I was so impressed by Skylar Diggins during Unrivaled that I hopped on her bandwagon. Hoping she continues to do great things.
The problem with having two bigs like the Sky do is that, unless they are David Robinson and Tim Duncan being coached by Pop, they are going to get in each other’s way for awhile. Especially if they are drafted in the same class. The Sky should have done better scouting around the guard position because, and this I believe, a GREAT guard helps with so many problems.
Finally, I am over the Angel-Caitlin rivalry narrative. They don’t play the same position, they don’t have the same ceiling and not everyone in women’s basketball has to hold hands and sing kumbaya.
The issue is the media and league management only cares about Clark. But outside of her fans and the recognition that she is a talented player, is otherwise pretty boring. They need Angel because she is a transformational star that is as interesting off the court as on. Alot of what drives ppl, especially alot of white ppl, sadly is racism. They hate Angel so they live vicariously through Caitlin and the media uses it for headlines. Hence why they hype up ever incident and you see the Riley Gaines of the world using it for engagement.
I agree that some people clearly use CC and Angel for their own agendas and I have no time for the disrespect to either. However to suggest that CCs fans are only attracted to her because of her skin is ridiculous and unfortunately amplifies some of the disrespect that is then directed to Angel. Neither player deserves it. Let’s focus on basketball. God knows I am sick of the endless culture wars. I just want to see great games and terrific ball.
There is a subset of her fanbase that props her up because of her race. I never said all of them were and it is not driving the culture war point out a fact. Ignoring a problem doesn't fix it.
Aces have less bench depth compared to last season, and Jewell is on the decline for 3 years, the big problem last year for Aces was injuries and defense/partner for aja at the 4, since Stokes is not the same player post injury and you are playing 4v5 with her on offense (Becky words on post-game last night)
They didnt upgrade that starting 4 position, you can make a case for CPT but we dont know when or if she will be back lets be honest she might need more time and miss this season its not unheard of given her situation.
Reese is the face of the Sky, but honestly trade her to the Wings for Arike, and both teams needs would be addressed immediately.
A Bueckers and Reese duo would improve Dallas immediately, both scoring and defense.
People spent the past year blaming Reese for Cardoso's performance, but even with Reese off the floor, Cardoso isn't showing up. I don't know what can be done when this is a problem Staley also had to contend with.
I don't see Sky trading Reese but do like the trade. But Arike trade post lottery for the Sun's pick that the Sky have swap rights to( if it isn't top 3) would make sense to me. Arike providing scoring and maybe trade Cardoso to Lynx or Mercury for a 27 1st.
Didn't like the trade for Atkins initially and I like it less now that the team looks like it would be better served with a hard reset. I really feel bad for Cardoso because I don't see how she and Reese will ever be a fit, especially since neither stretches the floor even a little bit on the offensive end. Wouldn't mind seeing her moved for a young wing or two-way guard.
Great article. I’m hoping we get a huge rating from Saturday so everyone can pivot to this kind of story with Fever/Liberty and Fever/Aces you say here
Reese excelled in college as a small center, having the space to use her skills and minimize her biggest weaknesses (poor shooting mechanics in traffic). It's clear that playing her with KC is just clogging the paint, and not allowing either to maximize their potential. I also agree that having Citron on the team wouldn't solve everything this season, but she would stretch the D far more than Atkins is doing and would be an awesome asset to have on a cheap deal in the new CBA.
Rookies don’t get to be free agents for 4-5 years. There’s no way that the Mystics will let go of a solid gold talent like Citron. If anything, it looks like Notre Dame was holding back her true potential.
I don’t think Paige is quite the true PG/coach on the floor that Sue was, but it has only been 4 games so hard to say!
But wow, do I love the narrative change for ABCC. It goes back to what made me a CC fan from the start - the underdog narrative, her going to her local school and beating juggernauts. It feels funny to think of her as an underdog now with what a star she is, but from a basketball perspective, she and AB going against the Stewie/JJ or A’ja/Chelsea’s of the league do feel like that again
The Iowa underdog narrative is forced? Or the underdog narrative now? NY has a lot of experience and a championship. The Fever does not. Either of those situations makes for an underdog in any sport… If South Carolina and UCONN can play the underdog any year they don’t win a championship, I’m not calling anything with Clark forced.
