Paige, Wings - Caitlin, Fever 7/13 Game: A good report, except....

[BlueSkyGLW]

...for a bad omission.

Fever defeat Wings in first pro meeting between Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers

The players last met when Clark's Iowa beat Bueckers' UConn in the 2024 Final Four.

www.nytimes.com

The omission? Reporter cites CC's steal from Paige but totally omits the fact that Paige swiped the ball from CC and scored and-1 on Cunningham. He only mentions the latter. I submit the reporter is biased.

 

[Basingstoke]

To be fair, CC stole multiple Paige passes, but, on the other hand, she didn't have to face the level of aggressive defense that constantly confronted Paige (without the benefit of having teammates helping out within the context of a nicely functional offense).
Also, throw into the mix that Paige was constantly being fouled (uncalled, of course) by Cunningham, Hull and Timpson, et al.

 

[bballnut90]

...for a bad omission.

Fever defeat Wings in first pro meeting between Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers

The players last met when Clark's Iowa beat Bueckers' UConn in the 2024 Final Four.

www.nytimes.com

The omission? Reporter cites CC's steal from Paige but totally omits the fact that Paige swiped the ball from CC and scored and-1 on Cunningham. He only mentions the latter. I submit the reporter is biased.

Very minor oversight that probably isn’t worth mentioning. Writer gives props to both players. Both showed up and played very well today

 

[bballnut90]

To be fair, CC stole multiple Paige passes, but, on the other hand, she didn't have to face the level of aggressive defense that constantly confronted Paige (without the benefit of having teammates helping out within the context of a nicely functional offense).
Also, throw into the mix that Paige was constantly being fouled (uncalled, of course) by Cunningham, Hull and Timpson, et al.

In the first half the announcers pointed out a couple of possessions where Clark was getting mugged by Quinerly and counted 4 fouls on two possessions that weren’t called. Not that it’s a contest, but Clark gets mugged as much as anyone in the league.

Also, the announcers also talked about how Bueckers has learned she has to play dirtier defense in the pros since far less is called in the W than it was in college. Just the nature of the league unfortunately. I wish they’d call more fouls so players have more freedom of movement and it’s be less of a slug fest.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

To be fair, CC stole multiple Paige passes, but, on the other hand, she didn't have to face the level of aggressive defense that constantly confronted Paige (without the benefit of having teammates helping out within the context of a nicely functional offense).
Also, throw into the mix that Paige was constantly being fouled (uncalled, of course) by Cunningham, Hull and Timpson, et al.

And still, she scored 21 without Arike producing anything to divert attention.

What they did to Paige is the same sort of thing that other teams do to CC. CC's steals was the product of gang-up defense, not just one-on-one matchup.

Given the state of Paige's teammates, the defensive focus on her will continue if not intensify (those bottom teams fighting to be ahead of the Wings in the standings). Wings had three rookies in the starting lineup (with their long injury list), down from 4 with Arike back and a key reserve is another rookie. I can't remember CC having that kind of situation in her rookie season. Give her credit - she is doing well even under these conditions.

 

[Basingstoke]

Sorry to nitpick a little, but, I would contend that, because she is the only thing holding the Wings' offense together 75% of the time, Paige is the recipient of more aggressive multi-player defense than Caitlin which all too often should be called fouls (& are not).
Where Caitlin (to me) has the unfortunate "edge" is in defense which crosses over to the dirty and can be intended to injure. When Paige was speaking about having to acclimate to playing defense in a way that should ordinarily draw a foul, she wasn't talking about playing "dirty". To me "dirty" play is playing recklessly with the intent to intimidate or injure an opponent as opposed to playing a style of defense which, if officiating rules were followed, might or should be called fouls. For me, dirty play should result in elections and/or suspensions.
I believe that the W really suffers as the result of freedom of movement fouls not be called. This seems to lead to more and more physical play and, inevitably, dirty play and alterations.
To me, today, it seemed that, yes, Caitlin (who played a magnificent floor game) was fouled (as was Paige) far more often than actual fouls were called, but they were not dirty plays - only improperly uncalled fouls.

 

[Bone Dog]

Also, Paige didn’t feign injury after her turnovers, unlike Caitlin.

 

[Gus Mahler]

opposed to playing a style of defense which, if officiating rules were followed, might or should be called fouls. For me, dirty play should result in elections and/or suspensions.
I believe that the W really suffers as the result of freedom of movement fouls not be called. This seems to lead to more and more physical play and, inevitably, dirty play and alterations.
To me, today, it seemed that, yes, Caitlin (who played a magnificent floor game) was fouled (as was Paige) far more often than actual fouls were called, but they were not dirty plays - only improperly uncalled fouls.

In a Parliamentary system, anyway.