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USA Today: Caitlin will not be selected for Olympic Women's Basketball Team

Stephen A makes a very good case of why it was a stupid decision to leave Caitlin off the team.

As he points out (among other things), historically the Selection Committees haven't always picked the 12 best players at that very moment in time. Christian Laettner, as one example, was selected for the 1992 Olympic Dream Team and the Selection Committee left off Shaquille O'Neil and Alonzo Mourning.
Also, Bobby Knight put Steve Alford on the 1984 Olympic Team after his freshman season. Back then we won with all college players, but Alford certainly wasn't one of the Top 12 men's college basketball players at that time.
 
I actually agree with Moon's point. Maybe Taurasi had not yet been named all WNBA, but she was good enough that year to get named all WNBA. So, she was likely one of the 12 best players. Whether Taurasi at 42 is still one of the 12 best players is more questionable. I think the league is deeper now, and it is highly unlikely that Caitlin will be all WNBA this year.

I think Caitlin should be on the team, but the argument that she is currently one of the 12 best players is very questionable. The boost that Caitlin has been to women's BB, would be even more global if she were in the Olympics. That lost opportunity makes the decision incredibly short sighted. Caitlin's star power is amazing.
Taurasi or Breanna Stewart as rookies being without a doubt one of the 12 best US players when the teams were selected is a bit much for me. They likely played less than 10-15 professional games at that point which is a pretty small sample size to be definitive.

So were they really selected because they were one of the best options available at the time, or was it because they were great in college and brought their own hype and notoriety? If it’s the latter, why can’t Clark be afforded the same opportunity?
 
Taurasi or Breanna Stewart as rookies being without a doubt one of the 12 best US players when the teams were selected is a bit much for me. They likely played less than 10-15 professional games at that point which is a pretty small sample size to be definitive.

So were they really selected because they were one of the best options available at the time, or was it because they were great in college and brought their own hype and notoriety? If it’s the latter, why can’t Clark be afforded the same opportunity?
It’s not really comparable imo. In ‘02, the WNBA was less than 5 years old so it’s not like there was a deep pool of vets to pick from. As good of a prospect Clark was, Stewar was even better coming out of college.
 
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Actually, the vast majority of the country didn't care or start paying attention until the 2023 NCAA Tournament and Caitlin's/Iowa's incredible run
To be fair, it’s been gradually getting better as broadcast options have become more available. But yeah, last season was when we saw it explode - started building for us during conference play imo.
 
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It’s not really comparable imo. In ‘02, the WNBA was less than 5 years old so it’s not like there was a deep pool of vets to pick from. As good of a prospect Clark was, Stewar was even better coming out of college.
I think it’s ridiculous to confidently say a WNBA rookie who’s only played about 10 professional games is one of the twelve best. Regardless of the who or the when.

It leads me to believe the selection decisions are based on more than what happened on a WNBA court for a couple handfuls of games. Thus posing the question of whether Caitlin is being evaluated by a different standard than others that came before her.
 
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One thing about this comparison that keeps getting made. After watching the first few weeks of this season and seeing the success that rookies are having, like Brink, Reese, and yes, Clark who statistically is still doing pretty good for a rooking at a loaded position on a shitty team, the gap between the best professional players and the top college players in men's basketball versus the gap in professional players and college players in women's basketball is far, far greater in men's than women's.
And there are only 12 teams in the league with 144 players, yet 8 or 9 of those teams are bad with a lot of bad players on the roster. Can you imagine if there were only 12 NBA teams? They’d all be loaded from top to bottoms.
 
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I think it’s ridiculous to confidently say a WNBA rookie who’s only played about 10 professional games is one of the twelve best. Regardless of the who or the when.

It leads me to believe the selection decisions are based on more than what happened on a WNBA court for a couple handfuls of games. Thus posing the question of whether Caitlin is being evaluated by a different standard than others that came before her.
They have been holding camps periodically based on whenever the olympic rules allow so they've got some evaluating going on; and 9 of these players were on the last olympics team.

