Moderators: cupcakesnake, G R E Y, Doctor MJ
Wingy wrote:and she is taking it that way and handling it with grace unlike some of her fans and her “fans.”
JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
cupcakesnake wrote:Snotbubbles wrote:HotelVitale wrote:
Taurasi is better than Clark because Clark's a bad player right now. Maybe people aren't really paying attention but Clark is not a good WNBA player, she's pretty productive and has a ton of promise but she's just not a good overall player atm. She's shooting 37% and 33% from 3 and tossing out 5.6 TOs per game (which is like 40% more than anyone else in the league). Yes her team is bad and doens't know how to run an offense but she's still not taking advantage of what she's got.
The US team could win gold with her playing like 10mpg, sure, but they could also win with like Ariana Grande or Zendaya on the squad. I don't understand why bball fans are crying out for gimmicks all of a sudden. It'd be one thing if CC was playing really well this year but they were still trying to make her pay her dues, but she's not. She's just a young struggling player who will probably be at least pretty good in a year or two.
Stop with this. Clark is a good WNBA player. Do people even see how she's being guarded in the WNBA? Diana Taurasi isn't being guarded that way. Taurasi isn't even the best guard on her team, let alone one of the best guard in the country. She's a legacy pick at this point. Kelsey Plum is another player that you could have kept off for Clark.
Caitlin Clark stats
MP: 33.5
PTS: 16.8
FGA: 13.2
2P%: .373
3P%: .327
REB: 5.3
AST: 6.3
STL: 1.5
BLK: 0.9
TOV: 5.6
TS%: .553
PER: 16.4
Diana Taurasi stats
MP: 28.5
PTS: 16.3
FGA: 14.0
2P%: .370
3P%: .360
REB: 4.5
AST: 1.1
STL: 0.6
BLK: 0.1
TOV: 1.4
TS%: .523
PER: 15.2
Kelsey Plum stats
MP: 37.4
PTS: 19.3
FGA: 17.8
2P%: .363
3P%: .349
REB: 1.7
AST: 4.9
STL: 1.0
BLK: 0.0
TOV: 1.9
TS%: .500
PER: 14.7
I agree with your points that the women's team could roster Ariana Grande and still win gold which makes leaving Clark off the roster even more egregious since the on-court product won't suffer by having Clark, but NONE of the other women on the roster have anywhere near the off-the-court following Clark does. Having her on the roster instead of a Taurasi or even Plum makes the women's game a must see event. Now, people will only follow in passing. You need to get eyes on these women to grow the sport, and I don't mean posters on a basketball board, I mean people who don't normally follow basketball. Those are the people you need to rope in if you want to grow the sport. Total missed opportunity to promote women's basketball. This was a chance for Team USA management to think outside the box and they blew it.
People really need to get off the Taurasi point. Taurasi is not of the team because she's a top 12 player in the WNBA. She's on the team because she's been one of the captains of team USA over their past 4 Olympic appearances (she's won 6 gold medals). So yes, team USA has included at least one player that doesn't deserve to be there on the merit of the current level of play. This is a completely separate issue of the team making another exception for a rookie player due to popularity.
It's totally fine if there's a bunch of fans who think Caitlin Clark's popularity is a reason she HAS to be on the team. I don't get why people are so rabid about this point though. Team USA did not decide to capitalize on CC's fame and I'm not sure I really care? I'm surprised other people care so much? It seems like most of the people who suddenly care about the marketing of women's sports were here caring before the CC era. The reactionary nature of the CC era has been a bit unpleasant. (I'm a fan of Clark's and think she's going to be an incredible player).
The stats you're posting are a bad argument. Yes CC has good counting stats but most of that is her usage. Look at those turnovers... this is a player who's struggling to adapt to a big role in a bigger, extremely physical league. She'll be fine, but she's not currently amongst the best WNBA players. Her and Aaliyah Boston were both team USA candidates, but they're having little nightmare seasons right now and I wasn't surprised neither got the invite. By some statistical metrics, Clark is one of the worst performing players in the league so far this year. I've watched 5 Indiana Fever games this year, and while Clark has a ton of jaw dropping plays (which let you know she's definitely going to be fine in the long term), she also looks pretty overwhelmed and sped up by W defenses.
