Should Clark be on the Olympic team?

[Mr. Cam]

That door swings both ways .... can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

1:19 - 1:40

Now we have another authoritative answer instead of an opinion or a supposition.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Now we have an authoritative answer instead of an opinion or a supposition.

Great interview. She just gained a new fan.

 

[CajunHusky]

CajunHusky said:
That door swings both ways .... can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

1:19 - 1:40

Now we have another authoritative answer instead of an opinion or a supposition.

Context is important:

This whole argument can actually break several ways:


3) Clark obviously makes those around her better with her passing skills and as a decoy to draw defenses to her, therefore making life
easier for her teammates. But what if Clark's teammates along with her coach's system actually make Caitlin better? Their ability to put
the team first and realize they'd be more successful by embracing her talents while humbling themselves is not easy to do, especially
the buy-in seen by an entire team.

4) Will a team of pros be real pros, in the sense their primary objective is to win. Or will they be pros simply by being paid for playing the
game? Will they succumb to pettiness and hazing to make a new player earn their place, or will they do their best to integrate her into
the team....regardless of her skill level. Maybe she will be ordinary; perhaps she'll elevate to become an WNBA star as well. It seems as
if the Fever are willing to take this path, even if the rest of the league isn't on board.

Will be an interesting ride, especially with the heightened audience that's going to be following.

"That door swings both ways ...." can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

My comment (That door swings both ways....) is specifically in reference to the bolded section in item 3 above. The op asks will the team embrace Caitlyn talents while humbling themselves? They should ALL embrace each other talents (not put one above the other as suggested by the op) and be a team first and last.

 

[cancontent]

CajunHusky said:
That door swings both ways .... can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

Context is important:


"That door swings both ways ...." can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

My comment (That door swings both ways....) is specifically in reference to the bolded section in item 3 above. The op asks will the team embrace Caitlyn talents while humbling themselves? They should ALL embrace each other talents (not put one above the other as suggested by the op) and be a team first and last.

Agreed. From the interview clips I've seen it sounds like they are. This whole "Caitlin vs WNBA vets" talking point has been really frustrating to see bantered about. Can the season just start already so we can finally see these teams play?

 

[Bjbod]

CajunHusky said:
That door swings both ways .... can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

Context is important:


"That door swings both ways ...." can Clark realize the team will be more succesful by embracing her teammates obvious talents while humbling herself?

My comment (That door swings both ways....) is specifically in reference to the bolded section in item 3 above. The op asks will the team embrace Caitlyn talents while humbling themselves? They should ALL embrace each other talents (not put one above the other as suggested by the op) and be a team first and last.

My apologies if this was not communicated clearly enough, but the reference in point 3 was solely related to her experience at Iowa. It was not intended at all to be a comment with respect to her future teammates at Indiana.

 

[baggerbob]

Agreed. From the interview clips I've seen it sounds like they are. This whole "Caitlin vs WNBA vets" talking point has been really frustrating to see bantered about. Can the season just start already so we can finally see these teams play?

Stewie never had the problem, because someone like Sue was already there.
I don't know if Indiana has anyone like that, seems it would fall to Boston to set the tone.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Stewie never had the problem, because someone like Sue was already there.
I don't know if Indiana has anyone like that, seems it would fall to Boston to set the tone.

Sue Bird was a well-established veteran by 2016 at the age of 36.

Aliyah Boston is only 22 (about a month older than Caitlin) and is currently in her second season. She is not a veteran by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[cancontent]

Stewie never had the problem, because someone like Sue was already there.
I don't know if Indiana has anyone like that, seems it would fall to Boston to set the tone.

Erica Wheeler would likely handle this role. She seems to be very excited to have Clark on the roster based on some clips I've seen.

 

[Mr. Cam]

The Indiana Fever used Caitlin exactly like I said Team USA's C. Reeve should use her.

This is what I said in post number 78.

Coach Reeve can use Caitlin Clark initially as a second rotation shooting guard or as a
second rotation backup point guard. If Team USA has a big lead in the first or second
half, Coach Reeve can insert Caitlin as a FIRST rotation shooting guard. In both instances,
USA Basketball can implement a simple motion offense that gives Caitlin the Steph Curry
assignment of constant off ball movement to spread the floor to create gaps, mismatches,
single coverage, or even pull the opposing defense from the weak to the strong side to cre-
ate dead/empty spaces on the weak side for her team mates to exploit backdoor cuts to the
basket.

Caitlin Clark's long range shooting ability stretches the defense as she crosses the half court
line whether she has the ball or not. Opposing coaches dare not leave her open and that for-
ces them to assign their best defender to pick her up at the half court line.

Caitlin had Natasha Howard twisting in the wind when Natasha tried to defend her step back
thee. Natasha Howard is a 6-2 forward.

 

[Dillon77]

Michael Voepel attempts to give context to Caitlin Clark being considered for the Olympic team.
Pretty expansive article...

Will Caitlin Clark make the U.S. Olympic team for the Paris Games?

The U.S. women will take 12 players to Paris. We look at how the team is selected and whether the Indiana Fever guard might compete in the 2024 Games.

www.espn.com

 

[Reypl21]

If the Olympics want record-breaking viewers for Women's basketball, they may want to consider putting Caitlin on the team as well. I didn't think of that wrinkle until today. Sorry if that idea was in that article @Dillon77 . I'll have to read it later today

 

[Vowelguy]

If the Olympics want record-breaking viewers for Women's basketball, they may want to consider putting Caitlin on the team as well. I didn't think of that wrinkle until today. Sorry if that idea was in that article @Dillon77 . I'll have to read it later today

"But the fan interest in Clark is soooo compelling that it would almost surely help the game in the short and long term in terms of attracting eyeballs and keeping momentum going."

Hmm, I wonder who said that.

 

[Mr. Cam]

Michael Voepel attempts to give context to Caitlin Clark being considered for the Olympic team.
Pretty expansive article...

Will Caitlin Clark make the U.S. Olympic team for the Paris Games?

The U.S. women will take 12 players to Paris. We look at how the team is selected and whether the Indiana Fever guard might compete in the 2024 Games.

www.espn.com

Nike is a Team USA Basketball corporate sponsor. They just signed a 28 Million Dollar
deal with Caitlin Clark. NBC lost their shorts at the Tokyo Olympics with cellar dweller
ratings and they desperately want a certified draw like CC with a very high Q rating.

Voepel's article did not mention that Rizzotti will have the opportunity to see Clark on
these dates when the Fever play the Sun:

Tuesday, May 14, 2024 1 Game
Monday, May 20, 2024 1 Game
Monday, Jun 10, 2024 1 Game

Rizzotti is the president of the Sun and chairs the Team USA Women's Basketball select-
ion committee.

The Fever play the Mercury on:

Sunday, Jun 30, 2024 1 Game Phoenix Mercury

The Fever coaching staff should draw up plays for CC to hunt down DT. Let us see how
many times the rookie can torch the vet.