I'm genuinely surprised by the level of outrage this has generated - we knew in April when they had their last camp (Caitlin had to miss due to the final 4); that 11 out of 12 spots were for sure spoken for barring injury. So there was only 1 spot up for grabs to begin with.
 
Taurasi or Breanna Stewart as rookies being without a doubt one of the 12 best US players when the teams were selected is a bit much for me. They likely played less than 10-15 professional games at that point which is a pretty small sample size to be definitive.

So were they really selected because they were one of the best options available at the time, or was it because they were great in college and brought their own hype and notoriety? If it’s the latter, why can’t Clark be afforded the same opportunity?
uconn players
 
It's been reported that Caitlin is one of 2 alternates. I am still hoping that at least 1 of these 2 will bow out:

1) Chelsea Gray, who is recovering from a lower leg injury & has yet to play a WNBA game this season.

2) Brittney Griner, whose wife is expecting. The expected due date is sometime in July 2024.

1718193422_111.jpg
 
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Clark does not deserve to be on the Olympic team. Her WNBA stats are not good. I think she will eventually get it going.
 
I think it’s ridiculous to confidently say a WNBA rookie who’s only played about 10 professional games is one of the twelve best. Regardless of the who or the when.

It leads me to believe the selection decisions are based on more than what happened on a WNBA court for a couple handfuls of games. Thus posing the question of whether Caitlin is being evaluated by a different standard than others that came before her.
There is no doubt that factors beyond play in the WNBA have determined who is named to teams, but there is VERY little doubt that Taurasi was one of the 12 best players in the US when she was a rookie. I find Taurasi's jealousy of Caitlin to be borderline disgusting (I was unlucky enough to watch part of the broadcast of the NCAA final, where UConn players and friends were belittling Iowa and Caitlin), given what Caitlin's presence is doing for women's basketball and the WNBA's popularity. We agree that Caitlin should be on the team, but this is not nearly the same as when Taurasi was named as a rookie.
 
I have always been curious, like many people; she's female, correct? Or is she trans female? Lord, and I just now double checked to make sure I used the correct pronoun. ;)

maybe @shikreto knows....and again, I am just curious....lets just keep it factual and nothing more. :)

Though definitely androgynous, I believe Brittney uses she/her pronouns (but I could be wrong bc I’m not a huge fan of the W — and preferred pronouns can change — but those are what the media and her friends/supporters use). She is also certainly a cis woman!
 
Though definitely androgynous, I believe Brittney uses she/her pronouns (but I could be wrong bc I’m not a huge fan of the W — and preferred pronouns can change — but those are what the media and her friends/supporters use). She is also certainly a cis woman!

thanks; now adays you just don't know and sometimes you use a pronoun and then worry that someone will be offended because you used the wrong one
 
people laugh about using the wrong word or pronoun....

I was at Target and went to Customer Service; the worker with their back to me had beautiful, very long, brown hair. I said, "excuse me, miss?" HE turned around and said "how can I help you." I couldn't get out of there faster! ;)
 
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I have always been curious, like many people; she's female, correct? Or is she trans female? Lord, and I just now double checked to make sure I used the correct pronoun. ;)

maybe @shikreto knows....and again, I am just curious....lets just keep it factual and nothing more. :)

When you played in the Gay Slow Pitch Softball World Series what pronouns were most prevalent among athletes?
 
Though definitely androgynous, I believe Brittney uses she/her pronouns (but I could be wrong bc I’m not a huge fan of the W — and preferred pronouns can change — but those are what the media and her friends/supporters use). She is also certainly a cis woman!
Griner is a guy.
 
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The top 10 players make the season ending All-WNBA teams.

As you can see in the tweet below, Caitlin is on her way to be named one of the 10 best players in the WNBA. So, the obvious questions is, why isn't one of the 10 best players on the 12 person Olympic team?

