***official wnba thread*** (1 Viewer)

[dino259]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

It definitely is something that shouldn't be in the game. Does the WNBA not review that type of stuff like the NBA would?

That said, Caitlin was jawing with her before that and the hit didn't seem nearly as hard and the fall made it look.

Fever got the win through all that distraction, much to the dismay of the Sky moneyline bet.

Oh, it was terrible. Shouldn't be in the game.
I thought she should have gotten ejected.

Just commenting on the pearl clutching.

A player that gives a damn got carried away. It happens.

It is one thing if it is a drive to the basket or on a screen but not a play on the ball 90 ft from the basket shouldn't happen.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Dang the league HATES her

It was before my time, but did Bird and Magic get this type of treatment when they came into the league?

Jordan absolutely got this treatment his rookie year. 80s NBA was brutal and they routinely closelined him out there.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

I do REALLY hate that not a single teammate did anything.

My first thought when I saw the play: how is that not a flagrant foul?
My second thought: where are her teammates?

 

[Runkle]

BTW, Alyssa Thomas tried to murder Angel Reese 3 days ago.

Vets don't like hotshot rookies. Same as it ever was in any league ever.

First thing anyone does when they get to the top, is kick out the ladder so no one can follow

 

[Caveman33]

If the buzz around Caitlin Clark leads to increased revenue for WNBA and salaries for the players, I have to imagine some college men's players might be tempted to join. The WNBA requires testosterone levels below 10ng. A steroid abusing 21 year old bodybuilder had a test level of 20ng and he seems to be doing OK now. Temporarily suppressing test below 10ng for a few years in order to make millions could be a sacrifice some men are willing to make.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I do REALLY hate that not a single teammate did anything.

My first thought when I saw the play: how is that not a flagrant foul?
My second thought: where are her teammates?

If her teammates don’t start getting her back, things are going to get ugly.

One of the most disgusting things in this particular play is Angel Reese hopping off the bench clapping and cheering. The hate is insane.

 

[Capella]

If the buzz around Caitlin Clark leads to increased revenue for WNBA and salaries for the players, I have to imagine some college men's players might be tempted to join. The WNBA requires testosterone levels below 10ng. A steroid abusing 21 year old bodybuilder had a test level of 20ng and he seems to be doing OK now. Temporarily suppressing test below 10ng for a few years in order to make millions could be a sacrifice some men are willing to make.

Take it somewhere else bro

 

[General Malaise]

If the buzz around Caitlin Clark leads to increased revenue for WNBA and salaries for the players, I have to imagine some college men's players might be tempted to join. The WNBA requires testosterone levels below 10ng. A steroid abusing 21 year old bodybuilder had a test level of 20ng and he seems to be doing OK now. Temporarily suppressing test below 10ng for a few years in order to make millions could be a sacrifice some men are willing to make.

Lol

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I hope the refs start calling these obvious fouls. And it sure seems to be a racial thing. The presser afterwards was a bad look.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I hope the refs start calling these obvious fouls. And it sure seems to be a racial thing. The presser afterwards was a bad look.

They did call it a foul, though only a common foul. IMO, that should have been a Flagrant 1.

The text accompanying this tweet saying Clark was flopping on this one seems off to me, but Reese earlier threw an elbow at her too: Link

I don’t know. Either Clark’s teammates are cowards, or they hate her too.

 

[pollardsvision]

On the teammate thing, Aalyiah Boston was the only person on the team even could have seen it happen. And Boston was in foul trouble already. This is a shallow team, and if Boston fouls out there then Indiana is still likely winless at home.

It makes sense that Indiana wouldn't be a really cohesive team right now. They've all just been thrown into this odd situation, and it's early. Players really just getting to know each other. You've got last year's ROY and an All-Star on the team, and the world thinks it's Clark and a bunch of nobody's. Boston had to stay off social media because the Clark fans were hounding her.

It's just an odd situation, and it would make sense that the team is still feeling each other out. Frankly, it's hard to imagine players on any young 1-8 team in any sport being best buds yet.

 

[Ghost Rider]

We're all way too old to imagine this scenario....

