Caitlin Changed the Game

[Forego]

Maybe the way it was officiated. CC had so many offensive fouls that just weren’t called. She stiff armed defenders, flopped with drama and drew the fouls. She is a master at jumping into defenders to draw the foul.

Unfortunately, she did not change the way the game was or will be officiated. The NCAA Women’s Baskrtball officiating remains in a stagnant, unimproved condition. She did shed some additional light on how poor the officiating is, and where rule changes are needed, but is not responsible for any changes to it.

She is an unparalleled three point shooter and handed out a lot of assists and carried her team through the NCAA championship tournament similar to the way Diana Taurasi did twenty years ago. But unlike Taurasi she did not cross the finish line first.

By the way, although not a foul or violation, I would recommend adding whining to you list.

 

[BigTenGuy]

They have? I don't believe that. Selling out home arenas, sure. Bringing higher than average crowds to away games, sure. But selling out wherever they go? Nope, not even remotely buying that. Almost all of Iowa's games were sold out this year, regardless of location. I don't think anything even close to that has happened before.

Before this season, Baylor in 2012 had the highest average true road game attendance at 8,424. Only two other teams, Tennessee in 1999 and 2001, have topped 8,000 in true road game average attendance. Iowa’s true road game attendance this season averaged 13,520.

 

[WiseWillie]

Does the fact that ESPN spent an entire year 24/7 promoting CC have anything to do with how popular CC is? People who never watched a basketball game were enticed into watching her play because she was the greatest thing of all time - or because of a promotional bandwagon that took on a life of its own? Whatever it was or is you are entitled to your own opinion. So keep the comments flowing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Does the fact that ESPN spent an entire year 24/7 promoting CC have anything to do with how popular CC is? People who never watched a basketball game were enticed into watching her play because she was the greatest thing of all time - or because of a promotional bandwagon that took on a life of its own? Whatever it was or is you are entitled to your own opinion. So keep the comments flowing.

Don't they pick a theme every year for promotional purposes? I remember "3 To See" one season. They can push a narrative, but that doesn't mean the public will buy it the way they did w/ Clark.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Don't they pick a theme every year for promotional purposes? I remember "3 To See" one season. They can push a narrative, but that doesn't mean the public will buy it the way they did w/ Clark.

How soon we all forget!

And while that promotion did not produce the same frenzy as Clarkmania did, it was still a wildly successful campaign--the most successful one until Clarkmania, IMO. We had all kinds of entertainers pulling up to see Skylar Diggins. RGIII and his Heisman campaign brought attention to the Baylor Lady Bears (especially BG) during that time. And had EDD not played at Delaware, she would've received even more hype than those two.

I'm expecting something similar to that in 2027--except with far more fanfare.

 

[Kaizen]

I like Caitlin but I love Maya even more ....

 

[WBBTakeover]

I like Caitlin but I love Maya even more ....

Same here

 

[WiseWillie]

Same here

To follow up on Maya, comparing her skills and accomplishments to what is being ballyhooed today as revolutionizing the game of womens basketball seems more than a little odd. Would there be as much media mania surrounding Maya if she was playing today? Or is shooting 30 foot 3 pointers what everyone wants to see?

 

[JonathanXIV]

Having watched both Maya and Clark, you will never convince me Clark is the better player.

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Velocity80]

Having watched both Maya and Clark, you will never convince me Clark is the better player.

Maya is nice but Clark’s vision and passing are her best attributes. Its art. The celestial shooting is the cherry on top. CC is so much fun to watch.

 

[Zach Jump]

Defensively, wow. She puts virtually no effort on defensive, almost never raising her hands above her waist, half-hearted challenges to shooters and doesn't stop anyone driving to the hoop. Surprised her coach didn't demand at least something on that end of the floor.

You obviously have not watched much.

How does someone finish 25th in the country in defensive rebounds per game with their hands rarely above their waste?

 

[JonathanXIV]

You obviously have not watched much.

How does someone finish 25th in the country in defensive rebounds per game with their hands rarely above their waste?

I've watched plenty and I stand by my assessment. Feel free to provide me video of Clark aggressively playing defense.

 

[Bone Dog]

Maya is nice but Clark’s vision and passing are her best attributes. Its art. The celestial shooting is the cherry on top. CC is so much fun to watch.

"Celestial shooting"? I don't really see it. What Caitlin mainly is is a very active player on offense who chucks up a lot of shots and scores a ton. This is the formula her coach wanted and she had the energy to do it. I don't mean to slight her with this -- what she does takes a ton of effort and energy, and talent. A side effect of that approach is she is in a position to make lots of good passes and she happens to have the vision to see where the openings are for great passes. That didn't happen by accident. She manufactured those passing opportunities and then made the passes happen! This is also how she is in a position to rebound well -- because of what she does with the ball, defenses have to exaggerate their response to her -- as with any great player -- and end up out of position for long rebounds.