Taurasi might or might not play minutes as a shooting specialist. If neither Clark or Taurasi are important to the rotation, I can't fault team USA for choosing the legacy player and the veteran captain who has been part of the program for 2 decades and 6 gold medals.
Based on performance, the biggest snubs that could have replaced Taurasi are: Arike Ogunbowale, Skylar Diggins-Smith, and Dearica Hamby. I was surprised to see Ariel Atkins left off because she's been on every team USA forever. Benitjah Laney would have been a cool pick.
Only 4 WNBA rookies have ever made team USA. Candace Parker, Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, and Stewie. All those players were basically MVP candidates as rookies (except for Fowles, who was a DPOY candidate). Parker won MVP as a rookie.
cupcakesnake wrote:People really need to get off the Taurasi point. Taurasi is not of the team because she's a top 12 player in the WNBA. She's on the team because she's been one of the captains of team USA over their past 4 Olympic appearances (she's won 6 gold medals). So yes, team USA has included at least one player that doesn't deserve to be there on the merit of the current level of play. This is a completely separate issue of the team making another exception for a rookie player due to popularity.
shrink wrote:cupcakesnake wrote:People really need to get off the Taurasi point. Taurasi is not of the team because she's a top 12 player in the WNBA. She's on the team because she's been one of the captains of team USA over their past 4 Olympic appearances (she's won 6 gold medals). So yes, team USA has included at least one player that doesn't deserve to be there on the merit of the current level of play. This is a completely separate issue of the team making another exception for a rookie player due to popularity.
To me, it’s a hypocritical double standard.
When asked to justify why Clark isn’t on the team, their arguments of age and historical precedence aren’t true, and they are left with “Best 12 Players in the WNBA today.” Taurasi is not one of the best 12 players in the WNBA today, but longtime WNBA fans want to set that aside because they like her. Clark is not one of the best 12 players in the WNBA either, but Americans, which are a much larger group than longtime WNBA fans and what Team USA is supposed to represent, also wants to set it aside because they like her even more.
No one disagrees that ratings wouldn’t be better with Clark. No one disagrees that Clark’s inclusion wouldn’t be better for the sport going forward. Neither will be the difference whether Team USA wins gold again. But the selection of Taurasi over Clark is only going to be justified by rampant WNBA fans, who only see this through their lens of the WNBA, like excluding Clark’s vast accomplishments in college because she stayed an extra year and they didn’t happen in the WNBA.
Snotbubbles wrote:Usage? Clark's usage is nearly identical to Taurasi. Clark is at 27.9, Taurasi is at 26.5. Also, you want Taurasi on the roster, fine, then why is Chelsea Gray on the roster? She's been injured and hasn't played a game this season. There is a perfect candidate to keep home and put someone that will attract attention to this team, league and sport.
Finally, Clark set a WNBA record by being the first player to ever score 200 points and have 75 assists in her first 12 games. But that's a player that is struggling to adapt? You people have set the bar so high for this player that she'll always be a disappointment to some.
Wingy wrote:JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
Despite what you laid out, some people are somehow confused and astounded that jealousy exists.
Like these players and elite-level competitors are supposed to be some super robots that can just cast aside the reality of natural emotion.
The nerve of the veteran players to be human.
These brand new WNBA/Clark fans have the audacity to say with a (I assume) straight face that these veteran players need to roll over and let Clark take over because it would be "good for the league". Like they literally said they should not guard her tough or double team her. How delusional of a take is that? BigGargamel wrote:Wingy wrote:JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
Despite what you laid out, some people are somehow confused and astounded that jealousy exists.
Like these players and elite-level competitors are supposed to be some super robots that can just cast aside the reality of natural emotion.
The nerve of the veteran players to be human.
