***CC22 and the Fever mega thread***

[Kceasthawk@77]

Sophie shouldn't have responded in the way she did. That's for sure.

I would almost guarantee the prolonged point added fuel to the fire

Sophie shouldn't have responded in the way she did. That's for sure.

I would almost guarantee the prolonged point added fuel to the fire

 

[eyesofhawk]

For immediate correction:

The league needs to elevate its efforts:
1. Open up the number of reviews for potential flagrant fouls without a timeout penalty (for the sake of player safety) The current review process effectively limits at teams ability to protect its players to an arbitrary number, regardless of how many actual flagrant fouls are committed.
2. Increase the real-time penalty to the point that committing flagrant fouls will result in impacting the game's outcome (ejections, free throws, possession flip).
3. Increase the severity of Flagrant foul ejections in the number of suspended games and fines.

These immediate changes would put "teeth" in the league's desire to address excessive and dangerous physical activity, thereby increasing safety and more properly placing emphasis on the skill of players rather than their ability to impose brutal physical dominance. Essentially, the league suffers from a legacy culture that does not attract modern-day viewership. This would be an immediate fix addressing safety and enhancing appeal to the modern-day fan that could be applied evenly across all teams, protecting all players.

Also, the league should create a Flagrant Foul command center to ensure that a uniform approach to reviewing potential flagrant fouls, similar to the review processes implemented by the NFL and NCAA for plays involving offenses of targeting on defenseless players. Such an approach would encourage fair, timely, consistent review with just impacts to the in game competition.

I'm not sure any of those changes could go into effect until there is a new CBA.

I'm not sure there is an overall flagrant foul problem in the W.

In the case of CC, her teammates have let her down.

The game is policed by the whistle. But it is also policed by players. You have to stand up for yourself and your teammates by playing with physicality, yourself.

That's hard to do with a bad back. So CC's teammates need to be better enforcers. That doesn't mean flagrant fouls and thuggery. If it takes a flagrant on occasion, so be it. But play with physicality. Use your fouls when needed. Foul hard. Screen hard. Box out hard. Drive hard. Body seek and put relentless pressure on the paint. Use your body offensively. Force them to foul you. Etc.

Players are going to punk you until you stick up for yourself. A team is going "get away" with playing more physical, if they can. The team getting beat on must match the physicality. Once this happens, the original aggressors can tend to back off a little. At least they won't re-up the intensity. They aren't trying to fight. They were just trying to get an advantage.

I will say that women have a harder time defining and playing on that line of physicality, without becoming too emotional. To me, the prolonged pointing between Sophie and Bonner was an example of a situation that got far more out of control than two guys who simultaneously push each other, and then stand there and stare at each other, while they let everyone get in between them, to break it up. So maybe some examination of how the entirety of physicality impacts the W game, is in order.

If possible, one of the first things the W needs to do, is get more men referees. Some people are going to take that the wrong way. But emotion has no place in policing

 

[eyesofhawk]

You are so far beyond ridiculous. You say in your first comment, you don't know what "all this coming at her means", and then you go on to list several of the very issues that would most certainly effect her mentally. Then you act like all she has to do is play ball, and she's never going to be subjected to any of the outside noise when its HER in the interviews answering the questions. Its HER face on every talk show, and yet in todays world you really think she can just stay somehow oblivious to it all. Even her so called "fans" some are radicals every bit as much as her detractors. Also DR eyes, since you know how every injury she has suffered had nothing to do with any of the "contact" she's taken in the league, maybe you can enlighten us. My bad for continuing to engage someone who can't see the forest for the tree's.

I never said CC's injury had nothing to do with contact.

Don't do the interviews (that aren't contractually mandated) if they affect your play.

Blocking out the noise literally becomes part of your job. How is this different than any other athlete?

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

I never said CC's injury had nothing to do with contact.

Don't do the interviews (that aren't contractually mandated) if they affect your play.

Blocking out the noise literally becomes part of your job. How is this different than any other athlete?

