Megan Gustafson
- Thread starter Terrykohawk
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It was fun to watch actually. My first year at West, women's hoops was 3 on 3. Kind of wild. Some girls would average like 50 points. I think there was a girl named Lynn Lorenzen in that era who was off the charts in scoring.
yea she play for Jefferson? Meagan would have averaged 50 a game probably
it was fun to watch but in this day and age…. there’s no reason to have two separate games obviously
Lynn Lorenzen played at Ventura then at Iowa State I believe. I think she averaged over 60 a game in high school.
That these people were smarter than to bounce around playing bb rather than getting on with a non bb career. In an interview Disterhoff was quoted about how great bb had been for her but it was time to move on. She said she told wnba she was not interested.
If your passion why not keep trying? You have your whole life to work.
How Phoenix's Megan Gustafson has changed her game - The Next
Megan Gustafson is taking more 3-pointers than ever before this season. If she keeps it up, it could raise her ceiling in the WNBA.
www.thenexthoops.com
When Megan retires from her playing career we should find her a role on the WBB Team letting her assist in working with our big's to be able to play Inside/Outside.
thanks for sharing thatHow Phoenix's Megan Gustafson has changed her game - The Next
Megan Gustafson is taking more 3-pointers than ever before this season. If she keeps it up, it could raise her ceiling in the WNBA.
How Phoenix's Megan Gustafson has changed her game - The Next
Megan Gustafson is taking more 3-pointers than ever before this season. If she keeps it up, it could raise her ceiling in the WNBA.
Mercury are on NBA TV tonight. They just released both Tina Charles and Kristine Inigwe, which might hint at extended playing time for Meg this season.
The Mercury have been an absolute mess this season, and Charles leaving will certainly only make things worse. She wasn't cut due to poor performance -- she demanded out because she wants to go somewhere she can chase a title (Seattle) since she won't be playing too many more seasons. This may mean more minutes for Gustafson but it's disappointing for the team. More than anything I want MG to have the experience of playing on a decent WNBA squad that actually has a shot at the playoffs, even if it means she plays limited minutes as a backup.
the Mercury would have been a contender IMO had Britney Griner been with them all season
interesting that Tina Charles forced her way out
Indeed.
Charles has earned a reputation for doing that lately. First New York, then Washington, now Phoenix. The Phoenix organization is calling it a "divorce."
Meg is at the half on ESPN now, Phoenix at Chicago. Mercury were down after the first quarter (26) but Meg came on, drew a foul whose free throws started a 20-0 run. She made her one attempt at a basket, a couple assists, and her best defensive performance I’ve seen in her WNBA years in that stretch. Also should have had the assist of the game fighting between two defenders, but her teammate missed a wide open five footer.
Her stats in 6 mins of play (through the end of the 3rd):
2 points (1-1 from the field, 0-0 on free throws)
0 assists
0 rebounds
2 Turnovers
4 Fouls
Mercury went down by 12, before Meg came on, again Phoenix made a run, and got two AWFUL calls against her before she had to sit with foul trouble. Her +/- in this game will be far better than the rest of the team.
Team results are paramount to individual stats (other than her individual +/- stat which reflects team result).
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Does a great job while she's in a game but I just don't understand the coach's substitution method what so ever. They'll take Diana Taurasi out and put Meagan but Meagan doesn't even play the same position as Taurasi.
Ever since Charles left and they cut Anigwe they've been using a small ball lineup. Before Megan would get a few minutes at the 4 alongside Charles and a few at the 5 alongside Turner. Now she exclusively plays the 5. When Taurasi (or any other guard or wing) subs in for her, Turner/Gray is usually at the 5 with Cunningham/DeShields at the 4. Recent signee Rashanda Gray has been competing with Megan for the backup post minutes.
I missed the game last night, but the game before, Gray was not good. She only played a few minutes early and was yanked for pretty much the rest of the game.
Gray has a decade of league experience to her name and in my opinion offers a more physical presence on defense and the glass. Clearly I'm rooting for Megan here but that's what I've noticed. Good news is we've passed the mid-season cutdown deadline about a week ago so Megan's salary is guaranteed for the rest of the season, which is awesome for her.