But imagine you've been at your job 10 years. Working your *** off, doing well. All of a sudden some hot shot comes out of college and every body is saying they will save the company. They still don't even know their ******* from a hole in the ground.

You're not a little bit irritated?

Vets are handling it fine. Clark is handling it fine.

Move on and just enjoy some great basketball.

If that hot shot being with the company now meant that I was getting better benefits and more money, I'd probably be thankful and any slight irritation would quickly slip away. What I wouldn't do is go out of my way to make things difficult at work for the new hot shot, just because I am jealous. That is what petty people do.

 

[TennesseeJed]

I think two things are true:

Clark needs to strengthen/toughen up, and be able to play more physically than she had to play in college.

WNBA needs to protect its golden goose - I am not the target audience, but I suspect that a lot of this new found enthusiasm is rooted in watching good basketball, and by that I mean more offense, less hacking.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

 

[pollardsvision]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

 

[TennesseeJed]

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

You kind of nailed it in the end there - the NBA made some significant rule changes in the wake of the Bad Boy era - precisely because they could see it was bad for business.

And the NBA, at the time, had a much bigger foundation than the WNBA has now. NBA support built by testosterone-driven men - who like a bit of physicality - and even they saw the need to change.

I don't know the base support of the WNBA, but a lot of women's sports sell themselves as family friendly - both in terms of cost, and in entertainment value.


I think this is a very narrow path for the WNBA - I think there have been a lot of better players than Clark who have some into the league in the past, but none seem to have been capable of bringing new eye-balls to the league in the way that Clark seems to have done - and the WNBA really needs to figure out how to keep those new eye-balls - by providing the entrainment they want, before they decide this is not for them.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

On the teammate thing, Aalyiah Boston was the only person on the team even could have seen it happen. And Boston was in foul trouble already. This is a shallow team, and if Boston fouls out there then Indiana is still likely winless at home.

It makes sense that Indiana wouldn't be a really cohesive team right now. They've all just been thrown into this odd situation, and it's early. Players really just getting to know each other. You've got last year's ROY and an All-Star on the team, and the world thinks it's Clark and a bunch of nobody's. Boston had to stay off social media because the Clark fans were hounding her.

It's just an odd situation, and it would make sense that the team is still feeling each other out. Frankly, it's hard to imagine players on any young 1-8 team in any sport being best buds yet.

You don’t have to be best buds. You’re team mates. They should hire a goon.

 

[Desert_Power]

Fever playing again today, that's crazy.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Jordan absolutely got this treatment his rookie year. 80s NBA was brutal and they routinely closelined him out there.

And Charles Oakley did something about it IIRC.

You kind of nailed it in the end there - the NBA made some significant rule changes in the wake of the Bad Boy era - precisely because they could see it was bad for business.

c.f. Charles Oakley above. It was to the point where Robert Parrish could cold **** Laimbeer in the middle of the paint and we played on because everyone knew it was justified.. The game up thru like 94 or 95 is unrecognizable to what it looks like today, and it's a miles better thing to watch today.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

This is exactly where I’m at.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Fever playing again today, that's crazy.

That's another complete screwup by the WNBA. The scheduling has been atrocious especially for their most marketable player. I don't think they could have screwed up the opportunity in front of them more if they did so on purpose.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Chloe Peterson
@chloepeterson67

The WNBA confirms that it has upgraded Chennedy Carter’s foul on Caitlin Clark at the end of the third quarter from an away from ball foul to a flagrant 1 after league review. Carter won’t be fined, but there is a points scale for flagrant fouls in the WNBA.

Clark made a free throw because of the away from ball foul and the Fever got possession. Indiana ended up winning by one point, 71-70.The only difference is that Clark would have gotten two free throws if it was called a Flagrant 1 in-game.

 

[Phil Elliott]

On the teammate thing, Aalyiah Boston was the only person on the team even could have seen it happen. And Boston was in foul trouble already. This is a shallow team, and if Boston fouls out there then Indiana is still likely winless at home.

It makes sense that Indiana wouldn't be a really cohesive team right now. They've all just been thrown into this odd situation, and it's early. Players really just getting to know each other. You've got last year's ROY and an All-Star on the team, and the world thinks it's Clark and a bunch of nobody's. Boston had to stay off social media because the Clark fans were hounding her.

