2024 WNBA Season Discussion Thread

[cdubbz]

Yeah, she fouled Clark like 3 times in 1 min.

She and the sky were beyond frustrated. You could tell they came into last night ready to battle. To then get blown out gotta sting.

Caitlin did flop on the first two fouls tho. especially the first.

The Sky have a long way to go in terms of personnel. Outside of Carter I am not high on any of their their backcourt/wing players, the loss of Mabrey has honestly been a huge blow to their group as well. Unfortunately for them, they're going home in two games in the first round because Stewie and the gals are on a mission.

I thought the shoulder check was a dumb frustration foul but CC was baiting the Sky into stuff all night. This is why I said earlier that CC doesn't need protection. She is playing the game and getting into people's heads.

I compared Clark to Gary Payton for a reason :lol:

She's definitely getting into that CP3 territory where she's being smart by baiting opponents into fouls and the opponents are eating it up every single time. After this rookie season we might see CC turn full GP mode and start blatantly talking trash all game

The league seriously needs to watch out. She's a rookie baiting the vets.

[MrDollarBills]

She and the sky were beyond frustrated. You could tell they came into last night ready to battle. To then get blown out gotta sting.

Caitlin did flop on the first two fouls tho. especially the first.

The Sky have a long way to go in terms of personnel. Outside of Carter I am not high on any of their their backcourt/wing players, the loss of Mabrey has honestly been a huge blow to their group as well. Unfortunately for them, they're going home in two games in the first round because Stewie and the gals are on a mission.

I thought the shoulder check was a dumb frustration foul but CC was baiting the Sky into stuff all night. This is why I said earlier that CC doesn't need protection. She is playing the game and getting into people's heads.

I compared Clark to Gary Payton for a reason :lol:

She's definitely getting into that CP3 territory where she's being smart by baiting opponents into fouls and the opponents are eating it up every single time. After this rookie season we might see CC turn full GP mode and start blatantly talking trash all game

The league seriously needs to watch out. She's a rookie baiting the vets.

I'm telling ya, she is already doing that

If you can go back and watch the footage after Deshields shoulder checked CC. You can literally see Clark going "I want to punch her in the f*cking face" on the sidelines before Erica Wheeler shoved a towel in her face, probably knowing that what she was saying was about to be caught on camera

I love it personally. This is competition, things get chippy. As long as no one is throwing punches or someone does something crazy to where a serious injury occurs, play ball.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Clark getting the MJ-in-the-80s treatment.
The way she gets cheap shotted so frequently has me thinking she will eventually be GOATed.
These girls just don’t know what to do with her so they resort to just trying to rough her up and hope she gets hurt. Shameful.
Caitlin Rules here we come. If the league has any sense they will do a much better job of protecting her next season, and then it’s curtains.

She's a grown woman, not a child. She doesn't need anyone's protection.

The NBA does their best to protect their stars, who are grown ass men, so not sure why the WNBA would be any different.
I guess they could go the Old Skool route and teams can get enforcers to protect their own, but that seems like a pretty stupid marketing strategy unless you think injured stars and fights breaking out during games is good for the league.
I don’t, personally.

[Wingy]

Yeah, she fouled Clark like 3 times in 1 min.

She and the sky were beyond frustrated. You could tell they came into last night ready to battle. To then get blown out gotta sting.

Caitlin did flop on the first two fouls tho. especially the first.

The Sky have a long way to go in terms of personnel. Outside of Carter I am not high on any of their their backcourt/wing players, the loss of Mabrey has honestly been a huge blow to their group as well. Unfortunately for them, they're going home in two games in the first round because Stewie and the gals are on a mission.

I thought the shoulder check was a dumb frustration foul but CC was baiting the Sky into stuff all night. This is why I said earlier that CC doesn't need protection. She is playing the game and getting into people's heads.

I compared Clark to Gary Payton for a reason

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

[MrDollarBills]

Clark getting the MJ-in-the-80s treatment.
The way she gets cheap shotted so frequently has me thinking she will eventually be GOATed.
These girls just don’t know what to do with her so they resort to just trying to rough her up and hope she gets hurt. Shameful.
Caitlin Rules here we come. If the league has any sense they will do a much better job of protecting her next season, and then it’s curtains.

She's a grown woman, not a child. She doesn't need anyone's protection.

