May 2024 WNBA Thread, part II

[nwhoopfan]

Well I saw Clark get knocked down 4 times in the first half without a single whistle. She might've been selling it on one of them. Definitely not on the rest. I also saw her drive numerous times, draw contact, and again get no whistle. That's poor officiating, not because I'm a Clark stan, it's because it's poor officiating. And inconsistent. We all know some players are gonna get that call in their favor every single time. I was even rooting for Seattle, so you don't need to call my bias into question.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Well I saw Clark get knocked down 4 times in the first half without a single whistle. She might've been selling it on one of them. Definitely not on the rest. I also saw her drive numerous times, draw contact, and again get no whistle. That's poor officiating, not because I'm a Clark stan, it's because it's poor officiating. And inconsistent. We all know some players are gonna get that call in their favor every single time. I was even rooting for Seattle, so you don't need to call my bias into question.

Clark needs to get stronger. I watched the game as well and while fouls could have been called on some of those plays they certainly aren’t guaranteed foul calls in the WNBA. The physicality in the Mercury/Liberty game was far worse yesterday imo and those are some of the biggest stars in the league. If Sabrina, Stewie, and Taurasi’s aren’t getting fouls called when they are bleeding, Clark shouldn’t expect to get a special whistle because she can’t absorb contact yet.

And it goes both ways. You want a tighter whistle for Clark on offense be she got away with a ton of uncalled fouls against Skylar on the other end.

WNBA officiating isn’t GOOD but these allusions to refs conspiring against Clark are just weird.

 

[bballnut90]

Are y’all talking about the same Caitlin Clark that shot 15 free throws last game? The same Caitlin Clark that 64% of her shot attempts are 3s? That’s the girl you think the refs are working against?

Clark super fans need to take a breather. She’s a generational talent and excellent for a rookie. Y’all don’t need to be doing all of this extra stuff.

I suggest watching the games. She's been getting mauled several times a game when she drives to the basket with no call and then has been getting whistled for committing invisible tick tack fouls. Here are a couple from tonight:

https://twitter.com/LeLaker/status/1796337143306183013

https://twitter.com/LeLaker/status/1796333432970301483

A couple from previous games:

https://twitter.com/HeavensFX/status/1793476499112391132

https://twitter.com/kirayoshikage5_/status/1794596444412002647/video/1

Yes the league is physical, but if you've been watching games, she's received the brunt of a lot of the extremely physical plays in the early season.

 

[bballnut90]

Would it have been any different if she waited a year?

In theory if Indiana bombed again, they might have a different coach in place. But probably not though. I just imagine she's extremely drained right now and running on empty.

 

[nwhoopfan]

In theory if Indiana bombed again, they might have a different coach in place. But probably not though. I just imagine she's extremely drained right now and running on empty.

Honestly that's brutal for all WNBA rookies, the time frame is awful. Especially for teams that make deep runs in the Tourney. College season ends, draft, minuscule preseason, and you're right into the regular season, with no real break at any point. I can't think of any other pro sport that goes from the draft to the season starting so rapidly.

edit--I agree she looks worn out. I think the chase for the scoring record was draining and she's carrying the weight of more expectations than most WNBA rookies. And of course Indiana has played more games than anybody else. Seattle has only 1 game less, but everybody else is 2 or more behind. A few have played 5 while Indiana has played 9. Who the heck came up with this schedule?

 

[GamecockFam]

Clark needs to get stronger. I watched the game as well and while fouls could have been called on some of those plays they certainly aren’t guaranteed foul calls in the WNBA. The physicality in the Mercury/Liberty game was far worse yesterday imo and those are some of the biggest stars in the league. If Sabrina, Stewie, and Taurasi’s aren’t getting fouls called when they are bleeding, Clark shouldn’t expect to get a special whistle because she can’t absorb contact yet.

And it goes both ways. You want a tighter whistle for Clark on offense be she got away with a ton of uncalled fouls against Skylar on the other end.

WNBA officiating isn’t GOOD but these allusions to refs conspiring against Clark are just weird.

The calls in the past game were pretty egregious. I almost turned off the game in the 3rd because I was so frustrated with the refs. For context, I am not a personality that easily gets frustrated and/or blames the refs. There was no consistency and it seemed like each ref had a different idea on the allowable amount of physicality, so that compounded the issue and made it confusing to the players and viewers.