It's just an odd situation, and it would make sense that the team is still feeling each other out. Frankly, it's hard to imagine players on any young 1-8 team in any sport being best buds yet.

You don’t have to be best buds. You’re team mates. They should hire a goon.

The Fever has other players on the bench that don't play much that could be used.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Go ahead and shoot me, but Matt Barnes makes sense.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Go ahead and shoot me, but Matt Barnes makes sense.

Spot on

 

[pollardsvision]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

 

[pollardsvision]

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

You kind of nailed it in the end there - the NBA made some significant rule changes in the wake of the Bad Boy era - precisely because they could see it was bad for business.

And the NBA, at the time, had a much bigger foundation than the WNBA has now. NBA support built by testosterone-driven men - who like a bit of physicality - and even they saw the need to change.

I don't know the base support of the WNBA, but a lot of women's sports sell themselves as family friendly - both in terms of cost, and in entertainment value.


I think this is a very narrow path for the WNBA - I think there have been a lot of better players than Clark who have some into the league in the past, but none seem to have been capable of bringing new eye-balls to the league in the way that Clark seems to have done - and the WNBA really needs to figure out how to keep those new eye-balls - by providing the entrainment they want, before they decide this is not for them.

Whether the WNBA should change rules is a good question, and I have no idea what they should do.

I enjoy the style of play, but I have no idea what's best for the WNBA.
Players seem like they are still able to get where they want and drive to the basket.

I don't think we should assume that what works for the NBA would work best for the WNBA. The women's game has it's own feel that some like. I find it to be a nice alternative.

Turning it into an NBA with shorter players and no dunking may not make sense.

But again, what's best for the WNBA is far above my pay grade.

 

[General Malaise]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

 

[pollardsvision]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

Alysha Clark summed it up pretty well. This is just the WNBA.

Here's Angel Reese literally thanking Alyssa Thomas for throwing her to the ground by her neck.

And I agree, a lot of this stuff is really condescending towards Clark. She's a tough, talented player and she'll adjust.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

I'm not arguing whether it's part of the game. I'm saying as someone who has never given a crap about the WNBA (along with most of the world), we aren't interested in watching people grab, hold, foul, and turn it into wrestling over basketball. If it's a game of skill, I'm in. If this is the product they want to sell, then back to lower ratings than replays of a 2014 Cornhole tournament I guess.

 

[pollardsvision]

We're not going to agree on anything here, but the style of play is not why people haven't been watching the WNBA.

I have no idea the real reasons (I was one of them that didn't watch), but it can't be the style of play because most never watched a game.

 

[pollardsvision]

And again, the NBA got cornhole ratings until Bird and Magic.

And then the League exploded because people started watching. And it did just fine for the next 15 years after that with players beating the heck out of one another.

Mild hand check rules in '94, then more in '04. I really don't see any evidence that the key to the NBA's success was removing physicality and defense. The NBA's biggest growth was when it was barbaric by today's standards. Not that the rule changes were right or wrong.

 

[belljr]

We're not going to agree on anything here, but the style of play is not why people haven't been watching the WNBA.

I have no idea the real reasons (I was one of them that didn't watch), but it can't be the style of play because most never watched a game.

I still don't watch but don't watch NBA either.

It wasn't necessarily style that was the issue as much as there was only a handful of women that had real high talent, so you weren't watching a lot of talented basketball

 

[NewlyRetired]

It wasn't necessarily style that was the issue as much as there was only a handful of women that had real high talent, so you weren't watching a lot of talented basketball

I don't think talent level is the reason people chose to watch/not watch the WNBA.

The WNBA is unquestionably significantly higher in talent than Women's college basketball, and yet up until just now, women's college basketball was always more popular.

 

[General Malaise]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

I'm not arguing whether it's part of the game. I'm saying as someone who has never given a crap about the WNBA (along with most of the world), we aren't interested in watching people grab, hold, foul, and turn it into wrestling over basketball. If it's a game of skill, I'm in. If this is the product they want to sell, then back to lower ratings than replays of a 2014 Cornhole tournament I guess.

