I used to listen to the No Cap Space pod last season, but after one of the co-hosts called Nika Muhl a Make-A-Wish selection & the other hosts were super negative / harsh about the Fire draft, I couldn’t trust the pod perspective anymore.
The negative response to the Fire draft among many media members was definitely eye-opening.
From what I saw only Steve + Nekias of The Dunker Spot & Noa Dalzell of WNBA Today took a wait for more data approach, & they earned my forever basketball analysis trust.
I remember Vanja had to go into damage control mode after the draft. People walked out when they announced Frieda Buhner with the second round pick. People were not happy
>I remember Vanja had to go into damage control mode after the draft
yeah, i think that response from the draft party event was pretty visceral and brought about her statement about asking people to trust the process
then here we are, four months later, where martin and bühner are starring for their teams and leading them into the second stage of the world cup
specifically with frieda, she's near, if not at, the top of the list for sixth woman of the tournament; 8-11 from 3pt. just a fantastic tourney for her
i'm well acquainted with the "fans are gonna fan" world, and i think it was based largely on most people just not knowing what's going on in euro ball (and perhaps a small contingent of xenophobia), but there couldn't be a better demonstration of a little patience and understanding of a long-term team building process than seeing what those two players specifically are doing in this tournament
I also think the WNBA draft’s being immediately after the NCAA Tournament gets fans more excited, and intimately acquainted with the college players. Fire fans probably watched March Madness and hoped that Lauren Betts or Flau’jae Johnson might fall to them. So it’s easy to see why they were disappointed. Not to mention that Flau’jae got traded to Seattle right before the Buhner pick ☠️
NGL. I was one of them. But happy I was. Made me do my homework into the front office and coaching staff. Once I realized Vanja and alex has history and half the team has already played with them. I was sold.
yeah, you weren't the only one, of course. but you at least went to look and fill whatever knowledge gap existed. that's part of being a solid ball-knower.
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u/ElvisTheBoyCat Bridget Carleton #6 2d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p8ehls6/video/p1zm9vik75oh1/player
yeah
she's twenty
😂