The NBA does their best to protect their stars, who are grown ass men, so not sure why the WNBA would be any different.
I guess they could go the Old Skool route and teams can get enforcers to protect their own, but that seems like a pretty stupid marketing strategy unless you think injured stars and fights breaking out during games is good for the league.
I don’t, personally.

What does the NBA do to protect their stars? Everyone is gonna get fouled, I've seen LeBron get absolutely hammered over the years. There are no special protections, but common rules that apply to EVERYONE:

If someone gets hard fouled, a review is initiated, flagrant fouls are handed out and the league levies fines or suspensions. The WNBA is no different. That's the system. Why should that change?

I've seen next to nothing happen to CC that even remotely comes close to the violence I've seen Draymond Green hand out towards his peers over the last decade and he's been dealt with accordingly. Every time she gets hit people act like it's a crime against humanity and it's honestly bizarre. Did people start watching basketball this year?

What kind of policy do you want? Automatic ejections for fouling Caitlin Clark? Should she wear a no contact jersey like how NFL QBs do in practice? Seriously, what do you want the league to do?

This is basketball. No one is advocating for violence nor has anything that has happened on the court even remotely been so egregious that it warrants a heavy handed response. I've seen A'ja Wilson nearly get her face smashed in this season in a way that would have had you upset if CC got hit in the face like that, and guess what? no one cared.

A'ja is the best player in the world right now. If she can take a hard foul and keep going, why should CC be treated any differently? Come on now. The W is physical but yall are acting like Clark is getting body slammed in mid air. No, that actually happened to Angel Reese months ago and no one cared.

I'm sorry. I know people are protective of her, but she is not a child or some precious little princess that can't be touched. This blatant infantilization of Caitlin Clark is just weird guys and it undermines her as an athlete.

[MrDollarBills]

She and the sky were beyond frustrated. You could tell they came into last night ready to battle. To then get blown out gotta sting.

Caitlin did flop on the first two fouls tho. especially the first.

The Sky have a long way to go in terms of personnel. Outside of Carter I am not high on any of their their backcourt/wing players, the loss of Mabrey has honestly been a huge blow to their group as well. Unfortunately for them, they're going home in two games in the first round because Stewie and the gals are on a mission.

I thought the shoulder check was a dumb frustration foul but CC was baiting the Sky into stuff all night. This is why I said earlier that CC doesn't need protection. She is playing the game and getting into people's heads.

I compared Clark to Gary Payton for a reason

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

Chicago is in serious danger of falling out the race and Carter being sick has done them no favors. Don't sleep on the Mystics either. This might go down to the last day. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Atlanta.

Heh that would be pretty sick if Paige ended up in Chicago, I'm still pulling for Showtime 2025 with Paige going to LA but I'm cool either way

[cdubbz]

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

I was posting on social media a few games ago that's it's in the Skys best interest to miss the playoffs this season. They've already got 2 foundational bigs even though they're not using Cardoso correctly. They should enter the Paige sweepstakes.

Pursuit for Paige:
- Sparks & Wings just need to keep losing.
- Mystics have their own pick + Dream pick. Mystics WANT the Sky to make playoffs and Dream to miss it.
- Sky benefit from missing playoffs and gaining access to the Paige sweepstakes.
- Dream have no incentive to miss playoffs so they might as well TRY to get the 8th seed.

It will be interesting the rest of the season to see if Sky tank and if Dream really makes a push for 8th seed.

[CIN-C-STAR]

She's a grown woman, not a child. She doesn't need anyone's protection.

The NBA does their best to protect their stars, who are grown ass men, so not sure why the WNBA would be any different.
I guess they could go the Old Skool route and teams can get enforcers to protect their own, but that seems like a pretty stupid marketing strategy unless you think injured stars and fights breaking out during games is good for the league.
I don’t, personally.

What does the NBA do to protect their stars? Everyone is gonna get fouled, I've seen LeBron get absolutely hammered over the years. There are no special protections, but common rules that apply to EVERYONE:

If someone gets hard fouled, a review is initiated, flagrant fouls are handed out and the league levies fines or suspensions. The WNBA is no different. That's the system. Why should that change?

I've seen next to nothing happen to CC that even remotely comes close to the violence I've seen Draymond Green hand out towards his peers over the last decade and he's been dealt with accordingly. Every time she gets hit people act like it's a crime against humanity and it's honestly bizarre. Did people start watching basketball this year?

