2023-2024 WNBA Season

[bdm860]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

[W8ting2McHale]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

[bdm860]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

You gotta apply that same stat stuffing criticism to Clark though.  6 of her assists were in the 4Q of a loss to the worst team in the league.  DefenseWinsChamps claims there were 5 more potential 4Q assists.  I didn't watch the game, but that looks like blatant stat stuffing to me.

To be fair, I don't necessarily have a problem with stat stuffing (except when it's Devin Booker vs the C's), and I don't know if either really qualify (both Reese's 5 rebound 4Q and Clark's 6 assist 4Q happened in games that were one possession games at the start of the 4Q, so they both should be playing and putting up stats during the 4th).

And another nod to Reese, her streak ended when she finished a game with 8 points.  She had 8 points and 10 rebounds going into the 4th.  Only took 2 shots in the 4Q, and none in the last 2 minutes after the deficit ballooned to double digits.  Just fired up my WNBA league pass to rewatch the last couple of minutes, and it looked like the final possession down 14 with 20 seconds left Reese tried to get a shot but was tripled team, passed out, and was calling for the ball again, but her team ran out the clock.  So probably a last ditch effort to keep the streak alive, but not egregious stat stuffing.

[SHAQATTACK]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I remember when MJ came into the league. Bulls got stomped a lot , no matter how well MJ played as an individual.   It took time to build a team around him ?find the correct #2 guy , get got centers and role players . Eventually it will come together.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

You gotta apply that same stat stuffing criticism to Clark though.  6 of her assists were in the 4Q of a loss to the worst team in the league.  DefenseWinsChamps claims there were 5 more potential 4Q assists.  I didn't watch the game, but that looks like blatant stat stuffing to me.

To be fair, I don't necessarily have a problem with stat stuffing (except when it's Devin Booker vs the C's), and I don't know if either really qualify (both Reese's 5 rebound 4Q and Clark's 6 assist 4Q happened in games that were one possession games at the start of the 4Q, so they both should be playing and putting up stats during the 4th).

And another nod to Reese, her streak ended when she finished a game with 8 points.  She had 8 points and 10 rebounds going into the 4th.  Only took 2 shots in the 4Q, and none in the last 2 minutes after the deficit ballooned to double digits.  Just fired up my WNBA league pass to rewatch the last couple of minutes, and it looked like the final possession down 14 with 20 seconds left Reese tried to get a shot but was tripled team, passed out, and was calling for the ball again, but her team ran out the clock.  So probably a last ditch effort to keep the streak alive, but not egregious stat stuffing.

Reese streak ended when her team was down 17 with less than 30 seconds to go, and she repeatedly was calling for the ball to try to score when the rest of the two teams were acting like the game was over. But whatever, there are stat-stuffers in the NBA too for sure.

And ESPN was non-stop about Reese's double doubles. If you missed that, then you were living under a rock.

The Fever can't play defense. Clark is a small part of that problem, but she's averaging 2 steals and 1 block a game. The Fever are the worst team in the NBA without Clark. She is continually serving up great shots for her teammates that they aren't finishing.

As I mentioned before, the leader in potential assists per game in the NBA last year was Trae Young with 18 (48 minute game). Clark is easily clearing that every game (in 40 minute games. Smith and Samuelson have to be replaced with players that know how to move off the ball, attack closeouts, shoot, and defend.

[bdm860]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

You gotta apply that same stat stuffing criticism to Clark though.  6 of her assists were in the 4Q of a loss to the worst team in the league.  DefenseWinsChamps claims there were 5 more potential 4Q assists.  I didn't watch the game, but that looks like blatant stat stuffing to me.

To be fair, I don't necessarily have a problem with stat stuffing (except when it's Devin Booker vs the C's), and I don't know if either really qualify (both Reese's 5 rebound 4Q and Clark's 6 assist 4Q happened in games that were one possession games at the start of the 4Q, so they both should be playing and putting up stats during the 4th).

And another nod to Reese, her streak ended when she finished a game with 8 points.  She had 8 points and 10 rebounds going into the 4th.  Only took 2 shots in the 4Q, and none in the last 2 minutes after the deficit ballooned to double digits.  Just fired up my WNBA league pass to rewatch the last couple of minutes, and it looked like the final possession down 14 with 20 seconds left Reese tried to get a shot but was tripled team, passed out, and was calling for the ball again, but her team ran out the clock.  So probably a last ditch effort to keep the streak alive, but not egregious stat stuffing.

