Anonymous wrote:I feel like there's a massive disconnect in thinking. On group loves the unprecedented talent and mass appeal of Caitlin Clark. The other group loves the insular older-black-lesbian-woman hold on the WNBA.

I think in the end there's only one answer: Caitlin Clark.

The disconnect is between the people who thinks the purpose of the Olympic team is to sell tickets to people who otherwise don't follow the sport and the people who thinks it's to win Gold.

I feel like there's a massive disconnect in thinking. On group loves the unprecedented talent and mass appeal of Caitlin Clark. The other group loves the insular older-black-lesbian-woman hold on the WNBA.

I think in the end there's only one answer: Caitlin Clark.

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Anonymous wrote:The olympic team hasn't lost a game in years. They won't lose a game this year. Nobody will care about them or watch their games and they'll wonder why. Women's basketball has the worst marketing and promotion apparatus of any sport in the country. There are high school teams better at promoting themselves.

This. As noted by pps - this was the worst business decision that could’ve been made. They’ve lost a great opportunity to grow their fan base.

You do realize that USA Basketball committee and WNBA are separate entities right? All the committee cares about is winning medals. Caitlin is a talented player but I don’t think she is ready for the physicality of international play this olympics, she may be ready for World Championships in 2 years but will definitely be ready for the 2028 Olympics.

She's 100% not physically ready for the Olympics at this point; she needs time to add muscle. The youngest player on the team is four years old than Clark, because it takes time to develop enough to play at that level. Taurasi is a veteran leader, you don't cut her for an young, undersized rookie.

This is lost on the DCUM "WNBA Final Four" crowd, because all they know is that the TV told them she's the best.

Then why not 3 on 3? HVL is on that team and stayed in college because she knows she won't be drafted. Caitlin Clark embarrassed her the last time they played

Not to mention the fact that she’s getting sh!t beat out of her in regular old WNBA games due to basic envy and hatred (racism?). If she can hold up to that and keep going, she can deal with a few Russians coming at her.

lol…compare to international physicality, what she is experiencing in WNBA is a tap. CC would be done for the season if they send her to Paris.

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Anonymous wrote:Is she the best player at her position in the WNBA? If not, then no, she doesn't belong.

Good answer.

in that case, can you explain Taursi? Is she even close to the best at her position?

What Taurasi brings is experience and leadership; her leaderdhip in the recent 81-80 win over Lynx. If we didn’t have Ionescu, Caitlin probably would have made the team.

Anonymous wrote:I think CC is better off without being on that team.

Me, too. Maybe the jealous ones will be happy with this news and take some of the pressure off her.

Anonymous wrote:I was waiting to buy tickets for the womens games. DD wanted to see CC. Now I can spend that money elsewhere.

I realize that as one person no one cares that I won't be buying 2 tickets. And yes, the games will probably sell out even without CC. But I'm probably not the only one who feels this way.

You were going to Paris? I’m sure if your DD really wants to see Caitlin play you can catch one of her games in the US.

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Anonymous wrote:The olympic team hasn't lost a game in years. They won't lose a game this year. Nobody will care about them or watch their games and they'll wonder why. Women's basketball has the worst marketing and promotion apparatus of any sport in the country. There are high school teams better at promoting themselves.

This. As noted by pps - this was the worst business decision that could’ve been made. They’ve lost a great opportunity to grow their fan base.

You do realize that USA Basketball committee and WNBA are separate entities right? All the committee cares about is winning medals. Caitlin is a talented player but I don’t think she is ready for the physicality of international play this olympics, she may be ready for World Championships in 2 years but will definitely be ready for the 2028 Olympics.

She's 100% not physically ready for the Olympics at this point; she needs time to add muscle. The youngest player on the team is four years old than Clark, because it takes time to develop enough to play at that level. Taurasi is a veteran leader, you don't cut her for an young, undersized rookie.

This is lost on the DCUM "WNBA Final Four" crowd, because all they know is that the TV told them she's the best.

Then why not 3 on 3? HVL is on that team and stayed in college because she knows she won't be drafted. Caitlin Clark embarrassed her the last time they played

Not to mention the fact that she’s getting sh!t beat out of her in regular old WNBA games due to basic envy and hatred (racism?). If she can hold up to that and keep going, she can deal with a few Russians coming at her.

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Anonymous wrote:She leads the WNBA in turnovers. Why should she be in the Olympics?

She's also wildly undersized.

she's 6'0. Kelsey Plum (on the team) is 5'8

I'm not talking about her height.

I wonder how surprised people associated with the team will be when NBC bumps them from prime time coverage in favor of swimming or track or mens basketball or sports people care about

The US Olympic basketball teams are smart to include young players when they can. They want the winning culture to continue on in the future. Given their history of including key young players, I'm surprised CC was left off the roster.
I also think this is shortsighted in terms of the growth of US and international women's basketball. CC could have helped drive a lot of domestic and international interest. The US women's team isn't in the same position as the men's team where they actually lose major tournaments on a semi-regular basis, so giving young players a chance makes even more sense in 50-50 situations. I wouldn't even put it at 50-50 here with DT.
Ultimately, I still think CC might go due to injury.

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Anonymous wrote:To those saying she is not the best at her position, there are plenty of historical examples of such players being included on Olympic teams. For example Christian Laettner was on the 92 dream team. This was because he had just come off a stellar career at Duke and adding him generated buzz. But he was nowhere near the best professional player at his position and everyone knew and acknowledged it.

And after that they never did it again.

Didn’t seem to hurt the team at all. Adding him gave people one more reason to tune in. Which is something that the current women’s basketball leadership seems to have no conception of.

Basketball is racist sport. Accept that fact and move on. White players who do make it to the top of the sport (starting at AAU) must be 150 percent better than their AA teammates to get off the bench.

--former D1 player and parent of current ballers

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Anonymous wrote:She leads the WNBA in turnovers. Why should she be in the Olympics?

She's also wildly undersized.

Undersized or not, she's incredible. Do you watch basketball? Did you go to Capital One arena on Friday? Did you see the crowds wearing her jersey number? It was a moment in history and incredible for my little DD who just started playing travel bb.

So I don't have an opinion on the Olympics but you, like many others, are being incredibly flippant of the attention she's bringing to the WNBA.

Not to forget the 30pts she dropped on the Mystics!

The Washington Mystics hold the lowest winning percentage among active franchises, with an 18–34 (. 346) record.

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Anonymous wrote:She leads the WNBA in turnovers. Why should she be in the Olympics?

She's also wildly undersized.

Undersized or not, she's incredible. Do you watch basketball? Did you go to Capital One arena on Friday? Did you see the crowds wearing her jersey number? It was a moment in history and incredible for my little DD who just started playing travel bb.

So I don't have an opinion on the Olympics but you, like many others, are being incredibly flippant of the attention she's bringing to the WNBA.

Not to forget the 30pts she dropped on the Mystics!

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those saying she is not the best at her position, there are plenty of historical examples of such players being included on Olympic teams. For example Christian Laettner was on the 92 dream team. This was because he had just come off a stellar career at Duke and adding him generated buzz. But he was nowhere near the best professional player at his position and everyone knew and acknowledged it.

And after that they never did it again.

Lebron was on the team as a Rookie.

Lebron was drafted in 2003 he went to the Athens Olympics in 2004 after what was arguably one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.