Time for a Real Discussion About Caitlin Clark

[SEIOWA CLONE]

I don't really care for Clark because I am an Iowa State fan and I don't really care for anything Iowa. But I sort of feel sorry for her.

Why wouldn't you expect to struggle a bit at first? NBA #1 picks take some time to get going (if they ever do). It's not surprising. But yet the people that are weirdly obsessed with her are blaming everyone but her. I've seen tweets about her teammates not passing to her. I've seen tweets about her coach.

Nope do not feel sorry for CC or the rest of the EIU fanbase. Sorry but the gal has been shoved down our throat for the past year. It was not the woman's final four but the CC final four. The draft was there any other players that Nike had put up a huge display in downtown NY city?

The local media are praising her like she is the seconding coming and everyone will be flocking to watch her play and then tell us all about it. She is what she is, her performance will improve but the speed of the game, is too fast for her, the shots are not falling, and she is going to struggle taking it to the hoop because she is no longer the quickest player on the floor.

 

[ICCYFAN]

I'll admit to getting caught up in the hype and I've watched parts of both games. CC hasn't played well, but they're playing good teams and she's been the focus of the defense. I can't get over how poorly Aliyah Boston has played, at least while I've watched. Poor CC is getting doubled all over the court while Boston is getting absolutely stoned in the post - she can't go over, thru or around anybody - she's getting punished one on one. Like others have said, the Fever are just bad...

 

[HFCS]

I'll admit to getting caught up in the hype and I've watched parts of both games. CC hasn't played well, but they're playing good teams and she's been the focus of the defense. I can't get over how poorly Aliyah Boston has played, at least while I've watched. Poor CC is getting doubled all over the court while Boston is getting absolutely stoned in the post - she can't go over, thru or around anybody - she's getting punished one on one. Like others have said, the Fever are just bad...

The NBA team that drafted the GOAT went from winning 33% the prior year to 46% during his ROTY campaign. Significant improvement but not instant championship.

I get confused when we're allowed to talk greatest of all time, sometimes it's not allowed and other times you're a "hater" if you don't crown her goat.

 

[snowcraig2.0]

Lots of pressure on the Fever organization. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. The team isn’t very good right now and Clark can’t dominate like she did in college. Drama is likely coming.

One interesting observation from the parts of two games I watched was that several of the fouls called on Clark were very ticky tacky and they were called early in the game. It seemed like the refs were sending a message to her. Almost like the didn’t like all the attention given to her or maybe they didn’t like her antics with refs in college. I thought it took some balls given how many of the fans were there mostly to see her.

It really has been a **** show for the WNBA and I can’t see it getting better.

Definitely a lot of ticky tack stuff called on her. Just more of an indication of what a train wreck the WNBA is. They finally have media attention, and they are trying as hard as they can to lose it.

 

[4cy16]

Definitely a lot of ticky tack stuff called on her. Just more of an indication of what a train wreck the WNBA is. They finally have media attention, and they are trying as hard as they can to lose it.

The WNBA officials are just making up for all of the stuff she got away with in college.

 

[Marcelason78]

That is a lazy take. Her court vision and passing were incredible. If she had normal 3-point shooting, that court vision and passing would set her apart on its own.

Don’t think so. No doubt she is a good passer, much like many in the college game, and especially the pros. If CC had normal 3 point shooting distance she wouldn’t be any better than Paige.

 

[Cydkar]

I don't really care for Clark because I am an Iowa State fan and I don't really care for anything Iowa. But I sort of feel sorry for her.

Why wouldn't you expect to struggle a bit at first? NBA #1 picks take some time to get going (if they ever do). It's not surprising. But yet the people that are weirdly obsessed with her are blaming everyone but her. I've seen tweets about her teammates not passing to her. I've seen tweets about her coach.

She's made/making MILLIONS. I wish her the best but feeling sorry for her is beyond my brain. Thousands of everyday Joes and Janes, within a 2-mile radius of my location, are going through much more struggle.

 

[carvers4math]

She's made/making MILLIONS. I wish her the best but feeling sorry for her is beyond my brain. Thousands of everyday Joes and Janes, within a 2-mile radius of my location, are going through much more struggle.

The person I both feel sorry for and admire is the best player in that game, Breanna Stewart. Reading about her abuse, it seems like basketball helped get her through it.

 

[AlCyJim]

One of two things end up happening

1. The fever continues to suck and the current coach gets canned. Bluder takes over and it's the CC show again, only it's the WNBA so the fever still suck

2. The fever continues to suck and cc starts to look into how she can influence the right people to build an expansion franchise in Des Moines, then immediately demands a trade when that happens

maybe she should take her endorsement money and start one of her own

 

[clone52]

Don’t think so. No doubt she is a good passer, much like many in the college game, and especially the pros. If CC had normal 3 point shooting distance she wouldn’t be any better than Paige.

I am definitely not an expert on the pro's, but I can't say anything there are 'many' in the college game that have the vision and passing skills that Clark has. Paige is a great player, can't argue with you there.

 

[clonedude]

If you don’t think there’s a lot of WNBA players out to prove they should be the ones making tens of millions of dollars, and not CC…. then you don’t understand how competitive these women are.