Reese streak ended when her team was down 17 with less than 30 seconds to go, and she repeatedly was calling for the ball to try to score when the rest of the two teams were acting like the game was over. But whatever, there are stat-stuffers in the NBA too for sure.

And ESPN was non-stop about Reese's double doubles. If you missed that, then you were living under a rock.

The Fever can't play defense. Clark is a small part of that problem, but she's averaging 2 steals and 1 block a game. The Fever are the worst team in the NBA without Clark. She is continually serving up great shots for her teammates that they aren't finishing.

As I mentioned before, the leader in potential assists per game in the NBA last year was Trae Young with 18 (48 minute game). Clark is easily clearing that every game (in 40 minute games. Smith and Samuelson have to be replaced with players that know how to move off the ball, attack closeouts, shoot, and defend.

It's 2024, who watches ESPN still?

Your Angel Reese criticism is slightly off (only because I just rewatched the last 2 minutes).  She was triple teamed (the play-by-play called it quadruple teamed because there was a 4th defender in the vicinity).  Looks like the other team cared to me. I wrote about this above, but I view you writing it in your post as some kind of "gotcha."

I just don't know why you guys are trying to hate on her while seemingly giving Clark a pass (personally, I don't have a problem with either performance).  The loss to a bad team took some of the shine off of Clark's accomplishment for me though.

This is the world to me though:  Reese set a record.  A'ja Wilson had a monster game, in a close game by 2 playoff bound teams.  Neither of these were mentioned here (I was actually going to post about both them here when they happened but got distracted both times, so I'm probably part of the problem ha).  Neither of those made front page news, I don't even have to go to a sports specific site to see Clark set a record).  I'm understanding the frustration of other WNBA players about the Clark news domination, when they're doing things too.

Feels a lot like how we often criticize Lakers/LeBron coverage.  Why are they always dominating the news despite a poor record while other great things happening around the league.  (That's rhetorical, I understand why they always dominate the news).

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

You gotta apply that same stat stuffing criticism to Clark though.  6 of her assists were in the 4Q of a loss to the worst team in the league.  DefenseWinsChamps claims there were 5 more potential 4Q assists.  I didn't watch the game, but that looks like blatant stat stuffing to me.

To be fair, I don't necessarily have a problem with stat stuffing (except when it's Devin Booker vs the C's), and I don't know if either really qualify (both Reese's 5 rebound 4Q and Clark's 6 assist 4Q happened in games that were one possession games at the start of the 4Q, so they both should be playing and putting up stats during the 4th).

And another nod to Reese, her streak ended when she finished a game with 8 points.  She had 8 points and 10 rebounds going into the 4th.  Only took 2 shots in the 4Q, and none in the last 2 minutes after the deficit ballooned to double digits.  Just fired up my WNBA league pass to rewatch the last couple of minutes, and it looked like the final possession down 14 with 20 seconds left Reese tried to get a shot but was tripled team, passed out, and was calling for the ball again, but her team ran out the clock.  So probably a last ditch effort to keep the streak alive, but not egregious stat stuffing.

Reese streak ended when her team was down 17 with less than 30 seconds to go, and she repeatedly was calling for the ball to try to score when the rest of the two teams were acting like the game was over. But whatever, there are stat-stuffers in the NBA too for sure.

And ESPN was non-stop about Reese's double doubles. If you missed that, then you were living under a rock.

The Fever can't play defense. Clark is a small part of that problem, but she's averaging 2 steals and 1 block a game. The Fever are the worst team in the NBA without Clark. She is continually serving up great shots for her teammates that they aren't finishing.

As I mentioned before, the leader in potential assists per game in the NBA last year was Trae Young with 18 (48 minute game). Clark is easily clearing that every game (in 40 minute games. Smith and Samuelson have to be replaced with players that know how to move off the ball, attack closeouts, shoot, and defend.

It's 2024, who watches ESPN still?

Your Angel Reese criticism is slightly off (only because I just rewatched the last 2 minutes).  She was triple teamed (the play-by-play called it quadruple teamed because there was a 4th defender in the vicinity).  Looks like the other team cared to me. I wrote about this above, but I view you writing it in your post as some kind of "gotcha."

I just don't know why you guys are trying to hate on her while seemingly giving Clark a pass (personally, I don't have a problem with either performance).  The loss to a bad team took some of the shine off of Clark's accomplishment for me though.

