Skylar Is Struggling- All Good- Par For the Rookie Point Guard Course

 

 LOVIN THE WNBA
with Bell Fuller

  Skylar Diggins Struggling Early- All Good- It’s Par For the Point Guard Course

The Big 3 are the hot story for the WNBA this season. And with good reason, they’ve helped change the landscape of the league, brought more television and commercial exposure and also I’m sure that the attendance is up with their presence. Brittney Griner hasn't dominated the league but certainly hasn’t disappointed averaging 17 and 7 coupled with a few very nice dunks. And Elena Delle Donne has proved to be nothing short of the truth in Chicago. She’s everything she was advertised to be and more. In Tulsa, one of my favorite players to watch Skylar Diggins hasn’t been as prosperous, but she’s coming along. After watching her dominate the college game like few point guards have along with bringing an unprecedented celebrity feeling, her arrival in the WNBA profile has been tremendous. The results thus far have been…well, not so tremendous. But for a rookie point guard in the WNBA, it’s par for the course.

When we take a look at some of the more highly drafted and regarded point guards to come to the league, I think you’ll see that many have struggled against the intense nightly competition. Skylar said herself in her blog for ESPN in which it’s great to hear her candor:

‘The difference between now and college basketball season is I’m playing against the best in the world every night. All-stars, national and world champions are out here at each game. With 12 teams, all packed with 11 incredible players, I’ve had to adjust.

                                                                                                            Skylar Diggins

It’s an incredible challenge. I took a look back at some of the other highly regarded point guards and how their rookie year went, and for many it was similar struggles. Most of these below struggled. Now, there’s ALWAYS an exception, Sue Bird came into the league wrecking shop. But for most of the other mere mortals it was tough from the start.

PLAYER                         GS            PTS            REB            ASSISTS            STEALS            FG%            TOV

Becky Hammond               0            2.7                0.6            0.6                        0.2                        42%            0.8

Nikki Teasley                    32           6.4                2.6            4.4                        0.8                        40%            2.1

Courtney Vandersloot      34            6.5               2.0            3.7                        0.7                        39%            2.7

Lindsey Whalen                31            8.9               2.9            4.8                        1.3                        45%            3.0

Kristi Toliver                       0            7.6               1.4            1.9                        0.4                        45%            1.6

Lindsey Harding               20            11.7              4.4            3.9                        1.0                        35%            2.4

Renee Montgomery            9             9.0               1.9            2.1                        0.7                        40%            1.9

Samantha Prahalis            28             11.6              3.2            4.5                        1.6                        35%            3.0

Sue Bird                             32            14.4               2.0            6.0                        1.7                        40%            3.4

Skylar Diggins                    6            10.3               2.7            4.7                        1.3                        28%            4.3

Looking at the numbers of some of the talented point guards that have entered the WNBA as rookies and their performance we see the good and bad for Skylar in her rookie campaign. The good is that she is one of only four to average double figures and one of the top five in assists. But the bad is that she has by far the worst shooting percentage at 28% and has the highest turnover average by far. I look at Skylar's career at Notre Dame and now in Tulsa and a couple of things come to mind. First, in my estimation it is amazing that Notre Dame beat UConn three times last year before of course succumbing in the Final Four. You look at the Notre Dame roster talent wise and the UConn roster and there is no comparison. UConn is loaded! So for Skylar to lead her team to those victories and a 32-1 season is really phenomenal. She was everything for that team. Not that they didn't have talent but their talent simply doesn't compare to what's up in Storrs, Connecticut. I think that experience as being the all-everything for the along with the hype and being expected to 'lead' probably subconsciously has her pushing more than she needs to in the pros.

Sue Bird, one of the best to ever run the point!

I'd love for Skylar to trust the talent she has around her. The Tulsa Shock is loaded with young talented players (Liz Cambage, Candace Wiggins, Glory Johnson and more)- trust them. This is the least that Skylar's probably ever had to do as a player and I think that she just has to adjust to her new circumstances.  Quickly let's look at arguably the greatest point guard that the WNBA has seen in Sue Bird and the type of numbers that she put up in the Seattle Storm's championship season in 2010. She averaged 5.8 assists a game with only 1.8 turnovers. That's incredibly efficient! And she only averaged 11 points a game. She didn't force anything and knew she didn't need to.  That's because Lauren Jackson was playing her MVP ball, Swin Cash was her all around monster self and Camille Little and Tanisha Wright could be trusted to be two of the best role players a team could ask for. I think the world of Skylar and know that these bumps and bruises are simply part of the ride and when she really takes a look and sees that her load is lighter than she realizes and just allows the game to come to her, we'll soon see the superstar that the league is banking on.

Her time is coming. Patience.