8,4.5 Pts
2-SGLast-Tear Poa2010010015'11,3.4 Pts
3-SFEmily Ward2010010015'11,0.8 Pts
4-PFSa'Myah Smith4020020216'2,4.6 Pts
5-CAmani Bartlett2010010016'3, 1.0 Pts
 11 Turnovers8933844344716





We limit schools to a max of two all-time great women's teams - otherwise Tennessee, UConn and Baylor would have about half (25) of the all-time greatest 50 teams. Tennessee had the most title of any teams before the SRS ratings really started to work in 2010 to determine how great each team is, and since then UConn has had seven of the best 10 teams in the past 25 years. Baylor is a distant second with only two of the best 10 teams in the last 25 years, but they do match UConn with 8 of the best 25 teams in the past 25 years. South Carolina is on pace to be the fourth great team with four of the greatest teams in the last few years.

Best 25 Teams Since 2010Top 10Top 25
UConn78
Baylor28
South Carolina14
Stanford02
Notre Dame02
Oregon01
Total1025