General WBB Thread

[Demo]

On 6/26/2026 at 1:24 PM, Stuhoo said:

Good lord Clark drives me nuts; leading the league in assists... and fouls, technical fouls, and turnovers.

In a way I feel sorry for her (and especially for her teammates) -- every ridiculous flop turns into national drama. IUWBB fans are well-aware that this kind of crap follows her and only her, and that some of the really outstanding IUWBB players like Grace, Mack, and Chloe really despised her because of 'how she is'.

So this week? She gets in a typical on-court loose ball scrum, which when watched at normal/game speed is a big nothing, but when you freeze the frame JUST RIGHT, it looks like she being criminally assaulted. This is what the actual play in question looked like:

 

The WNBA is a straight up mess. It’s the worst officiated League I’ve ever seen. High School leagues are called more consistently. I think Clark is officiated horribly, but the fact that in real time she can’t connect the dots between showing up refs, which she does all the time, and getting a bad whistle is just self-perpetuating. It’s got to drive White nuts since it bleeds over into everything they’re trying to do. In that case i thought it was flagrant and Thomas is incredibly cheap and has been for years but because the League has no consistent standard for officiating physicality she’s gotten away with a lot of that stuff. But someone in their League office needs to figure out that Clark is straight up bigger than their League and Englebert is hellbent on not going there. These 7 figure supermax deals available now would have been laughed at 4 years ago and that’s on Clark. Stern was willing to go there with Jordan and that was with Bird and Magic. Stewart or Collier or Bueckers aren’t comparable to those guys. Obviously there are cultural and historical pieces that are tough to work with, but they gotta figure it out or they’re gonna set back the progress they’ve made, yet again.

[Stuhoo]

31 minutes ago, Demo said:

The WNBA is a straight up mess. It’s the worst officiated League I’ve ever seen. High School leagues are called more consistently. I think Clark is officiated horribly, but the fact that in real time she can’t connect the dots between showing up refs, which she does all the time, and getting a bad whistle is just self-perpetuating. It’s got to drive White nuts since it bleeds over into everything they’re trying to do. In that case i thought it was flagrant and Thomas is incredibly cheap and has been for years but because the League has no consistent standard for officiating physicality she’s gotten away with a lot of that stuff. But someone in their League office needs to figure out that Clark is straight up bigger than their League and Englebert is hellbent on not going there. These 7 figure supermax deals available now would have been laughed at 4 years ago and that’s on Clark. Stern was willing to go there with Jordan and that was with Bird and Magic. Stewart or Collier or Bueckers aren’t comparable to those guys. Obviously there are cultural and historical pieces that are tough to work with, but they gotta figure it out or they’re gonna set back the progress they’ve made, yet again.

Another real problem with Clark? She just isn't all that good or winning of a basketball player.

She has an excellent supporting cast, yet the team is 10-8 with her in the lineup (1-0 without her). She is a talented offensive player, but more of a Pete Maravich/James Harden/Trae Young type of talent than a Kobe/Michael/ Brunson/Wemby/Jalen Brown, etc. etc. 'makes everyone around her better' type. A career 41% fg, 33% 3pt shooter on way too high volume and a negative on the defensive end. 

So the league and media has instead hitched their wagon to a 'great white hope' player who may not be up to the task. This happened with Larry Bird (also a surly guy on the court) but the key difference was that Bird was great enough to lead great supporting casts to multiple championships; he made the players around him better. I don't think that Clark is good enoough to do that, and that will only exacerbate the situation.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Beginning with next year's women’s NCAA tournament, the top 16 teams will be placed in the bracket in their true ranking regardless of conference affiliation.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/49353866/ncaa-women-tourney-seed-top-16-true-ranking-2027

[LIHoosier]

I'll throw this in here. I was perusing the home page of ESPN the other day and saw this. It's like bumping into a cousin you thought moved to another country.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

[TTT]

The level of competence in college women basketball officials (Refs) will determine to what extent they are involved in illegal gambling/betting like the WNBA officials (Refs)….money money money

[Stuhoo]

8 minutes ago, TTT said:

The level of competence in college women basketball will determine to what extent they are involved in illegal gambling/betting like the WNBA officials….money money money

Tell us more! Please tell us more.