What kind of policy do you want? Automatic ejections for fouling Caitlin Clark? Should she wear a no contact jersey like how NFL QBs do in practice? Seriously, what do you want the league to do?

This is basketball. No one is advocating for violence nor has anything that has happened on the court even remotely been so egregious that it warrants a heavy handed response. I've seen A'ja Wilson nearly get her face smashed in this season in a way that would have had you upset if CC got hit in the face like that, and guess what? no one cared.

A'ja is the best player in the world right now. If she can take a hard foul and keep going, why should CC be treated any differently? Come on now. The W is physical but yall are acting like Clark is getting body slammed in mid air. No, that actually happened to Angel Reese months ago and no one cared.

I'm sorry. I know people are protective of her, but she is not a child or some precious little princess that can't be touched. This blatant infantilization of Caitlin Clark is just weird guys and it undermines her as an athlete.

I don't want to see Lebron or Jokic taken out by cheap shots either, does that mean I'm infantilizing them and treating them like
a princess and undermining them as an athlete?
Honestly that take is what's weird to me. I want to watch basketball, not MMA. I don't think I'm breaking news here by saying that cheap shots lead to injuries and fights.
And that goes for Wilson and other stars of the WNBA too. I'm an Aces fan, so you better believe I want the league to protect her, and I think it's the right thing to do.
Now maybe you disagree. There are a lot of fans who are still nostalgic for '80s basketball, stuff like when McHale clotheslined Rambis in the Finals. But the league determined it was bad for the game, and I agree. You asked what the league has done to protect their stars, are you not familiar with the Jordan Rules? The Pistons were known for beating the hell out of MJ in the '80s, and by the '90s you couldn't get away with that stuff.
Whether you like it or not, the stars of the game are cash cows and a smart company is going to protect their biggest money makers. Don't be surprised if Clark gets a little more protection from the league next season is all I'm saying.
And it doesn't need to be something extreme like in your silly strawman examples -- "Automatic ejections for fouling Caitlin Clark? Should she wear a no contact jersey like how NFL QBs do in practice?" -- but just enforcing existing rules tighter.
Clark was flagrantly fouled 3 times in the last 2 games, and last night the 2 flagrant fouls were only upgraded upon review.
The first foul was an obvious landing zone violation on Cardoso, but Clark had to make a scene to get the refs to look at it. Steph gets that call automatically every time.
The second one was a body check from behind in the open court, with no play on the ball. Super dangerous, and I've seen fights break out in pickup games over less.
You asked if I just started watching basketball this year, but have you played the game, like, ever? You telling me you'd be cool with being ran down from behind and body checked to the floor?
I'd be heated, and most ballers I know would too. It's completely unnecessary and not even remotely a basketball play.
Anyway, to me that's a clear flagrant 2 and ejection, especially given the context. DeShields checked in and fouled her 3 times in quick succession in a blowout, the last one being the most egregious. The refs are too stupid to recognize what's going on there in real time?
You can also look at the Carter body check from earlier in the season, deemed a common foul. She ran up on her from behind, called her a bitch, and body checked Clark when the ball wasn't even in play.
That's a common foul?
Give me an example of something like that being called a common foul in the modern NBA, especially if the person being fouled is a star like Lebron. You can't because NBA refs wouldn't allow that, and they shouldn't.
I get that you like seeing the chippiness and cheap shots, but they are against the rules and the league would be morons to continue allowing stars to get targeted with cheap shots, any stars, not just Clark.
The chippiness may have been a big part of the game in the past, but there was a lot less skill to market in the past too. Now they can market the basketball, and doing that means protecting the stars of the league.
And I hope they start doing it soon, rather than waiting for a player like Clark, Stewie, Wilson, etc. to sustain an injury before acting.

[Green Chile]

The Sky have a long way to go in terms of personnel. Outside of Carter I am not high on any of their their backcourt/wing players, the loss of Mabrey has honestly been a huge blow to their group as well. Unfortunately for them, they're going home in two games in the first round because Stewie and the gals are on a mission.

I thought the shoulder check was a dumb frustration foul but CC was baiting the Sky into stuff all night. This is why I said earlier that CC doesn't need protection. She is playing the game and getting into people's heads.

