***CC22 and the Fever mega thread***

[Hawksfor3]

OT: I just posted a new vid from Keegan on the men's side. Thank you. (PSA #2).

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

I believe CC is a very good pro player but not a great one. Her limitations (poor defense and excessive turnovers) are tremendously detrimental and are most evident when this team falls behind by double figures. At that point you can just about write off any chance for a comeback.

To be fair, the NBA has spoiled people into thinking that any 15+ deficit can easily be erased in the game of basketball and it truly shouldn't be.....but it happens in the NBA because they chuck 3s all game, give less than zero sh**s about half the regular season games, and even beyond that effort levels from players on each team vary from game to individual game and from quarter to quarter................

15-20 point leads shouldn't evaporate with the frequency that they do in the modern NBA.

So when you say a WNBA team gets down by double digits, they probably should f***ing lose. Doesn't matter who it is. And it should actually still be a headline when a comeback occurs, rather than a f***ing regularity like with the NBA.

But yes, sure, it's not good when Caitlin's antics cause her team to get down by double digits...............................

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

The Fever have feasted on the bottom half of the league this year and struggled against the top half.

I suppose CC and Kelsey gets credit for the former and White is to blame for the latter?

Fixed it for you for accuracy, and yes........that is partially correct.

We also have to include the front office for their incompetence as far as roster construction goes, before the season began.

Hope that helps!

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Will game 2 against the Aces be CC's last game in a Fever uniform?

It depends on whether they want to give up their current revenue stream, simply to get out from being in the celebrity spotlight.

Not every sports franchise/front office wants to be, or is comfortable operating as a media darling like the Dallas Cowboys or the Yankees/Dodgers or the Lakers/whichever team LeBron is on.

Indiana from the very beginning did not strike me as an organization, at all prepared for what they were about to encounter.

They welcomed all the good and were hoping and praying to God to avoid all the unavoidably bad.........It doesn't work that way. Not in our society of morons.

 

[Legend12]

Fixed it for you for accuracy, and yes........that is partially correct.

We also have to include the front office for their incompetence as far as roster construction goes, before the season began.

Hope that helps!

How much blame do you place on CC for roster construction?

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

This isn’t about CC. It’s about the Fever. You’re thinking selfishly.

CC thrived and the Fever were a 6th seed 2 years ago with no hopes of competing for a title.

The roster is an unbalanced mess. CC can thrive in a variety of styles. She was 1st team all WNBA under this “terrible” coach.

it’s the Fever. CC is playing for an amateurish, incompetent organization.

I know, but I'm trying to be better about covering one fire at a time, so as to not write novels that nobody is gonna read or respond/react to.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

How much blame do you place on CC for roster construction?

Prior to this year (which is what we're focusing on), on her as a player or a person? Zero percent.

 

[Tom Paris]

I don't get how people can complain about Steph White's offense. The Fever were the highest scoring team by over 4 points per game. With CC being hurt to start the year and Aliyah being hurt most of the year.

Caitlin also had the second highest usage rate in the WNBA this year so I'm not sure why you think Steph is trying to reign CC in and control her.

The defense has been bad, obviously. At the start of the year I think a good amount of the blame should have fell on SW for having them switch 1-5 when they did not have the roster for that.

As the season went on I think the coaching staff made a really smart adjustment by having Timpson start since she could defend other teams Guards and CC could "hide" on the opposing team's worst offensive player.

Did it fix all the defensive issues, no but that also goes back to the team having three maybe four players who are average to above average defenders on the roster.

Finally and maybe most importantly Caitlin is not an easy player to coach.

Basketball wise she's a generational offensive talent who has two glaring holes in her game (defense and turnovers). She needs a coach that can walk the line in getting her to improve those two areas without taking away from the other areas she shines. While she still has some issues with these parts of her game I dont think it can be denied that Caitlin has improved in both of these areas under Steph.

Caitlin can also be a demonstrative hot head on the court so she also needs a coach that isn’t afraid to stand up to her and sit her down at times for her own good and the good of the team.

