2020 WNBA Awards, Part Two: All-WNBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie Selections
One writer's choices for who deserves the remaining WNBA accolades this season
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Earlier this week, several members of the Her Hoop Stats staff and I selected our winners for various major WNBA end of season awards. However, because I've been debating and arguing for weeks over some of the remaining honors that are handed out each year, this wasn't enough for me. I had to finish the story. So here are my picks for the All-WNBA teams, the All-Defensive teams and the All-Rookie team. There will also be some discussion of who I expect to actually win when the votes by the media or coaches (depending on the award in question) are counted, but the picks made are who would appear on my (hypothetical) ballot. My DMs are open if you want to make these official next year, WNBA.
All-WNBA Teams
The first thing I do with these awards, every time, is go through the teams and make a big list. There are usually two levels - people I think are genuinely in the conversation, and a second-tier group who I don't think are quite there but could be involved if there aren’t enough candidates. We need 10 players for the All-WNBA teams and I had 16 on my main list, which at first glance obviously seems like plenty. All we should have to do is pare down, right? Maybe. We'll get to that.
Let's start with the guards. If you read my MVP entry in the group awards article, one of them is obvious. While she played on a team that rather fell apart down the stretch, Courtney Vandersloot was exceptional this year as the Chicago Sky's unquestioned leader. She may now be the first player in league history to average 10 assists per game and she led the league in net plus/minus by a mile (because Chicago collapsed into a puddle whenever she was off the court). She also finished top in assist-to-turnover ratio and was simply the league's best orchestrator, while shooting and scoring even better than in previous years. Her defense isn't great, and probably never will be, but has improved over the years.
Any debate is over the second spot. I have four recognized guards remaining on my main list: Diana Taurasi, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith. The numbers, largely speaking, say Taurasi. PER has her comfortably top of the group, she's tied with Loyd at the top of Win Shares, tied with Diggins-Smith to top true shooting percentage, has comfortably the highest free throw rate despite shooting way more threes than any of the others, and has the best assist-to-turnover rate. From an eye-test perspective, she had a strange season. There were times where she was an unstoppable force, firing shots from ridiculously deep and carrying the Mercury (especially after Brittney Griner left the bubble). But early in the season there were games where she only seemed to truly join the fray late in the third quarter or early in the fourth. Then later in the season, she'd start hot before largely disappearing in the second half. It seemed like she didn't have the energy anymore to play a full game, so she'd drift for long periods. Her defense is also just as bad as it's been for virtually her entire career. However, as the numbers suggest, Taurasi for parts of a game is still better than virtually anyone else for the whole thing. She's my other first-team guard. We'll get to the other three later when deciding the second team.
As you might've heard in the podcast where I picked all-stars alongside a couple of my colleagues, there were four players I had as definite members of my frontcourt. Nothing has changed since then in terms of having them at the top of my list for All-WNBA. However, as you're probably aware, basketball teams only tend to have three frontcourt players, which creates something of a dilemma. Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson, Candace Parker, Napheesa Collier - four enter, but only three can be chosen.
As the star players on the league's two best teams, Stewart and Wilson have been the central debate for MVP all season and are essentially impossible to leave off. Both have been star scorers who've produced efficiently offensively all year while also being key parts of the top two defenses in the league. Stewart has more range and is the better passer but Wilson has been slightly more effective inside the arc this season while getting to the line more. Stewart also helps because you can argue she starts at center for Seattle (the roles are split between her and Natasha Howard). I haven't seen a ballot from this year but in other recent seasons, the requirements for All-WNBA voting have stated "Please vote for the player at the position in which she is a starter" (and then asked for picks in traditional 2-guard/2-forward/1-center format). I like to stick to the rules, and Wilson clearly started as a power forward this year. Stewart's debatable, so good enough.
That leaves a choice between Collier and Parker. Both played huge roles for their respective teams all season at both ends of the floor. Parker played a lot of 'point-forward' (or 'point-center' - she's debatable too), rebounding and initiating the offense for Los Angeles. Collier was a more traditional forward, but her flexibility defensively to play the 3 or the 4 - essentially perimeter and post - was also huge for Minnesota (and not something asked of Parker). Advanced metrics are split. Parker's ahead in PIPM but Collier comes out ahead in Win Shares and WARP. PER and Net Rating are virtually identical. In traditional stats, they're also remarkably close. Collier averaged 16.1 points per game to Parker's 14.7 but both shot almost identically from the field and from three-point range on similar volume. Parker had slightly more rebounds and assists but Collier beat her out in steals, and had a lower usage rate while accumulating her offensive numbers. Ultimately, it's honestly pretty much a coin flip. I'm going with Collier, if for no other reason than her extensive time on the floor. Some would argue this as a point in Parker's favor - that she's compiled her counting stats in fewer minutes. But when Sylvia Fowles went down, Collier both shifted her primary position from small forward to power forward and took on a heavy load. Night in and night out she played 34+ minutes for the Lynx while doing a little bit of everything. She led the league both in total minutes and minutes per game. Parker and her knees were healthier this year than in some previous ones and clearly benefited from the lack of travel, but also from some time management by Derek Fisher. That slides her to the second team for me, but with the acknowledgment that her level of performance would be first-team worthy in most years.
