Epic Candace Parker vs. Elena Delle Donne
While this game was a blowout from the beginning, as the Tennessee 2007 team, ranked No. 3 all-time in our rankings, easily covered the 25-point spread despite traveling to Delaware, it was fun to imagine this Value Add Basketball Game despite the 76-42 final score. The 2007 season was the first of Pat Summitt's final two national titles, which happened in back-to-back seasons. And after our No. 1-ranked Vols team from a decade earlier came nowhere near covering its spread, it does raise the question of whether this could be the top women's team of all time or if that distinction belongs to one of the UConn teams.
The first fun part of imagining this game is imagining a trip by Pat Summitt and the Vols into a mid-major arena that usually draws about 1,200 fans for mid-major games, compared to the 15,000+ who come out for UConn and Tennessee games. Only once did Delaware draw more than 5,000 fans, and that was when they got a top-10 Maryland team to drive 60 miles to play while Delle Donne was there, and the Terps beat them by double digits. So this game would never happen, and that's why it's fun to imagine it in a Value Add Basketball Game.
The next item is the matchup of the two players we play at the 4 (power forward): Elena Delle Donne, who we rank as the 12th-greatest college player in history, and, of course, Tennessee's Candace Parker, who we rank as the 10th-greatest college player in our all-time top 40. Even as the five future WNBA players on the court for Tennessee dominated the four non-WNBA starters for mid-major Delaware, the Parker vs. Delle Donne matchup was epic. Both drew three first-half fouls on each other, while Parker had the 11-point, 7-rebound advantage over Delle Donne's 6 points and 2 rebounds.
Then in the second half, the tables turned with what looked like a little home cooking. In the first apparent bad call of the game, Parker drove to the hoop and scored to make it 53-32 Vols, BUT Delle Donne appeared to foul her, so it should have been an and-one and a fourth foul on Delle Donne. A 36 roll on defense can be changed to a 66 for the home team to make it a missed call, so almost every time that happens the visiting team was robbed. HOWEVER, when I looked twice at the card, I realized it was not a missed call because Delle Donne is one of the few players in the game for whom a 36 roll is NOT a foul. Players who foul a lot foul on 33-36, an average player fouls on 35-36, and a player who rarely fouls might only foul on a 36. But then there are a few like Delle Donne who don't foul on their own card. Parker's three fouls drawn were the one that each player starts with when the game is 20-20 at the outset of a Value Add Basketball Game and two on her own card, where she gets the ball a ton (a 4, 7 or 8 on the 1-8 roll) and then drew fouls on Delle Donne with 20-sided die rolls in the 10-12 range.
Two possessions after Delle Donne avoided the fourth foul, Parker committed her fifth foul and Delle Donne made both free throws. She is 90 percent from the line, with 1-18 made and 19-20 a miss. While most wouldn't care about that, if we imagine gamblers in the small arena who took Tennessee giving 25 points, the fact that Delle Donne had just made the score 57-34 while fouling out one of the 10 greatest players in the history of college basketball would have been intriguing.
In fact, the Vols are one of the few teams in men's or women's history that could have a future pro player foul out and simply bring in another one. In their case, future WNBA player Alberta Auguste came off the bench, and the Vols immediately went on a 12-0 run after Parker fouled out to make it 69-34 — a 35-point lead against a 25-point spread — and went on to win 76-42 to easily cover.
The dominance leads to one other note: If anyone plays Value Add Basketball without using the "dunk" chart, then you really aren't playing the game right. A game like this would heavily favor the mid-major school that built its stats against much lighter competition than the SEC powerhouse in this case. Tennessee's LAYUP range on that chart for this game was 51-54, meaning any roll in that range on the 11-66 roll guarantees they at least get a layup unless they decide to take the result of the 20-sided die — a 3-pointer or drawing a foul on a crucial opposing player. The Vols chose that option once to get the third foul on Delle Donne rather than take the layup and leave her at two fouls.
But more importantly, the chart for Delaware shows that 51-64 is always a stop — meaning the Vols get the ball without letting Delaware score, whether that comes from a miss and defensive rebound or a turnover. Both figures are crucial because they adjust for the Blue Hens playing much lighter competition to build up stats that might look better than an SEC school's on paper until you realize the SEC school compiled its numbers against much better competition.
