AF35👑

I agonized over this and one of my picks might be out of left field 🫣 I voted for... First Team: Angel Reese, Gabby Williams, A'ja Wilson, Shakira Austin, Breanna Stewart Second Team: Rhyne Howard, Veronica Burton, Kiah Stokes, Aliyah Boston, Azzi Fudd Eight players (Reese, Williams, Wilson, Austin, Stewart, Howard, Burton and Stokes) seemed like obvious picks. I spent a lot of time going over Boston, Fudd, Kayla McBride, Sonia Citron, Jordin Canada, and Natasha Howard for the last two second team spots. It's a fair critique to say that I should've chosen McBride and/or Citron instead. I tried to watch as many defensive possessions for each player as possible and used the same criteria that I applied for Defensive Player of the Year. I prioritized a) how much they made life miserable for their opponents, b) how much defensive responsibility they were trusted with, c) versatility and d) individual contribution independent from team context. Fudd, Citron and McBride all took on difficult matchups. All three made life difficult for offenses. McBride hounded her opponents. Citron and Fudd were sticky perimeter defenders. I came in with a strong prior belief in Fudd's defensive ability, and the film did little to change that. I appreciated her on-ball defense and her ability to recover and intercept passes in pick-and-roll situations. She's also adept at swiping at the ball as opponents drive and rise for shots. I went with Fudd in part because of those factors. I don't always love steals + blocks as a combined defensive measure because they quantify different things, but I do think one stat is illustrative of the event-based impact Fudd had. There were only three players this season who averaged at least 2.5 stocks (steals plus blocks) per game and no more than 2.5 fouls per game. The names? A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Azzi Fudd. That feat has only been accomplished four times (including Fudd’s season) by guards in the last decade. It's fair to argue that I should've been harsher on Fudd's missed time. It's also fair to say that Citron was the more consistent defender, or that she, McBride or Canada deserved my vote instead. (I voted McBride for All-WNBA Second Team because of her two-way impact.) I had the least confidence in this selection because there were so many worthy candidates; I tried to ingest as much evidence as I could during the voting period and my vote swayed throughout the process. For Boston vs. Natasha Howard, I ultimately split hairs and gave Boston a slight edge for her rim protection and for providing that level of rim protection without committing shooting fouls as often as Howard did.