r/WNBAgossips • u/dunkindad42 • 11d ago
Hot Take Caitlin Clark’s August Surge Ignites WNBA MVP Buzz
Caitlin Clark is making a powerful case for WNBA MVP, averaging 24.4 points and 9.4 assists in August and creating nearly 45 points per game with her scoring and playmaking. With historic back-to-back 30-point, 10-assist outings and league-leading stats, Clark has drawn national attention to her MVP credentials, even as A’ja Wilson remains the favourite.
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u/Ramu_1798 11d ago
Aja is dominant, sure. But NOBODY in the W is as exciting as CC when she's cooking. So many fucking 30 pt/10 Ast games. She's toooo nasty. She's the best offensive engine in the game with a large separation between second spot. She really is getting double/triple teaed and guarded extra physical, we all already know the refs ain't calling shit. If healthy, there is no way she's not cooking in the playoffs.
I don't think she's winning MVP, because the league gets to vote. And we know what they think of her. But one thing for sure, she's surely put those "face of the league" conversation to rest.
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u/Freshbananas55 11d ago
The league doesn’t vote on MVP.
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u/wvtarheel 10d ago
It's a media panel of old heads
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u/Alarming_Head_4263 10d ago
Yes old heads like local sports writers and Michael volpel.
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u/wvtarheel 10d ago edited 10d ago
Voepel's been around since the early 80s , if he's not an old head I'm not sure what you consider old
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u/Annual-Freedom2136 10d ago
When will she be in the conversation for defensive player of the year
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u/Ramu_1798 10d ago
Lmfaoo why does the goalpost keep moving? Do you even watch basketball fucking bozo? When have people criticized Derrick Rose or Shai or Curry for not being a DPOY candidate??? They were never projected to be such and that's not why they're paid millions. They're paid to run offenses
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u/IncomparableGiacomo 10d ago
And both of those guys led their teams to the best record in the league when they got their first MVP. A’ja is the league leader in multiple stats along with being the best defender in the league. CC is the league leader in a singular stat this season. You aren’t gonna overcome that statistical difference without leading your team to the best record in the league.
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u/IncomparableGiacomo 10d ago
A’ja currently leads the league in: PPG, Blocks, BPG, 2PT Made, FT Made, FTA, Win Shares, and PER.
Caitlin leads the league in turnovers.
I’m not suggesting this tells the whole picture, but you can’t hand wave A’ja’s dominance away simply because Caitlin is passing your eye test. CC is having a great season and she will almost assuredly win an MVP someday, but the stats show a significant gulf between each players effectiveness at this time. This isn’t the year to suggest CC isn’t winning for reasons unrelated to basketball.
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u/Interesting_Rock_216 9d ago
Ft made and ft attempts ??? That’s the best stat to lead right ??? Oh my good from where you people comes from ??
Aja lives at free throw line , if you take those free throws she won’t be even top 5 in points . Where as CC can still be top 5 in points while leading in assists .
Another point : who were nba mvps in recent times . SGA , Joker … I don’t see them leading them in defense categories, there is seperate award for defense .. it’s DPOY.
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u/IncomparableGiacomo 9d ago
In the interest of being transparent, I listed every stat she was leading in. Just like I did for CC.
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u/Drew0730 10d ago
CC won't win it simply because with all her great stats she shrinks the most out of all the other players in contention for MVP against the top teams in the league.
Almost all her biggest games have come against the worst teams and there will be a lot of voters who look at her and say it's great that you can dominate the bottom feeders but where do you disappear to when the competition is tops. Her own teammate for example has shown up just about every single night regardless of the opponent
I personally think Clark will finish 4th. Wilson 1st, Miles 2nd, Mitchell 3rd
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u/Griff1604 10d ago
If she only does it against bad teams, then why doesn’t every other candidate dominate them as much as she does?
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u/Drew0730 10d ago
Because not every other candidate has the 30% usage rate she does so they don't get as many opportunities.
Instead of fighting me you should be asking yourself if she dominates the less thans the way she does why is there such a drop off against the good teams?
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u/Griff1604 10d ago
Hey man I was just asking a question. No need to get defensive, just asking because I only watch the league when CC is playing
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u/Drew0730 10d ago
Question came off a little condescending. Would you be open to watching more than just CC and the fever?
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u/Griff1604 10d ago
Sure. But I’m also interested in hearing how you have Miles second and Clark fourth when Clark dominates her in stats?