IMO the allowed amount of physicality in the W does not make it fun to watch at times, and if they want to keep viewers, I think they need to tighten up the whistles and set new (and consistent) expectations.

 

[DRR25]

I think you're seeing what you want to see.

Many here, including myself, have extended grace to Caitlin and have placed the bulk of the blame for Indiana's early-season failures elsewhere (e.g. coaching, GM, other players). She isn't blameless by any stretch, but she isn't the main reason why the Fever look the way they do.

And she's received grace from Internetland in general because most sensible people know that the Fever are a rebuilding team. That said, I don't recall seeing her called a (insert racial slur towards people who look like Aliyah), (misogynistic term used against people who look like Aliyah) who needs to perish/be offed because she's been missing lay-ups. But we all know who HAS received that kind of treatment from Internetland.

So yes, Caitlin has received grace from me. But Aliyah is receiving more from me due to the level of vitriolic abuse she's received.

x___________________.

 

[yhun89]

WNBA officiating isn’t GOOD but these allusions to refs conspiring against Clark are just weird.

Keep in mind this is the same player who was ESPN's golden goose in college and got away with just about anything. You can't tell me that if any other player bounced a ball off their head out of anger that they wouldn't get a technical. These refs just don't take BS from anybody because everybody's a star in this league. Plain and simple.

 

[Dillon77]

Honestly that's brutal for all WNBA rookies, the time frame is awful. Especially for teams that make deep runs in the Tourney. College season ends, draft, minuscule preseason, and you're right into the regular season, with no real break at any point. I can't think of any other pro sport that goes from the draft to the season starting so rapidly.

edit--I agree she looks worn out. I think the chase for the scoring record was draining and she's carrying the weight of more expectations than most WNBA rookies. And of course Indiana has played more games than anybody else. Seattle has only 1 game less, but everybody else is 2 or more behind. A few have played 5 while Indiana has played 9. Who the heck came up with this schedule?

There is one other virtually sadistic turnaround like the W: Men's lacrosse.

The men's Final Four ran through Memorial Day, the Tewaaraton Ceremony (Lacrosse's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) was Thursday night and all five of the finalists will report to training camp today to play in games on ... catch your breath...Saturday.
(And for those not in the Final Four, most of them played in the NCAA tournament, graduated and got to Albany, NY, for training camp.)

Most of the professional circuit is played on weekends, but it's still intense...

 

[nwhoopfan]

Uh oh to the rest of the league. Tiff Hayes un-retired and is joining the Aces. Maybe not the PG some think they need, but will definitely add another scorer to the mix.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I suggest watching the games. She's been getting mauled several times a game when she drives to the basket with no call and then has been getting whistled for committing invisible tick tack fouls. Here are a couple from tonight:

x.com

x.com

x.com

x.com

A couple from previous games:

x.com

x.com

x.com

x.com

Yes the league is physical, but if you've been watching games, she's received the brunt of a lot of the extremely physical plays in the early season.

@bballnut90
Nan put out a note on the forum, if you want to get your twitter posts to open up, replace the "x" in the twitter URL with the word "twitter".

 

[cancontent]

Keep in mind this is the same player who was ESPN's golden goose in college and got away with just about anything. You can't tell me that if any other player bounced a ball off their head out of anger that they wouldn't get a technical. These refs just don't take BS from anybody because everybody's a star in this league. Plain and simple.

Hold on. The networks don't have the sway with referees as you are implying here.

Second, the BIG10 isn't affiliated with ESPN and majority of her games were not on their network.

Third, NCAAW referees and how they call things varies greatly per conference and they all let players get away with things I don't see them get in the WNBA. The lack of consistency and the standard at the college game is more the problem than the networks.

 

[yhun89]

Hold on. The networks don't have the sway with referees as you are implying here.

Second, the BIG10 isn't affiliated with ESPN and majority of her games were not on their network.

Third, NCAAW referees and how they call things varies greatly per conference and they all let players get away with things I don't see them get in the WNBA. The lack of consistency and the standard at the college game is more the problem than the networks.

ESPN was just a general term, I didn't imply they were in charge of reffing. That's just what some people referred to her as.

 

[cancontent]

ESPN was just a general term, I didn't imply they were in charge of reffing. That's just what some people referred to her as.