She IS contractually obligated any time they want to talk to HER after a game. There is no escaping that without a fine. How do you not see that she's been the face of her sport since even before she was drafted? How do you not see that. It is different then any other player in her sport. Please list other athletes who have entered their sport as pro's with the attention on them that she has? Even the greats never ran into this level, and NONE of them under the current social media blitz of today. This is new territory

 

[DBHawkSoCal]

This is all so stupid and ruined what should have been an amazing, fun experience for EVERYONE

CC joins the pros
W gets millions more views, sponsors, growth
Players reap benefits of more views, $, sponsorships.

Instead it’s three years of absolute ********. Her rookie year had some of these issues (rough play, bad officiating, team USA etc) but it still felt closer to her days at Iowa. She had some great games and showed why there was hype….and room for her to grow as a player.

Then….its turned into a grind every single game. Last year she gets hurt and that deflates the momentum

Now, it’s unwatchable. CC has struggled with her shot, although the last week or two before this injury seemed to be coming back. No one watches her for a half court game. We want the free flow, running, long threes….and we’re getting mid range game and assists haha

The politics getting involved….how do you even get back to a normal? The W could do something but they seem to believe all of clicks and extra views was built from the past.

For me to watch again

W have to reign in the roller derby, which getting better officiating could help.
Suspensions
CC could learn to drop the whining. The excuse of “competitor” or “always been this way” or “frustrated”….no.
She’s a professional now. Act like it, and it will help the narrative a bit.

 

[Slim45]

This is all so stupid and ruined what should have been an amazing, fun experience for EVERYONE

CC joins the pros
W gets millions more views, sponsors, growth
Players reap benefits of more views, $, sponsorships.

Instead it’s three years of absolute ********. Her rookie year had some of these issues (rough play, bad officiating, team USA etc) but it still felt closer to her days at Iowa. She had some great games and showed why there was hype….and room for her to grow as a player.

Then….its turned into a grind every single game. Last year she gets hurt and that deflates the momentum

Now, it’s unwatchable. CC has struggled with her shot, although the last week or two before this injury seemed to be coming back. No one watches her for a half court game. We want the free flow, running, long threes….and we’re getting mid range game and assists haha

The politics getting involved….how do you even get back to a normal? The W could do something but they seem to believe all of clicks and extra views was built from the past.

For me to watch again

W have to reign in the roller derby, which getting better officiating could help.
Suspensions
CC could learn to drop the whining. The excuse of “competitor” or “always been this way” or “frustrated”….no.
She’s a professional now. Act like it, and it will help the narrative a bit.

Agree on everything besides your last point. And i guess that’s in your “what it would take to get me to watch again” which would mean it’s more a “you thing” which is fine. But she doesn’t act any different than any of the other superstars in any of the other leagues. Hell, there’s plenty of players just in the WNBA that go off on the officials constantly. She has the spotlight though, so i guess it looks worse.

 

[eyesofhawk]

She IS contractually obligated any time they want to talk to HER after a game. There is no escaping that without a fine. How do you not see that she's been the face of her sport since even before she was drafted? How do you not see that. It is different then any other player in her sport. Please list other athletes who have entered their sport as pro's with the attention on them that she has? Even the greats never ran into this level, and NONE of them under the current social media blitz of today. This is new territory

I'm aware of the contractually mandated interviews. Thus, my parenthetical remark.

I'm aware CC has been the face of the sport. Not sure where I've said otherwise.

There are others that have had a similar dynamic (minus socials). Tiger, Serena, LeBron.

What's the same for them all, is they have to find a way to perform their job at a high level.

I agree, CC is facing a lot. But what do you want her to do? Even if she's facing unfair stressors, she still has to perform. And for the most part she's done that very well, when healthy.

If unfair stressors affect CC's game, then it becomes her job to limit that. If that amounts to getting paid millions to stay off socials, I think she'll be ok.

I mean, what do you expect to come of any of this? Either CC will regain her health, and go on to have a great career. Or she will have an injury riddled and shortened career. Social media isn't going to change. So whatever that amounts to, is going to be part of either career path.

