WNBA 2024 All Star Weekend

[MrDollarBills]

Stewie dropped 31 points and I didn't even realize it

Anyway here is Arike going nuclear

Watch on YouTube

[Ghetto Gospel]

Team WNBA outpaced Team USA. Watching Team USA, it looked like only a handful of their players could play at the pace Team WNBA was setting.

Ogunbowale basically gave the middle finger to the Team USA selection committee last night. I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes that would cause Ogunbowale to withdraw her name from consideration, but the Team USA organization needs to fix that stuff, and quick.

She withdrew because she felt that they were looking moreso for the right fit roster wise as opposed to just picking the 12 best names. Which is what USA Basketball is doing on the men's side as well, otherwise Derrick White would have never been picked to replace Leonard over Jaylen Brown.

I don't see how this is an indictment of Team USA's selection process. Arike is more of a ball dominant/high volume scoring 2. That's probably not really needed when you have nuclear weapons like A'ja, Stewie, etc on the squad. If you listen to Arike's reasoning, it was actually a very thoughtful and mature decision she made.

People also need to realize that the women's team are at disadvantage because they had a later start compared to other teams in the tourney. This was literally their first tune up game, and it came against a team that would most likely be able to win gold themselves.

That being said...Arike absolutely wanted to show them that she is a frickin monster when she's locked in

imo, she has every right to beef over it because they picked taurasi and jewell last year and they're both ball dominant shoot-first players. team USA probably only needs like 1 or 2 of them, taurasi is a given so the other was jewell over arike which fair enough, both good players in that role.

this year, they picked taurasi, jewell, cop and plum. cop and plum are also kind of ball-dominant shoot first players. realistically, team USA women's doesn't have a derrick white type player at guard either. betnijah would have been perfect for this roster, injured now and can't play, but during the selection process, her name should have been there.

[Wingy]

Team WNBA outpaced Team USA. Watching Team USA, it looked like only a handful of their players could play at the pace Team WNBA was setting.

Ogunbowale basically gave the middle finger to the Team USA selection committee last night. I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes that would cause Ogunbowale to withdraw her name from consideration, but the Team USA organization needs to fix that stuff, and quick.

It’s tough…I mean, how could you not be blown away by her individual performance? Just wow.

OTOH, the game turned into her just going for hers and 4 other all stars just watching. Except for Kelsey who’s also not afraid and is skilled enough to also go - eff it, I’m going for mine!

I’ll defer to the fans that have been watching longer than me, but it feels like she plays a lot of 1:1 which isn’t well suited for a team of stars.

Then again, she’s just so good. Hopefully she’ll make it next time when she’ll be 31.

[Ice Man]

OTOH, the game turned into her just going for hers and 4 other all stars just watching. Except for Kelsey who’s also not afraid and is skilled enough to also go - eff it, I’m going for mine!

The first half was an actual basketball game. The second half became Arike doing All Star game things. Normally I would complain about that, but she was so spectacular that I just accepted it. Plus, her teammates were very supportive, so her showboating didn't give off a bad vibe, at least to me.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Team WNBA outpaced Team USA. Watching Team USA, it looked like only a handful of their players could play at the pace Team WNBA was setting.

Ogunbowale basically gave the middle finger to the Team USA selection committee last night. I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes that would cause Ogunbowale to withdraw her name from consideration, but the Team USA organization needs to fix that stuff, and quick.

It’s tough…I mean, how could you not be blown away by her individual performance? Just wow.

OTOH, the game turned into her just going for hers and 4 other all stars just watching. Except for Kelsey who’s also not afraid and is skilled enough to also go - eff it, I’m going for mine!

I’ll defer to the fans that have been watching longer than me, but it feels like she plays a lot of 1:1 which isn’t well suited for a team of stars.

Then again, she’s just so good. Hopefully she’ll make it next time when she’ll be 31.

She’s shooting 35.7% this season, with an assist to turnover ratio that is a bit worse than 5:3.
Fun player, can certainly go off as we saw last night, but not a good fit for the national team imo.
Remember when Team USA was lead by Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury and finished w a bronze medal?
Passing and defense are more valuable for Team USA than inefficient iso scoring.