The league veteran minimum of $72,141. This is her fourth year of service in the W which technically qualifies her as a vet. Players in their first, second, or third seasons typically make a bit less than that, unless they were a top draft pick. If you're interested, you should check out the Mercury's Salary Cap Sheet to see the whole team's salaries (and other teams if you click around), or the FAQ about league finances (I linked to the section about minimum salaries). Both are put together by the fantastic folks at Her Hoop Stats.
Man that’s not much money really….. I guess being paid to play a game….. but doesn’t seem like much to play at the highest level of the sport…… that’s too bad
It is too bad, have to really love the game. And it's why many women's players head overseas in the "offseason" to earn extra $$. I do wish they got paid more, but I'm not sure how that happens other than outright taking more of the NBA revenues than they already do to support the WNBA. Total revenues for the WNBA of $52 million. That just isn't going to make anyone a lot of money.
For whatever reason (well the reason is the level of basketball isn't at the men's NBA), just not a lot of paying customers for WNBA product. I'm not necessarily allocating more of the NBA revenues to go to the WNBA, but probably would get quite a bit of pushback from the men's players on that. Players aren't signing up for lower salaries and teams aren't going to openly give up more of their revenue.
Yea it’s kinda crazy the pay discrepancy…. But it’s definitely two different “markets” and every man for himself
Megan's first year overseas in Hungary with Csata a team in Budapest she earned nearly $150,000. Had to go to court/sport arbitrator to get it all though. She's been in Poland since but not sure what her contracts have been there.
In Phoenix's last three games, Megan has played 5 minutes, 0 minutes and 0 minutes. So do you or anyone know why? I presume the coach has gone in a different direction, and Megan doesn't fit once again. Same as with Dallas and Washington. I see they are featuring Sophie Cunningham so more of a guard-heavy lineup. I wish there was a team that could use her skills but probably not the case. She has carved out a nice career in Europe anyway.
if the WNBA and women's professional basketball paid like they do for men's then maybe she has different thoughts?
Two things have happened:
-Rashanda Gray was signed (to replace Tina Charles and Kristine Anigwe), and after the first few games, she overtook Megan on the depth chart. When she's not fouling every 60 seconds -- which she does tend to do -- Gray is better at defense than Megan. I personally think Megan is a more of a scoring threat (when they actually pass her the ball, which is a different issue...), but the coaches seem to think the trade off is less when they have Gray out there on defense.
--Since losing Charles, Phoenix has pivoted to a small ball strategy. One true post on the floor at a time surrounded by guards/wings. So whereas before Megan was getting a few minutes at both the 4 *and* the 5, her only hope of getting in the game now is at the 5. The only time recently that Phoenix has actually played two posts together was last night in the second OT period, and that was solely because DeShields had fouled out and Peddy was having a horrible game. So the coach brought Gray in at the 4.
p.s. You're right Cunningham has been playing more. That's partly just because she missed a few weeks in June with her injured elbow, and also because she's been the best shooter on the team lately.
I noticed this as well, and I’ve been disappointed, too. Good to see @undersized_post’s comments here
Thank you, UP. Without the addition of Rashanda Gray, I’m sure MG would be playing more. It’s unfortunate that she’s been a DNP - coaches decision for the last 2-3 games!
Well, I guess the good news is, she's making good money overall when you combine what she makes overseas and in the WNBA (even though not playing much)
Hopefully as her career evolves she will find a permanent WNBA home
If what was posted in this thread is true (and no reason to think differently) Gustafson will make somewhere around $200k or more this year playing basketball this year in the WNBA and in Europe. While far below the NBA salaries, that is more than the vast majority of people in the U.S./world will ever earn in a single year of their working life. Yes, I know for some of you on the board $200k would be a terrible year for you.
There are very few professions/jobs that are going to pay someone just out of college that type of money. So it's pretty easy to see why she would stay at it professionally for as long as possible.
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