The Indiana Fever defeated the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night 88-71. By my count, the match up produced 3 ejections, 5 technicals, 2 flagrant fouls, and too much trash talking to count.
History of Bad Blood- It is obvious that Caitlyn Clark (Iowa) and Jack Shelton (Ohio State) have bad blood. I am sure Iowa fans could explain to me the evil things that Shelton did in college, and the Ohio State fans could explain to me the evil things that Clark did in college.
In the first half of the game, there were multiple times where Clark and Shelton exchanged some form of trash talk. And maybe it is not accurate to describe their interactions as trash talk. I view trash talk where one player reminds another player that they just scored on that player. In the first half, from the view from my living room, it appeared there were interactions that were more, “I hate your guts,” vs “I burned you.”
Watching them play, I feel like my dad when he was driving the car with my brother and I in the back seat and he yelled,”I don’t care who started this, if it doesn’t stop, I am pulling the car over and I will finish it.”
Third Quarter- 3 Technicals & 1 Flagrant Foul- If you didn’t watch the game (shame on you), this clip can be found easily on the internet. Clark had the ball at the top of key and was being pressured by Shelton. Ten years ago Shelton would have been called for 3 fouls while guarding her. Today in HS, college, and pros, the refs have decided hard contact is no longer always a foul. So no foul was called.
What Shelton was doing defensively at this point was not a foul in the WNBA and it was not dirty or maliciously done. But as often happens when playing, it goes to far. Shelton poked Clark in the eye. I don’t believe this was intentional or dirty. If any player at any level has quick enough and good enough eye-hand coordination to successfully poke someone in the eye, they are really talented. So while it was a foul, I don’t see how it could be upgraded to a Flagrant 1 foul.
After the whistle sounded, it appeared from my recliner that Shelton then “bodied up” on Clark. And Clark ticked at being poked and then having the player body up- Clark shoved Shelton. For this exchange, Clark was assessed a deadball technical, and Shelton nothing. If I were the ref, at this point I would have Shelton was a common foul for earlier and a deadball technical for bodying up. And the refs had Clark for a deadball technical for the shove. I would agree with Clark’s deadball technical.
At that point Marina Mabry came charging thru and shoved Clark. Whether Clark flopped or not, the shove resulted in her falling the ground. I have not seen the angle that had Tina Charles also shoving but she was in the area. The refs assessed both Mabry and Charles with deadball technicals. I would agree on that for Charles, but I think Mabry should have been ejected. She was not in the original conflict and she was choosing to come in and escalate things. My view is that Mabry should have gotten a deadball technical and an ejection (similar to the end of the game).
In the league’s review, they upgraded Mabry to a Flagrant 2 foul. The significance of that is that Flagrant 1- 1 point and Flagrant 2- 2 points. When you reach 7 points, you must sit out a game.
46.1 Seconds To Go- With seconds to go, Jacy Shelton got a fastbreak opportunity with only Sophie Cunningham in the way. At the last second, Cunningham gave a hard foul, knocking Shelton to the floor. Shelton hopped up and
“Everybody is getting better, except…”- The players need to accept accountability for what happened in the game, but the officiating in the league must improve if they are going to continue to draw eyes to the games.
In my view, there were points in the first half where both Clark and Shelton should have been assessed technical fouls. Their heated exchanges seemed to be growing as the game went on. All they needed was my dad in the front seat to pull the car over. If the refs had done that, maybe the incident in the third quarter does not happen.
The refs not only failed to gain control of the game, but the slowness of their review and their lack of taking definitive action only escalated things more. Fever coach, Stefanie White is accurate when she said,”Everybody is getting better, except the officials.”
Support vs Retaliation- Supporting your teammate builds team bond, retaliation in support of your teammate means the bad blood never ends. When the incident happened in the third quarter, Hull stepped in front of Shelton, that is supporting your teammate.
Because the refs did not punish Mabry adequately, the Fever veterans felt they needed retaliate or in the future teams would head hunt Clark.
Cunningham was called for a hard screen on Shelton in the backcourt. Clearly this was a message or retaliation. I don’t know the definition of a Flagrant 1, but this should have been above a common foul. Then the foul later by Cunningham was a retaliation. All of this was because the refs failed to take care of the situation.
I don’t know Cunningham’s total points is right now, but she at least has 2 points toward the 5 for missing a game.
“You guys came for basketball, let’s talk about basketball.”- This was Caitlin Clark’s quote in the post-game. It is valid. If you can’t tell from my posts, I am a big Caitlin Clark fan. I appreciate what she has done and will continue to do for women’s basketball at all levels. She is the Steph Curry of the WNBA.
Just as I don’t like all of Curry’s antics in deadballs, I wish Clark would focus more on the game and less on the extra demonstrations. Last night I could do without the “trash talking,” the taunting of the opposing bench after a made three, and the running around the court signaling the crowd to cheer.
I fully realize that I don’t know what it takes players like Curry and Clark to play at the level they play- maybe the extras are part of a necessary fuel. I just know that all the “little eyes” watching them don’t need those examples.
If I understand the WNBA procedures and what has happened this year so far- I believe Caitlin Clark now has 1 X Flagrant 1, and 2 x technicals. If accurate, that gives her 3 points in just 7 games. With 33 games to go, it appears possible that she could be suspended at some point for reaching 7 points. That would be disappointing.
Am I Sexist?- Do I react and do others react differently to adult females having a physical confrontation than we react to males having a similar confrontation? Is it if males do this that is “really competing,” “being tough”, and “not backing down?” And yet if females do this, it is inappropriate?
I do think we need to consider if our approaches are sexist. Perhaps we need to recognize that passion of athletes can create physical confrontation, and we would rather have them be passionate than soft.
The Game- It was a good win, a necessary win for the Fever. Clark statistically had a good but not great game by her standards. And the Fever showed they can still win games in which she is not spectacular.
The win moves the Fever up to #6 in the standings. That is significant because the Fever will want to avoid #7 or #8 spots where they would play the Liberty or Lynx in the first round of the playoffs. The season is 25% over so there is plenty of time left- the hope would that the Fever could rise to a top four finish and get home court in the first round.
With the win, the Fever won the East in the Commissioner’s Cup. This means they will play at Minnesota on Tuesday, July 1 for the championship. The winning team splits a $500k pot. So for players other than Clark who are not making lots of money, splitting that money would be signifiant.
Becoming Caitlin Clark by Howard Megdal- For those of you who pre-ordered the book, it arrived at my house yesterday.
I would be interested on your thoughts. Share in the comments below- add your name to your comments. Thanks.
The above is why you are also one of the greats Coach 🏀 couldn’t agree more
ReplyDelete