These are my observations after another week of basketball and another week of retirement.
Bria Medina to Iowa- We have read about the transfer portal and the $’s involved with college players. Knox’s all-time women scoer, Bria Medina announced she is going to the University of Iowa.
I am sure her reasons are multiple, including the challenge of trying to play at a higher level, perhaps some financial incentive, and speculation of a change in major that Knox does not offer.
Whatever the reason, it will be exciting to see if her quickness and ability to beat people off the dribble will translate into playing time in the Big 10. Whatever happens, she will never have to say, “I wonder if I could have played at that level.”
Khloe Nicholson- Quincy’s 6’1” point guard, Khloe Nicholson has gotten an invite to the U17 National team tryouts. For her age, this puts her among the elite players in America. This is not some AAU all-star thing, this is USA National Teams that are building young players to be future Olympians for the USA. Good luck to Khloe.
Wemby’s Elbow- I am totally biased on this subject as I have been routing for the Spurs and am very excited about Wemby. For those who don’t follow it, he was ejected for an elbow to the head of a Lynx player. The experts I rely on stated his punishment of ejection was reasonable and probably he should have gotten an additional one game suspension. Their take was that it was intentional and directed. They follow the NBA for a living, so they know what they are talking about.
My take as a fan was that he had been fouled multiple times by two players who were trying to steal the ball. His reaction happened in a split second- when you slow it down it looks intentional. In real time, I think he was just trying to protect himself. When you are 7’4” if you swing the ball and lead with an elbow, where is the elbow going to hit. At 7’4” an elbow is not going to hit any other players in the stomach- it is at head height.
The NBA needs to call the foul and prevent this from ever happening.
Foul at 1.5 Seconds- Detroit player was run over in the backcourt with 1.5 seconds left in a tie game. There was no call and the game went to OT. The NBA’s review of the last 2 minutes said it was a good no-call. They must have watched a different replay than I saw.
Fever Following Pacers Lead- In the NBA you can go over the cap to play players higher amounts. The Pacers famously choose to stay under the cap.
This past season virtually every WNBA player was a free agent. New York, Las Vegas, and Dallas all added significant free agents to fill holes. After watching the Fever play three games, there is no sign that the Fever brought in a free agent of impact.
Most players signed one year contracts so it was not like the Fever had to worry about not having enough money in future to play Clark.
Window Opens, Window Closes- For Fever fans, there is no reason to panic after 3 games but there is need for concern.
Historically franchises who take stance that the window to compete for championship stay open for a long time are mistaken. Usually the window closes faster than one realizes or expects.
Time to Cut Out Unrivaled- Unrivaled was a good and creative way to get players to make some money. The novelty of the it being player owned is creative and profitable. As the WNBA is paying some of the players over a million dollars, it is reasonable for the WNBA to tell players- we will pay you and you will not play Unrivaled.
The Fever this year are dealing with Boston and Hull fighting injuries sustained in the Unrivaled. It would be much better for the players to be working out and improving as a player vs competing in games in Unrivaled.
Do It in Practice- I don’t buy when the talking heads in WNBA say that a coach is using the early games to figure out their roster and rotations. It is a coaches job to do that in the practices. Rest and minute limits are wise, but playing 11 players to give them all a chance to prove themselves means that many of them don’t get in a flow. Get that done in practices not games.
Let’s Be Honest- Sadly because of injuries, Caitlin Clark lost the development in the 2nd season.
Caitlin Clark at this point in her career has not shown herself to be an efficient scorer. Off the dribble on threes at Iowa she was only a 30% three point shooter. At this point in her WNBA career she is only a 21% three point shooter off the dribble.
Her threes off the pass are higher. And the big part of her game is that her percentage on logo threes is not lower than at the arc- that range impacts play.
Some comparisons to digest early in this season…
Vs Dallas. FG’s. Three’s. Reb. Ass’t. Turnovers
Paige Bueckers- 8-10. 1-3. 3. 4. 1
Caitlin Clark. 7-18. 2-9. 5. 7. 5
Vs. Washington
Sonia Citron. 10-14. 1-4. 6. 4. 2
Caitlin Clark. 10-28. 7-17. 4. 8. 4
At this point in her career, she is a GREAT logo three point shooter. She is an AVERAGE three point shooter.
Offense Sells Tickets, Defense Wins Championships- Whoever said this must have had the Indiana Fever in mind. The Fever have shown little ability to guard a good scorer and slow them down. They can rotate to the help on the ball but the second level of rotation never occurs. And Clark does not seem committed to defending.
It’s Early- It is early in the WNBA season but the Fever have big holes to fill and have both offensive and defensive schemes to figure out.
No comments:
Post a Comment