I get it, but I think what Pollard is suggesting is that this IS the WNBA. It's a lot more physical and aggressive than casual viewers were expecting. It's definitely not for everybody and if ratings die again because it's too rough then they will need to address it. But I think this is the product and Clark is going to have to learn how to play in these waters.

IMO I think the drama is going to get more people to tune in. Maybe. I am not a huge consumer of WNBA like I am the college game so I just rely on folks like Pollard who know the game better to help explain it.

I have to do that with soccer too. The soccer guys here are much more knowledgeable than me so their posts help me understand the game.

 

[pollardsvision]

The timing might be poor, but for those scoring at home, I think I've chosen the Sky as my favorite team.

This team is just so fun to watch and you can't not love T-Spoon. They just get after it.

Mabrey, Evans and Carter are such a fun backcourt. Carter has made some questionable life decisions, but man, when she's on the court, she's breathtaking.
Then you've got Elizabeth WIlliams, Reese, DeShields, Izzy coming off the injury, and then Cardoso in the frontcourt.

Can't really call them a favorite because I love all of them so far, but when they are playing I'm watching before all others.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

Alysha Clark summed it up pretty well. This is just the WNBA.

Here's Angel Reese literally thanking Alyssa Thomas for throwing her to the ground by her neck.

And I agree, a lot of this stuff is really condescending towards Clark. She's a tough, talented player and she'll adjust.

I don’t think Clark is as upset about the rough play as she is about the fouls simply not being called way too often. It’s one thing for the rest of the league to “welcome her to the league”, it’s another for the refs to not call the obvious fouls. Even if her teammates aren’t going to make them pay, the penalty of sending Clark to the line over and over again should at least be a consequence.

The league may be finally agreeing as yesterday’s foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 as it should have been in the first place.

 

[pollardsvision]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

Alysha Clark summed it up pretty well. This is just the WNBA.

Here's Angel Reese literally thanking Alyssa Thomas for throwing her to the ground by her neck.

And I agree, a lot of this stuff is really condescending towards Clark. She's a tough, talented player and she'll adjust.

I don’t think Clark is as upset about the rough play as she is about the fouls simply not being called way too often. It’s one thing for the rest of the league to “welcome her to the league”, it’s another for the refs to not call the obvious fouls. Even if her teammates aren’t going to make them pay, the penalty of sending Clark to the line over and over again should at least be a consequence.

The league may be finally agreeing as yesterday’s foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 as it should have been in the first place.

Definitely not questioning Clark's reaction to all of this.
She's taking it like a champ and responding beautifully.

It's us old farts that can't stand to see a kid deal with some adversity that are the problem.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Chennedy Clark doubling down on it all by bad mouthing Caitlyn Clark's game is

They aren't jealous and definitely don't hate her.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

Let's just be consistent with the calls for both teams.

 

[Snotbubbles]

We're all way too old to imagine this scenario....

But imagine you've been at your job 10 years. Working your *** off, doing well. All of a sudden some hot shot comes out of college and every body is saying they will save the company. They still don't even know their ******* from a hole in the ground.

You're not a little bit irritated?

Vets are handling it fine. Clark is handling it fine.

Move on and just enjoy some great basketball.

Was thinking about your analogy.

Imagine if you worked at a restaurant and no one ever came to eat there. Then some hot shot chef comes in and now the place is packed. But now the wait staff is spitting on the food because they don't think the chef should be getting the credit.

The league can handle this pretty easily. Memo to the refs, to start calling flagrant 2s on some of these fouls.

 

[massraider]

The real headline is how much people are interested. Everyone's gotta hot take on this. Pro Football Talk is all up in this story.

Very good news for the league.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

Alysha Clark summed it up pretty well. This is just the WNBA.

Here's Angel Reese literally thanking Alyssa Thomas for throwing her to the ground by her neck.

And I agree, a lot of this stuff is really condescending towards Clark. She's a tough, talented player and she'll adjust.

