How is CC's rookie year going to go?

[DOT]

Clark declined the offer to participate in the All Star skills competition. I'm sure she's plenty busy, but I'm curious as to her reasoning. Maybe she feels she has nothing to gain from participating, especially since her three point shooting has not been as sharp since she's been focusing on her passing so much.

She probably honestly just wants to take it easy and rest, she really hasn't had a break in over a year and a half. It's clear from watching Fever games that lot of her 3 point shots are short lately and I think it's mostly fatigue related. I mean I guess she is still playing in the All-Star game. But the girl needs to get a little R&R over the next month too.

To put it into perspective, both the men and women finished their collegiate careers about the same time

Clark is halfway through her rookie year, and the men don't even start training camp for two more months

WNBA's pace is insane for a rookie.

[MrDollarBills]

Clark declined the offer to participate in the All Star skills competition. I'm sure she's plenty busy, but I'm curious as to her reasoning. Maybe she feels she has nothing to gain from participating, especially since her three point shooting has not been as sharp since she's been focusing on her passing so much.

She probably honestly just wants to take it easy and rest, she really hasn't had a break in over a year and a half. It's clear from watching Fever games that lot of her 3 point shots are short lately and I think it's mostly fatigue related. I mean I guess she is still playing in the All-Star game. But the girl needs to get a little R&R over the next month too.

To put it into perspective, both the men and women finished their collegiate careers about the same time

Clark is halfway through her rookie year, and the men don't even start training camp for two more months

WNBA's pace is insane for a rookie.

And yet people are demanding that she play in the Olympics. She, all the rookies who play consistent minutes need a rest.

[rmontro]

And yet people are demanding that she play in the Olympics. She, all the rookies who play consistent minutes need a rest.

I don't want Clark to play in the Olympics. I'd rather she take a break and heal up.

[MrDollarBills]

And yet people are demanding that she play in the Olympics. She, all the rookies who play consistent minutes need a rest.

I don't want Clark to play in the Olympics. I'd rather she take a break and heal up.

She also mentioned her mental health yesterday if I'm not mistaken when asked about why she didn't do the 3 point contest.

It's a lot.

[rmontro]

She also mentioned her mental health yesterday if I'm not mistaken when asked about why she didn't do the 3 point contest.

It's a lot.

No doubt. I'm thinking maybe another reason she didn't want to participate is because the winners got a pretty decent check (compared to a WNBA salary). Maybe she didn't want to take a payday away from other WNBA athletes who aren't raking in the kind of big bucks she is on endorsements.

[IlikeSHAIguys]

Seems like she's doing well though maybe not the best rookie season ever. Defense isn't really there but she looks ok at it to me.

Her defense is better than advertised, from what I can see. Pretty good on the ball, is 8th in the league in steals, and leads all WNBA guards in blocked shots. She's also good at knocking the ball off the driver's knee for a turnover (which is not officially credited as a steal, although it should be).

Her weaknesses are off-the-ball placement/rotations and that she never goes over a screen, always under.

She has to get stronger and work on her situational awareness on D. Being a good team defender a lot of times is what's going on between the ears. I would love for her to study tape of Jason Kidd. He was an elite team defender at the position.

That's the amazing piece about CC. She is doing a LOT right now and this is just Year 1. She has so much room to grow as a player.

Is it crazy to say she's already the league's best passer?

[IlikeSHAIguys]

She also mentioned her mental health yesterday if I'm not mistaken when asked about why she didn't do the 3 point contest.

It's a lot.

No doubt. I'm thinking maybe another reason she didn't want to participate is because the winners got a pretty decent check (compared to a WNBA salary). Maybe she didn't want to take a payday away from other WNBA athletes who aren't raking in the kind of big bucks she is on endorsements.

Thats pretty cool of her if true

[MrDollarBills]

Her defense is better than advertised, from what I can see. Pretty good on the ball, is 8th in the league in steals, and leads all WNBA guards in blocked shots. She's also good at knocking the ball off the driver's knee for a turnover (which is not officially credited as a steal, although it should be).

Her weaknesses are off-the-ball placement/rotations and that she never goes over a screen, always under.

She has to get stronger and work on her situational awareness on D. Being a good team defender a lot of times is what's going on between the ears. I would love for her to study tape of Jason Kidd. He was an elite team defender at the position.

That's the amazing piece about CC. She is doing a LOT right now and this is just Year 1. She has so much room to grow as a player.

Is it crazy to say she's already the league's best passer?

That's not crazy at all, she leads the league in assists

[MrDollarBills]

She also mentioned her mental health yesterday if I'm not mistaken when asked about why she didn't do the 3 point contest.

It's a lot.

No doubt. I'm thinking maybe another reason she didn't want to participate is because the winners got a pretty decent check (compared to a WNBA salary). Maybe she didn't want to take a payday away from other WNBA athletes who aren't raking in the kind of big bucks she is on endorsements.

Thats pretty cool of her if true

I think that, based on what she actually said, she needs a break. Also, she mentioned her mental health. She would have been expected to win that 3point contest and if she didn't people would have been talking sh*t about her.

She needs to rest. She's not the only one either.

[rmontro]

I think that, based on what she actually said, she needs a break. Also, she mentioned her mental health. She would have been expected to win that 3point contest and if she didn't people would have been talking sh*t about her.

Yeah, plus her three point shooting has been a little off overall. I don't know if it's because of tired legs, or because she's focused more on her passing, or if it's the defenders, or if she can't get in a good rhythm since she's not shooting as much, or what.

As of this post, she's 0-5 for three pointers in the All-Star Game, I really wish she'd knock one down.