While I promise this wasn't the reason Collier was picked, it also makes the next stage easier - because Parker can go in at center on my second-team. The remaining seven players on my main list are all forwards, and calling any of them a center would be more of a stretch than it already is with Stewart or Parker. If you had both of them on your first team, and were trying to find someone who genuinely started at center this year for your second team, you'd have been looking at someone like a Damiris Dantas or a Brionna Jones (dipping into my secondary list). Fortunately, I don't have to do that. I just have to come up with two forwards.
Firstly, the disclaimer - while I sometimes get a little angsty about these things on Twitter, I think any of the seven I have here are reasonable choices. Connecticut makes things difficult by revolving around a star frontcourt all season who finished the year with remarkably similar numbers. Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner were the Sun's key scorers all year and central parts of their defense. Bonner scored a little more and added some threes (though at a poor 25%) while Thomas was more efficient inside and creates more. Her brute force as an engine for the Sun puts Thomas slightly in front for me, but I could understand someone selecting Bonner instead (or both - although two All-WNBA players for a sub-.500 Connecticut team seems like a lot).
There are also two candidates for these spots from Las Vegas, with a case to be made for both Angel McCoughtry and Dearica Hamby. The main argument against McCoughtry is that she played only 20 minutes per game, with Bill Laimbeer carefully managing her playing time to maximize her effectiveness and chances of staying healthy. In the time that she did play, she led the league by a mile in PER while scoring effectively inside and out and playing a key part in the Aces' success this season. Hamby's counting stats and shooting percentages are actually very similar, only in significantly more playing time (and a significantly lower usage rate bringing their numbers close to even). Both have been very good, and it depends on whether you favor per-minute production or greater time on the floor to choose between them.
The two main candidates for Most Improved Player were also on my possibles list, with Myisha Hines-Allen and Betnijah Laney both stepping up enough for their teams to be considered. The numbers are there for both of them, especially Hines-Allen, albeit on poor teams.
Finally, there's Alysha Clark. Regular readers will know that I'm a big fan of what she brings to Seattle, even if she's not the type of player who usually comes into consideration for these awards. Her usage rate is only 12.5% because surrounded by stars and scorers on the Storm she's not asked to be a primary weapon. However, this season she's excelled even beyond her usual levels. She shows up around the top of most advanced stat lists due to her outstanding efficiency, shooting over 50% from three-point range and often slicing inside to grab opportunistic buckets over smaller defenders. Even if you didn't select her as your Defensive Player of the Year as I did, she's also clearly in the small group of options for the All-Defensive teams.
When I look back at All-WNBA teams in future years, I want them to represent the best of that season more than anything else. So my second-team forwards are Clark and McCoughtry, with Thomas a very close third. But it's a tough group to choose between.
As mentioned earlier, it's two from three for the guards. Ogunbowale led the league in scoring and carried a very heavy load for Dallas. They asked her to create a lot of their offense on her own, and while still not hyper-efficient she did take a step forward on that front compared to her rookie year. Loyd continues to be very good as the primary scoring sidekick for Stewart in Seattle, hitting threes at a career-high rate this season and bouncing back to her more typical levels after an uneven 2019. Diggins-Smith's shooting numbers were outstanding in Phoenix, flirting with 50/40/90 for much of the season before ultimately falling a little short. She stepped up, particularly after Griner left the team, looking more comfortable in a simpler system. Ultimately, I can't swallow putting Diggins-Smith on this team. Too many ugly turnovers on poor passes (her assist-turnover ratio is comfortably below both Ogunbowale and Loyd), and too much bad defense. In fact, on/off numbers hate her this year, putting her rock bottom of the league in net plus/minus. So Loyd and Ogunbowale it is.
All WNBA First-Team:
G Courtney Vandersloot
G Diana Taurasi
F A’ja Wilson
F Napheesa Collier
C Breanna Stewart
Second-Team:
G Arike Ogunbowale
G Jewell Loyd
F Angel McCoughtry
F Alysha Clark
C Candace Parker
All-Defensive Teams
Defense is notoriously difficult to assess. We don't have great stats for it, and without asking the head coaches about every play of every game we don't know exactly what players were supposed to do on any given play. Blocks and steals are nice but can often be the result of freelancing that gives up at least as many points as it produces. So we watch the games, and we do the best we can.
Statistically, Seattle had easily the best defense in the league this year, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that I was choosing between three Storm players for my Defensive Player of the Year. While three from one team seems like a lot, Alysha Clark, Natasha Howard and Breanna Stewart all, therefore, make my first team.