And part of what that seems to entail is people that are going to whine and make execues for CC, regardless of career path. Even in some cases, assigning blame for CC's injuries. And all of it, regardless of career path, will do nothing but detract from CC's greatness

 

[Bro D]

Has that dumbass White been fired yet?

 

[Manfredi]

Remember when trolling was actually quite funny...it must be getting harder.

 

[Hawksfor3]

Look at what the NBA did to Draymond Green as an example.

He's choked, stomped and smacked players. His penalties have increased from 1 game, to 5 games and the last one was 12 games and having him take therapy for his anger.

As the NBA being the godfather over the W this should be a no brainer of what to do. But instead the W leadership has no plan or rules in place to cover this and the thugs continue with their dirty play.

Absolutely! BTW, I remember when Dray stomped Domas' chest. Man, that triggered a lot of us. He got the boot for that. If I'm remembering correctly, his total games of his suspension lasted until the Kings played them again lol. What luck, ehh?

 

[Hawksfor3]

Thought I'd sneak a H.Y. joke in here real quick.

"I just got back from a pleasure trip............................................................I took my mother-in-law to the airport!

 

[Ludd]

Are you OK, bro? I feel like your dog just died.

It's smart business to market other players while they have the gust of CC behind them.

They had no NIL rights to put CC on the poster. Yes, it would be smart marketing to have CC on it. But I'm not sure for what other reason she would be on the 30 year poster.

I have not seen any technicals that should be rescinded. Got a link to anyhing?

"Install" freedom of movement calls? Was the rule not already in the book? I highly question that any rule is being is being called differently for CC, specifically. Links?

I see no evidence here of "bias", or the league "trying to distance themselves from CC"

Good thing the NBA didn’t market Jordan and focused on other players….oh wait, never mind.
The NIL excuse has been debunked. There are other posters by the same company with Clark on it, so that’s false.
Many of her technicals should have been rescinded….hitting the stanchion for one and clapping both come to mind.
The freedom of movement was a point of focus this year which is why fouls and scoring are up this season, but Clark doesn’t benefit from them…but you know that. And if you need links, then you’re not watching the games- believe your eyes.
Every day shows bias against Clark by the league- just today the commissioner comes out with a statement supporting Thomas- no statement after it happened to Clark, only when there’s supposed trolling happening to Thomas.

 

[Ludd]

Clean house with referees?

Where are they supposed to find better ones? The good ones aren't leaving their current gigs.

What needs to happen is vigorous off-season training to try to get them up to speed

High school officials are better than the officials in the WNBA…they can find replacements…it’s not like they’re trying to replace highly skilled professionals.

 

[Ludd]

Has CC received death threats?

I would bet that she has, she just doesn’t whine about it publicly. Also, there have only been two actual arrests made as a result of stalking/harassing WNBA players- they involved Clark and Cunningham. Funny how that works.

 

[BCRoss89]

I'm not sure any of those changes could go into effect until there is a new CBA.

I'm not sure there is an overall flagrant foul problem in the W.

In the case of CC, her teammates have let her down.

The game is policed by the whistle. But it is also policed by players. You have to stand up for yourself and your teammates by playing with physicality, yourself.

That's hard to do with a bad back. So CC's teammates need to be better enforcers. That doesn't mean flagrant fouls and thuggery. If it takes a flagrant on occasion, so be it. But play with physicality. Use your fouls when needed. Foul hard. Screen hard. Box out hard. Drive hard. Body seek and put relentless pressure on the paint. Use your body offensively. Force them to foul you. Etc.

Players are going to punk you until you stick up for yourself. A team is going "get away" with playing more physical, if they can. The team getting beat on must match the physicality. Once this happens, the original aggressors can tend to back off a little. At least they won't re-up the intensity. They aren't trying to fight. They were just trying to get an advantage.

I will say that women have a harder time defining and playing on that line of physicality, without becoming too emotional. To me, the prolonged pointing between Sophie and Bonner was an example of a situation that got far more out of control than two guys who simultaneously push each other, and then stand there and stare at each other, while they let everyone get in between them, to break it up. So maybe some examination of how the entirety of physicality impacts the W game, is in order.

