WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

Didn't Clark say she wasn't recruited by UConn?

 

Funny enough, she did.

 

The WNBA record for turnovers in a season is 137.

Clark is almost a third of the way there after eight games and is on pace for 220.

 

Auriemma also explained why he didn't recruit Clark. UConn had landed Paige Bueckers and Clark played the same position.

 

unapologetically turnover prone

 

Correct. He thought Bueckers was better. In a sense, Bueckers is better for the game Geno wants to play - the game that is preferred in the WNBA. She isn't better than Clark for what makes basketball the most fun to watch but I'm not sure that matters to college basketball's top coaches. It's part of why the pro game hasn't grown.

 

Winning matters way more than fun to watch for every coach in every sport at every level.

 

A Paige rube so I've thought she's better since their high school days. So I'm not too subjective on it. But I do think Paige is extraordinarily fun to watch with her midrange and 3-point shooting, driving ability, passing and disruptive skills on the defensive end, along with the competitive joy she displays every game. She doesn't shoot from 30 feet but everything else about her game, I'd argue, is just as entertaining as Clark's, and I think will still be a treat to watch once she's in the WNBA.

I have no doubt Clark is going to be a superstar and it won't take more than a season or two. Then again, there is always the possibility of being the female Jimmer Fredette...who was also extremely fun to watch in college. Or to not be quite as insulting, maybe she's more Trae Young than Steph. Or maybe she needs her Steve Kerr to come along and coach Indiana. But like I said, she's at her "worst" she'll ever be in the WNBA right now and she's putting up very respectable numbers and once she and her team make the necessary adjustments to the roster and style, she's going to take off.

Been thinking about Clark and Pistol Pete and the adjustments needed at the next level. Watch this old Pistol Pete doc from the 34-minute mark through 40 minutes. Lot of similarities with the adjustment to not just having an extreme green light to the views of other players in the league who might be jealous of the attention. Some obvious differences: Clark doesn't have an insane father and isn't going to be slamming beers at halftime (probably). But like Pistol, Clark will never, no matter how good she gets, be the sensation she was in college. That was a singular moment. Yet she, again like Pistol Pete, can still be one of the best to ever do it at the pro level.

 

Caitlin Clark won more than Geno did the last two years. And she wasn’t surrounded by McDonalds All-Americans.

You can play a fun style and be really good. Ask Steph Curry. Ask Clark.

 

I don't disagree with either of those statements. I was responding to you saying, "She isn't better than Clark for what makes basketball the most fun to watch but I'm not sure that matters to college basketball's top coaches."

I AM sure. And it doesn't just apply to college basketball's top coaches. That doesn't matter to any coach anywhere in competitive sports. They want someone who will help them win, and couldn't care less whether or not they're fun to watch. Those things aren't mutually exclusive, but the winning part always matters WAY more than the fun to watch part.

 

The question was why did Auriemma not recruit Clark, not which one would be more entertaining or better.

UConn recruited and landed Bueckers early on. I'm sure UConn could have also signed Clark but it's highly likely either one or both would have been as successful in their college careers, and one or both would have transferred. I seriously doubt Auriemma regrets not recruiting Clark.

I think it turned out pretty well for both guards.

 

We have no idea if Clark is at her "worst" she'll ever be right now. Crystal Dangerfield was Rookie of the Year in 2020 and has never come close to having the same statistics since, especially scoring.

And don't even start with "she gets no respect, no respect at all" because she's 5-5.