@thepoolguy870i
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Joined December 2022
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Pool Guy retweeted
Listening to Kelsey Mitchell's exit interview, I couldn't help but laugh a little.
Not because what she's describing isn't difficult. I'm sure it is.
But I continue to believe that one of the biggest adjustments happening in the WNBA right now is that these women are learning what it's like to play in a genuinely relevant, heavily scrutinized professional sports league.
KM talked about how hard it is being a Fever player. About waking up every day and giving your best, only for your best to not be enough for some people.
And my lifelong sports-fan reaction was basically:
Well...yeah. 😅
Ask an NFL kicker who misses a 38-yarder to lose a playoff game how many fans appreciate that he "gave his best."
Ask an NBA point guard who goes 3-for-17 in Game 7.
Ask an Iowa QB after three straight three-and-outs. 😅
She talked about how hard it is "showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you."
Kelsey...
Sports fans have disliked players ON THEIR OWN TEAM since approximately 15 minutes after sports were invented. 😂
Iowa fans can love the Hawkeyes with every molecule in their bodies while simultaneously demanding that somebody be benched, fired, or launched directly into the sun.
That's SPORTS. 😅
And I've never seen a professional sports league collectively so consumed by social media discourse.
Players talk about tweets. Coaches talk about tweets. Reporters ask players about tweets. Other players respond to those comments. ESPN discusses the response. Then somebody's podcast discusses ESPN discussing the response to the response. 😂
Caitlin Clark didn't invent obnoxious sports fans.
She brought an enormous number of mainstream sports fans into a league that had never experienced this level of attention and scrutiny before.
And THAT'S the distinction.
What they're experiencing may genuinely be new for the WNBA.
It is absolutely NOT new for professional sports.
Fans second-guess you.
Fans criticize you.
Fans irrationally blame you for losses.
Fans love the superstar more than they love you.
Fans scream that you should pass her the damn ball.
Fans demand trades.
Fans say stupid shit on the internet.
Welcome to big-time sports! You've made it! 😅
For decades the WNBA wanted more attention. Bigger audiences. Packed arenas. Better TV ratings. More money. More relevance.
Well...
Mainstream sports relevance comes with mainstream sports bullshit. 😂 – at Byron, MN
Pool Guy retweeted
After Last Night’s Post Blew Up I Realized We Need More Sizes & I Want To Send A Couple Pairs Outside The US
It Always Feels Good To Give Back 😅💙 Stay Tuned We’ll Be Choosing Winners Like & Repost This!!
Pool Guy retweeted
I’m Giving Back To The CCFC But Especially To The CCFC That Supports The Venom Movement
What A Rollercoaster Season But Drop Your Sizes Below & Repost This I LOVE YOU ALL FROM ANYWHERE 💙
Pool Guy retweeted
Caitlin put the pressure on the Nike design team she knew the shoe needed to be a banger lmfaoooooo
You are not an invisible league anymore. People actually tune in. Time to start acting like a professional organization. This article is 💯 on the target.
Replying to @WNBA
@WNBA, this is no longer about a missed call.
This is about whether the league is willing to enforce one of the most important boundaries in professional sports:
PLAYERS DO NOT GO INTO THE STANDS TO CONFRONT FANS.
Your own rules require an automatic ejection when a player deliberately enters the spectator stands.
A’ja Wilson walked into the seating area, went past the front row, approached a fan in the second row, and initiated an angry confrontation.
She received only a technical foul.
Then arena security investigated the fan, spoke with witnesses, found no violation of the Fan Code of Conduct, and allowed him to remain.
That makes this much more serious than a simple officiating mistake.
This was not a fan entering a player’s space.
This was not a spectator rushing the court.
This was a professional athlete leaving the playing area and entering the stands to confront a fan who was later cleared by arena security.
That deserves consequences beyond a technical foul.
Professional sports have treated the player-fan boundary seriously for decades because once athletes begin entering the stands to confront spectators, the potential consequences become enormous.
The most extreme example is the Malice at the Palace.
That incident involved actual fighting and was far more serious than what happened here, so the punishment is obviously not directly comparable.
But the lesson was unmistakable.
Players going into the stands to confront fans can bring serious suspensions.
Nobody is arguing A’ja Wilson deserves an 86-game suspension.
But doing nothing would be indefensible.
The WNBA should immediately review this incident for supplemental discipline, and a suspension should absolutely be on the table.
Yes, even during the playoffs.
Especially during the playoffs.
Because rules become meaningless the moment the importance of the player or the game determines whether they are enforced.
A’ja Wilson is one of the biggest stars in the WNBA.
That cannot make her exempt from a standard designed to protect players, fans, arena personnel, and the integrity of the game.
The league also needs to issue an immediate public statement making something crystal clear:
PLAYERS ENTERING THE STANDS TO CONFRONT SPECTATORS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
The WNBA demands that fans follow its Code of Conduct.
Fans can be removed, banned, and punished when they cross those boundaries.
Players must be held to a boundary too.
This is an opportunity for the WNBA to prove that accountability is finally going to mean something.
Not selective accountability.
Not superstar accountability.
Not playoff accountability.
ACCOUNTABILITY.
Suspend her.
Make the standard unmistakable.
And show every player and every fan walking into a WNBA arena that nobody gets to cross that line.
