Williams & Blum Pod: Cy-Hawk, Omaha & offensive coordinators
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
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Living outside of Iowa the only time I hear about Clark is on here or if Soundoff tweets about her. I promise you, outside of Iowa she is just another good collegiate athlete that no one knows about unless they are a specific hardcore women’s basketball fan. As it has been said, the local media has some tunnel vision on how “transcendent and polarizing” she is. That’s not a knock on her or her game it’s just how it is.
I don't think Curry is a great comparison because he does it against the best players in the world in the NBA. Someone else said Trae Young, and I think that fits perfect. Young brought the Steph Curry crazy shooting into the college game. But he wasn't doing it against the top players in the world, even playing in the Big 12. Now in the NBA, Young is still a very good player, but he's several steps below a Steph Curry level.
Meanwhile, Clark plays the same type of game at the women's collegiate level, which hasn't really been seen before. However, the disparity between women's teams is vastly different that men's CBB teams. There is just less overall talent. So while Clark is a great player, she does frequently benefit from playing against opponents that aren't even close to the same level, even in Big 10 play. So it'll be interesting to see how Clark adapts and performs in the WNBA, where there is a more equal talent level. She could end up being Steph Curry, she could end up being Seth Curry.
This is exactly why I said in the offseason people are going to be disappointed with him at first. He isn't a true center but doesn't yet have a great offensive skillset to create his own shots, shoot a floater on a slash, or a jump shot on a pick and pop. Those are things he still needs to learn and only time will tell if/when he gets there.
This was a ridiculous segment. Could she score some points, probably, but avg 10 a game for Iowa is insane. For reference, she is listed at 6 ft and Paveletzke is listed at 6’2-6’3 and (sorry Pav) looks TINY out there. She would be dwarfed in comparison to Big 10 guards.
I think the best comp I've seen in this thread is Jerami Grant although Omaha's athleticism hasn't stood out yet at ISU. He's slow off the floor, which is where I was expecting him to make to the most impact early in his career. I expected him to be cleaning up the glass and bringing some rim protection from the weak side. His head seems to be spinning, unfortunately, and we haven't seen that explosiveness.
Blum/CW and a couple have mentioned him playing somewhat out of position, and to me, that's the biggest disconnect between fan expectations and what we've seen so far. He is strictly playing as a PF, and we aren't seeing any perimeter skills, which he was showcasing last season in HS and AAU.
A Zion comp, are you kidding me? He is nowhere near that bouncy or skilled. I like Aaron Gordon as a comp for Omaha's ceiling. Someone who can play outside, but is more effective using his frame and athleticism to get points and rebounds around the rim.
Give him some tape of Big 12 POY Melvin Ejim.
Blum/CW and a couple have mentioned him playing somewhat out of position, and to me, that's the biggest disconnect between fan expectations and what we've seen so far. He is strictly playing as a PF, and we aren't seeing any perimeter skills, which he was showcasing last season in HS and AAU.
A Zion comp, are you kidding me? He is nowhere near that bouncy or skilled. I like Aaron Gordon as a comp for Omaha's ceiling. Someone who can play outside, but is more effective using his frame and athleticism to get points and rebounds around the rim.
Give him some tape of Big 12 POY Melvin Ejim.
Bill Freaking Simmons, who made hay mocking the WNBA for quite some time, was tweeting about her during the tournament last year. She’s not getting LeBron level coverage or anything, but it’s disingenuous to suggest that she’s not on the national radar, especially given the coverage NCAA WBB usually gets (none).
I don't know, as someone living out of state I would generally agree with CyClub's assessment. She was a big story here for like a week because she acted like an ass during the Final Four. And that 15 minutes of fame has now been long forgotten. Go grab a random person at a local sports bar and ask who she is and they won't know.
To be clear, I'm not saying she is Steph Curry, just that if she is going to develop to the point of having a huge impact on women's basketball, it would be an impact in the same mold as Curry's. Young is who I compared her to earlier in her career, but I think she's shown enough consistency now that I think that comp doesn't do her justice.
I want to make clear my overall points in this thread:
1. I think Clark's national popularity and interest are a lot higher than many Iowa State fans want to believe. No, most casual sports fans still won't know who she is. But a lot more have heard of her or have seen her than any women's college basketball player in the past 10 years, at the very least. And the NCAA tournament run gave her a peak of popularity that rivals athletes in pretty much any sport.
2. Clark's current and predicted impact on women's basketball does not yet compare to the greatest/most important women's basketball players of all time. But that's an unfair comparison to make for any college athlete, and it doesn't mean that she isn't deserving of the attention she is currently getting.
Sure, as an Iowa State fan it's annoying to constantly hear about her. But if she wasn't worthy of attention, I don't think CF would spend as much time talking and complaining about her as we do.
I'll have to look but there was literally a Hok media person of some sort (neckbeard, looks like a stereotypical incel) that compared Clark's popularity to Michael Jordan.
TJ said in the post game media that Omaha is really hard on himself. TJ is trying to develop his style of play for this level AND his mental game/confidence. He raves about his character and ability to be a great teammate. When the coaching staff and Omaha get the kinks worked out he will be a great contributor. I love it that TJ only wants to best for Omaha.
Fair enough, and I'm not meaning to defend Hawkeye beat writers or anyone else who I know are ridiculous. Moreso defending the generic media types (Keith Murphy is the main example I'm thinking of) that talk a lot about Clark primarily because her very real popularity demands it. There may still be some hyperbole in it, but I don't think there's as much as some think. Gatorade and State Farm aren't doing commercials with Clark just because local news covers her a lot.
I didn’t say she wasn’t on the national radar. Of course she is, to die hard sports fans. She isn’t polarizing or transcendent on a national stage like the local Iowa media makes her out to be.
Hell, not a lot of people even know the difference between Iowa/Iowa State on the coasts let alone the players who play there.
Hah! Of all my years on CF, I should have known better to underestimate the potential for a pretty calm week of pod talking points to turn into new ways to throw shade at C-Dub and Blum back on the threads here. 
Not to pile on, but I'll totally pile on with a different complaint for our favorite bag man, @brentblum. It's fantastic that our NIL beer is getting distribution into Fusker country now. However, Cedar Falls/Waterloo to date still has not seen a single can of Ames Lager, let alone any West O beers. I've talked to the local stores and emailed West O directly numerous times now to no avail.
Why are we serving and throwing parties in Fusker country? Could you put in a very pointed good word to West O next time you have an official meeting of the bag men?
Not to pile on, but I'll totally pile on with a different complaint for our favorite bag man, @brentblum. It's fantastic that our NIL beer is getting distribution into Fusker country now. However, Cedar Falls/Waterloo to date still has not seen a single can of Ames Lager, let alone any West O beers. I've talked to the local stores and emailed West O directly numerous times now to no avail.
Why are we serving and throwing parties in Fusker country? Could you put in a very pointed good word to West O next time you have an official meeting of the bag men?
Diana Taurasi is still the scariest female player I’ve ever watched. There are stories of her playing against the UConn men in practices and she would hang with them a bit. Just remember how good UConn men’s basketball was during her time as well
Are those commercials local to Iowa or national because I haven’t seen her commercials here in DFW. Not saying they aren’t, just that I haven’t seen them
Not 100% sure, but the Gatorade deal just came out today and the State Farm ones aren't too old, either. I haven't seen them on TV yet, but I also don't watch a ton of live TV. But at least the one State Farm commercial I saw online also had Jimmy Butler and Reggie Miller in it, so I doubt it's local to Iowa.
