WNBA Draft (merged)

[GoChips20]

Was anyone else surprised Sara Scalia wasn’t drafted? She’s a fantastic shooter and more than just a spot-up one so I was surprised to see a team didn’t draft her. Not to call anyone out in particular but I thought she had a better season than at least three of the mid-major guards drafted.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Sobbing ...

UConn women’s basketball creates ‘home away from home’ for Nika Muhl, Aaliyah Edwards at WNBA Draft

UConn seniors Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards shared an emotional WNBA Draft night with teammates and coaches that both describe as family.

www.courant.com

“I was so positively overwhelmed, and just having all of them around me — all my people in the stands, at the table, knowing that my family, my friends from back home are watching — it’s surreal,” Muhl said. “I’m just so grateful to be able to call them my sisters and my family and have such great support even though I’m not home. This is my home away from home. They are my home away from home.”​

​

Auriemma and Muhl have a profound connection, bonded by the gratitude and motivation from what the UConn coach calls a “coming-to-America” mentality. Auriemma’s family immigrated to the United States from Montella, Italy when he was 7 years old, where he grew up without running water or electricity.​

​

“Every single thing in the culture that he built in that program aligns with me and who I am as a person and who I strive to be,” Muhl said. “He’s not just my coach, he’s my best friend. He’s been there from the start. When I failed, through the worst things, through the best things, he always stuck by my side and never left. I’ll cherish that bond and that relationship that I have with him forever.”​

 

[and one]

Hahahaha!! You guys! Mountainside. Montclair. Glen Ridge. Boonton. These are all place names from my childhood. I grew up a little further north in Bergen county, in Woodcliff Lake. Went to Pascack Hills HS. My grandparents had a farm in Morris county, in Peapack-Gladstone, with a driveway right on Rt 206.

I love hearing New Jersey town names — Glen Ridge Glen Rock Ridgewood Montvale Park Ridge Hillsdale Upper Saddle River — they love landscape names there. And the older town names like Teaneck Paramus Lodi. It brings back memories.

I lived in Verona through 8th grade and then to Bergen County in Rutherford for High School. I had cousins in Basking Ridge, another geographical name. Basking Ridge in the 50s seemed so pastoral to my NYC 'burbs eyes.

 

[VA Huskie]

Mountainside it was. If Google Maps is right the line between Montclair and Glen Ridge cuts through a tiny portion of the hospital parking lot, with the entire building in Glen Ridge. Yet a Montclair address. The founders must have thought a Montclair address had more panache and talked the postmaster into it. I bet they pay taxes in Glen Ridge.

I was also born in Mountainside. My birth certificate says Glen Ridge. Lived in Verona till I was 8. Morningside Rd. Small world.

 

[and one]

I was also born in Mountainside. My birth certificate says Glen Ridge. Lived in Verona till I was 8. Morningside Rd. Small world.

My cousins mentioned above lived on Morningside Rd until they moved to Basking Ridge. Small world for sure. When I was maybe 8 my brother and I rode our bikes to the cousins and on the way back coming down the hill toward Verona Lake I hit gravel and wiped out. I was ok but had to push the bike home.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

 

[Zach Jump]

Might have to reschedule the Aces game.

You read right past the year in those dates

 

[cancontent]

Good Q. I saw Mulkey, Staley, Bluder in the audience. It may have been a result of Nika not having anyone there except for her sister.

No different than last season when they were there for Juhasz and Lopez-Senechal. Wouldn't expect anything different from them.

 

[and one]

The Clark effect is obviously huge, not only for the draft but also for the championship game. I'd be curious to see the number of viewers for the draft after Clark was picked. Time will tell how much of a boost the Clark effect will have on women's basketball, that is how sticky the effect is and if the Clark coattails are long enough to translate into more people watching women's basketball in general.

I guess viewership will be up for games she is in. Will it be consistently up for the whole season? For games she isn't in? For women's college games? Women's basketball has made slow progress in gaining fans - will the Clark effect be the black swan that unexpectedly pushes the level of interest to another level? That would be nice. By this time next year we'll know how it shakes out.

 

[cancontent]

The Clark effect is obviously huge, not only for the draft but also for the championship game. I'd be curious to see the number of viewers for the draft after Clark was picked. Time will tell how much of a boost the Clark effect will have on women's basketball, that is how sticky the effect is and if the Clark coattails are long enough to translate into more people watching women's basketball in general.

I guess viewership will be up for games she is in. Will it be consistently up for the whole season? For games she isn't in? For women's college games? Women's basketball has made slow progress in gaining fans - will the Clark effect be the black swan that unexpectedly pushes the level of interest to another level? That would be nice. By this time next year we'll know how it shakes out.

Viewership numbers for the WNBA increased last season. While Clark will likely be the big draw, last season shouldn't be overlooked with respect to how the WNBA is gaining more eyes watching games.

There's going to be interest in seeing how Boston improves this season with the help for Clark's guard play. Las Vegas and NY provided an entertaining play off series, which could potentially happen again. Not to mention Angel Reese and Cardoso who will draw in viewers. The amount of story lines for the season are numerous.

 

[Dillon77]

I was also born in Mountainside. My birth certificate says Glen Ridge. Lived in Verona till I was 8. Morningside Rd. Small world.

@and one

My wife was raised in Basking Ridge (Old Farm Road) and went to Ridge High School.
To attempt to tie this into the topic, I did follow Hines-Allen out to Morristown a few times when they took on teams in various playoffs.

 

[mainerhuski]

?

