WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

franticscribe · Jun 10, 2024

Spartan Squad said: ↑

Meanwhile she’s putting butts in seats.
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Which is why the W has done the Fever dirty with the schedule. They're more interested in selling those tickets than worrying about their new star's longevity.

BTExpress · Jun 10, 2024

Spartan Squad said: ↑

Bird’s rookie team had Tiny Archibald. Magic had a guy named Kareem his rookie year. You might have heard of them. What does that have to do with Clark?
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A post above compared Clark's popularity to Jordan's in 1984. I pointed out that Magic and Bird --- not Jordan --- carried the torch that decade. Jordan's time was years away. Nobody needed to rush it (we had Lakers-Celtics). Clark's time (as an honest-to-goodness championship difference-maker) may be years away. Nothing wrong with that.

Spartan Squad · Jun 10, 2024

BTExpress said: ↑

A post above compared Clark's popularity to Jordan's in 1984. I pointed out that Magic and Bird --- not Jordan --- carried the torch that decade. Jordan's time was years away. Clark's time may be years away. Nothing wrong with that.
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Sorry missed someone making a Jordan riff

poindexter · Jun 11, 2024

Jordan's first month was pretty fucking good.
Michael Jordan 1984-85 Game Log | Basketball-Reference.com

2muchcoffeeman · Jun 11, 2024

Spartan Squad said: ↑

Sorry missed someone making a Jordan riff
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jr/shotglass · Jun 11, 2024

BTExpress said: ↑

It's like asking a 1980s L.A. Clipper rookie to save the NBA.
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There should be a moratorium on presenting parallels to Clark's situation. It doesn't compare to anything.

Starman · Jun 11, 2024

Maravich maybe, but that's 50 years ago.

MisterCreosote · Jun 11, 2024

Being “the face of the league” and being “the best player in the league” are two different things.

Clark clearly is the former. But she’s got a ways to go in becoming the latter.

And that’s OK.

Baron Scicluna · Jun 11, 2024

BTExpress said: ↑

This is the single best explanation I have ever seen. And it corrects a mistake I had made earlier about the timeout situation.

The 1972 Olympians should stop whining

To answer your question (from the link above) . . . the issue is not whether the Russians were allowed a timeout, but WHEN. In short, they were denied a timeout they were entitled to, and then given a timeout they weren't entitled to (makeup call, as it were).

"After Collins’ first free throw, the Russian coach tried to call timeout. Under the rules at the time, a timeout could only be called by the coach (NOT a player on the floor) and only during a dead ball. In fact, dead ball was defined differently – once the ball was handed to Collins for his second free throw, that ended the last chance to get a timeout – even if he makes it, that would not have been considered a dead ball.

What the film shows is the Russian coach standing by the scorekeeper as he should have been and as soon as Collins’ first free throw goes through, he calls for timeout, even making the T signal with his hands that we’re all familiar with. He turns away, expecting to hear the buzzer … when nothing happens, he turns back and begins frantically repeating his signal.

The scorekeeper – who started the whole train of tragic events – finally buzzes the buzzer – but the ball is already in Collins hands. The scorekeeper keeps buzzing as the shot goes up and in. The Russian players, knowing the rules and thinking there is no deadball, throw the ball in, rush it up the court and end up throwing a shot up from midcourt." (BTE EDIT---this is wrong; they were stopped by the officials and NEVER took a shot from midcourt).

"This is the so-called FIRST Russian chance.

But it’s not a chance – it wouldn’t have counted if the shot had gone in. In the first place, the clock doesn’t start until the ball is almost at halfcourt. In the second, the officials, reacting to the buzzer, are blowing their whistles.

After several minutes of confusing non-communication, order is restored and the officials decree that the Russians should get their timeout and the three seconds should be put back on the clock. I’m not sure if that was the technically correct ruling – the Russians DID deserve a timeout, but they should have gotten it BEFORE Collins attempted the go-ahead free throw.

I think what they decided was a compromise … an attempt at fairness. They gave Collins his free throw and gave the Russians their timeout. Technically, they could have ruled that since the Russian coach asked for the timeout and should have been given it before the second free throw that Collins would have to shoot again.

But the confusion and the mistakes weren’t over.