This is the world to me though:  Reese set a record.  A'ja Wilson had a monster game, in a close game by 2 playoff bound teams.  Neither of these were mentioned here (I was actually going to post about both them here when they happened but got distracted both times, so I'm probably part of the problem ha).  Neither of those made front page news, I don't even have to go to a sports specific site to see Clark set a record).  I'm understanding the frustration of other WNBA players about the Clark news domination, when they're doing things too.

Feels a lot like how we often criticize Lakers/LeBron coverage.  Why are they always dominating the news despite a poor record while other great things happening around the league.  (That's rhetorical, I understand why they always dominate the news).

There's no hate toward Reese. It's not a gotchya comment if its true and disproves what you are saying. I like her game. But she was down 17 trying to get a cheap late bucket for her own stats. When she got triple-teamed, she reset and tried to call for the ball again at the foul line. It was stat-padding, but again, NBA players do the same thing. It's off-putting to me, but I don't hate her for it.

My main criticism of Reese is two-fold: 1) She's been a bit entitled with some of what she has said. Again, NBA players do the same thing, but it makes it harder to cheer for her. And 2) She is shooting 40% from the field as a player that does all of her damage in the paint. As good as she is at rebounding, she hasn't been a very good finisher.

Both of those are legitimate critiques about Reese, and if the WNBA wants better coverage, the fans and players need to get used to critiques like this. We watch and cheer and critique the Cetlics summer league team - why can't we do the same for the WNBA?

People talk about Clark not strictly because of her skill, but because she is very enjoyable to watch as a basketball fan. She's similar to Luka in a lot of way. Luka is a winer to the refs, can have bad body language at times, and is constantly acting like he got hurt, but he's still one of the most watchable NBA stars because of playstyle. Clark has a lot of the same characteristics.

Like it or not, it's not as enjoyable for most fans to watch put-backs and paint play, which is why fans don't enjoy Reese and Wilson. Even if Wilson is having an MVP-type season right now.

Also, if you watch the games, you know that Clark has gotten better throughout the season, and it's getting to the point where you legitimately wonder how much more she could do to help her team win. She could clean up a few turnovers and hit a few more outside shots. She could be more engaged on defense occasionally as well. But if she can keep up how she's been playing the last 9 games and the Fever can get above .500, she is a legitimate MVP candidate this year with what she's doing for the Fever.

[bdm860]

There's no hate toward Reese. It's not a gotchya comment if its true and disproves what you are saying. I like her game. But she was down 17 trying to get a cheap late bucket for her own stats. When she got triple-teamed, she reset and tried to call for the ball again at the foul line. It was stat-padding, but again, NBA players do the same thing. It's off-putting to me, but I don't hate her for it.

I'm confused about what you think you were disproving?

Reese took 2 shots in the 4Q.  None in the last 2 minutes (when down double digits).  Tried for one at the end.  I said that's not egregious stat stuffing.  You disagree with that?

Personally, when I looked at the box score when the streak ended and saw Reese shot 2-13 for the game and they lost by 14  (not 17, small tidbit that doesn't really matter but bugs me lol), I thought to myself I bet she went like 0-10 in the 4Q trying to extend the record and probably took like 5 shots in the last 2 minutes with the game out of reach.  I was surprised to see neither were true.

[bdm860]

With Clark's assist record (and Reese's double-double record), I started browsing through some other WNBA records.  A few things I think the WNBA has going for itself right now is the <30 years of history, no unbreakable Wilt-like records from past eras, and an expanded season (WNBA seasons have gone from 28 to 34 to 40 games currently and are going to 44 games next year). There's a lot of attainable single game records and season average records, and the total season records will fall just from more games (though some of the averages would break records anyway even at shorter seasons). This will help keep WNBA in the news at the most opportune time.

Single game:
53 points - A'ja Wilson/Liz Cambage.  Just comparing to the NBA, it's not uncommon to see a player score 50%-60% of his teams points (all the modern players with 70+ point game scored between 49%-66% of their teams points). Not uncommon to see WNBA teams score 100-115 points in a game. Do the math.  It could be pretty cool to get a Sosa-McGuire battle between between Wilson and Clark (Clark scores 54, then Wilson gets 55, Clark gets 56, etc.) over the next couple of years.

Rebounds (24), assists (19), steals (10) all seem attainable.  (Especially assists since Clark just had 19, and looks like she could have gotten 25 if everything broke right).

A'ja Wilson is on pace to set the league single season ppg record (currently 1.91 ppg ahead of Taursi's best season), and should be the first player to break 1000 points in a season (thanks to the expanded season).