I'd also add that her numbers are skewed upwards a bit by the distorting effect of NCAA reffing which lets aggressive shooters get away with push offs and charges. This isn't Caitlin's fault, nor is she the only player to benefit from this. It's just what the landscape of D1 wbb is, and she took advantage of it. So did Plum and Sabrina and Diggins in their day. The only reason to mention it is in the context of a comparison to Maya or other WNBA superstars -- Caitlin's numbers will not be as "celestial" in the W, and we shoudn't be surprised by this, nor should we fault Caitlin for it. It's just the reality. Averaging 20ppg in the W is more or less equivalent to averaging 30ppg in D1. I expect Caitlin to be averaging 20ppg by her second year, if not already as a rookie.

 

[Zach Jump]

This is also how she is in a position to rebound well -- because of what she does with the ball, defenses have to exaggerate their response to her -- as with any great player -- and end up out of position for long rebounds.

0.5 offensive rebounds a game is what you are talking about?

 

[Zach Jump]

I've watched plenty and I stand by my assessment. Feel free to provide me video of Clark aggressively playing defense.

Caitlin Clark steals it on BACK-TO-BACK possessions for easy baskets | NCAA Tournament

Caitlin Clark steal seals Hawkeye victory

Couple of these plays are positioning...but a couple of them pretty aggressive defense.

Caitlin Clark was DOMINANT on defense in the first half ‍ #basketball #caitlinclark #iowa

 

[Kaizen]

How quickly people forget Paige's freshman season

Paige won all the possible awards in her freshman year. That is a record no one can break now.

 

[Zach Jump]

Paige won all the possible awards in her freshman year. That is a record no one can break now.

She didn't win the Dawn Staley award for Top Point Guard

 

[Kaizen]

She didn't win the Dawn Staley award for Top Point Guard

She won all the national player of the year awards she was eligible for——becoming the first freshman to receive any of the awards.—AP Player of the Year, Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA Women's National Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Award—becoming the first freshman to receive any of the awards.

Paige Bueckers - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kaizen]

She didn't win the Dawn Staley award for Top Point Guard

This is certainly understandable since the award is from Dawn Staley .

 

[TheFarmFan]

Just gonna put it out there, but Huskies fans who go out of their way to have nothing good to say about Clark? Not a good look. No one's taking anything away from Maya or Paige to say CC has single-handedly elevated WCBB.

 

[The deacon]

"Celestial shooting"? I don't really see it. What Caitlin mainly is is a very active player on offense who chucks up a lot of shots and scores a ton. This is the formula her coach wanted and she had the energy to do it. I don't mean to slight her with this -- what she does takes a ton of effort and energy, and talent. A side effect of that approach is she is in a position to make lots of good passes and she happens to have the vision to see where the openings are for great passes. That didn't happen by accident. She manufactured those passing opportunities and then made the passes happen! This is also how she is in a position to rebound well -- because of what she does with the ball, defenses have to exaggerate their response to her -- as with any great player -- and end up out of position for long rebounds.

I'd also add that her numbers are skewed upwards a bit by the distorting effect of NCAA reffing which lets aggressive shooters get away with push offs and charges. This isn't Caitlin's fault, nor is she the only player to benefit from this. It's just what the landscape of D1 wbb is, and she took advantage of it. So did Plum and Sabrina and Diggins in their day. The only reason to mention it is in the context of a comparison to Maya or other WNBA superstars -- Caitlin's numbers will not be as "celestial" in the W, and we shoudn't be surprised by this, nor should we fault Caitlin for it. It's just the reality. Averaging 20ppg in the W is more or less equivalent to averaging 30ppg in D1. I expect Caitlin to be averaging 20ppg by her second year, if not already as a rookie.

Just gonna put it out there, but Huskies fans who go out of their way to have nothing good to say about Clark? Not a good look. No one's taking anything away from Maya or Paige to say CC has single-handedly elevated WCBB.

Agreed, the Farm Fan, and then there are Boneyarders who say lots of good things about Caitlin, all veiled in much the same eloquent twists that Marc Antony spun in his speech to the Romans about Brutus, as taken from Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar.'

I'll bet both of you know it well, and probably lots of others here, too. Taking Antony's tack, 'I need not say more.'

 

[Bone Dog]

Agreed, the Farm Fan, and then there are Boneyarders who say lots of good things about Caitlin, all veiled in much the same eloquent twists that Marc Antony spun in his speech to the Romans about Brutus, as taken from Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar.'

I'll bet both of you know it well, and probably lots of others here, too. Taking Antony's tack, 'I need not say more.'

I don't know what you're on about, @The deacon. I spoke fairly and honestly in that post. If you disagree with anything I said, explain yourself. If not, reconsider your own post.

 

[Velocity80]

Caitlin was the guest on SNL’s Weekend Update tonight. I don’t remember a college athlete ever appearing on that show before. A few of her jokes were pretty good.

 

[Bone Dog]

Caitlin was the guest on SNL’s Weekend Update tonight. I don’t remember a college athlete ever appearing on that show before. A few of her jokes were pretty good.

She had a good zinger on Michael Che: “You don’t have a girlfriend, Michael.” She delivered it really well.