2013 Griner, Delle Donne, Diggins,

2008 Parker, Fowles, Quigley
2009 Angel, Kristi, Rene, DeWanna, Briann
2011 Maya, Cambage, Sloot, Danielle Robinson, Jasmine Thomas
2015 Lloyd, Cheyenne Parker, Elizabeth Williams, Stokes, Cloud, Laney

2014.....for depth and Shoni and Machine Gun Maggie

2024.... Definitely in the top 15.

Am I the only one skeptical about Brink?

Apparently the Sparks aren't.

Showing my age here but… 2002 with Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones & Tamika Williams plus a few non-UConn players !

 

[Dillon77]

Was anyone else surprised Sara Scalia wasn’t drafted? She’s a fantastic shooter and more than just a spot-up one so I was surprised to see a team didn’t draft her. Not to call anyone out in particular but I thought she had a better season than at least three of the mid-major guards drafted.

Yes. I woke this morning and couldn't remember who selected her in the 2nd or 3rd round and found out, well, no one.

I've got the B1G Network and watched more than a few IU games. I thought she and Chloe Moore-McNeil did a great job keeping the team in sync when Syd Parish was out. Yes, she has such a sweet, unwavering stroke: she shot 43% overall and just about the same from three-pt. land, where she launched 241 of those. Of course, she drills FT's at a 90% clip. Plays in a tough conference so she's used to high-intensity ball. And, she's not small: 5'10" isn't tall, but it's not small, either.

That said, she may be better off not being drafted by some team that is looking for training-camp filler. If she/her agent can find a team that might have genuine interest in her, go there. She'll play somewhere next year....

 

[boontonbomber]

And the birthplace of moi! I actually grew up nextdoor in Verona but the hospital was in Montclair.

My mother worked at the Essex County Insane Asylum (Overbrook) in Cedar Grove. I bowled a lot at Meadowbrook Lanes.

 

[boontonbomber]

Hahahaha!! You guys! Mountainside. Montclair. Glen Ridge. Boonton. These are all place names from my childhood. I grew up a little further north in Bergen county, in Woodcliff Lake. Went to Pascack Hills HS. My grandparents had a farm in Morris county, in Peapack-Gladstone, with a driveway right on Rt 206.

I love hearing New Jersey town names — Glen Ridge Glen Rock Ridgewood Montvale Park Ridge Hillsdale Upper Saddle River — they love landscape names there. And the older town names like Teaneck Paramus Lodi. It brings back memories.

I grew up in Morris County in Lincoln Park, with Jim Kiick. Went to Boonton HS. Beautiful horse country out there in Peapack.

 

[boontonbomber]

And the birthplace of moi! I actually grew up nextdoor in Verona but the hospital was in Montclair.

Do you remember who the "twin comets" were in Montclair? Perhaps before your time.

 

[and one]

As a point of reference, my time started in 1948. I don't remember hearing about the "twin comets". Who or what were they.

 

[Dillon77]

As a point of reference, my time started in 1948. I don't remember hearing about the "twin comets". Who or what were they.

Ditto...probably before my time. I'm guessing something to do with the Mounties football team, correct?

 

[VA Huskie]

Ditto...probably before my time. I'm guessing something to do with the Mounties football team, correct?

I started in 1946. Only reference I can think of were 2 football brothers at Summit HS - the Mallory’s. No idea if they had a nickname though.

 

[Dillon77]

I started in 1946. Only reference I can think of were 2 football brothers at Summit HS - the Mallory’s. No idea if they had a nickname though.

Ok, my interest is officially scratched. Could @boontonbomber be referring to the 1956 Montclair High School football team, which was led by the “Twin Comets” Richie and Robert Haines? (see link and picture below)?

Miscellaneous team records — Montclair Mounties

montclairhsmountiesfootball.com

 

[#12in21]

Proud dad (Darko Mǔhl's X post:

https://x.com/DarkoMuhl/status/1780053138558390417

This is made to order recruiting material. Little girl from Croatia dreams big, comes to UConn and leaves with her name all over the record book and moves on to the biggest stage!

 

[boontonbomber]

Ok, my interest is officially scratched. Could @boontonbomber be referring to the 1956 Montclair High School football team, which was led by the “Twin Comets” Richie and Robert Haines? (see link and picture below)?

Miscellaneous team records — Montclair Mounties

montclairhsmountiesfootball.com

Ok, my interest is officially scratched. Could @boontonbomber be referring to the 1956 Montclair High School football team, which was led by the “Twin Comets” Richie and Robert Haines? (see link and picture below)?

Miscellaneous team records — Montclair Mounties

montclairhsmountiesfootball.com

You got 'em. Bobby and Richie Haines, twin brothers, played baseball and football at Montclair High in the mid fifties. Coached by the legendary Clary Anderson. Recruited by most of the college football powers ,they instead signed baseball contracts with the Phillies.

 

[Blacketh’D]

How people are this salty about players basically saying “temper your expectations” is crazy. There really is a thin line between hating on someone and offering an honest opinion. I guess all conversation goes out the window as long as you have a sound bite

 

[cancontent]

How people are this salty about players basically saying “temper your expectations” is crazy. There really is a thin line between hating on someone and offering an honest opinion. I guess all conversation goes out the window as long as you have a sound bite

From my vantage point, it's because they're interpreting anything where someone tries to be pragmatic as a dig against Clark. It's black and white to them, when there is really a lot of grey because there are so many factors to making the transition to the WNBA.

And to your point about a sound bite, that's another issue. Putting out these types of talking points gets people clicks and engagement. They don't care about context as long as they get views as we've seen with posts by Rovell snarking about Clark taking a "pay cut" when she announced her decision. Now he's posting about jersey sales without seeing the irony of his ignorance a few weeks ago.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A little Nika bookend.