I've never seen anything like this. Of course there's going to be push back from the veteran players. Imagine getting hired on your job as an intern, working your way up for years just for the CEO's grandson to come in and get all of the money, perks and great parking spot. Of course you're going to hate it. It's called being a human being. It's natural.
I've never seen anything like this. Of course there's going to be push back from the veteran players. Imagine getting hired on your job as an intern, working your way up for years just for the CEO's grandson to come in and get all of the money, perks and great parking spot. Of course you're going to hate it. It's called being a human being. It's natural.
It's embarrassing. This is all embarrassing. Clark homers are absolutely embarrassing themselves and making a mockery out of women's basketball. And why shouldn't they? Eyes aren't on anyone except Clark. It's not really helping the rest of them all that much. They are competitors. They don't want the spoiled golden (white) child coming in and getting a free pass. You're just a member of the Caitlin Clark cult where it's all her all the time. She will get her time. She's not one of the 12 best American players right now. It's okay to leave her out of something. She's a rookie, and not even the best rookie. It's okay, I promise you. The world will continue to spin and Clark will continue to have four articles about her daily posted on ESPN. You'll be able to get your constant Caitlin Clark dopamine fix.
JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
BigGargamel wrote:Okay, scratch my analogy then. Just think of the human aspect of playing sports. A'Ja Wilson should be getting all this hype. She's an actual superstar with a long list of accomplishments already. But it took Clark backlash just for her to get a freaking shoe deal.
They shouldn't be jealous or angry.
I don't like to be that guy who says "you've never played sports" but it's obvious that some of you have never been in any competitive situations in your life. It's human nature. Go watch Inside Out 2 when it comes out next week to learn about human emotions.
The fact that this thread exists and is nearing 300 posts shows that most of you all don't give a crap about the WNBA and it's couple hundred players all of a sudden.
BigGargamel wrote:Okay, scratch my analogy then. Just think of the human aspect of playing sports. A'Ja Wilson should be getting all this hype. She's an actual superstar with a long list of accomplishments already. But it took Clark backlash just for her to get a freaking shoe deal.
They shouldn't be jealous or angry.
I don't like to be that guy who says "you've never played sports" but it's obvious that some of you have never been in any competitive situations in your life. It's human nature. Go watch Inside Out 2 when it comes out next week to learn about human emotions.
The fact that this thread exists and is nearing 300 posts shows that most of you all don't give a crap about the WNBA and it's couple hundred players all of a sudden.
BigGargamel wrote:Wingy wrote:JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
Despite what you laid out, some people are somehow confused and astounded that jealousy exists.
Like these players and elite-level competitors are supposed to be some super robots that can just cast aside the reality of natural emotion.
The nerve of the veteran players to be human.
I've never seen anything like this. Of course there's going to be push back from the veteran players. Imagine getting hired on your job as an intern, working your way up for years just for the CEO's grandson to come in and get all of the money, perks and great parking spot. Of course you're going to hate it. It's called being a human being. It's natural.
BigGargamel wrote:Wingy wrote:JustBuzzin wrote:My only question.
How is the WNBA growing when all the talk is about Clarke?
Best player in the WNBA is A'ja Wilson. Not a single topic has been made about her Nationally.
If you ask me this just feels like a player who should have went and created her own league. The WNBA is not growing it's growing for 1 player. She doesn't even have to be the best player to be the #1 topic.
Lost in all this her team sucks! That's the funny part. This has become a hate topic more than anything.
People are superfans for her and they want her to earn everything overnight.
Despite what you laid out, some people are somehow confused and astounded that jealousy exists.
Like these players and elite-level competitors are supposed to be some super robots that can just cast aside the reality of natural emotion.
The nerve of the veteran players to be human.
I've never seen anything like this. Of course there's going to be push back from the veteran players. Imagine getting hired on your job as an intern, working your way up for years just for the CEO's grandson to come in and get all of the money, perks and great parking spot. Of course you're going to hate it. It's called being a human being. It's natural.