If possible, one of the first things the W needs to do, is get more men referees. Some people are going to take that the wrong way. But emotion has no place in policing

Much like hockey, most of the teams in the WNBA have players who are intended to play roles as enforcers and goons; these are the players who represent the greatest risk to player safety while adding the least level of player skill and resulting viewing pleasure to the modern fan base. With an approach similar to the one I described, these players and teams would be disincentivized to use excessive physical force as a competitive strategy. While the current player leadership and administrators of the CBA agreement would need to approve, it would be difficult to explain why they would be against measures that would lead to greater player safety, health, and well-being while improving the viewing experience and pleasure for the majority of the modern-day WNBA fans.

 

[Tom Paris]

You should have learned by now I couldn't care less, but hey, if you want to be "Legends" caddy and make it YOUR purpose here to correct grammatical and spelling errors then knock yourself out wasting your time with that. The A--hats on here that think that somehow contributes to the conversation is astounding. Do be you though.....

*Legend’s

 

[Franisdaman]

LOLOLOLOLOL......... And THIS is the first time there has been ANY statement from the top on ALL of this. Go figure.....Why "eyes" is the first public statement from the "commish" on player safety during all of this fallout? Quite a few NBA players, (all of them black by the way) have come out and said that claims that the action by Thomas were accidental are totally BS. They all said that NO ONE falls and tries to catch their weight by balling up their fist. NO athlete would fall that way. You would run a high risk of breaking your knuckles or wrist by making that kind of movement, and it is NOT a natural movement. When you fall you spread your fingers out and use the width of the hand and palm to catch yourself. Not my statement.

Watch the full 2 minutes here.

AT claims she didn't even know that the play took place. What a lying b.itch.

And note all of the things she is sick and tired of. The irony. Well, guess what? We are sick and tired of your thug and dirty play.

When are we going to hear from the commissioner, where she says that thug and dirty play is unacceptable and will not be tolerated? Instead , the commissioner is making sure that the Mercury have the proper security that they need.

 

[Tom Paris]

I’m confused. She is an American of African descent. Isn’t that the very definition of “African-American”?

Please explain why she is not “African-American”.

Is she American?

 

[Gonzo_Bloor]

Has CC received death threats?

Man pleads guilty, sentenced to prison for stalking Caitlin Clark

A man who told police he was in "an imaginary relationship" with WNBA star Caitlin Clark was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking and harassing.

www.espn.com

Does this count?

 

[Gonzo_Bloor]

None of those tweets are real.

 

[TJ8869]

Is she American?

Per Wikipedia, she was born in Texas.

 

[Legend12]

I would bet that she has, she just doesn’t whine about it publicly. Also, there have only been two actual arrests made as a result of stalking/harassing WNBA players- they involved Clark and Cunningham. Funny how that works.

This is not true.

 

[Legend12]

Good thing the NBA didn’t market Jordan and focused on other players….oh wait, never mind.

Yeah, the NBA was behind MJ 100%.... like when they fined him for wearing his Air Jordans.

 

[Tom Paris]

This is all so stupid and ruined what should have been an amazing, fun experience for EVERYONE

CC joins the pros
W gets millions more views, sponsors, growth
Players reap benefits of more views, $, sponsorships.

Instead it’s three years of absolute ********. Her rookie year had some of these issues (rough play, bad officiating, team USA etc) but it still felt closer to her days at Iowa. She had some great games and showed why there was hype….and room for her to grow as a player.

Then….its turned into a grind every single game. Last year she gets hurt and that deflates the momentum

Now, it’s unwatchable. CC has struggled with her shot, although the last week or two before this injury seemed to be coming back. No one watches her for a half court game. We want the free flow, running, long threes….and we’re getting mid range game and assists haha

The politics getting involved….how do you even get back to a normal? The W could do something but they seem to believe all of clicks and extra views was built from the past.

For me to watch again

W have to reign in the roller derby, which getting better officiating could help.
Suspensions
CC could learn to drop the whining. The excuse of “competitor” or “always been this way” or “frustrated”….no.
She’s a professional now. Act like it, and it will help the narrative a bit.