Angel Reese has a chance to set the rpg record (currently .04 ahead of the record by Fowles), and even if she doesn't will set the single season total rebound record (thanks to the expanded season).

Caitlin Clark probably won't set the apg record this season (10.0 by Vandersloot, Clark is 1.6 behind), but will set the single season total assist record (thanks to the expanded season).  Her last 9 games is 11.9 though, but she'd need to avg 13.4apg over the last 14 to break it, so if not this year, then maybe next year.


Some other random, attainable records:

Career triple double record is 13 (and growing because Alyssa Thomas has had like all of them in the last 3 years).  2nd place all time is 3.  Clark already has 1.  Single season record is 6.

Single season double double record should fall too (28 games by Alyssa Thomas last year), if not this year than next year (due to more games).  Reese needs 11 more to tie, 12 to break with 16 more games this year.

Consecutive Double-doubles, it was just set by Reese at 15, not hard to imagine her (or Clark or Wilson or someone else) getting a run at it.

For 3's: 9 made, 16 attempted are the records. Clark had several games that matched the makes and beat the attempts at Iowa.  Already has a 7/13 from 3 game.  Just a matter of time.

And then there's the random records, most consecutive point-assist double-doubles (6, Clark already had a streak of 5), most points in triple double (31 by Ionescu, top 5 are all from the last few seasons), most [insert stat here] by a rookie (Clark/Reese will set a lot of these this year), most [insert stat here] in a quarter/half, etc. Clark already has several turnover records (wear those with pride, only HoFers set turnover records).

A lot of new records are likely to be set now and over the next couple of years.

[Moranis]

Clark sets the WNBA record for assists in a game with 19. In the fourth quarter alone, she had 5 more potential assists that her teammates did not convert.

Watching the highlights (the 1st assist seemed generous, but the rest looked good), the game looked so wide open and easy, Clark and her teammates seemed to be getting to the basket with ease and making everything.  Wow.

Then I looked at the score.  Fever lost, to the worst team in the WNBA, and Clark was -8.  No longer wow.



And now I'm starting to get some of the frustration of other players in the league. A'ja Wilson had a 20/20 game last week (that I was in the building for!), and Angel Reese broke Candace Parker's record for most consecutive double-doubles (not a rookie record, but an overall league record), and it didn't feel like I heard as much about them. If I wasn't watching the games when these things happened, I wouldn't have heard about them at all.

I saw reports for Angel Reese breaking the record and then after each game that she pushed it higher, eventually ending at 15. One of those games (13?) she stat stuffed to keep it going. Her team was loosing and she grabbed 5 rebounds in the 4th quarter to reach 10 and keep the streak going.

She already had the record at that point but wasn?t satisfied. It?s her best shot at beating Clark for ROY.

Clark seems to let the stats come in the game instead of chasing them.

Wilson?s 20/20 game was reported on ESPN but it didn?t get the attention that Reese or Clark have had. She?s a 3x MVP winner, so maybe it?s expected for her to put up big numbers while the other 2 are rookies.

You gotta apply that same stat stuffing criticism to Clark though.  6 of her assists were in the 4Q of a loss to the worst team in the league.  DefenseWinsChamps claims there were 5 more potential 4Q assists.  I didn't watch the game, but that looks like blatant stat stuffing to me.

To be fair, I don't necessarily have a problem with stat stuffing (except when it's Devin Booker vs the C's), and I don't know if either really qualify (both Reese's 5 rebound 4Q and Clark's 6 assist 4Q happened in games that were one possession games at the start of the 4Q, so they both should be playing and putting up stats during the 4th).

And another nod to Reese, her streak ended when she finished a game with 8 points.  She had 8 points and 10 rebounds going into the 4th.  Only took 2 shots in the 4Q, and none in the last 2 minutes after the deficit ballooned to double digits.  Just fired up my WNBA league pass to rewatch the last couple of minutes, and it looked like the final possession down 14 with 20 seconds left Reese tried to get a shot but was tripled team, passed out, and was calling for the ball again, but her team ran out the clock.  So probably a last ditch effort to keep the streak alive, but not egregious stat stuffing.

Reese streak ended when her team was down 17 with less than 30 seconds to go, and she repeatedly was calling for the ball to try to score when the rest of the two teams were acting like the game was over. But whatever, there are stat-stuffers in the NBA too for sure.

And ESPN was non-stop about Reese's double doubles. If you missed that, then you were living under a rock.

