Caitlin Clark

[Argonaut]

NIL deals for WBB are more about a player's visibility on social media than they are about talent. Clark has just under 100k followers on IG and Paige has almost a million. If I'm a company and I want to use one of them to push my product, Paige gets me almost 10x more eyeballs than Caitlin does. And, fwiw, Clark gets twice as many eyeballs as Aliyah Boston (who clocks in at just under 48k followers).

As much as players want to make money, companies also want to make sure they're choosing the best advertising investment.

Paige built her brand and gathered a following long before it was going to be profitable, and as we can see, it's paying off for her. Other players just didn't.

 

[sun]

Besides basketball, I admire that she elected to stay close to her home, family and dog.
Even Hy-Vee is an Iowa based grocery chain with 280 stores that claims that all Hy-Vee beef comes from family farms in the midwest.
I imagine that someday she'll play in the Olympics and will become an international star.
She'll be an ambassador for the US & Iowa wherever she goes for a long time to come.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I want to get in on this action as well. I'm here on behalf of DePaul.

Last year DePaul's top 5 players (scoring)

Morris: 19.3 PPG
Held: 16.6 PPG
Church: 13.3 PPG
Bekelja: 12.5 PPG
Rogers: 9.5 PPG

I'm not a math guy but I know when a number is higher than another. To these aged eyes seems like DePaul had better top 5 point scorers than UConn last year. Does @CONN78SEJ even look at the other teams stats before typing or was he looking in a mirror when he was practicing "You don't know what you are talking about".

Ok wise @. SS, just look at the box score in the loss to Michigan and tell me Iowa really spread the scoring out compared to Michigan’s scoring spread. Idiot

 

[mbr33ct]

Ok wise @. SS, just look at the box score in the loss to Michigan and tell me Iowa really spread the scoring out compared to Michigan’s scoring spread. Idiot

Wasn't your original post about "last year" stats? We're not talking about this years stats or individual games.

 

[letsgogirls]

Besides basketball, I admire that she elected to stay close to her home, family and dog.
Even Hy-Vee is an Iowa based grocery chain with 280 stores that claims that all Hy-Vee beef comes from family farms in the midwest.
I imagine that someday she'll play in the Olympics and will become an international star.
She'll be an ambassador for the US & Iowa wherever she goes for a long time to come.

Her merch is also through an Iowa company, The Vinyl Studio. And even did a meet and greet at an Iowa Cubs game over the summer. It's always great to see elite players stay in their home state and be loyal to it. A nice change of pace as we don't see it happen very often.

 

[eyeroll]

What a fricken thread this turned out to be. I'll just say this - NOTHING other than yourself, makes talking about Caitlin Clark a comparison to Paige. That only happens because people turn it into that, which is dumb. We have total control to just celebrate a great basketball talent rather than turning it into some sort of pissing match. Literally creating your own drama and then complaining about it.

Not to mention, how a person plays basketball is a reflection of the team they are on. I don't look at her or the way she plays and get a Chennedy Carter vibe at all. Not to mention, despite it being pointed out multiple times, they were playing 2 starters down against Michigan and yet folks just wanna ignore that, like when we had people out with injuries, other folks didn't have to step up their role. Some of the folks on Iowa probably can only step up so far, so Caitlin needs to just do more. That might look selfish to some people but just because you think that doesn't make it true. It also might look ugly sometimes but we're familiar with that too. There is zero doubt that she has a ton of talent and just like Paige, we should celebrate that because it's good for Women's Basketball. The irony in all of this is that many of these young women are friends, so if they aren't playing against each other, they are rooting for one another. We should be learning from them.

 

[UConn2SF]

Clark was incredible in the 4th quarter vs Michigan. In Iowa's other close games, not so much.

Clark's 4th quarter in single digit games:
3 wins: 35 mins, 14 pts, 3-16 fg (1-7 3fg), 7 rebs, 4 assts, 7 tos, 2 fouls
4 losses: 40 mins, 20 pts, 7-21 fg (3-12 3fg), 4 rebs, 5 assts, 10 tos, 8 fouls

 

[letsgogirls]

Clark was incredible in the 4th quarter vs Michigan. In Iowa's other close games, not so much.

Clark's 4th quarter in single digit games:
3 wins: 35 mins, 14 pts, 3-16 fg (1-7 3fg), 7 rebs, 4 assts, 7 tos, 2 fouls
4 losses: 40 mins, 20 pts, 7-21 fg (3-12 3fg), 4 rebs, 5 assts, 10 tos, 8 fouls

No one said she was perfect

 

[ConwayGmck]

How is averaging 8+ assists not making your teammates better?

