Curt Van Hekken
With the Indiana Fever being knocked out of the playoffs, my personal interest in the WNBA has significantly fallen off. To me, this means the end of the season and in an effort to bring closure to this season, I have put together my All-WNBA team. This will be a team of 5 players. Comment below what your 5 player All-WNBA team would be. I'm going with three guards, one of which will be a point guard. I will also be selecting two post players. Oh, and I'm basing this all on the eye test...no stats.
At point guard, I gotta go with Caitlin Clark. Yeah, yeah I know...homer pick. I'll admit it. She's hands down my favorite player and most of you are probably thinking she shouldn't be eligible for an All-WNBA team when she only played a handful of games. I guess I just don't care. She's not only the best point guard in the league, but she very well may be the best player, period. Okay, maybe she's not the best player in the league...YET...but there are things she can do that no other player in the league can do. As far as guards are concerned, she finishes as well or better than any other guard I've seen. Only her teammate Kelsey Mitchel can finish as well as her. No one can pass the ball like Caitlin Clark. And no one navigates transition offense like Caitlin Clark. Yes, her shot was a lil' inconsistent this season but we all know that she is an elite shooter, which is one of her best skills. She also can rebound unlike any other guard I've seen. I also think, in the few games she played this season, her defense improved since last season....and that's playing with a broken wheel!
At another guard, I gotta go with another player from the Indiana Fever. And that player is Kelsey Mitchell. Kelsey Mitchell had an unbelievable season. She stepped up big for a team that was plagued by injuries. Many times this season, she looked like the best player on the floor. Her team would have a big drop off when she would head to the bench. Mitchell gave us good news in regards to what appeared to be a potentially serious injury in Game 5 of the WNBA semi-finals Tuesday night. It was some serious cramping but she is on her way to a full recovery. I don't think there is another player in the league I have more confidence in. When she shoots the ball, it seems like it always goes in. She can shoot the 3, she can hit the mid-range, she finishes well, and she's a lock from the stripe. Quite possibly my favorite thing about Kelsey Mitchell is her steady personality. She never gets too high and she never gets too low. I can't recall ever seeing her celebrate after a made basket with the traditional "let's goooo." I like that.
At the other guard position, I am going to select Napheesa Collier. Like Mitchell, it's seems like she never misses a shot. Of all the players in the league, I fear her the most when she plays against the Fever. Collier is one of two players in the league that I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that Caitlin Clark is better than. She finishes so well! She is one of the most consistent finishers around the rim, if not the most consistent, that I've seen in the WNBA. She can play a wing or a post. She can defend a guard or a post. Also, like Mithcell, she is also very steady and doesn't get too high or too low with her emotions...on the court that is. Certainly we just recently saw a different side of her as she exposed WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert.
Okay, at one post player, I'm going with Indiana Fever center, Aaliyah Boston. What I like best about Aaliyah Boston is her selflessness. On most teams in the WNBA, she would be the focal point of the offense...the best player. But realistically, when the Fever are healthy, she is the third option on the offensive end of the floor. And it doesn't seem to bother her. She still is potentially a 20-10 player everytime she steps out on the floor. And that is with less touches than she deserves. She makes the best of her touches. She finishes well and has great post moves. Everytime she touches the ball in the post she is a huge threat to put the biscuit in the basket. Boston is also an incredibly consistent rebounder.
And to wrap up this All-WNBA team, I gotta go with A'ja Wilson. Wow, she is good. She can literally score from anywhere on the floor, and at her size, that's incredibly impressive. It seems like she never misses a mid range jumper. It's unreal. And she can stroke it from behind the arc. Defensively, she can block almost any shot. She very much deserved the WNBA MVP this year. Wilson is the other player that I cannot say with 100 percent certainty that Caitlin Clark is better than. I think when it's all said and done, when Caitlin Clark's career is over, she will go down as the best women's player of all-time. However, Wilson will not be too far behind.
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