WNBA: The 2024 Regular Season and Playoffs

Phredd3 said:
Dang. That might be the toughest test the USWNT faces all summer. That's going to be a heck of a game.
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The league used the same format in 2021, prior to the delayed Tokyo Olympics, and the WNBA All-Stars beat Team USA, 93-85. Arike Ogunbowale, playing in her first All-Star Game, scored 26 in the upset victory.

www.wnba.com

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 - WNBA

Team WNBA Defeats USA Women, Ogunbowale Wins MVP Arike Ogunbowale scored a game-high 26 points as Team WNBA defeated the USA Basketball Women’s National Team at AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 in Las Vegas. Ogunbowale, a first-time All-Star, was named MVP. Box Score See which players shined the...
www.wnba.com

Team USA won't let that happen again, in part because they added Ogunbowale to their roster this time.
 
brevity said:
The league used the same format in 2021, prior to the delayed Tokyo Olympics, and the WNBA All-Stars beat Team USA, 93-85. Arike Ogunbowale, playing in her first All-Star Game, scored 26 in the upset victory.

www.wnba.com

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 - WNBA

Team WNBA Defeats USA Women, Ogunbowale Wins MVP Arike Ogunbowale scored a game-high 26 points as Team WNBA defeated the USA Basketball Women’s National Team at AT&T WNBA All-Star 2021 in Las Vegas. Ogunbowale, a first-time All-Star, was named MVP. Box Score See which players shined the...
www.wnba.com

Team USA won't let that happen again, in part because they added Ogunbowale to their roster this time.
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dudog84 said:
She removed herself from consideration for the Olympic team. Didn't like the politics.
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You're totally correct. I was looking at the wrong roster. Ogunbowale is on the WNBA All-Star team, ready to wreak havoc on the Olympic team again.
 
wandalee said:
Elizabeth Williams is out for the season. Torn meniscus.
www.espn.com

Sky's Williams out for season after knee surgery

Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams will miss the rest of the season following surgery for a torn meniscus, the team announced Thursday.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Thankfully she'll be able to make very good use of her recovery time. This is from an article a month ago.

While Williams is going to bring that energy to blocked shots and rebounding in the paint, she’s also finding new energy off the court in continuing her education. Williams is in her internship semester in Arizona State’s graduate school as she pursues her masters in global health.

“To me it’s kind of a social justice issue, especially coming out of the pandemic and seeing how people really struggled in taking care of themselves,” Williams said. “You can’t work and you can’t live if you’re not healthy. That’s how I view it. I think it’s a really unique space and I want people to feel like they can be their best selves.”
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www.marqueesportsnetwork.com

Sky’s Elizabeth Williams stepping into mentorship role in 10th WNBA season | Chicago Sky News

Center Elizabeth Williams has always been the anchor for the Sky on the floor but she's taking on a new leadership role off the court.
www.marqueesportsnetwork.com www.marqueesportsnetwork.com
 
www.si.com

Caitlin Clark Becomes First Rookie to Record Triple-Double in WNBA History

Clark notched her 10th rebound in the fourth quarter, giving her her first career triple-double.
www.si.com www.si.com

Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark elevated for a relatively routine rebound in the fourth quarter of the Indiana Fever's contest against the New York Liberty on Saturday. That routine rebound wound up being historic: After she pulled it down, it was her 10th of the day to add to her 15 points and 10 assists. A triple-double.

It was the first of Clark's professional career, and also the first ever from a rookie in WNBA history, and the first in Fever history.
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Caitlin%20Clark%20070624.jpg
 
Last year, the leading vote getter for the WNBA All Star team had about 80,000 votes.
This year the top 5 had between 360,000 and 700,000 votes.

I can't say that I understand it but the Caitlin Clark effect is real. She has elevated the entire league.
 
I am not a big WNBA fan, but wonder if there have been 2 rookies at the same time with this much star-power and performance to back it up?

Sky’s Angel Reese posts 13th consecutive double-double, breaks Candace Parker’s record​


www.nytimes.com

Reese posts 13th consecutive double-double

Angel Reese bested Candace Parker’s 12-game double-double streak that spanned the 2009 and 2010 regular seasons.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
jwillfan said:
I am not a big WNBA fan, but wonder if there have been 2 rookies at the same time with this much star-power and performance to back it up?

Sky’s Angel Reese posts 13th consecutive double-double, breaks Candace Parker’s record​


www.nytimes.com

Reese posts 13th consecutive double-double

Angel Reese bested Candace Parker’s 12-game double-double streak that spanned the 2009 and 2010 regular seasons.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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I bet Magic and Byrd think it's pretty admirable. They are the best comparison I can think of on the men's side.
 