I was so impressed by Skylar Diggins during Unrivaled that I hopped on her bandwagon. Hoping she continues to do great things.
The problem with having two bigs like the Sky do is that, unless they are David Robinson and Tim Duncan being coached by Pop, they are going to get in each other’s way for awhile. Especially if they are drafted in the same class. The Sky should have done better scouting around the guard position because, and this I believe, a GREAT guard helps with so many problems.
Finally, I am over the Angel-Caitlin rivalry narrative. They don’t play the same position, they don’t have the same ceiling and not everyone in women’s basketball has to hold hands and sing kumbaya.
The issue is the media and league management only cares about Clark. But outside of her fans and the recognition that she is a talented player, is otherwise pretty boring. They need Angel because she is a transformational star that is as interesting off the court as on. Alot of what drives ppl, especially alot of white ppl, sadly is racism. They hate Angel so they live vicariously through Caitlin and the media uses it for headlines. Hence why they hype up ever incident and you see the Riley Gaines of the world using it for engagement.
I agree that some people clearly use CC and Angel for their own agendas and I have no time for the disrespect to either. However to suggest that CCs fans are only attracted to her because of her skin is ridiculous and unfortunately amplifies some of the disrespect that is then directed to Angel. Neither player deserves it. Let’s focus on basketball. God knows I am sick of the endless culture wars. I just want to see great games and terrific ball.
There is a subset of her fanbase that props her up because of her race. I never said all of them were and it is not driving the culture war point out a fact. Ignoring a problem doesn't fix it.
Aces have less bench depth compared to last season, and Jewell is on the decline for 3 years, the big problem last year for Aces was injuries and defense/partner for aja at the 4, since Stokes is not the same player post injury and you are playing 4v5 with her on offense (Becky words on post-game last night)
They didnt upgrade that starting 4 position, you can make a case for CPT but we dont know when or if she will be back lets be honest she might need more time and miss this season its not unheard of given her situation.
Reese is the face of the Sky, but honestly trade her to the Wings for Arike, and both teams needs would be addressed immediately.
A Bueckers and Reese duo would improve Dallas immediately, both scoring and defense.
People spent the past year blaming Reese for Cardoso's performance, but even with Reese off the floor, Cardoso isn't showing up. I don't know what can be done when this is a problem Staley also had to contend with.
I don't see Sky trading Reese but do like the trade. But Arike trade post lottery for the Sun's pick that the Sky have swap rights to( if it isn't top 3) would make sense to me. Arike providing scoring and maybe trade Cardoso to Lynx or Mercury for a 27 1st.
Didn't like the trade for Atkins initially and I like it less now that the team looks like it would be better served with a hard reset. I really feel bad for Cardoso because I don't see how she and Reese will ever be a fit, especially since neither stretches the floor even a little bit on the offensive end. Wouldn't mind seeing her moved for a young wing or two-way guard.
another incredible five out, thanks andrew!
Great article. I’m hoping we get a huge rating from Saturday so everyone can pivot to this kind of story with Fever/Liberty and Fever/Aces you say here
Reese excelled in college as a small center, having the space to use her skills and minimize her biggest weaknesses (poor shooting mechanics in traffic). It's clear that playing her with KC is just clogging the paint, and not allowing either to maximize their potential. I also agree that having Citron on the team wouldn't solve everything this season, but she would stretch the D far more than Atkins is doing and would be an awesome asset to have on a cheap deal in the new CBA.
Rookies don’t get to be free agents for 4-5 years. There’s no way that the Mystics will let go of a solid gold talent like Citron. If anything, it looks like Notre Dame was holding back her true potential.
I don’t think Paige is quite the true PG/coach on the floor that Sue was, but it has only been 4 games so hard to say!
But wow, do I love the narrative change for ABCC. It goes back to what made me a CC fan from the start - the underdog narrative, her going to her local school and beating juggernauts. It feels funny to think of her as an underdog now with what a star she is, but from a basketball perspective, she and AB going against the Stewie/JJ or A’ja/Chelsea’s of the league do feel like that again
Still a very forced narrative and I don't understand why Clark fans keep trying to do that.
The Iowa underdog narrative is forced? Or the underdog narrative now? NY has a lot of experience and a championship. The Fever does not. Either of those situations makes for an underdog in any sport… If South Carolina and UCONN can play the underdog any year they don’t win a championship, I’m not calling anything with Clark forced.