Liberty won a thriller tonight on a late field goal and solid defense. They're now 4-1 after losing the season opener and finally looking like an exciting team. Let's track the season here!
Connecticut Sun are 5-1 and that one loss (and it wasn't close) was to the Liberty.
Read today that Paige Bueckers is coming back next year as a redshirt senior. I think she's got a pretty good hunch that Caitlin's going #1 this year and Paige can be a pretty close to undisputed #1 next year.
Quote from: Alps on April 05, 2024, 05:56:43 PMRead today that Paige Bueckers is coming back next year as a redshirt senior. I think she's got a pretty good hunch that Caitlin's going #1 this year and Paige can be a pretty close to undisputed #1 next year.
Yeah, that makes sense. With Caitlin nearing the end of the road, I was expecting Paige to stay where she is so she won't have to play second fiddle in her rookie season. BTW, I'm watching UCONN take on Iowa, and so far it's shaping up to be a good game.
Caitlin Clark is having an effect on ticket prices: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-05/100-a-ticket-for-an-wnba-game-caitlin-clark-inflation-roils-l-a-womens-basketball
QuoteNot including taxes and fees, it cost less than $16 for a family of four to watch the Sparks play the Indiana Fever at Crypto.com Arena last July.
Next month those WNBA teams will compete again in Long Beach, and this time four tickets will set a family back between $448 to $560.
StubHub has the price of admission to the May 24 Fever-Sparks game at about $112 to $140 per person, and ticket prices have increased due to University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark and other standout college players heading to the WNBA after the NCAA women's basketball tournament ends this weekend. (The smaller Long Beach arena may also play a factor in the higher prices.)
The Fever are expected to select Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft on April 15. She's not only considered the best college player, she's the top draw.
Quote from: kurumi on April 05, 2024, 10:58:27 PMCaitlin Clark is having an effect on ticket prices: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-05/100-a-ticket-for-an-wnba-game-caitlin-clark-inflation-roils-l-a-womens-basketball
QuoteNot including taxes and fees, it cost less than $16 for a family of four to watch the Sparks play the Indiana Fever at Crypto.com Arena last July.
Next month those WNBA teams will compete again in Long Beach, and this time four tickets will set a family back between $448 to $560.
StubHub has the price of admission to the May 24 Fever-Sparks game at about $112 to $140 per person, and ticket prices have increased due to University of Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark and other standout college players heading to the WNBA after the NCAA women's basketball tournament ends this weekend. (The smaller Long Beach arena may also play a factor in the higher prices.)
The Fever are expected to select Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft on April 15. She's not only considered the best college player, she's the top draw.
Funny that the last time a player got this much hype was 21 years ago, when a high-school kid from Akron ended up being drafted by his local team (and ironically, the Cavaliers happened to win the lottery back then). I expect Caitlin's career to follow the same trajectory, especially in terms of turning her teams into immediate championship contenders.
What is the draft status of Angel Reese? She is probably Magic to Clark's Bird. (or vice versa)
https://www.reuters.com/sports/basketball/indiana-fever-select-clark-with-first-pick-wnba-draft-2024-04-15/
Caitlin Clark in the WNBA draft.
Quote from: bing101 on April 16, 2024, 01:09:49 AMhttps://www.reuters.com/sports/basketball/indiana-fever-select-clark-with-first-pick-wnba-draft-2024-04-15/
Caitlin Clark in the WNBA draft.
Surprise, surprise.
This is shaping up to be the greatest era in WNBA history! To see all those college and international stars get drafted, I don't know if we'll ever see one of this magnitude again.
Sky picked up some good players in the draft, looking forward to seeing if they can rekindle the championship run like a few years ago.
Quote from: ET21 on April 23, 2024, 02:21:03 PMSky picked up some good players in the draft, looking forward to seeing if they can rekindle the championship run like a few years ago.
Agreed on all counts!
https://apnews.com/article/candace-parker-retires-wnba-6b28339cc1e21731760e6c0c1902d1b9
Candace Parker, a 3-time WNBA champion and 2-time Olympic gold medalist, announces retirement
Quote from: bing101 on April 28, 2024, 08:51:57 PMhttps://apnews.com/article/candace-parker-retires-wnba-6b28339cc1e21731760e6c0c1902d1b9
Candace Parker, a 3-time WNBA champion and 2-time Olympic gold medalist, announces retirement
Out of the three teams she led to a championship, the 2021 Sky were the most deserving, because they helped end a 23-year overall basketball championship drought in Chicago. Not to take away from the 2016 Sparks or last year's Aces, but IMO, the Sky were the most deserving team, because they were the only one she was on that had never won before.