I compared Clark to Gary Payton for a reason

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

Chicago is in serious danger of falling out the race and Carter being sick has done them no favors. Don't sleep on the Mystics either. This might go down to the last day. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Atlanta.

Heh that would be pretty sick if Paige ended up in Chicago, I'm still pulling for Showtime 2025 with Paige going to LA but I'm cool either way

The Mystics were looking good, but that Austin injury just sucks.

I think Dallas has a decent shot to take the 8 spot if CHI/ATL falter. They look so good with Satou back, and wins over the Aces and Lynx will help the cause.

Plus, if there's any team that would love to be the one to put Chicago back into the lottery, it's Dallas with that pick swap.

[Green Chile]

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

I was posting on social media a few games ago that's it's in the Skys best interest to miss the playoffs this season. They've already got 2 foundational bigs even though they're not using Cardoso correctly. They should enter the Paige sweepstakes.

Pursuit for Paige:
- Sparks & Wings just need to keep losing.
- Mystics have their own pick + Dream pick. Mystics WANT the Sky to make playoffs and Dream to miss it.
- Sky benefit from missing playoffs and gaining access to the Paige sweepstakes.
- Dream have no incentive to miss playoffs so they might as well TRY to get the 8th seed.

It will be interesting the rest of the season to see if Sky tank and if Dream really makes a push for 8th seed.

I have to think the Mystics front office was pretty irritated when Chennedy missed that game earlier this week.

[Green Chile]

Oh, and sorry for just busting up in here randomly. I'm mid 40's and been on sports message boards for decades, so I understand some random dude just popping in.

I'm here because I've recently fallen in love with the WNBA, and it's incredibly hard to find a good place to discuss it. You guys seem like good peeps that enjoy the W.

I don't have a favorite team yet because it's hard not to fall in love with all of them.

Although, I do have a bet on the Storm to win it all. It probably wasn't a great bet, but I figured Nneka and Skylar getting some rest while so many players on the other top teams went to the Olympics could give them a shot.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Oh, and sorry for just busting up in here randomly. I'm mid 40's and been on sports message boards for decades, so I understand some random dude just popping in.

I'm here because I've recently fallen in love with the WNBA, and it's incredibly hard to find a good place to discuss it. You guys seem like good peeps that enjoy the W.

I don't have a favorite team yet because it's hard not to fall in love with all of them.

Although, I do have a bet on the Storm to win it all. It probably wasn't a great bet, but I figured Nneka and Skylar getting some rest while so many players on the other top teams went to the Olympics could give them a shot.

Welcome aboard!

[ellobo]

Will the Sky even make the playoffs at this rate? Loss of Mabrey and ATL was on a mini surge with Canada back, before a recent 4 game losing streak vs playoff opponents. The Dream have the 2nd easiest remaining schedule per Tankathon.

(also, queue my for fun only rookie lottery conspiracy theories…Bueckers + Kamilla + Angel in the country’s 3rd largest market)

Chicago is in serious danger of falling out the race and Carter being sick has done them no favors. Don't sleep on the Mystics either. This might go down to the last day. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Atlanta.

Heh that would be pretty sick if Paige ended up in Chicago, I'm still pulling for Showtime 2025 with Paige going to LA but I'm cool either way

The Mystics were looking good, but that Austin injury just sucks.

I think Dallas has a decent shot to take the 8 spot if CHI/ATL falter. They look so good with Satou back, and wins over the Aces and Lynx will help the cause.

Plus, if there's any team that would love to be the one to put Chicago back into the lottery, it's Dallas with that pick swap.

If Dallas knocks Chicago out of the 8th playoff spot, they not only make the playoffs AND stay in the lottery with the pick swap, but Dallas might actually gain better lottery odds with Chicago's pick compared to their current position in the lottery with their own pick. Chicago already has a worse two year record than Dallas, and currently equal with Atlanta (pick owned by Washington). So if Chicago falls into the lottery due to this year's record, they might move up in lottery odds ahead of the Atlanta pick, and they are currently only a game and a half behind Washington for the second best odds.

The only way the Sky get in the lottery is if both they AND Dallas miss the playoffs (which would mean Atlanta or Washington passing both), and Dallas can still take the pick between them that has the best odds.