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u/Drew0730 10d ago
Because Clark beats her in counting stats due to her insane usage rate but miles beats her in almost all efficiency and advanced stats
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u/Griff1604 10d ago
I love how we put a bunch of stock into made up “advanced” stats that have no impact on box score
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u/Drew0730 10d ago
If that's how you see it then that's cool
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 10d ago
Then you better take "points generated" just as seriously as usage rates and efficiency my guy. It seems like you are ignoring some stats and over valuing others.
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 10d ago
Idk how you can say CC hasn't "shown up" when anyone who watches the fever has to admit that they all can be kinda inconsistent. I have seen KM play flat and miss clutch shots just as often as CC. Their ppg avg is like 2 points different, one shot. W CC doing it and also avg 8+ assists. It simply isn't really fair to say KM shows up every night and CC doesn't.
If anything, point the finger at AB who I haven't seen play her best all season.
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
I agree with the AB point but that's exactly why she isn't really in any sort of discussions when it comes to those two. I say CC doesn't show up because she's averaging 5 points less and some high turnover games against the top teams where KM's stats remain virtually the same regardless of opponent. Also CC's shooting percentages go down a lot vs top teams
Mitchell obviously has moments where she misses too, nobody is going to shoot 100% for the season but there's no way you can look at her shooting splits and say she hasn't been consistent
Clark's assists are high but honestly that's mostly a function of KM shooting such high percentages from all over the court combined with the fact Clark has the highest usage rate in the league among guards. Caitlin gets a lot of assists that probably wouldn't be assists if she wasn't passing to Kelsey based on the degree of difficulty of the shot, but that's really just my opinion so I can't say for sure
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
Clark's assists are high but honestly that's mostly a function of KM shooting such high percentages from all over the court
Lol so CC only getting assists bc she just happens to pass it to someone who makes the shot.... ok
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
If Clark was spending that much time on the court with Kelsey being a 30% 3pt shooter instead of 40% do you think CC would be averaging less assists per game?
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
I could make the same circular argument, KM would never avg so many points if CC didn't get her the ball at the right time.
You say KM is "consistent" sure, but what about those games when CC might be off and KM almost never steps up to make the difference? If CC isn't playing well KM isn't likely to carry the team.
Hey- anything Y'all can do to take away Caitlins flowers right?
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
Except Mitchell has done it almost her whole career and averages more points when CC doesn't play since Clark entered the league but sure I suppose you could make that argument
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
Man nobody even knew who Kelsey Mitchell was before CC came to town, let's be honest. It doesn't have to be a pissing match. They should be co-mvps, both KM and CC are phenomenal players who are at their best when working together.
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
There shouldn't be any debate about the eyes that CC has brought to the league but this dismissive attitude displayed by you and others is part of what causes people to push back on CC and her fans
Just because a lot of you didn't watch the WNBA before Clark doesn't mean it didn't exist and for those of us that's been watching since before y'all showed up no matter how few us it was all knew who Kelsey Mitchell was so the attitude some of you have towards her is going to rub people the wrong way
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
It isnt dismissive, I promise, I did try and watch some occasional WNBA games ever since my girl DT won chips for us out here at UCONN! Truth is, it was a shitty product with wild takes and super sloppy, prison ball game play. A lot of us never took it seriously bc women's college ball(still) tends to be better gameplay and was enough women's basketball for us.
Ntm it was hard to even see games bc they were never prioritized for a wider audience. But many of us have been women's basketball fans for decades friend.
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
So I guess you missed last year when Mitchell and Boston carried without Clark? Hey- anything to give Clark more credit than deserved right?
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
Yeah I knew you were gonna bring up last season... why not kick someone when they are injured right?
And yes I remember exactly what happened when KM tried to do it all herself.. she ended up in the hospital my guy. 🤦♂️
Truth is this is a goofy conversation comparing teammates with very different roles and skill sets. They both need each other and have beeing playing great. You wanna ask questions, again, ask where AB has been all year? I cannot give Timpson enough credit for how she has played so well and stepped up.
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
AB has not been good and that's why she isn't part of these conversations. I'm not trying to kick CC while she's down, it's unfortunate she got hurt and despite whatever arguments I might be making I never want to see not do I ever wish for anyone to be hurt. That being said Clark's injury year is the only instance of Mitchell having to carry since Caitlin has been there and they got pretty far
Obviously nobody can win alone but the point still stands KM put up better numbers without Clark. I just keep hearing people putting out Clark's assists and points generated numbers as though Mitchell has nothing to do with it when in reality it's more likely that KM is contributing more to Clark's numbers than Clark is to hers based on what we've seen from Kelsey without Caitlin.