[Wingy]

She’s shooting 35.7% this season, with an assist to turnover ratio that is a bit worse than 5:3.
Fun player, can certainly go off as we saw last night, but not a good fit for the national team imo.
Remember when Team USA was lead by Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury and finished w a bronze medal?
Passing and defense are more valuable for Team USA than inefficient iso scoring.

I get the reasons. Maybe a bit of a parallel is Westbrook. While he did represent in 1 Olympics and 1 World Cup (b2b), his individual talent and achievements would suggest he’d have been selected more. Similar kind of fit questions needing the ball so much to do his thing.

Interestingly enough, after writing the above first I just googled: “[her name] defense” and this reddit thread is the first result and its ‘best’ comment makes a Russ comp.
https://www.reddit.com/r/wnba/comments/14bh8te/why_is_arike_ogunbowale_considered_to_be_a_good/

Maybe she has more in the past, but doesn’t seem like she has a whole lot of help right now.

[Wingy]

The first half was an actual basketball game. The second half became Arike doing All Star game things. Normally I would complain about that, but she was so spectacular that I just accepted it. Plus, her teammates were very supportive, so her showboating didn't give off a bad vibe, at least to me.

Kinda reminded me of when Donovan Mitchell goes bonkers. Absolutely spectacular, but the rest of the team might as well not even be there.

[Wingy]

Stewie dropped 31 points and I didn't even realize it

I commented on this earlier, and honestly I feel like this happens often when I’ve seen the Liberty play.

Watching the game, see a bucket here and there but don’t notice much. Maybe look at your phone to checkout RealGM for a bit. Then you lookup and hear she has quietly and efficiently dropped 30.

[MrDollarBills]

Team WNBA outpaced Team USA. Watching Team USA, it looked like only a handful of their players could play at the pace Team WNBA was setting.

Ogunbowale basically gave the middle finger to the Team USA selection committee last night. I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes that would cause Ogunbowale to withdraw her name from consideration, but the Team USA organization needs to fix that stuff, and quick.

She withdrew because she felt that they were looking moreso for the right fit roster wise as opposed to just picking the 12 best names. Which is what USA Basketball is doing on the men's side as well, otherwise Derrick White would have never been picked to replace Leonard over Jaylen Brown.

I don't see how this is an indictment of Team USA's selection process. Arike is more of a ball dominant/high volume scoring 2. That's probably not really needed when you have nuclear weapons like A'ja, Stewie, etc on the squad. If you listen to Arike's reasoning, it was actually a very thoughtful and mature decision she made.

People also need to realize that the women's team are at disadvantage because they had a later start compared to other teams in the tourney. This was literally their first tune up game, and it came against a team that would most likely be able to win gold themselves.

That being said...Arike absolutely wanted to show them that she is a frickin monster when she's locked in

imo, she has every right to beef over it because they picked taurasi and jewell last year and they're both ball dominant shoot-first players. team USA probably only needs like 1 or 2 of them, taurasi is a given so the other was jewell over arike which fair enough, both good players in that role.

this year, they picked taurasi, jewell, cop and plum. cop and plum are also kind of ball-dominant shoot first players. realistically, team USA women's doesn't have a derrick white type player at guard either. betnijah would have been perfect for this roster, injured now and can't play, but during the selection process, her name should have been there.

Agreed about Betnijah, but clearly I am biased.

Regarding Arike vs Plum and Cooper, historically Plum and Copper are more efficient than Arike as shooters and they can work without the ball.

Also, regarding DT. She is a highly respected veteran and has the most experience. The only way she wasn't being selected is if she didn't want it. Yeah, it's a bit political, but you're never gonna hear anyone from the league bad mouth DT. She's the OG.

[MrDollarBills]

Stewie dropped 31 points and I didn't even realize it

I commented on this earlier, and honestly I feel like this happens often when I’ve seen the Liberty play.

Watching the game, see a bucket here and there but don’t notice much. Maybe look at your phone to checkout RealGM for a bit. Then you lookup and hear she has quietly and efficiently dropped 30.

That's Stewie for you. She's not as flashy as other players but she will give you that work

[MrDollarBills]

Team WNBA outpaced Team USA. Watching Team USA, it looked like only a handful of their players could play at the pace Team WNBA was setting.

Ogunbowale basically gave the middle finger to the Team USA selection committee last night. I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes that would cause Ogunbowale to withdraw her name from consideration, but the Team USA organization needs to fix that stuff, and quick.

