18 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever stayed red hot with a comprehensive win over Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on Friday night, 100-81. Now 5-1 since play resumed after the Olympic break, the Fever (16-16) have fought their way back to .500 for the first time this season and have overtaken the Phoenix Mercury (16-16) for sixth place. Soon, they will clinch their first playoff appearance since 2016.

 

https://www.cbssport...stat-line/live/

[Blair M.]

The WNBA post Clark's arrival has risen in stature 100-fold in only a few short months. 

A generational talent on the court, and masterful at the post game pressers with her constant focus on being humble and kind to her teammates in her comments.

 

A somewhat shaky start in terms of her meshing with her new after-college teammates, it's now apparent in those post game pressers that her new teammates like Boston and Mitchel are very fond of Clark as a person, and that now very strong personal connection is being displayed in spades once they get out onto the court.

 

Clark gave a presser a couple of days ago where she was asked "who is the leader of the Fever", to which she replied with great intent that the leader was, is, and will continue to be Mitchel. Clark went on to shower Mitchel with endless praise while completely ignoring any opportunity to focus the light back on herself.

 

I don't yet follow the WNBA as closely as I do the NBA, but that will likely change if/when the Fever get into the playoffs.

[Victoria Watcher]

And then woke ESPN favours Angel for rookie of the year.  Lame.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 August 2024 - 06:12 AM.

[Blair M.]

Reese is good, but Clark is far outplaying her in every statistic. 
Like Bird, Clark is proving she’s the very best by way of demonstration.

Reese will always be around, but being supported by “woke” will only get her so far before Clark’s numbers do all the talking that’s required. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Ya. The only stat Reece is beating her in is rebounds.

And Reece team worse this year than last, and FEVER way up.

How ESPN can be so wrong. But we are talking ESPN here.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 August 2024 - 07:34 AM.

[Blair M.]

Reece hangs around the basket while failing to guard anyone. That kind of poor play will certainly inflate a players rebound numbers.
It’s actually part of the reason they're doing so poorly, and it’s definitely not sustainable.

Edited by Blair M., 31 August 2024 - 08:21 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

https://x.com/stoolp...702748330868855

 

[Blair M.]

Dave knows his basketball. I love this take on comparing Clark and Reese. He's absolutely correct in everything he's saying in this video.

He's worth about 20 million dollars, yet he still does these videos for sports fans. 

 

As well, and despite his sports wealth and fame, Dave still does his weekly "One Bite Pizza Reviews" for 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube.

For pizza fans, Dave's reviews are a must watch.

[Mike K.]

Yup. He’s quite the guy.

[Victoria Watcher]

Caitlin Clark gets another triple-double, Indiana Fever beat Sparks for fifth straight win

 

https://www.indystar...ts/75049901007/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 September 2024 - 11:49 PM.

[Blair M.]

At a presser Clark deflected all praise aimed her way to highlight that she’s the happiest about getting the team to the Playoffs for Kelsey Mitchell, who has been with the Fever for 7 years, is playing the best basketball of her life right now, and has never been to the playoffs.
Clark is turning the league around, her team around, and other players careers around.
As well, she’s showing players like Reese and Carter what personal class on and off the court really looks like.

[Victoria Watcher]

Yet to be seen, if salaries go up accordingly next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.acrossth...html#where=Away

 

 

 

 

 

The Indiana Fever and the WNBA knew the arrival of Caitlin Clark would have a massive effect on both the league’s popularity and the team’s popularity. It’s why 36 of 40 games on Indiana’s schedule will be nationally televised this season. Clark’s arrival is also massive for stadium attendance.

 

________________________

 

 

 

Since Clark was drafted by Indiana with the first overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, ticket sales for the WNBA increased by 93 percent, other WNBA teams had to start relocating their home games against the Fever to bigger arenas. Meanwhile, Indiana saw record-setting ticket sales with massive interest in attendance at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, which has a seating capacity of 18,000.

 

 

https://sportsnaut.c...ttendance-2024/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 September 2024 - 04:50 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Fever-Mystics set WNBA attendance record with 20,711 fans.

 

The Mystics (14-26), who led by 16 points entering the fourth quarter, began the regular season finale with a shot at the final playoff spot but that hope ended when the Atlanta Dream (15-25) won at New York to secure the No. 8 seed.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 20 September 2024 - 01:34 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Blair M.]

She’s like Bird, and will do for women's basketball what Bird did for mens. 
Now all the WNBA needs is their version of Magic to compliment Clark, and take women’s b’ball over the top.

 

Working against finding their “Magic”? - the fake, wanna-be thuggery that’s all to prevalent throughout the WNBA (especially the Chicago Sky, whose endless technicals and flagrants have put them quite deservedly out of the playoffs). 

[Victoria Watcher]

The women in womens sports are their own worst enemy.  They need to get a grip if they want to grow their respective sports.  I suspect they never will.   So many bad personalities there.

 

 

 

Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu rip WNBA for not condemning racism sooner

 

https://www.msn.com/...rlDYU?ocid=a2hs

 

 

 

 

 

 

A USA Today columnist asked a fair question. The WNBA Players Association responded with an out-of-line statement.

https://www.poynter....-caitlin-clark/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 September 2024 - 02:11 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

WNBA playoff ratings plummet after Caitlin Clark goes home

 

Game 1 of the series between the Aces and Liberty, a rematch of the finals, only managed half as many viewers as Clark's first playoff game

 

https://www.foxnews....clark-goes-home

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 October 2024 - 11:21 PM.

[Blair M.]

Without Clark, the WNBA is left with its typical, longstanding metrics, which historically don't match the fan appeal of a game in which Clark is actively playing. It's considered "uncool" to focus on those longstanding WNBA metrics, but they're real, and they impact game attendance as well as overall fandom in general.

 

The WNBA desperately needs a new Commissioner and a new attitude. They need to elevate other classy, generational players to offer a professional rivalry with Clark. Both the league and its players need to simply accept that Clark is the first true WNBA superstar. They need to give Clark the professional respect that she's due in that regard.

 

The thuggish rivalries with Clark that are allowed to prevail in the WNBA are unsavoury to most fans of the game. Great basketball rivalries like Bird/Magic aren't based on thuggish behaviour, they're based on the most exciting play ever to be seen in the game. Of note in support of that statement is the fact that Bird and Magic are today the very closest of friends, as there was never any thuggery aspect to their world-famous, decade long competition with each other.

 

Worth mentioning is that the WNBA is still at a high school level of officiating. To note that the WNBA needs to overhaul their entire officiating process, and get some knowledgable ref's that aren't concerned with maintaining friendships with the players is an understatement.