@CathyEngelbert @officialadamNBA
Nothing will stop @CaitlinClark22 tonight!
These are the 3 that should have had a lot more time on the floor together. Team USA will be dominant in the Olympics! Assuming we have a new coach…
This isn’t isolated to CC. Kara is part of the OG and part of the problem. There’s a system they’ve created and younger players don’t fit the system. I truly can’t think of another league that does crap like this.
Pool Guy retweeted
Steph Curry was 5/20 from 3 before the semi finals of the Olympics.
Despite that the team believed in him and they kept saying "The Flurry is Coming". Obviously the rest is history.
Caitlin Clark is currently 5/19 from 3 before the Semis.
Its Coming...
Pool Guy retweeted
Looks like all of the Caitlin Clark haters have hijacked the MVP poll. Let’s get Caitlin Clark to the top, and knock Jackie Young down a few spots. fiba.basketball/en/events/fi…
It’s time for Lawson/Bird to go to the bullpen. Start: Clark/Reese/Bueckers/Howard/Stewie. Enough of the pettiness, start your best 5!
Pool Guy retweeted
Durant missed every 2024 Team USA exhibition with a calf injury and stayed with the team. Ginóbili was too hurt to play Argentina’s 2008 bronze game and still sat on the bench.
A'ja Wilson being "unable" to play does not mean unable to lead.
Pool Guy retweeted
POOL PLAY IS COMPLETE. 🇺🇸
# TEAM USA: 3–0.
# GROUP D WINNERS.
# STRAIGHT TO THE QUARTERFINALS.
And the Group D gave us a pretty cool symmetry:
# THREE GAMES.
# THREE PLAYERS OF THE GAME.
# THREE DIFFERENT STAT LEADERS.
GAME 1 vs. CHINA:
CAITLIN CLARK
Player of the Game.
And she finishes pool play as Team USA’s:
# ASSISTS LEADER — 19.
# MINUTES LEADER — 66.
# PLUS/MINUS LEADER — +58.
19 assists.
4 turnovers.
# 4.75 AST/TO.
GAME 2 vs. ITALY:
JACKIE YOUNG
Player of the Game.
And she finishes as Team USA’s:
# SCORING LEADER
34 POINTS.
11.3 PPG.
GAME 3 vs. CZECHIA:
BREANNA STEWART
Player of the Game.
And she finishes as Team USA’s:
# REBOUNDING LEADER — 25.
8.3 RPG.
# 0 TURNOVERS
Then look at some of the depth behind them:
Paige Bueckers:
31 PTS • 11 AST • +47
Rhyne Howard:
19 PTS • 6 AST • +48
Angel Reese:
26 PTS • 18 REB
Kahleah Copper:
16 PTS • 14 REB
Aliyah Boston:
+44
Kiki Iriafen:
14 REB in just 26 total minutes.
Three games.
Three very different performances.
Three different Players of the Game.
And now:
# THE GROUP STAGE IS OVER.
USA waits for the winner of Hungary/Japan.
From here on out?
# WIN OR GO HOME.
The game leaves receipts. 🧾✓
#TeamUSA #USABWNT #FIBAWWC #CaitlinClark #JackieYoung #BreannaStewart @FIBAWWC
Pool Guy retweeted
Team USA first-quarter +/- impact per minute:
Stewart: +1.97
Clark: +1.91
Bueckers: +1.91
Howard: +1.91
Then:
Copper: +1.03
Gray: +1.03
Collier: +1.03
Young: +1.03
Clark, Paige and Rhyne entered together with USA leading 16-10.
Four minutes later?
29-15.
For the third straight game, the basketball is trying to tell the coaching staff something.
If I’m the coach I’m pulling everyone into a meeting and telling them to cut the crap. Play as a team or ride the bench. I swear there is no other sport where this is an issue. Only the WNBA could produce a team full of “me’s”
Pool Guy retweeted
🚨 CAITLIN CLARK IS THE GREATEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO WOMEN’S BASKETBALL — AND SOME OF Y’ALL HATE ADMITTING IT🚨🚨🚨🏀🏀🏀
Not Diana Taurasi. Not A’ja Wilson. Not Angel Reese. Nobody has brought this many new eyes, this much energy, this much conversation and this much mainstream attention to women’s basketball!!!
You can argue about who the GOAT player is. That’s a basketball debate🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
But the biggest FORCE the sport has ever seen? Caitlin Clark💯💯💯
Ratings exploded. Arenas got bigger. Ticket demand skyrocketed. Endorsements grew. Networks started paying attention. Players are entering an era with opportunities women’s basketball spent DECADES fighting to create.
And Caitlin Clark didn’t build women’s basketball by herself , plenty of legends laid the foundation.
But she kicked the damn door off the hinges.
That’s what makes the constant resentment toward her so ridiculous. Critique her shooting. Critique her turnovers. Critique her defense. That’s sports.
But pretending she hasn’t completely changed the economics and visibility of women’s basketball because you don’t like her fanbase is pure denial.
Your favorite player is benefiting from the Caitlin Clark era whether you want to admit it or not.
Put some respect on the woman who helped turn women’s basketball into appointment television.
Agree or am I completely out of pocket?❓👀
#CaitlinClark #WNBA #WomensBasketball #IndianaFever #feverrising