That leaves two guards to decide for the first team, and it's always harder to find guards for these teams. Regular candidates like Jasmine Thomas and Ariel Atkins didn't have great years, Alana Beard's retired and Jordin Canada - on a good team defense - didn't particularly stand out this season either. With a slight position fudge, I'm putting LA's Brittney Sykes on the first team. Her speed and activity for the Sparks have been important for them on the wing and allowed them to spice up their starting lineup by replacing Tierra Ruffin-Pratt with Sykes. Alongside her, it seems a little nuts but I'm going with someone who only played 13 games. Briann January missed the start of the season due to COVID-19, and then had to work her way into shape with Connecticut. She also had comfortably the worst shooting season of her career. And yet the numbers back up the eye-test that her defensive impact made up for it. The Sun were still significantly better with her on the floor, in large part because their defensive rating improved dramatically. She plays in the jerseys of guards, sliding around screens and being a constant pest, while frequently battling bigger players successfully inside whenever a switch leaves her down there. 13 games was enough.
As with All-WNBA, the second-team frontcourt options are crowded. Candace Parker, while a significant reach as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in my mind (though the AP voters disagreed) had easily her strongest year defensively. Playing with Beard for years clearly had an effect. Nneka Ogwumike alongside her, even in a down year, remains a flexible and effective defender. Napheesa Collier in Minnesota, playing both perimeter and post, was central to Minnesota's defense remaining solid even in the absence of Fowles. McCoughtry and Wilson were both excellent for Las Vegas on a team defense second only to Seattle, while Bonner and Thomas in Connecticut were strong as well (albeit on a less successful team). Once Griner was gone for Phoenix, Brianna Turner excelled in her absence, showing her abilities as a rim protector and help defender.
Parker, Wilson and Turner are my choices based on a combination of what I've seen on-court, the numbers they've produced and - in the cases of Parker and Wilson - playing key roles in strong team defenses. Turner's eye-catching play in holding together a defense you would've expected to collapse without Griner pushes her onto the ballot.
For second-team guards, I went with Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. Admittedly a fourth Storm player seems excessive, but Loyd continues to improve as a defender and played a solid part in the collective for Seattle this season. The on/off defensive numbers are strong for Young, albeit likely boosted by coming off the bench and therefore facing reserves more often than most players with her volume of minutes. But her combination of strength and mobility on the perimeter was impressive for Las Vegas and a key part of the bench group that typically improves their play when it comes in (Danielle Robinson could've been another candidate here). The aforementioned Ariel Atkins and Jasmine Thomas will also be candidates and may well make the official teams. Name recognition from previous years often plays a big part in making All-Defensive teams because even the coaches have trouble picking out the deserving names.
WNBA All-Defensive First-Team:
G Brittney Sykes
G Briann January
F Alysha Clark
F Natasha Howard
C Breanna Stewart
Second-Team:
G Jewell Loyd
G Jackie Young
F A’ja Wilson
F Brianna Turner
C Candace Parker
All-Rookie Team
The first few picks here are very straightforward. Crystal Dangerfield stepped up for Minnesota in the absence of their star center, led the team in scoring while running the point for a team that finished 4th in the standings, and is the likely Rookie of the Year. Chennedy Carter's numbers are actually pretty similar to Dangerfield, with the detractions that she missed six games - over a quarter of the season this year - and played on a far worse team (which was hardly all her fault). She's in. Satou Sabally had some struggles at both ends of the floor, and shooting percentages of .368 from the field and .197 from three are ugly, but the general all-court production was enough for her to make this team with little argument. Julie Allemand is less of a 'true' rookie having played professionally in Europe for several years, but she counts for this team. Her superb outside shooting was important for Indiana's offense as was her steady hand at the controls. She finished second in the league in assists per game, and even if she struggled defensively as much as the rest of the Fever, she comfortably makes this squad. That's four players who could easily be unanimous selections.
There could be plenty of disagreement over the fifth spot (there's no All-Rookie second team). The next highest in minutes per game - which tends to be a decider for this award - is Kiara Leslie, who already has a championship ring but counts as a rookie after missing last season due to injury in Washington. The highest scoring average was Jazmine Jones for New York, probably the most impressive of their collection of rookies once Sabrina Ionescu was removed from the equation. Others who've had their moments include Leaonna Odom for New York, Te'a Cooper for Los Angeles and Tyasha Harris for Dallas.
While she hasn't played as much as some of the others, my fifth spot goes to Ezi Magbegor of Seattle. On one of the best teams in the league, expected to spend the year settling in and learning what the WNBA is about, all she's done is force her way up into becoming the first post off the bench for the Storm in most of their games. Mercedes Russell and Crystal Langhorne have both lost minutes because Gary Kloppenburg hasn't been able to keep his rookie off the floor, with Magbegor's combination of length, athleticism and skill at such a young age offering a lot of hope for the future.
WNBA All-Rookie Team:
Crystal Dangerfield
Chennedy Carter
Julie Allemand
Satou Sabally
Ezi Magbegor
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