With the 6'4" Parker sitting out the last 21 possessions, Delle Donne almost caught her in points, 10 to 11, going 8-for-8 from the line but never getting a true bucket after the automatic two points while playing against five excellent defensive future WNBA players. The 6'5" Delle Donne did finally pass Parker in rebounds, 10-9, and had a steal and the only true block for either team in the whole game, though we automatically give both starting centers one block for the opening minutes that make the score 20-20 before we roll our first dice.
So for us, even though the gamblers who went with the favorite in this one would have cruised to victory, there was a lot of fun imagining this game in a small gym, with a visiting team that we believe was one of the three best teams of all time traveling to the tiny state to play there.
| Pos | Tennessee 2007 | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Ht |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-PG | Shannon Bobbitt | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5'2 |
| 2-SG | Alexis Hornbuckle | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5'11 |
| 3-SF | Sidney Spencer | 17 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 |
| 4-PF | Candace Parker | 11 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6'4 |
| 5-C | Nicky Anosike | 15 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6'4 |
| Pos | Reserve | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Ht |
| 1-PG | Cait McMahan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5'4 |
| 2-SG | Alberta Auguste | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5'11 |
| 3-SF | Dominique Redding | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'1 |
| 4-PF | Nicci Moats | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'2 |
| 5-C | Alex Fuller | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 |
| 76 | 6 | 27 | 6 | 9 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 16 | |||
| Pos | Delaware 2013 | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Ht |
| 1-PG | Kayla Miller | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5'10 |
| 2-SG | Akeema Richards | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5'7 |
| 3-SF | Lauren Carra | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5'9 |
| 4-PF | Elena Delle Donne | 10 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6'5 |
| 5-C | Danielle Parker | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6'2 |
| Pos | Reserve | Pts | 3pt | 2pt | FT | Att | Reb | Stl | Blk | Fl | Ht |
| 1-PG | Trumae Lucas | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5'8 |
| 2-SG | Chelsea Craig | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'2 |
| 3-SF | Jaquetta May | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5'9 |
| 4-PF | Kelsey Buchanan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 |
| 5-C | Stephanie Leon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6'3 |
| 42 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| Pos | Tennessee 2007 | Ht | Season Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-PG | Shannon Bobbitt | 5'2 | 8.7 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 2.7 Ast,WNBA |
| 2-SG | Alexis Hornbuckle | 5'11 | 10.2 Pts, 5.1 Reb, 3.9 Ast,WNBA |
| 3-SF | Sidney Spencer | 6'3 | 11.6 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 1.1 Ast,WNBA |
| 4-PF | Candace Parker | 6'4 | 19.6 Pts, 9.8 Reb, 2.4 Ast,WNBA |
| 5-C | Nicky Anosike | 6'4 | 7.5 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 1.6 Ast,WNBA |
| 1-PG | Cait McMahan | 5'4 | 2.4 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| 2-SG | Alberta Auguste | 5'11 | 5.0 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 1.4 Ast, WNBA |
| 3-SF | Dominique Redding | 6'1 | 3.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.2 Ast |
| 4-PF | Nicci Moats | 6'2 | 0.9 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
| 5-C | Alex Fuller | 6'3 | 6.0 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| Pos | Delaware 2013 | Ht | Season Stats |
| 1-PG | Kayla Miller | 5'10 | 3.7 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 3.0 Ast |
| 2-SG | Akeema Richards | 5'7 | 5.5 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 1.1 Ast |
| 3-SF | Lauren Carra | 5'9 | 10.7 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 2.0 Ast |
| 4-PF | lena Delle Donne | 6'5 | 26.0 Pts, 8.5 Reb, 1.9 Ast,WNBA |
| 5-C | Danielle Parker | 6'2 | 8.8 Pts, 8.7 Reb, 0.9 Ast |
| 1-PG | Trumae Lucas | 5'8 | 6.6 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.6 Ast |
| 2-SG | Chelsea Craig | 6'2 | 0.4 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.2 Ast |
| 3-SF | Jaquetta May | 5'9 | 4.8 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 0.8 Ast |
| 4-PF | Kelsey Buchanan | 6'3 | 2.1 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 0.2 Ast |
| 5-C | Stephanie Leon | 6'3 | 0.7 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.0 Ast |