Yet Clark continues to put up numbers at a faster pace than anyone before her. Despite all of what you’re pointing out. All the crap she deals with.

 

[Legend12]

The NIL excuse has been debunked. There are other posters by the same company with Clark on it, so that’s false.

Wrong.....again.

 

[Tom Paris]

Per Wikipedia, she was born in Texas.

Thanks!

 

[eyesofhawk]

Good thing the NBA didn’t market Jordan and focused on other players….oh wait, never mind.
The NIL excuse has been debunked. There are other posters by the same company with Clark on it, so that’s false.
Many of her technicals should have been rescinded….hitting the stanchion for one and clapping both come to mind.
The freedom of movement was a point of focus this year which is why fouls and scoring are up this season, but Clark doesn’t benefit from them…but you know that. And if you need links, then you’re not watching the games- believe your eyes.
Every day shows bias against Clark by the league- just today the commissioner comes out with a statement supporting Thomas- no statement after it happened to Clark, only when there’s supposed trolling happening to Thomas.

I'm not a marketing major. But why are we to care how players are being marketed?

NIL aside, It's arguable whether CC should be on a 30 yr poster. The main reason to have CC on the poster would be marketing. And my guess is it would have been sound marketing to do so. But I don't see where the poster is something to raise a stink about.

Hitting the station and clapping can both be worthy of a technical. I'd have to see the clip of the clapping. If it's deemed to have been showing up an official or taunting a player, a tech certainly can apply. And, I believe disrespect of property is to be interpreted as an automatic tech.

Why does CC not benefit from freedom of movement initiative? No, I'm not sure what you're referring to.

I watch parts of Fever games. Although there couldn't be a bigger basketball junkie, my viewing doesn't always land on the Fever. I've never watched the game for the purpose of watching one player. And most of my bball viewing comes down to where the live market betting opportunities arise. Unless we're talking Hawkeye nights, of course. But I see a good deal of Fever action, and haven't ever seen anything but hard play vs CC, and bad officiating all the way around.

What does a statement for Thomas have to do with Clark? Did CC receive death threats?

 

[eyesofhawk]

High school officials are better than the officials in the WNBA…they can find replacements…it’s not like they’re trying to replace highly skilled professionals.

Ok. Find better ones.

Why am I to care?

 

[eyesofhawk]

I would bet that she has, she just doesn’t whine about it publicly. Also, there have only been two actual arrests made as a result of stalking/harassing WNBA players- they involved Clark and Cunningham. Funny how that works.

And you think commish needs to comment publicly about that?

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

I'm aware of the contractually mandated interviews. Thus, my parenthetical remark.

I'm aware CC has been the face of the sport. Not sure where I've said otherwise.

There are others that have had a similar dynamic (minus socials). Tiger, Serena, LeBron.

What's the same for them all, is they have to find a way to perform their job at a high level.

I agree, CC is facing a lot. But what do you want her to do? Even if she's facing unfair stressors, she still has to perform. And for the most part she's done that very well, when healthy.

If unfair stressors affect CC's game, then it becomes her job to limit that. If that amounts to getting paid millions to stay off socials, I think she'll be ok.

I mean, what do you expect to come of any of this? Either CC will regain her health, and go on to have a great career. Or she will have an injury riddled and shortened career. Social media isn't going to change. So whatever that amounts to, is going to be part of either career path.

And part of what that seems to entail is people that are going to whine and make execues for CC, regardless of career path. Even in some cases, assigning blame for CC's injuries. And all of it, regardless of career path, will do nothing but detract from CC's greatness

First off I NEVER asked HER to do anything. I said if things continue we'll NEVER see the great veteran player she could have become. Make whatever stupid comments about that which I never said. Second did Serena Tiger and even Lebron (all in their 40's or older by the way) REALLY have the social media blast (which is another big issue here) to deal with during their young careers? Did they?

As for CC handling the stress of this all. Maybe that's another subject entirely. Honestly she's always struggled handling her emotions and finding her place inside a team. Her time at Iowa and the measures they took there certainly point that out. Do you think she's in a less stressful, less volatile scenario now, or are things much worse?