I don’t think Clark is as upset about the rough play as she is about the fouls simply not being called way too often. It’s one thing for the rest of the league to “welcome her to the league”, it’s another for the refs to not call the obvious fouls. Even if her teammates aren’t going to make them pay, the penalty of sending Clark to the line over and over again should at least be a consequence.

The league may be finally agreeing as yesterday’s foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 as it should have been in the first place.

Definitely not questioning Clark's reaction to all of this.
She's taking it like a champ and responding beautifully.

It's us old farts that can't stand to see a kid deal with some adversity that are the problem.

To be clear, it's the possession by possession nonsense that isn't called moreso than the 2-3 cheap shots she's taking a game. Nothing I'm complaining about has a thing to do with Clark and adversity.

I assume one of Clark's teammates will lay out Angel Reese sooner or later and that mess will get taken care of.

 

[Phil Elliott]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

You realize the soccer players are all faking all the sprained ankles, right?

 

[pollardsvision]

Just tried ordering a Chicago Sky hat.

Sold out. They'll let me know when more are available.

 

[General Malaise]

Cennedy Carter is awesome. She just had a moment. She got carried away and hip-checked somebody.

We're not used to that sort of thing because we mostly watch sports played by millionaires making business decisions.

Us old farts have just gotten soft.

That wasn't a moment. It was a dirty cheap shot thug play with Angel Reese immediately celebrating it on the sidelines. No one is going to keep watching the WNBA if they would rather it be the WWE instead of skilled basketball.

You're right. It was absolutely dirty and uncalled for.

It was a bad moment in an awesome game.

I disagree that it will be bad for the WNBA. Tons of cheap shots won't be good, but having players that kind of don't like each other? I think that's good for the game.

It needs to be cleaner than stuff like yesterday, but some physicality and intensity is great.

I mean, the NBA somehow survived the dirty bad boy Pistons beating the heck out of Jordan.

I will watch a lot of sports but I have no interest in a women's basketball league that is played and officiated like the 89 Pistons are on the court. Every game is this way. I will tune in to watch players play but to be honest, it hasn't even been good basketball for the most part because of the hacking, grabbing, holding, and nonsense. It's WWE Raw without funny Steve Austin interviews. If I get tired of it quickly, I'm pretty sure the casual fan tuning in to watch the new batch of rookies will give up if they haven't already. The WNBA has really screwed up a once in a lifetime opportunity here. They need to fix this mess ASAP.

Different strokes, I guess. I enjoy the game.

I don't want to see dirty play, but I like the physicality. I like that they let them play. I like the traditional post roles.
And I think the game still has a fine flow to it.

The NBA is great, but I like the women's style of play too.

Certainly, it seems way to early to proclaim the WNBA is screwing up. I'm not even sure what you mean. What rule changes would you propose?

More people are watching, and what matters is that people like the product that they see (and the players, of course). I might've missed it, but I don't recall a bunch of people in here complaining about the style of basketball until yesterday.

I feel like these guys have never watched women's soccer....they get physical as hell out there. It's part of the game. They're competing. Is some of it dirty? Of course. It'll get called but I don't want them changing anything because a few guys think it's unfair and mean to Caitlin Clark. And it's not like Clark is incapable of responding. She's not a child.

You realize the soccer players are all faking all the sprained ankles, right?

Those are the men.

Need I link the Elizabeth Lambert video?

 

[Ghost Rider]

Chennedy Clark doubling down on it all by bad mouthing Caitlyn Clark's game is

They aren't jealous and definitely don't hate her.

It's a good thing she can hoop a little, otherwise she'd having a tough time in the real world, given her amazing grasp of the English language.

 

[pollardsvision]

Taurasi dealin' tonight. She's about to turn 42.

 

[pollardsvision]

Watching that performance. I'm sorry Joe, I might be about to say something you don't love.

Here we sit a bunch of fat old dudes (I can say that I'm a fat old dude) telling this league what they need to do to get people to watch. Some people ain't ever gonna watch, especially the old dudes concern-trolling about the league being too physical.

The credit belongs to the man in the arena. We love that quote, don't we.

Diana Taurasi doesn't give two ##### about what our old out of shape ###es think the WNBA needs to do.

She's been too busy in the arena for the last couple decades while we play pretend sports.