Revisiting Diana Taurasis Caitlin Clark take

[rmilia1]

In March 2024 Diana Taurasi told Caitlin Clark "reality was coming"

6 months later

Clark has

- more assists in a season than Taurasi has ever had in her 20 year career

-more rebounds in a season than Taurasi has ever had in her 20 year career

- more steals in a season than Taurasi ever had in her 20 year career

- more triple doubles this season than Taurasi has had in her 20 year career

- is responsible for more points this season than Taurasi has ever been in her 20 year career

- more 3 pt shots made this season than Taurasi has ever made in her 20 year career

So..... i guess Diana was right.

Reality is coming

Probably not in the way she meant or thought though.....

 

[trojanfan12]

In March 2024 Diana Taurasi told Caitlin Clark "reality was coming"

6 months later

Clark has

- more assists in a season than Taurasi has ever had in her 20 year career

-more rebounds in a season than Taurasi has ever had in her 20 year career

- more steals in a season than Taurasi ever had in her 20 year career

- more triple doubles this season than Taurasi has had in her 20 year career

- is responsible for more points this season than Taurasi has ever been in her 20 year career

- more 3 pt shots made this season than Taurasi has ever made in her 20 year career

So..... i guess Diana was right.

Reality is coming

Probably not in the way she meant or thought though.....

Yeah, not really. She got off to a pretty meh start and has since adjusted her game. It was always likely that she'd reach the level she's at and she'll likely be even better. But let's not pretend that she came in and immediately set the league on fire.

I think not being picked for the Olympic team was a blessing in disguise. Gave her a chance to rest, study tape, etc.

 

[rmilia1]

Yeah, not really. She got off to a pretty meh start and has since adjusted her game. It was always likely that she'd reach the level she's at and she'll likely be even better. But let's not pretend that she came in and immediately set the league on fire.

I think not being picked for the Olympic team was a blessing in disguise. Gave her a chance to rest, study tape, etc.

While some of that is fair it's also fair to point out that Clark this year ( her rookie year ) is putting up better number than many many HoF level players best seasons ever

And, as you stated, this is likely the worst version of Clark we will see for at least the next dozen years

Her rookie year is at worst the second best rookie season ever and an argument can be made its better than CPs rookie year where she won MVP

 

[Think McFly Think]

Wait a minute, you’re telling me a woman said something with hints of vindictiveness when another woman came onto the scene with a chance to steal the spotlight?

No way.

 

[MHSL82]

So all this hate for Clark is stupid when they have been complaining about wanting to get higher pay. They have even players to come on and say that they want a portion of the profits when they are in fact losing money. Are they gonna pay a portion of what the NBA has subsidized? Something good comes along and will help you generate revenue and you want to kill it?

I know this could probably be said about men too, but I don’t understand why women do this. For example, say what you will about Taylor Swift, you can hate her and her politics or coverage, however, Bananarama when asked about Cruel Summer, acted like they were copied or covered and they said they didn’t even hear the song. Those songs are nothing alike. Besides, if you say you haven’t heard the song, then one, being in the music industry, you’re probably lying, and second, you can’t comment on it. It’s a weird way to throw shade on something you have no clue about. They heard the song and they wanted to act like that. Now, I have no clue on whether it has anything to do with her being a woman, and I don’t know whether a different band made of men would say the same thing, it just reminded me of stupid responses.

 

[redskinsfan1963]

she is retiring,right?

 

[trojanfan12]

So all this hate for Clark is stupid

Yeah, she came into the WNBA with a lot of hype, mostly from her fans and the media. I think the stuff re: the players was mostly a little overblown.

She's a rookie coming in with a ton of hype, so of course the players are going to go at her a little harder to make her "earn it". The same thing happens every year in every men's sport when a rookie comes in with a ton of hype.

As most figured would happen, she started slow, has adjusted her game, is doing much better (record setting better) and much of the hate has died down.

 

[thunderc]

Yeah, she came into the WNBA with a lot of hype, mostly from her fans and the media. I think the stuff re: the players was mostly a little overblown.

She's a rookie coming in with a ton of hype, so of course the players are going to go at her a little harder to make her "earn it". The same thing happens every year in every men's sport when a rookie comes in with a ton of hype.

As most figured would happen, she started slow, has adjusted her game, is doing much better (record setting better) and much of the hate has died down.

I would hope so, she got them all on charter planes without playing a game lol.

 

[trojanfan12]

Never understood the backlash against Taurasi for her comment. Everything she said was spot on and basically what happened.

All she did was tell her that the vets weren't just going to let her come in and run the league.