If that wasn't hard enough CC also has a spotlight on her at all times filled with grifters that will take any small interaction such as an argument on the bench or god forbid flagrant foul and turn it into a media circus.

I'm not saying Steph is perfect, but she's handled this season pretty well and I'mnot sure how many coaches could have handled it better.


TL DR

It's lazy to say fire the coach. Which is why I called it dumb af.

It irritates me, after you gave me crap about a couple defensive deficiencies I correctly pointed out, that I’m forced to agree with everything you just posted here.

 

[Tom Paris]

Btw, I went back and watched the game again, as I was moreso following the Vikings game at the same time, and I abandoned the Fever game in the 3rd after White benched CC for bricking two no-f***s-given shots, but yikes............



The officiating was comically lopsided. I know we joke about games being "rigged" and they have "money" on the games and Vegas etc etc etc. I never really think it's actually that deep. It's just fun to mock these officials for typically being dog sh**, and I'm not saying the refs were "paid to help Vegas win"................they probably got nothing for their troubles at all, other than avoiding the wrath of Aja and Hammon.

But they clearly had a favorite whistle for Aja and Vegas yesterday. There were so many very very clear phantom fouls (unbiasedly clear), inconsistent enforcement of the rules, etc etc that even if you just want to chalk it up to them being absolutely f***ing terrible at their jobs and that there was nothing more to it than that, then fine, go ahead. But I have to believe these people have some understanding of what they're looking for and trying to accomplish.

We're not talking about a 16 yr old reffing youth basketball and making calls because he remembered he saw something similar when watching LeBron play the night before........

Multiple occasions you can see the refs waiting for something to happen and if it's even remotely close, they emphatically pump their fist in the air and blow their whistle like they caught the Fever red-handed.

And you go back and watch the replay and there's no contact to be found............

And I don't necessarily blame White for not challenging the calls because A. She only gets so many anyways, but also B. She knows what's up. She's not gonna win any of them. It'd only service as fan service for the people crying "why don't you challenge the call!?!?!"......she f***ing knows, by now.

Yesterday was made worse by the fact that the Aces shot so well and the Fever looked like a team that quit from top to bottom, but that kind of performance from the refs yesterday is enough to make you question why you still try.

And sadly the only reason is because the league gets what it wants if you don't...............

The male ref with the hair that looks like it’s glued to his head is a freaking terrible official. I swear he has no idea what he’s looking at out there.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

I believe CC is a very good pro player but not a great one. Her limitations (poor defense and excessive turnovers) are tremendously detrimental and are most evident when this team falls behind by double figures. At that point you can just about write off any chance for a comeback.

Right. And the fact that she's already setting ALL TIME career individual records in 2 and 1/3 seasons vs what "HOF players" did in 20+ seasons, doesn't play into it at all? ONLY player in league history to average 20+ points and 8+ assists for ANY season? FIRST team all league in both full seasons she played. Who votes on that? All star all three years? Not to mention her defense has improved overall, and frankly if the FEVER weren't BAD overall TEAM defense Clark would not be that big of an issue on that side either.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

Will game 2 against the Aces be CC's last game in a Fever uniform?

Doubtful the Fever would be that stupid, unless Clark was able to pull off some sort of power move and force them to trade her.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

CC has feasted on the bottom half of the league this year and struggled against the top half.

I suppose CC gets credit for the former and White is to blame for the latter?

Other then Minn, is there all that much difference given the parity in the league? I'm sure you've gone through and analysed all the other top players in the league and how they performed against the top and lower level team though right? here's what we know is FACT. Clark became the FIRST player in league history to average 20+ points and 8+ assists for an entire season. Not THIS season, ANY season. Did all the other players only put up their numbers against the better teams in the league? Not to even bring up the league is better and deeper now then it was in past years.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

So your saying Caitlin is sort of the Kirk Ferentz of the WNBA. Awesome take.

And totally false.

 

[Kceasthawk@77]

How much blame do you place on CC for roster construction?

Maybe you should answer that yourself. How is she responsible for what they paid Hull, Billings, Dantas Hines-Allen etc...