2023 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM
Breanna Stewart, New York
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings

2023 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles
Jackie Young, Las Vegas
Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas
Jewell Loyd, Seattle
Sabrina Ionescu New York


 
The top 10 players make the season ending All-WNBA teams.

As you can see in the tweet below, Caitlin is on her way to be named one of the 10 best players in the WNBA. So, the obvious questions is, why isn't one of the 10 best players on the 12 person Olympic team?

2023 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM
Breanna Stewart, New York
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Satou Sabally, Dallas Wings

2023 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles
Jackie Young, Las Vegas
Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas
Jewell Loyd, Seattle
Sabrina Ionescu New York


The easy answer to that is, "The top 12 players in the league do not necessarily create the best team we can field". However, they haven't used that explanation yet so I don't see them using that in the future. They seem to think that having a UConn/SC graduate club for the team is worse reasoning than all the bullshit explanations they have come up with to this point. The PR people at USA Basketball really need to be fired.
 
The easy answer to that is, "The top 12 players in the league do not necessarily create the best team we can field". However, they haven't used that explanation yet so I don't see them using that in the future. They seem to think that having a UConn/SC graduate club for the team is worse reasoning than all the bullshit explanations they have come up with to this point. The PR people at USA Basketball really need to be fired.

I look forward to seeing the TV ratings for when the women play
 
An update on the changing of the OLD guard:

Diana turned 42 on June 11.

Caitlin turned 22 on Jan 22.

Through yesterday's games, Caitlin's numbers are better or just as good.

And look at the assist difference.

.....................Pts...Rebs..Asts...Stl...Blk...FG%...3Pt%...FT%
Caitlin Clark
....16.2...5.4......6.2...1.4...0.9...39.6...33.8...89.9
Diana Taurasi..16.3...4.8......2.3..0.6...0.3...39.3...35.0...86.5
 
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What has always bothered me about CC not making the Olympic team is the reasons always change. First it was the CC fans wouldn't like her not playing. Then it she wasn't one of the best players. Which is a hard argument to make when DT is on the team. Then we go to some unique criteria that was almost made to give cover for not including her.

If they were consistent in saying we don't believe she was the best. If they don't include DT. While unlike those spouting that off, it's probably a 50/50 proposition. It's an argument that can be defended rather easily. When you throw some of the other nonsense is when you lost people.
 
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The easy answer to that is, "The top 12 players in the league do not necessarily create the best team we can field". However, they haven't used that explanation yet so I don't see them using that in the future

Multiple people involved with selecting the team have actually said that
 
What has always bothered me about CC not making the Olympic team is the reasons always change. First it was the CC fans wouldn't like her not playing. Then it she wasn't one of the best players. Which is a hard argument to make when DT is on the team. Then we go to some unique criteria that was almost made to give cover for not including her.

If they were consistent in saying we don't believe she was the best. If they don't include DT. While unlike those spouting that off, it's probably a 50/50 proposition. It's an argument that can be defended rather easily. When you throw some of the other nonsense is when you lost people.
They also put Chelsea Gray on the team and she hasn’t played in 8 months, so she’s not one of the 12 best either because no one knows how she will be after the injury.
 
They also put Chelsea Gray on the team and she hasn’t played in 8 months, so she’s not one of the 12 best either because no one knows how she will be after the injury.
Well, through a couple games, she’s averaging 2.5 points with a blistering FG% of 12.5%. Hardly Olympic type stats.

She and Diana Tarausi should be ashamed of accepting spots on the Olympic team with dozens of more deserving players.
 
Well, through a couple games, she’s averaging 2.5 points with a blistering FG% of 12.5%. Hardly Olympic type stats.

She and Diana Tarausi should be ashamed of accepting spots on the Olympic team with dozens of more deserving players.
We took the 12 best players…well, other than Diana Taurasi, she’s a legacy pick. Oh, and Chelsea Gray, she made it based on the previous few years. Oh, and Britney Griner, she also made it based on past performance. But other than that, we took the 12 best players.
 
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