September 5, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: WNBA playoff breakdown, what is Caitlin Clark REALLY like?
By The Next
Playoffs approach, benefits of the Olympic break, and more
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Gigi Speer breaks down the WNBA playoff picture and is joined by Symone Stanley to discuss what playoff Caitlin Clark might look like and covering the WNBA in general.
Continue reading with a subscription to The Next
Get unlimited access to women’s basketball coverage and help support our hardworking staff of writers, editors, and photographers by subscribing today.
Already a member?
Login
First, Speer compared what home court advantage might mean for teams looking to create upsets in the early playoff rounds, namely the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury.
“Now the first games of the first round are hosted by the higher seed, we see that has an impact. I think it definitely can have an impact with Indiana,” Speer said. “A couple people were asking who’s in the best position to make noise [in the] playoffs, the Fever and the Mercury guys, it’s really, really hard to root against a GOAT, especially Diana Taurasi. We also have Brittney Griner, [Natasha Cloud] if she plays, and let’s just talk about Kahleah Copper on the Mercury! It’s really hard to root against them. I think that the Fever might have a better home court advantage, though, they wouldn’t have the first two games at home, but if it comes down to them playing that third game, then they could have an advantage there.”
Get 24/7 soccer coverage with The Equalizer
The Next is partnering with The Equalizer to bring more women’s sports stories to your inbox. Subscribers to The Next receive 50% off their subscription to The Equalizer for 24/7 coverage of women’s soccer.
Then, Stanley joined the conversation to discuss how important the Olympic break was for rookies in the league. They talked about how Clark’s game has noticeably improved following the time off from games.
“We’ve seen the way, after the Olympic break, probably the physical health and the mental health break, the way that she’s just turned up so much more,” Stanley said. “But that is big, like, usually rookies, when it comes to the NBA, they’re playing in March Madness, some of them, a few of them, are going to go on until April, and then they have all summer to scrimmage. They have the rest of the spring, the summer, the fall, for training camp and scrimmage, and then they don’t get going until, like, what, October, November? But for the women’s basketball side, there’s no time to prep for that transition from college basketball to professional basketball, which is a whole different game. So shout out to all the rookies for just being able to get thrown right into the fire, but I definitely think that the Olympic break had a big impact for [Clark].”
Want even more women’s sports in your inbox?
Subscribe now to our sister publication The IX and receive our independent women’s sports newsletter six days a week. Learn more about your favorite athletes and teams around the world competing in soccer, tennis, basketball, golf, hockey and gymnastics from our incredible team of writers.
Readers of The Next now save 50% on their subscription to The IX.
Tune in to hear them discuss the differences in covering football and women’s basketball, how trash talk and player/team rivalries vary from sport to sport, more on Clark and the Fever, and more. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