LOTS more. Like… how does this work and who is doing it? It’s time for you to name names.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Terrible tragedy for the U of Evansville women's team.  Keep in mind, it's head coach is Ben Wierzba, brother of our own Rhet Wierzba.

[jermhoosierfan]

16 hours ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Terrible tragedy for the U of Evansville women's team.  Keep in mind, it's head coach is Ben Wierzba, brother of our own Rhet Wierzba.

GetBasketball Shoes

 

Yeah, she just transferred in from Wabash JUCO in Mt. Carmel, and she dropped someone off in or near Boonville and hit a pole on a road she supposedly wasn't familiar with.  RIP

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Purdue WBB senior guard Aysia Proctor, a transfer from North Texas, has announced that she'll miss the 2026-27 season with a knee injury.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

I feel badly for the women; not for PUke.

Purdue WBB freshman point guard Zoja Štirn will miss the 2026-27 season following a knee injury; second Boilermaker out for the season: senior guard Aysia Proctor is also out with a knee injury

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Minnesota WBB junior guard Tori McKinney will miss the 2026-27 season after sustaining a knee injury last week during practice; 12.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 2.0 SPG last season, All–Big Ten second team (coaches)/third team (media) and defensive team

[LamarCheeks]

AP preseason top 25 

Nine B1G teams. And three more receiving votes. None are IU. 

Just a few years ago, we would blow the doors off Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois -- at SSAH and on the road.

But since then, they adapted to the new world order. We didn't.

But hopefully, CTM has seen the light and we can get back among the nation's elite. But first -- we have to get back among the B1G's elite.  

Others receiving votes: Nebraska 47, Arizona State 36, Baylor 31, Virginia 30, Michigan State 16, Kansas 12, Tennessee 9, Alabama 7, Syracuse 5, Villanova 5, Fairfield 2, Oregon 2, Rice 2, Georgia 2, Colorado 2, Virginia Tech 1, Clemson 1

[HoosierHoopster]

On 10/20/2026 at 6:16 AM, LamarCheeks said:

AP preseason top 25 

Nine B1G teams. And three more receiving votes. None are IU. 

Just a few years ago, we would blow the doors off Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois -- at SSAH and on the road.

But since then, they adapted to the new world order. We didn't.

But hopefully, CTM has seen the light and we can get back among the nation's elite. But first -- we have to get back among the B1G's elite.  

Others receiving votes: Nebraska 47, Arizona State 36, Baylor 31, Virginia 30, Michigan State 16, Kansas 12, Tennessee 9, Alabama 7, Syracuse 5, Villanova 5, Fairfield 2, Oregon 2, Rice 2, Georgia 2, Colorado 2, Virginia Tech 1, Clemson 1

JMO - this kind of pre-season prediction/ ranking is very limited. Moren brought in highly talented, highly ranked and athletic frosh and built some depth through portal, we’ll see how it pans out but jmo this kind of ranking is skewed by last year’s results w/respect to IU

[TTT]

Rankings are always legitimate as long as they have IU near the top….Lol!

[HoosierHoopster]

7 hours ago, TTT said:

Rankings are always legitimate as long as they have IU near the top….Lol!

Are you a perpetual Debbie downer?

No it’s just that it’s a pre-season ranking, and the ability to rank teams pre-season with the level of turnover in portal and incoming recruits is limited, and now often slanted based on prior season results. FWIW DeVries just said basically the same thing in his last interview when asked about his thoughts on the men’s pre-season rankings, where IU is nowhere to be seen. I’d bet on our being ranked at some point this season on the men’s side and I’d bet on the women out-performing this pre-season assessment/ guesswork 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

In fairness Moren and IUWBB basketball has been incredibly underwhelming for a couple seasons.  I was always a trust in Moren fan but that is now gone. I like her.  I think she’s good.  I don’t want her replaced.   I think the recruiting lately has been incredibly fun. 
 

Ranking wise, although I’m not as into it like I am with the men’s team, I follow it, and this doesn’t seem like a top 25 team to me.  Transfers are “winners” without the stats and stars. That was Morens purpose.  I like some of the pieces. 
 

I’ll be tuned in to start the season like I always am, hoping to see an outperformance of expectations.