Averaging 8+ assists when you're not considered a top defensive target is a great accomplishment. John Stockton never averaged 20 ppg a single season in a 20+ year NBA career - his assist numbers may never be reached again - even with these manufactured "all-star" teams with multiple top players on them.

Averaging 8+ assists when YOU are the top defensive target every game is not that impressive. When opposing teams are doubling and tripling you to stop you from scoring, you'll find a ton of free teammates all alone near the basket. Wilt Chamberlain once led the NBA in assists one season in his career, but that doesn't make Wilt a great assist man, and it surely didn't make Wilt a player that helped to make his team better - in fact, one big thing against Wilt was he demanded the ball every time he was in the game, but he was also so unstoppable in his prime during his era that it pretty much made sense. But games with Wilt often turned into 1 man versus 5, and it wore him down in games against the better teams......

 

[CL82]

That's why UConn wouldn't win another NC with Paige throwing up

Agree. If Katie Lou couldn’t parlay that into a Natty, I doubt Paige could either.

(That was one heck of a performance though huh?)

 

[DefenseBB]

Ok wise @. SS, just look at the box score in the loss to Michigan and tell me Iowa really spread the scoring out compared to Michigan’s scoring spread. Idiot

Hey there, name calling is unnecessary! you have been on this forum long enough to know how to comport your answers if you disagree with another poster and your name calling raises questions to me about your own logic. Iowa does not have the depth that Michigan or even DePaul does. Iowa has to rely on Clark AND Cizano and while Michigan does lean on Naz a fair amount, but they have Brown, Kiser, Nolan and now Dill who was their starting point guard before the injuries is back and contributing.

 

[HuskyMJ]

Clark is POY candidate and the disparaging I see about her on Twitter, mostly from SCar fans is so disappointing. Hello, fans on Twitter have no say in POY so who cares if they like Clark?

 

[cancontent]

Clark is POY candidate and the disparaging I see about her on Twitter, mostly from SCar fans is so disappointing. Hello, fans on Twitter have no say in POY so who cares if they like Clark?

Fans are going to be fans unfortunately. Social media has amplified things beyond what we're used to seeing even a decade ago. And to your point about having no say, its likely these are casual fans who don't understand the voting process.

From the SC fans' perspective, I take it as they believe Boston is being slighted with all the recent attention on Clark after her last few games. I recall seeing similar comments last year when NPOY was being discussed and Paige was the frontrunner.

At the same time, some may be looking at it through a "bias" view because that comes up a lot too. Ranging from the "UConn bias" tripe to white players over black. It's sad that people do, but fans see what they want to see that fits their narrative.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Fans are going to be fans unfortunately. Social media has amplified things beyond what we're used to seeing even a decade ago. And to your point about having no say, its likely these are casual fans who don't understand the voting process.

From the SC fans' perspective, I take it as they believe Boston is being slighted with all the recent attention on Clark after her last few games. I recall seeing similar comments last year when NPOY was being discussed and Paige was the frontrunner.

At the same time, some may be looking at it through a "bias" view because that comes up a lot too. Ranging from the "UConn bias" tripe to white players over black. It's sad that people do, but fans see what they want to see that fits their narrative.

I have seen a lot of the SC reactions on Twitter and a overwhelming (95%) aren't talking bad about Clark. Actually a good bit of the SC fanbase are Caitlin Clark fans and many thought she was overlooked last year despite an amazing freshman season. Which is part of the bigger problem about the lack of coverage on WBB outside of a select fee programs

You're right that there was some defensive people trying to take up for Boston but even then it wasn't really in a rude way. What I have seen is most people making the some points that were mentioned here.

• She doesn't shoot with a great efficiency,
• She has to player bigger part of their offense, which leads more points

-She hasn't won any of the big games this season

 

[Majic Hands]

Agree. If Katie Lou couldn’t parlay that into a Natty, I doubt Paige could either.

(That was one heck of a performance though huh?)

Wow. I see what you did there. For some weird reason you thought it would be fun to make it appear that I said something I didn't say.

For other BYers I said:
That's why UConn wouldn't win another NC. Paige throwing up big numbers and 4 teammates watching while they lose the game.

CL82 as soon as I compleat this post I will completely block you.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Hey there, name calling is unnecessary! you have been on this forum long enough to know how to comport your answers if you disagree with another poster and your name calling raises questions to me about your own logic. Iowa does not have the depth that Michigan or even DePaul does. Iowa has to rely on Clark AND Cizano and while Michigan does lean on Naz a fair amount, but they have Brown, Kiser, Nolan and now Dill who was their starting point guard before the injuries is back and contributing.