Before they could replay the final three seconds, the old-style digital clock had to be reset. Those clocks could click off the minutes one-by-one, but not the seconds. It had to be reset at 1:00 and have 57 seconds run off to stop at 0:03.

Both teams were on the floor ready to go while those 57 seconds clicked down. Here’s where the next stupid mistake occurred … with those seconds ticking off, the referee with the ball handed it to the Soviet inbounder and motioned for him to begin.

The Soviet guard was stunned. So was everybody else watching. Again, the buzzer sounded as the ball was inbounded and the panicked scorekeeper simply turned off the clock.

That was the so-called SECOND CHANCE. Again, it wasn’t a chance – and if they had scored, it wouldn’t have counted.

More confusion ensured and into the melee stepped the British head of FIBA. His intervention was probably illegal, but again, like everybody else, he was trying to create a fair outcome. All he did was order what the officials had ordered after the first screwup – that the clock be reset to three seconds.

This was the so-called THIRD chance and it was a chance – the only chance the Russians were given after Collins’ free throw.

There was one final bit of confusion. Tom McMillen, guarding in the inbounds pass, was hopping on the out-of-bounds line as the official prepared to hand the ball to the inbounds passer. He ordered McMillen back off the line. That is proper and correct -- McMillen was violating the rules as he broke the plane of the end line. But with the language barrier and in the confusion, McMillen misunderstood his order and backed far away from the inbounds passer. He ended up about the foul line – not close enough to hinder the passer, but not back enough to play any effective defense.

In the end, the Russians hit a hail-mary pass to Belov as Joyce and Jim Forbes, the two deep defenders for the US, knocked each other off and gave him an easy layup.

Ever since, we’ve claimed we were robbed. Well, we weren’t. We were the victims of a very mismanaged end-game … we just didn’t handle it as well as the Russians.

Instead of blaming the officials for our loss, we should ask what the hell Hank Iba was thinking at the end? The tallest American on the floor in those fatal three seconds was McMillen, who was defending (or in point of fact, not defending) the inbounds pass. Underneath the basket, he has 6-3 Joyce and 6-5 Forbes.

On the bench, he has 7-4 Tom Burleson, a superb shotblocker. And 6-9 Bobby Jones, the greatest defensive forward of his generation. Why weren’t they out there to defend the US basket?

Americans have whined a lot about that game – even going so far as to invent things (I’ve heard Joyce complain that Belov pushed off to catch the pass … watch the film, he does nothing of the sort). But I think a fair examination of the situation HAS to lead to the conclusion that justice was done. The Russians deserved the gold medal.

The end game was a mess, but nobody was trying to screw us -- they were trying to achieve fairness. In the end, the Russians handled with with poise and we didn't."
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Cool explanation. Thanks.

DanOregon · Jun 11, 2024

The league has had many great players, I don't know if it has had a player who may have embraced having so many younger fans though. Aside from Clark, is there another player you can think of as being an idol to young kids? And no, I'm not talking about someone's sexuality or race being a deal-breaker one way or another - I just can't think of a player who inspired the kind of fandom as Clark does among youngsters. I think of Lisa Leslie and Lobo and I just don't think they did, because they were too damn tall for kids to relate.

BTExpress · Jun 11, 2024

Baron Scicluna said: ↑

Cool explanation. Thanks.
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Thank you. I hated the title to that thread --- why trigger a negative emotional response before anyone even clicks the link? --- but the analysis was nicely thought out, even-handed and seemingly tried to cover every base possible given the passage of time.

MisterCreosote · Jun 11, 2024

DanOregon said: ↑

The league has had many great players, I don't know if it has had a player who may have embraced having so many younger fans though. Aside from Clark, is there another player you can think of as being an idol to young kids? And no, I'm not talking about someone's sexuality or race being a deal-breaker one way or another - I just can't think of a player who inspired the kind of fandom as Clark does among youngsters. I think of Lisa Leslie and Lobo and I just don't think they did, because they were too damn tall for kids to relate.
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Maybe Candace Parker.

I covered Elena Delle Donne in her younger days, and her hometown fans were as devoted as any I’ve ever seen.

Same with Dawn Staley.

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WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

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WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

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