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

I'm not sure any of those changes could go into effect until there is a new CBA.

I'm not sure there is an overall flagrant foul problem in the W.

In the case of CC, her teammates have let her down.

The game is policed by the whistle. But it is also policed by players. You have to stand up for yourself and your teammates by playing with physicality, yourself.

That's hard to do with a bad back. So CC's teammates need to be better enforcers. That doesn't mean flagrant fouls and thuggery. If it takes a flagrant on occasion, so be it. But play with physicality. Use your fouls when needed. Foul hard. Screen hard. Box out hard. Drive hard. Body seek and put relentless pressure on the paint. Use your body offensively. Force them to foul you. Etc.

Players are going to punk you until you stick up for yourself. A team is going "get away" with playing more physical, if they can. The team getting beat on must match the physicality. Once this happens, the original aggressors can tend to back off a little. At least they won't re-up the intensity. They aren't trying to fight. They were just trying to get an advantage.

I will say that women have a harder time defining and playing on that line of physicality, without becoming too emotional. To me, the prolonged pointing between Sophie and Bonner was an example of a situation that got far more out of control than two guys who simultaneously push each other, and then stand there and stare at each other, while they let everyone get in between them, to break it up. So maybe some examination of how the entirety of physicality impacts the W game, is in order.

If possible, one of the first things the W needs to do, is get more men referees. Some people are going to take that the wrong way. But emotion has no place in policing

You might wanna tone down your disingenuous posts. You're trying a bit too hard, and it's starting to show. People already know you're a troll, but you also want to keep playing the bit because you have nothing better to do at the nursing home.

Posts like these don't help......

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

High school officials are better than the officials in the WNBA…......

In that they care more, more often than not...............

That's the happy medium, to be honest. There's a drastic cliff dive in f**ks given when you go up or down levels, especially for girls basketball.

I speak from experience.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

I'm not a marketing major. But why are we to care how players are being marketed?

NIL aside, It's arguable whether CC should be on a 30 yr poster. The main reason to have CC on the poster would be marketing. And my guess is it would have been sound marketing to do so. But I don't see where the poster is something to raise a stink about.

Hitting the station and clapping can both be worthy of a technical. I'd have to see the clip of the clapping. If it's deemed to have been showing up an official or taunting a player, a tech certainly can apply. And, I believe disrespect of property is to be interpreted as an automatic tech.

Why does CC not benefit from freedom of movement initiative? No, I'm not sure what you're referring to.

I watch parts of Fever games. Although there couldn't be a bigger basketball junkie, my viewing doesn't always land on the Fever. I've never watched the game for the purpose of watching one player. And most of my bball viewing comes down to where the live market betting opportunities arise. Unless we're talking Hawkeye nights, of course. But I see a good deal of Fever action, and haven't ever seen anything but hard play vs CC, and bad officiating all the way around.

What does a statement for Thomas have to do with Clark? Did CC receive death threats?

You do realize that other WNBA players have smacked the pad under the basket several times in the last 2 years and not been T'd up. But your right its always a T. Right? And before you say, Oh, I haven't seen that, so it must not have happened, just don't.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

And you think commish needs to comment publicly about that?

Of course not. It wouldn't do anything to appease her constituents.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

This is not true.

I'll try to see if any others have been made since Clark got to the WNBA.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Much like hockey, most of the teams in the WNBA have players who are intended to play roles as enforcers and goons; these are the players who represent the greatest risk to player safety while adding the least level of player skill and resulting viewing pleasure to the modern fan base. With an approach similar to the one I described, these players and teams would be disincentivized to use excessive physical force as a competitive strategy. While the current player leadership and administrators of the CBA agreement would need to approve, it would be difficult to explain why they would be against measures that would lead to greater player safety, health, and well-being while improving the viewing experience and pleasure for the majority of the modern-day WNBA fans.

I don't think the game is going to significantly change any time soon.

Sure, some modification that leads to a better game is most likely a good thing.