Ok DefenseBigBoob

 

[Wbbfan1]

Caitlin is a generational player and Lisa Bluder (coach) should have scoured the players in the Portal last year and gotten more support for her. The three freshmen Iowa signed are providing very little support for Caitlin. Next years recruiting class doesn't appear to provide much support for Caitlin either. Lisa will have another opportunity at the end of this year to get Caitlin more support. Not saying that Caitlin and Iowa can't make the Final 4, but its not looking likely.

 

[letsgogirls]

Caitlin is a generational player and Lisa Bluder (coach) should have scoured the players in the Portal last year and gotten more support for her. The three freshmen Iowa signed are providing very little support for Caitlin. Next years recruiting class doesn't appear to provide much support for Caitlin either. Lisa will have another opportunity at the end of this year to get Caitlin more support. Not saying that Caitlin and Iowa can't make the Final 4, but its not looking likely.

Their 2022 class are all in the top 100

 

[hoopingcrane]

Definitely agree, they will be a tough out for anyone. Does anyone know the last time someone scored around 46 points in one game? I think Maya came close to that a couple of times.

Nykesha Sales, 1997, against Stanford, 46 exactly.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Fans are going to be fans unfortunately. Social media has amplified things beyond what we're used to seeing even a decade ago. And to your point about having no say, its likely these are casual fans who don't understand the voting process.

From the SC fans' perspective, I take it as they believe Boston is being slighted with all the recent attention on Clark after her last few games. I recall seeing similar comments last year when NPOY was being discussed and Paige was the frontrunner.

At the same time, some may be looking at it through a "bias" view because that comes up a lot too. Ranging from the "UConn bias" tripe to white players over black. It's sad that people do, but fans see what they want to see that fits their narrative.

SCar Twitter tends to be pretty resentful of UConn with sometimes good reason and has if anything built up Clark in comparison to Bueckers in my experience.

I hadn't noticed anyone really taking jabs at Clark's performance. Thought I was kind of alone in doing that and my point is that it's kind of patronizing to the sport to have the big news for a couple of news cycles be Good player makes some trick shots in blowout loss -- finally something interesting to talk about.

I'm not as cranky about it as it might seem though. I like Clark a lot.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Their 2022 class are all in the top 100

Yeah…..97, 98 & 99

 

[letsgogirls]

Yeah…..97, 98 & 99

I mean...close. 45, 76, & 89

 

[Moogs]

This is a year ago but Dawn Staley appears to be a fan.

 

[jchusky]

OMG, why can't anyone compliment and like another player without posters feel like another player is being disrespected?

Caitlin Clark is a phenomenal player. Nothing in her game screams selfish. Other than her current pedestrian 3 pt shooting percentage of 30.1%, all her other stats are awesome. To wit:

• She's averaging 27.4 pts per game
• Shoots 45.7 percent from the floor
• She averages 7.2 free throws per game
• She makes 89.4% of her FT
• She averages 8.2 rebounds a game AS A GUARD.
• She averages 1.3 steals per game
• And she leads the country at 8.2 assists per game. How is any of this selfish?

Liking Caitlin Clark does not diminish Paige Bueckers in the least. It does not mean Paige is less than Clark just because you say a positive comment about Clark. She is very exciting to watch and she operates within an up- tempo style of play, creating many more opportunities than most other teams. Lisa Bluder has done a very good job at Iowa and her recruiting is getting better. Iowa is challenged on the defensive side of the ball, including Ms. Clark who has room for improvement. But the same could be said for any other POY candidate who has some weakness.

All in all, I really like watching Caitlin play more than any other player on any other team other than UCONN. Anyone who doesn't see how good Caitlin is, is either just being a fanatic of their team or is not really understanding how her game and the system she operates within is structured. She is worthy of all the accolades and press she gets. Stop feeling other UConn players or past UConn greats are slighted by complimenting this fine young player.

Rant over, continue as you were.

the same reason when an irish player or a Tenn player does well people jump like sharks. I remember one game during the season me and a couple were impressed by Citron's play and how she's impressing us for being a freshman and a couple users saying "what has she done" "what has she won" Diana Taurasi was more impressive than her as a freshman. Just people who are bitter and don't want anyone that isn't Uconn related to have success.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I mean...close. 45, 76, & 89

Lol, jk. Seriously, we had a thread on our board about who Nika reminded us of, and I said Kiersten Walters who played here over 20 years ago. Her playing style was very similar to Nika’s. With respect to Clark, the former player that reminds me of her, it has to be Abby Waner, who went to Duke after almost coming to UConn. Looks wise the resemblance is unreal, almost like twin sisters, although IIRC Clark is slightly taller.