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She is REALLY special

She's must see TV. Even people who don't like WBB enjoy watching her.

Fun watch.

She is more dominant on her level--in college--than any men's player in I can think of (maybe excepting Lew Alcindor).

There is just such a disparity between her and the other players on the court. Part of it is that women defenders lack the quickness to keep her from getting where she wants to go.

What is most impressive about her (to me) is how she passes the ball and sees the floor. Well, her shooting is pretty impressive, too. In that way she is like Steph, an unbelievable shooter whose passing skills were very much underappreciated at Davidson.

This is not to disparage women's basketball. But it is not the same game as men's basketball. Which is why I found the mania surrounding her passing of Pete Maravich in all time NCAA scoring to be ridiculous. She did enough in obliterating women's records that there was no need to bring men's basketball into the discussion.

I like the women's game at these high levels because it's all about spacing and angles. If they make a mistake, they get burned, because they can't make it up with pure athleticism.

PS. I agree that like Steph, her passing skills are other-worldly. I remember watching Bobby Knight on a short ESPN segment during Steph's junior year, explaining why he was the greatest passer ever - a bold statement that happened to be correct

She has ability, like Steph has shown, like Messi has shown, to transcend to such a level that their actions and movement in their sport feels like watching an artist perform. Thinking so far ahead, having the ball on a string, manipulating everything all at once, it really is beautiful to watch.

This team is not just about Clark. I think Coach Bluder does an incredible job and does not get a lot of the credit. I dare say at this point her motion offense is run better than ours. It seems like the players have more back door options and seem to be spread out more than us. Their guards can drive down the middle or either side of the lane for lay ups or the quick assist. Her team can run complex sets but she also gives them the freedom to run the court. Caitlin is a great passer but watch her teamates run the court. After every turnover or score someone is running for the TD pass.

I wish we would do the same.

There was some beautiful basketball in that game last night. Best game I've seen all year, men or women.

I listen to the Sirius College Sports station and its pretty good if you are selective about the hosts.

I've heard a lot of talk over the past few weeks about how the women's tournament has passed the men's tournament in terms of interest and popularity. That's a bunch of nonsense.

The NCAA decided to hold the women's regional at two sites, rather than four (very strange). The sites were Albany and Portland. In the late regional final last night UConn played Southern California, led by the emerging face of the women's game, JuJu Watkins. The Moda Center in Portland holds over 19,400 for basketball; 10,900 fans attended, which the belies the claims of the rampant popularity of women's basketball.

Caitlin Clark and Iowa get good ratings (nothing close to the men's tournament) but she is sui generis. I enjoy watching Caitlin, as do many others. But as a nonpareil college hoops junkie I can't watch a women's game from tipoff to the end. And I do consider myself to be a follower of the women's game--I attended the 95 Final Four in Charlotte, which featured a great semifinal game between UConn and Tennessee.

Btw, the UConn Huskies of that era truly played the beautiful game in terms of ball movement and passing.

bagelcat wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 10:01 pm

I've heard a lot of talk over the past few weeks about how the women's tournament has passed the men's tournament in terms of interest and popularity. That's a bunch of nonsense.

At least this year, I find I am more interested in the women's final four and the men's NIT than I am in the men's elite eight or final four.

Dr. Bliss wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 1:03 pm

There was some beautiful basketball in that game last night. Best game I've seen all year, men or women.

UCONN-USoCal was pretty entertaining, too.

Waitress wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 03, 2024 12:07 am

Dr. Bliss wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 02, 2024 1:03 pm

There was some beautiful basketball in that game last night. Best game I've seen all year, men or women.

UCONN-USoCal was pretty entertaining, too.

Agree, and I didn't expect it. I've seen UConn play several times this year; that was easily the best I've seen them play.

IIRC the Iowa/LSU game was the highest rated college game ESPN has ever shown. ESPN does not broadcast the men’s tournament.

Suprisingly I enjoyed the 4 quarter womens game flow with only 4 total media timeouts. This format seemed to allow teams to get into better "runs" and bring more momentum into the game.

The men's format with 8 media timeouts is tedious and horrible at times.

FWIW, I wish the media would quit pushing the men's vs women's angle. If people watch, they watch. Let the market prevail and quit pitting the two against each other.