That Sky team was special. All the pieces came together
https://apnews.com/article/toronto-wnba-expansion-3e45b24aeb7d205fcdc77ae51d446bd1?user_email=6277da09d2d137cc3128f74e805a608a89e4cfc6355eca79826ad12e6eaed607
QuoteToronto has been awarded the WNBA's first franchise outside the United States, with the expansion team set to begin play in 2026. Larry Tanenbaum-led Kilmer Sports Ventures is paying $50 million for the team. Tanenbaum also is the chairman and a minority owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the Toronto sports giant that also owns the NHL's Maple Leafs and NBA's Raptors along with Toronto's MLS and Canadian Football League franchises.
Caitlin is 0-5 in her rookie season. After all that winning and breaking records in Iowa, this is unfamiliar territory for her, but let's give her time to let it all fall into place.
Quote from: Henry on May 23, 2024, 10:54:13 PMCaitlin is 0-5 in her rookie season. After all that winning and breaking records in Iowa, this is unfamiliar territory for her, but let's give her time to let it all fall into place.
There is a reason why the Fever were drafting first. It's because they sucked. They still suck. It took Cleveland a number of years to build after they drafted LeBron.
https://apnews.com/article/clark-olympics-usa-basketball-267616be33b9bc6b4aed0ad5d89e8167
Not really shocking given her current situation in the WNBA.
QuoteCaitlin Clark won't be headed to the Paris Olympics, according to a person familiar with the decision.[/size][/color]
The person, who provided the full roster to The Associated Press, spoke on condition of anonymity Saturday because no official announcement has been made.
The decision was first reported by The Athletic.
Clark does have some international experience with USA Basketball at a younger level, but she couldn't attend the [color=var(--color-link-text)]national training camp[/color] (https://apnews.com/article/usa-olympics-clark-3ade6912755f592b4f8987400d18a1d7) in Cleveland after she was invited because she was leading Iowa to the Final Four. Clark finished her career as the NCAA's Division I all-time scoring leader
Clark, now a rookie with the Indiana Fever, [color=var(--color-link-text)]has drawn millions of new fans[/color] (https://apnews.com/article/caitlin-clark-ncaa-tournament-final-four-096ae2767eaad741196d1df384674603) to women's basketball in her college career and also in her young WNBA career.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/liberty/2024/10/24/liberty-wnba-championship-parade-highlights/75821043007/
The New York Liberty wins the WNBA championship.
Quote from: bing101 on October 24, 2024, 11:34:19 AMhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/liberty/2024/10/24/liberty-wnba-championship-parade-highlights/75821043007/
The New York Liberty wins the WNBA championship.
That has to be the feel-good story of the season, when the last surviving original WNBA team finally wins it all after 28 years!
This leaves only Connecticut and Atlanta (both expansion teams) without a WNBA title. Another team (Dallas) won titles in a previous city but have not won since relocation.
Golden State Valkyries had their expansion draft today. For some reason, they didn't have to pick a Seattle Storm player.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2024/12/06/wnba-expansion-draft-golden-state-valkyries-roster-updates/76809659007/
In the predictable sports news for the week, Paige Bueckers went first, to Dallas, in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Quote from: DandyDan on April 16, 2025, 05:13:07 AMIn the predictable sports news for the week, Paige Bueckers went first, to Dallas, in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
And thus continues the Paige vs. Caitlin saga. Clark may have all the records, but Bueckers has the one thing that matters most, a championship (I'm glad that she won it in her last-ever college game too).
In five years, the WNBA will have 18 teams with the additions of Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia:
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/45616945/wnba-expanding-cleveland-detroit-philadelphia-2030
Honestly I don't see the WNBA drawing my interest back with a new Detroit team. Three championships and a team coached by Bill Laimbeer probably was as close as the league ever got to seriously making me a committed fan. Once the Shock moved to Tulsa my rooting interest was gone. I'm not dismissing that the WNBA in recent years has begun to stabilize and garnered some actual major star players.