WNBA

Jack Williams

Jack Williams

Well-known member
2023 $upporter
Beasts of the East said:
Too hot a subject to rationally discuss from any side. What's clear is that more than likely, pretty soon the fan interest generated will be killed and the wnba can go back to obscurity.
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Would be interested to hear why you think this?

I have never seen more excitement for the WNBA than I have this year. And there are things they can improve upon. Like why are their playoff games and WNBA finals games being played on Sundays? That needs to be fixed for next season. Play these games on nights where this is no football. Or better yet, since ESPN has the rights, schedule games for 6PM on Mondays so people can check it out before Monday Night Football. Anything would be better than trying to go directly against a full slate of NFL games.

The NFL will always be king and squash anything that is going against it. Just ask the NBA, who used to consider themselves the owners of Christmas Day sports. They have had their chain snatched in the past couple of years by the NFL and they aren't getting it back.

If the WNBA can shift their schedule around, I see the game only trending upward. They have a good set up where we get to see college stars actually develop over the course of 4 years before entering the league, unlike the NBA now. Even with Clark and Reese being huge this year, we have Bueckers and Juju Watkins coming up behind them, with room for more stars as well.

I'll also add that sports betting on phone is so widespread now, a lot of sports fans are taking to WNBA for that reason as well. It is another thing to bet on and watch. Just feels like the league is approaching a golden era and I am happy for them.
 
Spocky Ramone said:
The WNBA powers that be would be out of their minds to not issue an edict to lighten up on the physicality.
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I watch a lot of the W. The style of play is tremendous, the desire and effort of the players is tremendous, and there are absolutely tremendous players all over the league. It is a fabulous league to watch if you love the game.

My primary criticism of the league for a long time has been that it is far too physical. There is no question in my mind that this is intentional and that the league allows the physicality because they are trying to offset the idea that women's basketball is "soft."

Like you I have no trouble with physical play but the W has been over the line in that regard even before Clark and it has not gotten any better. Instead it has predictably gotten worse because whatever you let players get away with, they are going to take another step. And at this point that extra step is a plethora of "not a basketball play" events that will eventually wind up with someone getting seriously injured.

Long story short this is not a Clark issue, it is a W issue that preexisted her and is just (like many things in the W) getting more attention because of her. And it's an issue the league needs to fix - to the extent they ever needed to allow that degree of physicality to "legitimize" the league, it has outgrown its usefulness and needs to be reined in.
 
lawmanfan said:
I watch a lot of the W. The style of play is tremendous, the desire and effort of the players is tremendous, and there are absolutely tremendous players all over the league. It is a fabulous league to watch if you love the game.

My primary criticism of the league for a long time has been that it is far too physical. There is no question in my mind that this is intentional and that the league allows the physicality because they are trying to offset the idea that women's basketball is "soft."

Like you I have no trouble with physical play but the W has been over the line in that regard even before Clark and it has not gotten any better. Instead it has predictably gotten worse because whatever you let players get away with, they are going to take another step. And at this point that extra step is a plethora of "not a basketball play" events that will eventually wind up with someone getting seriously injured.

Long story short this is not a Clark issue, it is a W issue that preexisted her and is just (like many things in the W) getting more attention because of her. And it's an issue the league needs to fix - to the extent they ever needed to allow that degree of physicality to "legitimize" the league, it has outgrown its usefulness and needs to be reined in.
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Well done.
 
lawmanfan said:
It actually may be my favorite league to watch from a basketball standpoint. Love the way they play the game, just need to clean up some of the BS.
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I like it because it involves smart play, passing and team work along with defense over acrobatic dunking and alley ops and sheer brute athleticism.

Not meant to imply there is a lack of athleticism or lateral quickness (reference intentional, LOL), there is plenty of that in the WNBA just at a different level than the NBA and MCBB.

What I see in the League as opposed to WCBB is that once you get past the top 25 teams in WCBB, the fall off in skills is great, WNBA skill level is superb.
 
BrookJersey Redmen said:
I like it because it involves smart play, passing and team work along with defense over acrobatic dunking and alley ops and sheer brute athleticism.

Not meant to imply there is a lack of athleticism or lateral quickness (reference intentional, LOL), there is plenty of that in the WNBA just at a different level than the NBA and MCBB.

What I see in the League as opposed to WCBB is that once you get past the top 25 teams in WCBB, the fall off in skills is great, WNBA skill level is superb.
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Exactly - the talent level of the players in the NBA and men's D1 has distorted the game at times unrecognizably from its original form as a team endeavor in which the objective was to move the ball and/or players in order to create good shot opportunities (in a somewhat egalitarian manner).
In the W and the high level college women's game you can still see the game more or less the way it was meant to be played.

The dichotomy between players old-school fans like and the ones new-school fans like is rooted in that - the new-era fans will (often correctly) tell you that a one-on-one play is a good one. The old school fans are always looking at whether a better opportunity could be created by sharing the ball.
 
lawmanfan said:
I watch a lot of the W. The style of play is tremendous, the desire and effort of the players is tremendous, and there are absolutely tremendous players all over the league. It is a fabulous league to watch if you love the game.