The Fever can't play defense. Clark is a small part of that problem, but she's averaging 2 steals and 1 block a game. The Fever are the worst team in the NBA without Clark. She is continually serving up great shots for her teammates that they aren't finishing.

As I mentioned before, the leader in potential assists per game in the NBA last year was Trae Young with 18 (48 minute game). Clark is easily clearing that every game (in 40 minute games. Smith and Samuelson have to be replaced with players that know how to move off the ball, attack closeouts, shoot, and defend.

It's 2024, who watches ESPN still?

Your Angel Reese criticism is slightly off (only because I just rewatched the last 2 minutes).  She was triple teamed (the play-by-play called it quadruple teamed because there was a 4th defender in the vicinity).  Looks like the other team cared to me. I wrote about this above, but I view you writing it in your post as some kind of "gotcha."

I just don't know why you guys are trying to hate on her while seemingly giving Clark a pass (personally, I don't have a problem with either performance).  The loss to a bad team took some of the shine off of Clark's accomplishment for me though.

This is the world to me though:  Reese set a record.  A'ja Wilson had a monster game, in a close game by 2 playoff bound teams.  Neither of these were mentioned here (I was actually going to post about both them here when they happened but got distracted both times, so I'm probably part of the problem ha).  Neither of those made front page news, I don't even have to go to a sports specific site to see Clark set a record).  I'm understanding the frustration of other WNBA players about the Clark news domination, when they're doing things too.

Feels a lot like how we often criticize Lakers/LeBron coverage.  Why are they always dominating the news despite a poor record while other great things happening around the league.  (That's rhetorical, I understand why they always dominate the news).

Clark gets talked about because Clark IS the draw.  The media subjects aren't media subjects because the media picks them, the media talks about them because they are the ones making news.  I mean the Fever went from 4067 average fans last year to 16757 on average this year. On the road the Fever are drawing 15141 boosting all those figures for the other team as well. Viewership of Fever games has nearly reached the wnba peak in the late 90's. All of the most watched games of 2024 involve the Fever. 

It is Clark.  She is the driving force.  She get the publicity because she earned it.  It really is that simple.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

There's no hate toward Reese. It's not a gotchya comment if its true and disproves what you are saying. I like her game. But she was down 17 trying to get a cheap late bucket for her own stats. When she got triple-teamed, she reset and tried to call for the ball again at the foul line. It was stat-padding, but again, NBA players do the same thing. It's off-putting to me, but I don't hate her for it.

I'm confused about what you think you were disproving?

Reese took 2 shots in the 4Q.  None in the last 2 minutes (when down double digits).  Tried for one at the end.  I said that's not egregious stat stuffing.  You disagree with that?

Personally, when I looked at the box score when the streak ended and saw Reese shot 2-13 for the game and they lost by 14  (not 17, small tidbit that doesn't really matter but bugs me lol), I thought to myself I bet she went like 0-10 in the 4Q trying to extend the record and probably took like 5 shots in the last 2 minutes with the game out of reach.  I was surprised to see neither were true.

It was weird for sure. Everyone else stopped playing because the game was over. Reese kept going hard, which is why she got triple-teamed. It could have been worse, and we've see worse in the NBA, but it was stat-padding.

[bdm860]

Interesting WNBA All-Stat game format, that I didn't understand at first.

I thought the all stars were being split between USA and the World.

But it's the Olympic team vs the best players not on the Olympic team. So if the NBA did that, you'd have Brown, Brunson, Irving, Maxey, etc. going against Team USA, that could be cool to see (if played more competitively), especially if you'd get guys like Brown going hard to prove a point.

Wouldn't work in the NBA, but works in the WNBA due to the timing of the all star game and the Olympics.

[RJ87]

Interesting WNBA All-Stat game format, that I didn't understand at first.

I thought the all stars were being split between USA and the World.

But it's the Olympic team vs the best players not on the Olympic team. So if the NBA did that, you'd have Brown, Brunson, Irving, Maxey, etc. going against Team USA, that could be cool to see (if played more competitively), especially if you'd get guys like Brown going hard to prove a point.

Wouldn't work in the NBA, but works in the WNBA due to the timing of the all star game and the Olympics.

The timing definitely ramps up the competitiveness. Team USA is taking it so seriously because this might be the best team they see before really kicking off the Olympics so it's a great litmus test to see what they need to work on.

[Moranis]

Not a good look that the Olympic team lost to a bunch of Americans not on the Olympic team.

[radiohead]

It was actually a very entertaining game. You wish somehow the NBA could think of something to come up with a competitive All Star game such as this.