WNBA thread… 28.5 ain’t your pay cut

Clark likely won't get a first place vote for MVP - if she did, the person who gave her that vote would be mercilessly criticized, perhaps even called names, perhaps even lose the vote.

It's acceptable for Clark to win ROY, but I won't be surprised if it's not unanimous.

 

Link?

 

We have a 56-page running WNBA thread. If that doesn’t scream valuable ….

 

There's been online MVP/Cy Young/AP poll critiquing/trolling for years. I can't recall who used to do it for CBS but wasn't there literally a feature on revoking folks basketball ballots?

As far as the WNBA, there's a considerable online watchdog quality to everything surrounding Clark.

The Sun-Times was critiqued for a pretty typical tabloid approach to a bad home team effort/loss. (Irrespective of what I think of tabloid approaches, it's pretty common)

https://awfulannouncing.com/newspapers/chicago-sun-times-caitlin-clark-headline-annie-costabile.html

Here, too:

The vitriol WNBA players face for fouling Caitlin Clark is unacceptable — and racist

I particularly enjoyed this sequence in the piece.

Was Carter right to shove Clark to the ground? Was DeShields?

Probably not, and that’s why the referees blew the whistle. But, basketball is a contact sport, and it happens.

I'm trying to imagine a non-probably scenario to either one.

Remember, this is a league where some of the losing players in the WNBA refused to talk to the media. It was, until Clark got there, largely a bubble league that had its own media ecosystem - that mostly functioned as a cheering section for the sport/scolding section to the larger public - and its own approach to the sport.

I have little doubt that the kinds of fouls Clark has taken were fairly common in a league defined, like its the 1970s NBA, by post play and 12-foot shots. There's going to be an adjustment to the attention. And it's going to take time - it is taking time - for the league to accept that not only is Clark really good, but she's going to give the sport permission to play different way.

By the time Watkins gets to the WNBA, it'll be fully up-and-rolling - and Watkins really will be the sport's Magic Johnson.

 

Such a heavy cross to bear …

 

That’s quite a leap from “People saying gross things about Clark’s opponents are gross.” to “The WNBA Heathers will destroy any media member daring to sully our election that is apparently stage managed like North Korean politics.”

 

well, I think your characterization of it is a leap, but maybe I am taking a leap. And I think it’s a hypothetical leap, because I don’t think anyone is going to vote for Clark to win MVP.

And, at least by tabloid standards, there wasn’t really anything wrong with the Sun Times cover. I’ve seen tabloids be more merciless with Hometown athletes than that.

But, there was pushback in the last several days related to Clark and Reese sharing the ROY Award.

 

I don’t think Clark will get many MVP votes because even a slappy casual like me knows that A’Ja Wilson is the shit. No conspiracy necessary.

 

I've seen enough WNBA games to determine that turnovers are about as bogus a stat as they come.

Not saying Clark doesn't turn the ball over, she does. And she got her pocket picked last night late, with the game in the balance.

But I've seen way too many turnovers this year from a pass that hits a player right in the hands. The ball gets misplayed, and the passer eats the turnover.

 

WNBA MVP voting goes to five places, so Clark will definitely get a smattering of "votes" (even through she's still not even in the top 20 in win shares).

And that's not unusual. The top college player usually comes into the league and finishes somewhere in the MVP voting (Clark's own teammate, Aliyah Boston, finished 11th in MVP last year as a rookie with no offseason, and no Olympic break). Yeah, there's talent on that team.

 

I tell my rec league players all the time — I don’t care whose fault it is, it’s not a great pass unless your teammate catches it.

 

I'd have thought that too, but then I read one more post and ... yeah, win shares.