[Ice Man]

Yeah, plus her three point shooting has been a little off overall.

A lot off. With the exception of one good game, she's been shooting about 25% on 3s for the past couple of weeks, and on relatively good looks too. I've never seen her bricking like that.

On the bright side, she has partially compensated for her bad long-distance shooting by doing a nice job on her 2s. She's at 54% on 2s this season, and not always on low volume. For example, she scored 8 of them against Dallas. So, that has helped to keep her scoring at a reasonably high level, and with decent efficiency.

[MrDollarBills]

Yeah, plus her three point shooting has been a little off overall.

A lot off. With the exception of one good game, she's been shooting about 25% on 3s for the past couple of weeks, and on relatively good looks too. I've never seen her bricking like that.

On the bright side, she has partially compensated for her bad long-distance shooting by doing a nice job on her 2s. She's at 54% on 2s this season, and not always on low volume. For example, she scored 8 of them against Dallas. So, that has helped to keep her scoring at a reasonably high level, and with decent efficiency.

Tired legs imo.

Rest and some decompression from all the madness will help a lot.

[rmontro]

Tired legs imo.
Rest and some decompression from all the madness will help a lot.

That's why I really don't want to see some last minute injury that would send her to Paris, she needs the rest.
Cheryl Reeves seems to dislike her though, so that's not likely to happen at this late date.

[Ice Man]

Tired legs imo.

Rest and some decompression from all the madness will help a lot.

Seems the likeliest explanation. I don't know why else a player would lose her shot, except for the yips. But that doesn't seem to be happening. She's close, but just missing.

[rmontro]

Seems the likeliest explanation. I don't know why else a player would lose her shot, except for the yips. But that doesn't seem to be happening. She's close, but just missing.

Tired legs seems as good an explanation as any. Not shooting as much as she is used to could be putting her off her rhythm though. They said in the pregame drills she was really hitting her threes well, so funny how that can change come game time.

[madskillz8]

Seems the likeliest explanation. I don't know why else a player would lose her shot, except for the yips. But that doesn't seem to be happening. She's close, but just missing.

Tired legs seems as good an explanation as any. Not shooting as much as she is used to could be putting her off her rhythm though. They said in the pregame drills she was really hitting her threes well, so funny how that can change come game time.

When you are not in a good shape or tired, even two minutes of competitive basketball can tire your legs. That's why it is not a good idea to compare open gym shooting drills with in game action.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, who always play basketball in the summer for his NT, has that problem as well. His shoot often gets worse once the season progress and that's a result of playing competitive basketball for an extended period of time without any rest. After all, human body has limits and for every athletic freak like Lebron, there are 1000 Bogdanovics.

Another thing is anyone who is short and plays basketball knows that if you are short (thus has less strength), you have to rely more on lower body and jumping motion while launching threes. Thus, MrDollarBills & Ice Man's comments are spot on, IMO.

[MrDollarBills]

Seems the likeliest explanation. I don't know why else a player would lose her shot, except for the yips. But that doesn't seem to be happening. She's close, but just missing.

Tired legs seems as good an explanation as any. Not shooting as much as she is used to could be putting her off her rhythm though. They said in the pregame drills she was really hitting her threes well, so funny how that can change come game time.

When you are not in a good shape or tired, even two minutes of competitive basketball can tire your legs. That's why it is not a good idea to compare open gym shooting drills with in game action.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, who always play basketball in the summer for his NT, has that problem as well. His shoot often gets worse once the season progress and that's a result of playing competitive basketball for an extended period of time without any rest. After all, human body has limits and for every athletic freak like Lebron, there are 1000 Bogdanovics.

Another thing is anyone who is short and plays basketball knows that if you are short (thus has less strength), you have to rely more on lower body and jumping motion while launching threes. Thus, MrDollarBills & Ice Man's comments are spot on, IMO.

Yep exactly. She uses her legs and to gain lift for her shots, and she also said that she is looking forward to not touching a basketball for awhile.

Methinks the young lady needs a break

[rmontro]

Yep exactly. She uses her legs and to gain lift for her shots, and she also said that she is looking forward to not touching a basketball for awhile.

Methinks the young lady needs a break

A reporter asked her where she's going during her break, and she answered "Uh uh, nope". She isn't telling where she's going or what she's going to do. Must not want a bunch of press or fans following her, like she was the basketball Beatles or something. Sounds like she needs to get away from all of it.

And rest her legs, of course.

[MrDollarBills]

Yep exactly. She uses her legs and to gain lift for her shots, and she also said that she is looking forward to not touching a basketball for awhile.

Methinks the young lady needs a break

A reporter asked her where she's going during her break, and she answered "Uh uh, nope". She isn't telling where she's going or what she's going to do. Must not want a bunch of press or fans following her, like she was the basketball Beatles or something. Sounds like she needs to get away from all of it.

And rest her legs, of course.

I'm glad that she's setting boundaries.

[Ice Man]

A reporter asked her where she's going during her break, and she answered "Uh uh, nope". She isn't telling where she's going or what she's going to do. Must not want a bunch of press or fans following her, like she was the basketball Beatles or something. Sounds like she needs to get away from all of it.

She's extraordinarily media savvy. I don't recall the like, not among among professional sports rookies. A combination of several things -- a very strong family background, plus she has been in the spotlight since forever, plus she seems to have something of an Alex Honnold thing going on, in the sense of perceiving fear differently than the rest of us. She was asked before the ASG if she was nervous for the game, and she immediately responded, in a very natural tone, "I am never nervous for a game."

I believed her, which I wouldn't do for pretty much any other athlete, because being nervous and pretending otherwise is part of the job. But with her, yeah. That seemed right.