But again, I'm not sure there is a flagrant foul problem in the league. It's part of the game, to a degree. I mean, is anyone other than Thomas considered a repeat offender?

And I'm not sure there is a physicality problem in the league. Certainly not a player safety problem. Yes, it can be a physical game, for many reasons. But I'm not sure how much physicality can be taken out of the game, without changing it at a fundamental level. There is always going to be territory fought for by highly competitive athletes. Those aren't things we want to change.

Perhaps an illegal defense rule could help to declog the lane. And I actually think a 30 second shot clock would lend a lot of mileage. It would allow the defense to get broken down for easier looks. Whereas the short clock put players in more desperate situations that require great athleticism and skill to navigate

 

[rpwinni0]

I'm not sure any of those changes could go into effect until there is a new CBA.

I'm not sure there is an overall flagrant foul problem in the W.

In the case of CC, her teammates have let her down.

The game is policed by the whistle. But it is also policed by players. You have to stand up for yourself and your teammates by playing with physicality, yourself.

That's hard to do with a bad back. So CC's teammates need to be better enforcers. That doesn't mean flagrant fouls and thuggery. If it takes a flagrant on occasion, so be it. But play with physicality. Use your fouls when needed. Foul hard. Screen hard. Box out hard. Drive hard. Body seek and put relentless pressure on the paint. Use your body offensively. Force them to foul you. Etc.

Players are going to punk you until you stick up for yourself. A team is going "get away" with playing more physical, if they can. The team getting beat on must match the physicality. Once this happens, the original aggressors can tend to back off a little. At least they won't re-up the intensity. They aren't trying to fight. They were just trying to get an advantage.

I will say that women have a harder time defining and playing on that line of physicality, without becoming too emotional. To me, the prolonged pointing between Sophie and Bonner was an example of a situation that got far more out of control than two guys who simultaneously push each other, and then stand there and stare at each other, while they let everyone get in between them, to break it up. So maybe some examination of how the entirety of physicality impacts the W game, is in order.

If possible, one of the first things the W needs to do, is get more men referees. Some people are going to take that the wrong way. But emotion has no place in policing

I don't watch much NBA basketbakk, but since I live in Texas, I thought I would watch the Spurs during the finals. I was surprised how much less physical contact is made in the NBA vs the WNBA These ladies are a lot rougher on each other than the men are.

 

[eyesofhawk]

First off I NEVER asked HER to do anything. I said if things continue we'll NEVER see the great veteran player she could have become. Make whatever stupid comments about that which I never said. Second did Serena Tiger and even Lebron (all in their 40's or older by the way) REALLY have the social media blast (which is another big issue here) to deal with during their young careers? Did they?

As for CC handling the stress of this all. Maybe that's another subject entirely. Honestly she's always struggled handling her emotions and finding her place inside a team. Her time at Iowa and the measures they took there certainly point that out. Do you think she's in a less stressful, less volatile scenario now, or are things much worse?

What do you think I meant when I wrote, "(minus socials)"?

Ok, whether CC handles her emotions and team dynamics well or not, is it not still her job to handle those things better?

I'm not even sure what your point is, with any of this. Just all sounds like a bunch of whining, to me

 

[eyesofhawk]

You do realize that other WNBA players have smacked the pad under the basket several times in the last 2 years and not been T'd up. But your right its always a T. Right? And before you say, Oh, I haven't seen that, so it must not have happened, just don't.

Yeah, the refs aren't the highest quality.

That doesn't mean they officiate CC with bias.

She's gotten away with things that haven't been called on other players, too.

These type of inferences immediately wipe away any foggy notion that you may have a shred of credibility.

For one thing, the refs aren't talented/skilled/good enough to attempt executing a bias against any player, without all hell breaking lose. The refs wouldn't even have control within their own crew and over themselves

 

[eyesofhawk]

I don't watch much NBA basketbakk, but since I live in Texas, I thought I would watch the Spurs during the finals. I was surprised how much less physical contact is made in the NBA vs the WNBA These ladies are a lot rougher on each other than the men are.

In spots that can be true.

There are lot of reasons for that. And many that aren't necessarily avoidable