My primary criticism of the league for a long time has been that it is far too physical. There is no question in my mind that this is intentional and that the league allows the physicality because they are trying to offset the idea that women's basketball is "soft."

Like you I have no trouble with physical play but the W has been over the line in that regard even before Clark and it has not gotten any better. Instead it has predictably gotten worse because whatever you let players get away with, they are going to take another step. And at this point that extra step is a plethora of "not a basketball play" events that will eventually wind up with someone getting seriously injured.

Long story short this is not a Clark issue, it is a W issue that preexisted her and is just (like many things in the W) getting more attention because of her. And it's an issue the league needs to fix - to the extent they ever needed to allow that degree of physicality to "legitimize" the league, it has outgrown its usefulness and needs to be reined in.
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aka Mrs Lawmanfan watches wnba so now Lawman loves it :)
 
lawmanfan said:
I watch a lot of the W. The style of play is tremendous, the desire and effort of the players is tremendous, and there are absolutely tremendous players all over the league. It is a fabulous league to watch if you love the game.

My primary criticism of the league for a long time has been that it is far too physical. There is no question in my mind that this is intentional and that the league allows the physicality because they are trying to offset the idea that women's basketball is "soft."

Like you I have no trouble with physical play but the W has been over the line in that regard even before Clark and it has not gotten any better. Instead it has predictably gotten worse because whatever you let players get away with, they are going to take another step. And at this point that extra step is a plethora of "not a basketball play" events that will eventually wind up with someone getting seriously injured.

Long story short this is not a Clark issue, it is a W issue that preexisted her and is just (like many things in the W) getting more attention because of her. And it's an issue the league needs to fix - to the extent they ever needed to allow that degree of physicality to "legitimize" the league, it has outgrown its usefulness and needs to be reined in.
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Saying the style of play in the WNBA is tremendous may be the most inaccurate and funny statement I’ve ever seen in my 37 years on this earth. The style of play is horrific. Sure there are some 1-2 extremely talented players on some teams but most of them stink on ice!
 
sirvoo said:
Saying the style of play in the WNBA is tremendous may be the most inaccurate and funny statement I’ve ever seen in my 37 years on this earth. The style of play is horrific. Sure there are some 1-2 extremely talented players on some teams but most of them stink on ice!
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Thank you for proving my point.
 
lawmanfan said:
I watch a lot of the W. The style of play is tremendous, the desire and effort of the players is tremendous, and there are absolutely tremendous players all over the league. It is a fabulous league to watch if you love the game.

My primary criticism of the league for a long time has been that it is far too physical. There is no question in my mind that this is intentional and that the league allows the physicality because they are trying to offset the idea that women's basketball is "soft."

Like you I have no trouble with physical play but the W has been over the line in that regard even before Clark and it has not gotten any better. Instead it has predictably gotten worse because whatever you let players get away with, they are going to take another step. And at this point that extra step is a plethora of "not a basketball play" events that will eventually wind up with someone getting seriously injured.

Long story short this is not a Clark issue, it is a W issue that preexisted her and is just (like many things in the W) getting more attention because of her. And it's an issue the league needs to fix - to the extent they ever needed to allow that degree of physicality to "legitimize" the league, it has outgrown its usefulness and needs to be reined in.
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It would be nice if that was all there is to it.

I've been a fan of woman's basketball since my daughters could play a little and competed at the high school level and in top AAU programs in the metro area. In AAU we played from New Hampshire to Virginia, to western PA.

I agree that women basically are fundamentally sound within their physical limitations. At the high school level, you teach kids a play, they run that play, even to the point of ignoring a wide open teammate.

When we played inner city kids, the game was much different. For the most part the girls were bigger, faster, stronger. Many, if not most or all, grew up playing in schoolyards against boys, and to be allowed to play had to play a tougher game.

So, yes, the WNBA is a tough, physical league. I agree with all your points EXCEPT that Clark IS by all means a target. Cheap shots, fists, high elbows above the neck, shoves.

Many players have reacted to Clark the way one or two posters here have, namely WTF is she to get all the press, all the attention, all that sponsor money? And there have been celebrations, smirks, and laughter when she is targeted.

For her part, Clark is no shrinking violet. She talks trash, takes the hits, and hasn't cried about it. If the WNBA is smart, they will see to it that she is moved to a major market which can only help the entire league.

Like a lot of legal defenses, you are omitting damning evidence. In court you need only to create reasonable doubt. However, to say she isn't being singled out just doesn't pass the eye test.
 
When I coached my son's team it basically made little sense to work on plays at practice as they never ran them all the way through. Someone always decided they knew better (many times someone did.)

When I coached my daughter's team, they ran every iteration of any play called no matter what. Once in a playoff game (8th Grade not extremely young) they ran an out of bounds play under the basket out of a timeout that worked pretty well but takes some time to develop. They did this and never wavered even though the other team was so slow to come out of the timeout that the referee gave us the ball to inbound with no one on the court to defend.

I will admit they did execute and score on the play.

Better or worse is up to the customer but the WNBA and NBA involve what are pretty much two different sports.
 
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