Your first sentence gives the impression your implying this. If you know the issue is the at the feet of the conference and the NCAA, why was ESPN even referenced?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Uh oh to the rest of the league. Tiff Hayes un-retired and is joining the Aces. Maybe not the PG some think they need, but will definitely add another scorer to the mix.

Sorry to quote myself. So how do we think this will effect the rotation? Eat way into Martin's minutes? Does Clark stay a starter and Hayes off the bench, or vice versa? Or maybe Martin/Hayes both get minutes and Young/Plum get more rest.

I looked, Young and Plum both clocking 36 minutes, Clark 32, Martin 21. And Colson is only 7, maybe she gets squeezed out. And Bell has only played in 1 game, is she injured or just on the outside looking in?

 

[Bigboote]

Sorry to quote myself. So how do we think this will effect the rotation? Eat way into Martin's minutes? Does Clark stay a starter and Hayes off the bench, or vice versa? Or maybe Martin/Hayes both get minutes and Young/Plum get more rest.

I looked, Young and Plum both clocking 36 minutes, Clark 32, Martin 21. And Colson is only 7, maybe she gets squeezed out. And Bell has only played in 1 game, is she injured or just on the outside looking in?

I’d hope Tiffany would take a few minutes each from several players. If Hayes plays 25 and Martin 15, that’s 10 minutes each from four players.

 

[Geew1992]

Sorry to quote myself. So how do we think this will effect the rotation? Eat way into Martin's minutes? Does Clark stay a starter and Hayes off the bench, or vice versa? Or maybe Martin/Hayes both get minutes and Young/Plum get more rest.

I looked, Young and Plum both clocking 36 minutes, Clark 32, Martin 21. And Colson is only 7, maybe she gets squeezed out. And Bell has only played in 1 game, is she injured or just on the outside looking in?

Last I saw Bell was in a walking boot. But... Don't know how much she would play even if she was healthy

 

[yhun89]

Your first sentence gives the impression your implying this. If you know the issue is the at the feet of the conference and the NCAA, why was ESPN even referenced?

Because CC critics referred to her as "the golden goose of ESPN."

 

[bballnut90]

Sorry to quote myself. So how do we think this will effect the rotation? Eat way into Martin's minutes? Does Clark stay a starter and Hayes off the bench, or vice versa? Or maybe Martin/Hayes both get minutes and Young/Plum get more rest.

I looked, Young and Plum both clocking 36 minutes, Clark 32, Martin 21. And Colson is only 7, maybe she gets squeezed out. And Bell has only played in 1 game, is she injured or just on the outside looking in?

Guessing Colson is put on the bench and Hayes take some of Martin’s minutes. I’d also look for Young/Plum to get a few more minutes of a rest.

Heck of a pickup for the Aces.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Last I saw Bell was in a walking boot. But... Don't know how much she would play even if she was healthy

I know it was only a preseason game but it really looked like KB was expected to play a bigger part this year. She was first off the bench and she made some great passes and key plays that didn't exactly show up on the stat sheet that left me hopeful of her making the jump this season.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I know it was only a preseason game but it really looked like KB was expected to play a bigger part this year. She was first off the bench and she made some great passes and key plays that didn't exactly show up on the stat sheet that left me hopeful of her making the jump this season.

I do wonder if Martin's emergence will change that though. I really doubt at the beginning of the season they were expecting her to be logging 20+ mpg, but she's looked very competent on the floor.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I never would have guessed Hayes would have ever be an option but I think she's a great pickup. An experienced guard that can help pick up the slack with perimeter defense. She also provides overall relief to the backcourt while simultaneously being a threat offensively.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I do wonder if Martin's emergence will change that though. I really doubt at the beginning of the season they were expecting her to be logging 20+ mpg, but she's looked very competent on the floor.

Kate has looked pretty good so far, so there's always a chance but the organization appears to be sold on KB. Due to the lack of guard depth especially any with size. They had no choice but to play her significant minutes or force the starters to play 38+ minutes a game.


But if things work out and players get healthy, Vegas might actually have legit depth for once, well at least in the backcourt.

 

[baggerbob]

Sides cannot be fired soon enough, provided they know how to hire a competent replacement - which is no given.

The worst coach at the present time is Sandy of the Liberty. She is underperforming with the Liberty, just like she did in Phoenix. One title and had DT, Griner. Had a lot of talent and won 1 Title.
Had Bonner, and Breland with them at one time, and Penny Taylor.