[ellobo]

Oh, and sorry for just busting up in here randomly. I'm mid 40's and been on sports message boards for decades, so I understand some random dude just popping in.

I'm here because I've recently fallen in love with the WNBA, and it's incredibly hard to find a good place to discuss it. You guys seem like good peeps that enjoy the W.

I don't have a favorite team yet because it's hard not to fall in love with all of them.

Although, I do have a bet on the Storm to win it all. It probably wasn't a great bet, but I figured Nneka and Skylar getting some rest while so many players on the other top teams went to the Olympics could give them a shot.

Welcome aboard!

On the Knicks board, the customary greeting to new posters is STFU and GTFO

[MrDollarBills]

Mabrey went 5 of 7 from downtown tonight for the Sun

[MrDollarBills]

Oh, and sorry for just busting up in here randomly. I'm mid 40's and been on sports message boards for decades, so I understand some random dude just popping in.

I'm here because I've recently fallen in love with the WNBA, and it's incredibly hard to find a good place to discuss it. You guys seem like good peeps that enjoy the W.

I don't have a favorite team yet because it's hard not to fall in love with all of them.

Although, I do have a bet on the Storm to win it all. It probably wasn't a great bet, but I figured Nneka and Skylar getting some rest while so many players on the other top teams went to the Olympics could give them a shot.

Welcome aboard!

On the Knicks board, the customary greeting to new posters is STFU and GTFO

And something about eating a bag of private parts

[RSCD3_]

If Paige does declare this year (as is expected) who of the three* lottery teams would you like to see her drafted by?

*Washington's pick goes atlanta, and the current odds are

Mystics 45.4
Sparks 44.2
Wings 10.4

Chicago has also been in a free fall post mabrey, but due to a bunch of questionable trades Dallas has a pick swap with them so even if Dallas does make the playoffs, they would still get a pick and currently Chicago has a worse 2 year record than Dallas so it's in Dallas' best interest for their tanking to make the playoffs over the sky because the sky and atlanta have the same 2 year record at 29-42 and dallas is at 31-40 and Washington at 28-44, so there's a better chance that if chicago falls out and they end up with either the 2nd or 3rd best odds (27.6 or 17.8) but that would still go to dallas

[zimpy27]

If Paige does declare this year (as is expected) who of the three* lottery teams would you like to see her drafted by?

*Washington's pick goes atlanta, and the current odds are

Mystics 45.4
Sparks 44.2
Wings 10.4

Chicago has also been in a free fall post mabrey, but due to a bunch of questionable trades Dallas has a pick swap with them so even if Dallas does make the playoffs, they would still get a pick and currently Chicago has a worse 2 year record than Dallas so it's in Dallas' best interest for their tanking to make the playoffs over the sky because the sky and atlanta have the same 2 year record at 29-42 and dallas is at 31-40 and Washington at 28-44, so there's a better chance that if chicago falls out and they end up with either the 2nd or 3rd best odds (27.6 or 17.8) but that would still go to dallas

Sparks with Brink

[MrDollarBills]

If Paige does declare this year (as is expected) who of the three* lottery teams would you like to see her drafted by?

*Washington's pick goes atlanta, and the current odds are

Mystics 45.4
Sparks 44.2
Wings 10.4

Chicago has also been in a free fall post mabrey, but due to a bunch of questionable trades Dallas has a pick swap with them so even if Dallas does make the playoffs, they would still get a pick and currently Chicago has a worse 2 year record than Dallas so it's in Dallas' best interest for their tanking to make the playoffs over the sky because the sky and atlanta have the same 2 year record at 29-42 and dallas is at 31-40 and Washington at 28-44, so there's a better chance that if chicago falls out and they end up with either the 2nd or 3rd best odds (27.6 or 17.8) but that would still go to dallas

Sparks. Perfect situation for her with Hamby, Jackson, and Brink

[MrDollarBills]

Today's hoops, we got a full plate my friends:

Storm vs Sun at 1pm EST (NBA TV)

Sky vs Lynx at 3pm EST, we know hermes will be locked in on that one.

Fever vs Wings at 4pm, Arike vs CC is always a joy to watch. I feel like after their last meeting and the all star game, this is gonna be a fun one. (NBA TV)

Aces vs Mercury at 4pm EST

Dream vs Sparks at 7pm EST

I tried to find broadcast info as best as I can. They don't make this easy.