It’s tough…I mean, how could you not be blown away by her individual performance? Just wow.

OTOH, the game turned into her just going for hers and 4 other all stars just watching. Except for Kelsey who’s also not afraid and is skilled enough to also go - eff it, I’m going for mine!

I’ll defer to the fans that have been watching longer than me, but it feels like she plays a lot of 1:1 which isn’t well suited for a team of stars.

Then again, she’s just so good. Hopefully she’ll make it next time when she’ll be 31.

She’s shooting 35.7% this season, with an assist to turnover ratio that is a bit worse than 5:3.
Fun player, can certainly go off as we saw last night, but not a good fit for the national team imo.
Remember when Team USA was lead by Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury and finished w a bronze medal?
Passing and defense are more valuable for Team USA than inefficient iso scoring.

Facts.

And again...she herself basically said it's not about her game, but about the team fit. Arike made a mature and self aware decision here and I honestly says that speaks volumes about her. She knows it's not all about her.

Her star was magnified last night. I think this works in her favor, as well as the league's, to have her explode like that on national television

[MrDollarBills]

OTOH, the game turned into her just going for hers and 4 other all stars just watching. Except for Kelsey who’s also not afraid and is skilled enough to also go - eff it, I’m going for mine!

The first half was an actual basketball game. The second half became Arike doing All Star game things. Normally I would complain about that, but she was so spectacular that I just accepted it. Plus, her teammates were very supportive, so her showboating didn't give off a bad vibe, at least to me.

I think as a fan of the game, what happened was huge. We got to see CC and Angel show the world why they are game breaking rookies, but they both stepped aside and let Arike do her thing because she was in the zone.

Also, from what I recall, the idea to feature Arike was a team decision. I still felt that the 2nd half was still actual basketball, because it wasn’t like Team USA stopped defending or playing hard. They just got their asses kicked. When they came out in all Black uniforms, that was a warning sign

Honestly man the vibes were so good from Team WNBA. CC was gushing over Arike when they interviewed her in game, everyone was going ballistic

And when Kelsey Mitchell started to get it in? Man. I know Fever fans had to love that.

[MrDollarBills]

The first half was an actual basketball game. The second half became Arike doing All Star game things. Normally I would complain about that, but she was so spectacular that I just accepted it. Plus, her teammates were very supportive, so her showboating didn't give off a bad vibe, at least to me.

Kinda reminded me of when Donovan Mitchell goes bonkers. Absolutely spectacular, but the rest of the team might as well not even be there.

That's pretty much how it is. Arike is an iso high volume scorer. When she's off, it gets Dallas into trouble, but when she is on a heater like that...lord have mercy

[rmontro]

On further reflection, I can't think of another All Star Game in any sport that I enjoyed as much as this one. Usually they are boring affairs with little on the line, and often played with little effort. This was extremely entertaining.

I really wonder what the idea behind the uniform change was. They said it was hot in the arena, maybe it was as simple as wanting some fresh clothes. Come to think of it, that aspect alone could have helped them in the second half. It was fire though.

[Ice Man]

Honestly man the vibes were so good from Team WNBA.

That they were. In truth, everything about that game was excellent. Team WNBA set up Clark to be its dominant player in the first half, as the fans wanted. Fed her the ball, let her play the game at her speed. But then Miller and the squad mixed it up in the second half, leaving the floor was open for somebody else to seize the moment. That worked out great, with Clark understanding the moment and stepping aside for Arike to shine.

Team USA also had a good vibe. Finally, while I have been critical at times about Angel Reese being too narcissistic, she was terrific last night, both on the court and her interview answers, which she nailed.

Score that show a 10 out of 10.

[rmontro]

That worked out great, with Clark understanding the moment and stepping aside for Arike to shine.

Team USA also had a good vibe. Finally, while I have been critical at times about Angel Reese being too narcissistic, she was terrific last night, both on the court and her interview answers, which she nailed.

Clark said that she was going to be substituted in for Arike, but she declined since the latter had taken over the game.

Reese was about as diplomatic as I have heard her, I hope she keeps that attitude, she'll likely earn more money and be more successful that way.

[TerrenceClarke]

One thing Arike confirmed last night for me was that I will take Chen over her any day.

Chen in the all star game for 2025 better be a thing.