If CC is worth what she’s getting…. what is Stewart worth? You don’t think Stewart is a little tired of all the attention CC is getting while having never done a thing in the WNBA yet…. yet she’s won how many MVP’s now?

 

[3TrueFans]

If you don’t think there’s a lot of WNBA players out to prove they should be the ones making tens of millions of dollars, and not CC…. then you don’t understand how competitive these women are.

If CC is worth what she’s getting…. what is Stewart worth? You don’t think Stewart is a little tired of all the attention CC is getting while having never done a thing in the WNBA yet…. yet she’s won how many MVP’s now?

Rookie contracts are all the same, any money on top of that she makes is from deals made because she played very well in college and is marketable. Stewart is worth exactly what she can negotiate for.

 

[NWICY]

The pub isn't going to last long if she doesn't play WAY better.

The thing is all the attention, hype and pub isn't accounting for her to be a good player. It's all based on the expectation that she's going to be a great, if not dominant/generational player in the WNBA.

Even if she really gets adjusted and starts playing well. Anything less than her being an All-Star and all-WNBA player out of the gates is going to be a massive flop in terms of hype and expectations.

Those expectations might be unfair to her and completely unrealistic, but that is what they are by fans, media, and sponsors. None of the people on the hype train are thinking she's going to be anything other than dominant in the WNBA. The single most hyped WBB player in history by orders of magnitude isn't going to keep getting attention if she's just one of the better players in the league. At that point there are better, more interesting players in the league.

Fans, media and sponsors moved off really fast from guys that were really hyped like Zion or Ben Simmons, even when they still were good players and had a lot of promise. Zion is a good player and is fun to watch. But there is just no reason to focus on guys like that when there are better players out there to follow.

She made the coin, the rest doesn't matter.

 

[NWICY]

She's made/making MILLIONS. I wish her the best but feeling sorry for her is beyond my brain. Thousands of everyday Joes and Janes, within a 2-mile radius of my location, are going through much more struggle.

Every night I bet Conner prays he doesn't screw up this gravy train.

 

[HFCS]

If you don’t think there’s a lot of WNBA players out to prove they should be the ones making tens of millions of dollars, and not CC…. then you don’t understand how competitive these women are.

If CC is worth what she’s getting…. what is Stewart worth? You don’t think Stewart is a little tired of all the attention CC is getting while having never done a thing in the WNBA yet…. yet she’s won how many MVP’s now?

Outside of Cyclones the NBA is my favorite sport to follow by quite a bit.

If you look at the major MVPs of the past 30-40 years only LeBron and Jordan put up "MVP discussion" stats as rookies, incredible since LBJ was only 18. Shaq as a second year player had #s that could have been in an MVP discussion

All these other guys got to MVP but it took them at least 3-8 sessons to get there: Gianis, Jokic, Kobe, Curry, Dirk, Nash, Duncan. I'm forgetting a few others but they all took a few years regardless of their age entering the pros.

The local Iowa media DEMANDS we say she's the greatest of all time, so it's not unreasonable to expect she not only ROTY but in the discussion for MVP. It's not fair, and it's why they shouldn't have gone so hyperbolic about her college play.

 

[clonebb]

I might start watching. I will enjoy watching her flail and fail.

 

[NATEizKING]

1-7 3pt lose by 36 impressive

 

[danvillecyclone]

Dan's not very bright.

It was 21.5 and went down to 20.5

She scored 20.

That’s under.

You keep trying to be the smart one.

But it’s clearly evident you are not.

 

[danvillecyclone]

She went over in game 1.

21.5 then 20.5.

Got to get it in.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I'll say it again...

1. I don't know enough about past Women's college players to say if CC is the definitive GOAT or not, but I don't think anybody would disagree she's at least Top 5 all time, if not the GOAT.
2. I think people had a false assumption that she would hit her peak right out of the gate in the WNBA.
3. She will get better and adjust to the play, and she'll have a good or great career.
4. I don't think she'll be the WNBA version of Jordan or Curry that fundamentally changes the game, but she will get better.
5. Those that are already saying the team is failing in not getting her shots is forgetting the whole point of a team sport. At Iowa, their sole mission was to get the ball in her hands every moment possible. In the WNBA, the ball will spread across the players much more. The defense will be much better. The other players won't be intimidated by her. She will get called for more fouls.
6. Anybody calling her a bust based on a few initial games is delusional.
7. A part (don't know how big of one) of what made CC so seemingly dominant in college is she absolutely maximized her shots, but also was a master at media attention, social media, cockiness, etc in a way that made her stand out more than probably anybody in CBB (Women's or Men's) before.

Here's the thing you're missing whether you know much about women's basketball beyond or not: Clark is being promoted as a generational player, perhaps the best ever to play the game. If she's not Jordan or Curry of the women's game and simply "gets better" and is a good women's player, then she's a colossal bust. Indiana didn't draft her #1 to be a "good" player; they drafted her #1 to be the team's most important player for X years to come. And she certainly is not that now and isn't going to be that for awhile - if ever.