 

[trojanfan12]

I would hope so, she got them all on charter planes without playing a game lol.

I know you're mostly joking, but some folks have acted as if the players should have taken it easy on her because of the hype, eyeballs and money she brought to the league. Don't really understand that argument.

NBA players started getting million dollar contracts because of Magic...that didn't mean the other players eased up on trying to shut him down.

 

[thunderc]

I know you're mostly joking, but some folks have acted as if the players should have taken it easy on her because of the hype, eyeballs and money she brought to the league. Don't really understand that argument.

NBA players started getting million dollar contracts because of Magic...that didn't mean the other players eased up on trying to shut him down.

Yeah I wouldn’t suggest that, but keeping her off the Olympic team looks pretty childish and bitch like at this point. And that’s what happened, it was the players.

 

[broncosmitty]

Yeah I wouldn’t suggest that, but keeping her off the Olympic team looks pretty childish and bitch like at this point. And that’s what happened, it was the players.

Jordan did the same thing to Thomas.

If he’s on the team, I’m not.

Nothing new.

 

[thunderc]

Jordan did the same thing to Thomas.

If he’s on the team, I’m not.

Nothing new.

Well im pretty confident MJ wasn’t fueled by jealousy, he just didn’t like the sob lol.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yeah I wouldn’t suggest that, but keeping her off the Olympic team looks pretty childish and bitch like at this point. And that’s what happened, it was the players.

Nah, when the Olympic team was chosen, she wasn't playing well enough to take the spot of anyone else on the team.

Having said that, the improvement since then has been dramatic enough that if the Olympic team were being chosen today, she'd probably be the 2nd or 3rd player chosen.

Additionally, that wasn't the players that kept her off the team. They don't pick the team.

 

[HawkFan]

Nah, when the Olympic team was chosen, she wasn't playing well enough to take the spot of anyone else on the team.

Having said that, the improvement since then has been dramatic enough that if the Olympic team were being chosen today, she'd probably be the 2nd or 3rd player chosen.

Additionally, that wasn't the players that kept her off the team. They don't pick the team.

Cheryl Reeve has had very similar comments as Taurasis towards CC. Leaving her off the team was a big mistake for the growth of their sport.
But it ended up being a good thing for CC, as she clearly needed the time away from hoops to recharge

 

[trojanfan12]

Cheryl Reeve has had very similar comments as Taurasis towards CC. Leaving her off the team was a big mistake for the growth of their sport.
But it ended up being a good thing for CC, as she clearly needed the time away from hoops to recharge

Yeah, with her popularity, I get the WNBA wanting to capitalize, but they did her no favors having her playing so many games at the start of the season against so many of the leagues better teams. She really didn't get much chance to rest after the end of March Madness and the start of the WNBA season, then they throw her right into the fire. Agree that not being on the team likely helped. She's been a different player since the Olympic break. Much more like what folks expected.

I get the point of including her from a marketing perspective, but the Olympic team isn't for marketing the WNBA, it's for winning gold medals.

I don't think her being on the team would have cost them the gold medal, but it could give the impression that they're more concerned with marketing than winning.

 

[thunderc]

Yeah, with her popularity, I get the WNBA wanting to capitalize, but they did her no favors having her playing so many games at the start of the season against so many of the leagues better teams. She really didn't get much chance to rest after the end of March Madness and the start of the WNBA season, then they throw her right into the fire. Agree that not being on the team likely helped. She's been a different player since the Olympic break. Much more like what folks expected.

I get the point of including her from a marketing perspective, but the Olympic team isn't for marketing the WNBA, it's for winning gold medals.

I don't think her being on the team would have cost them the gold medal, but it could give the impression that they're more concerned with marketing than winning.

You don’t think open tryout she makes that team? Every day of the week.

 

[trojanfan12]

You don’t think open tryout she makes that team? Every day of the week.

Maybe. But there wasn't an open tryout and she wasn't playing well enough at the time to justify being selected. As I said, she is now. But at the time, marketing would have been the only justification.

 

[rmilia1]

Maybe. But there wasn't an open tryout and she wasn't playing well enough at the time to justify being selected. As I said, she is now. But at the time, marketing would have been the only justification.

I don't know man

She really only struggled the first 1/4 of the season and "struggled" is really only applicable to her in comparison to expectations not compared to other players on the back end of the Olympic team

She was still averaging 17/7/5 wren the team was picked which was better than at least the last 4 players in the roster

Obviously shes exploded since about game 12/13 though and been even better the past half the season

 

[Think McFly Think]

Scrolling through football scores and I see that Clark is not having an exceptional playoff debut but only one half so far