Napheesa Collier And Arike Ogunbowale Are Primed For A Showdown

Thu, Aug 22, 2019, 6:48 PM

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If you’re a fan of women’s basketball, you won’t want to miss the Lynx game on Thursday.

The contest between the Lynx and the Wings features two of the league’s brightest stars and the two frontrunners for WNBA Rookie of the Year—Napheesa Collier and Arike Ogunbowale.

There is no question that Collier has been elite this entire season, but she’s been exceptional over the last few weeks. She has scored in double-digits in nine-straight games and over that time period she is averaging 14.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 52.5 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.

Collier does it all—she is a dynamic, difference-making combo forward who picks her spots and makes an impact whether plays are run for her or not. She is quickly becoming one of the most reliable defenders in the league with a knack for jumping passing lanes and making chaos. Collier is extremely strong and she uses that strength to bully her way into the paint for easy buckets off a combination of drives, cuts, post-ups and put-backs.

Against the Sparks on Tuesday, Collier scored 14 points and added a team-high seven rebounds, four assists and four steals It was her second 4×4 game (pts/reb/ast/stl) of the season. She’s the first rookie to have a 4×4 since Los Angeles guard Ana Dabović in 2015 and the first rookie to register two of them since Candace Parker in 2008 for the Sparks. There is perhaps no better stat to encompass how valuable a player she is than the 4×4. She does it all and she does it well.

It’s a little difficult to compare the candidacies of Collier and Ogunbowale for Rookie of the Year since they are such different players on such different teams, but there’s no question Ogunbowale has a bright future as well. She has immediately stepped into a featured scoring role for the Dallas Wings and though her efficiency comes and goes there’s no arguing her talent.

Ogunbowale is averaging 16.4 points, 2.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game on the season while shooting 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from three. She leads the Wings in scoring on the season. While the Wings haven’t had a winning season, Ogunbowale deserves a ton of credit, nonetheless. It is extremely difficult to be tasked with the responsibility of carrying a team as a rookie, and Ogunbowale has stepped up.

While fans won’t truly see Ogunbowale and Collier go head-to-head on Thursday as they won’t be matched up, there’s no question that many will use it as an opportunity to compare the two young players. It should be a fun time and it’s always great to see future stars play against each other. If you’re still looking for tickets you can grab them here!

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