Sheldon is not a dirty player. She's always has played Clark tough since their college days. Cunningham could have fouled her hard without having to take her down around the neck. Nothing Sheldon did during that game earned that type of tackle.
No one thinks mistreatment of Clark is okay. It's that some of us think the interpretation that she's being targeted is overblown because of the media hype. Most if not all of us believe the issue with officiating is the problem and agree that it has to stop.
As always, I most certainly respect your opinion, and I can agree the media is at least 50% of the problem here. But, I don't think CC is treated fairly by the refs (most likely by design of the league office, because the more hype, the thinking is, the more ticket & product sales). If they don't get a handle on it and soon, that thinking is going to backfire of them. And, as I stated previously, this overlooking of the mistreatment is spilling onto the star players of other teams (Paige for example). Sheldon may not be a dirty player, but she looked like it to me in this game. Cunningham has taken on the role of CC's "protector". Ever team has one, and if not wished they did. She actually doesn't look like a protector to me.
This is theory I hadn't seen put out there before. It's also one that I cringe thinking at being even possible, because it implies that the league, including the NBA, are willing to sacrifice the health of players for profit.
I think Caitlin gets an advantage in that she is not called for the numerous push offs that are a part of her game. I am a fever fan ( mostly because of Boston) and enjoy Clark’s shooting and passing. But I understand how opponents complain that refs should try to limit her most obvious push offs.
Yup, but this issue is not only something Clark gets away with. A lot of guards do this in WNBA and NCAA.
While I would tend to absolutely agree with you based on my seeing her play many times in college, the fact is she is now in a new league trying to "earn her stripes" and with her new teammate association, she maybe trying to garner their respect.
Taurasi is the career leader in quite a few official categories, I'd guess she's probably also the all time leader in push offs. Never seemed to be an issue with her. Why is it such an issue for Clark?
It’s not an issue for Clark. That’s the point everyone is making. She gets away with a comparable amount of push offs as Diana did. But with that special treatment comes consequences, like more incidents of this sort. That may not have mattered as much ten years ago. But now that Caitlin has raised the profile of the W — and yes, she deserves much of the credit for this — more is at stake for the league. Either the league does something or nothing about it. It’s a marketability calculus and they may get it wrong… or they may get it right. Time will tell. Paige won’t face the same problem because her style of play is different, as someone mentioned earlier.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Taking one slice in time over a course of an entire career doesn't tell the entire story. The same approach can be taken with Clark to make her look petulant and whiny, which we know isn't the case.
Pretty fine line between dirty and overly physical. She single handedly is responsible for causing injuries to both Copper AND Cunningham in the last game these 2 teams played. Was she trying to injure them (ie. dirty)? I highly doubt that. Overly physical and aggressive? I watched the play against Copper and that was 100% the case.
If it’s ruled to be intentional, I agree. But players get inadvertently poked in the eye frequently. Suspension for more than the remainder of the game should be done only by the league office after careful review determines intentionality.
+100. The ball was being dribbled BELOW her waist. Sheldon was looking directly at Clark and shot her hand right at her face, about a foot and a half away from slapping at the ball. How people keep overlooking this, and Sheldon subsequently instantly invading Clark's personal space when she was momentarily blinded, is mystifying.
Sadly, I don't think it will change the opinions some have of Sheldon after that game. Or it will further inflame them because of the fact nothing happened.
You may be right. But I wasn’t trying to change any opinions. I just find this simple fact really interesting, that Paige does not appear to be changing her style of play to conform to the preexisting norms of the league. I wonder if she’ll end up changing the league by her example.