The CC train keeps rolling. Her passing skills are showing up more now as her teammates are now expecting the ball, especially on the 3/4 court passes. I notice she has the same "eyes up and ready to send it" posture as Luka when she starts the transition.
 
ingrjc1 said:
The CC train keeps rolling. Her passing skills are showing up more now as her teammates are now expecting the ball, especially on the 3/4 court passes. I notice she has the same "eyes up and ready to send it" posture as Luka when she starts the transition.
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She just racked up stats all over the board yesterday. Her team started poorly and lost but CC was on fire in the 4th quarter.
 
ingrjc1 said:
The CC train keeps rolling. Her passing skills are showing up more now as her teammates are now expecting the ball, especially on the 3/4 court passes. I notice she has the same "eyes up and ready to send it" posture as Luka when she starts the transition.
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Yeah, her passing highlights are a joy to watch. Some real creativity.
 
Angel Reece only has star power because she has the roll of foil to CC. Put differently, without CC, Angel Reece doesn't move the needle on the WNBA at all - it continues to be an afterthought.
 
Channing said:
Angel Reece only has star power because she has the roll of foil to CC. Put differently, without CC, Angel Reece doesn't move the needle on the WNBA at all - it continues to be an afterthought.
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I mean, Reece is a heck of a player, but her "fame" is certainly linked to a rivalry with Clark. I see her as the Dennis Rodman of the WNBA... except with a little more offense and a little more gratuitous stat-padding (and that is really saying something because Dennis never saw a meaningless rebound he would not slit a teammate's throat to grab).
 
JasonEvans said:
I mean, Reece is a heck of a player, but her "fame" is certainly linked to a rivalry with Clark. I see her as the Dennis Rodman of the WNBA... except with a little more offense and a little more gratuitous stat-padding (and that is really saying something because Dennis never saw a meaningless rebound he would not slit a teammate's throat to grab).
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Don’t disagree. She’s a fine player. But the comment above was about star power and I just don’t think she has any as compared to anyone else in the WNBA not named CC. I’m a fine example - I would rather not watch TV than watch a WNBA game because I think it’s an awful and boring product. But, I’ll watch CC play and I watched the women’s FF for the first time ever this past year (other than Duke WBB because frankly I’d watch a math bowl if Duke was competing in it). CC is a celebrity and brings eyes to the game much in the way Tiger Woods did with golf. The general treatment of her - besides being absolutely atrocious - is just a bad business decision. Yes, she’ll make more than anyone else but everyone else will make more because of her.

People twisting themselves into pretzels to take a position that the explosion in the game is anything other than directly and solely attributable to CC are either being willfully obtuse or just hate the fact that it’s a straight white woman leading the charge.
 
Channing said:
Don’t disagree. She’s a fine player. But the comment above was about star power and I just don’t think she has any as compared to anyone else in the WNBA not named CC. I’m a fine example - I would rather not watch TV than watch a WNBA game because I think it’s an awful and boring product. But, I’ll watch CC play and I watched the women’s FF for the first time ever this past year (other than Duke WBB because frankly I’d watch a math bowl if Duke was competing in it). CC is a celebrity and brings eyes to the game much in the way Tiger Woods did with golf. The general treatment of her - besides being absolutely atrocious - is just a bad business decision. Yes, she’ll make more than anyone else but everyone else will make more because of her.

People twisting themselves into pretzels to take a position that the explosion in the game is anything other than directly and solely attributable to CC are either being willfully obtuse or just hate the fact that it’s a straight white woman leading the
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Yes. There is no history of outsized hype for a white person catching fire in a historically black dominated field. It’s not like there’s a specific term that has been coined for this very phenomenon.

I love CC. History and context aren’t her fault but that’s a pretty cultural grievance, one-sided pov you advance.
 
bundabergdevil said:
Yes. There is no history of outsized hype for a white person catching fire in a historically black dominated field. It’s not like there’s a specific term that has been coined for this very phenomenon.

I love CC. History and context aren’t her fault but that’s a pretty cultural grievance, one-sided pov you advance.
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Really? I’m not making a value judgment about whether it’s good or bad. I’m just saying that is so obviously the case and anyone trying to deny it - trying to take the position that the WNBA would have reached even half this popularity absent CC - can’t point to any other factor in lieu.

My position is the fact of the matter. Hopefully CC’s popularity can bring more eyes to the game and the game can become self sustaining over time but just looking at the huge deltas in viewership and attendance between CC’s games and literally any other game in the WNBA is stark.

Also, she hasn’t just “caught fire.” She’s been the most popular female basketball player in the world since her junior year of college.

Also, note that my position is that people who try to claim CC is not the sole and only reason for the massive growth of WNBA is EITHER willful ignorance or cultural slight. Can you identify another rational reason that someone would take the position that WNBA was going to get to this level otherwise?
 
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