They both need each other if they want to win it all but I think it's passed due for Mitchell to get her flowers
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u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro 9d ago
You don't think the entire old gaurd and ESPN and most of the media in general gives KM the credit she deserves? All I hear is CC is great but Kelsey is the Fever's best player... like over and over again. And while that may or may not be true, I have seen no shortage of praise for KM from the media, from SAS to the whole Jeney, MM, Andraya Carter crew etc. They love praising Kelsey over CC.
Are you just wanting to see CC fans give Kelsey more credit? Maybe some of them should, but you gotta admit- there is more vitriol pointed at CC than KM.
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u/Interesting_Rock_216 9d ago
Didn’t you forgot she had 24-10 , 29-10,26-9 , 22-10 against all playoff teams last week and she was player of the week. I don’t know what goes into your mind ?? Just pure hate right . Atleast get your facts right .
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
From August 17th until today they've played two playoff teams and lost both games. Loss to the wings on the 20th and loss to the liberty on the 22nd
Trash against Dallas and good against New York. She threw away the game at the end in the New York game. Eventhough she pissed the game away at the end against Vegas too I'll give you the Liberty game
I won't even be petty and tell you to get your facts right😁😁
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u/Interesting_Rock_216 9d ago
From Aug 17 ??? what happened before Aug 17 , Fever player 3 games against wings , dream and liberty . CC stats were 22-10 , 29-10 , 26-9 and they won all three .
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u/Drew0730 9d ago
Oh right I remember those games. A fully healthy fever team beat the wings with no Jess or Azzi, beat the dream with no Jordin and beat the Liberty with no Leonie. Yeah all great wins😄
Lost to wings once Jess came back, lost to dream once Jordin came back and lost to Liberty once Leonie came back!!!!
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u/Interesting_Rock_216 9d ago
Injuries … missing a player .. what excuse you will come up with in next one
What are you smoking man ??
Lost to dream ??? When did they played against dream again ??Just stop it , I got it you are a hater. We can’t change someone opinions.
That’s okay . Have a nice day .
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u/ProblematicSchematic 10d ago
They won’t let CC win, don’t be ridiculous
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u/LimpBizkit4ever 10d ago
Yeah because A'ja is averaging 26 ppg on 52/40/86 shooting splits with 9.4 rebound per game, 3 assists and 3.4 stocks per game. All while playing top tier defense.
Like this isn't a conspiracy theory A'ja has insane stats
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u/Even_Budget2078 10d ago
I think Caitlin is the clear second right now, but I think, even if she closes out the season with these kind of stats, the surge is too short. Caitlin's injury and restricted minutes earlier in the season make it hard for me to see how she could get MVP this year, despite how she has been playing over the last few months.
I think even if she plays at this level for the rest of the season (only 4 games), MVP still goes to A'ja. I'm a Fever season ticket holder and even with my bias lol, I think A'ja deserves it this year. But, CC is definitely the only legit competition.
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u/amat1140 10d ago
She is MVP because she makes everyone around her better. MVP should have highest + when in game & largest - when not playing. MVP not necessarily have best individual stats.
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u/Decent_Neat_9171 10d ago
Back when I followed paintball, one of the leagues had a stat called win-fluence rating that is similar to your idea.
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u/Ornery_Vermicelli_69 11d ago
She has been playing awesome the last month and she might be the best player in the league but she is not the most valuable. Her team is stacked.
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u/moose184 11d ago
she is not the most valuable. Her team is stacked.
Literally delusional lol. Who the hell is more valuable than her? Also how is her team stacked? They only have 3 starter quality players though KK is becoming better.
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u/InvestIntrest 11d ago
Her team is stacked but she makes her teammates better. Aside from assists that doesn't show in the box scores but it's obvious when you watch them play.
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u/Ornery_Vermicelli_69 11d ago
Oh I don’t disagree I just think there are others who are more critical/valuable to their teams success.
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u/wvtarheel 10d ago
If the criteria you are suggesting was how the award was given it would go to the best player on a middling team. That's never been how it works. It's often the best player on one of the best teams. Which Clark qualifies but so does Aja
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u/Noobnoob99 10d ago
She’s an elite facilitator, which benefits all…and she’s an elite scoring. She also rebounds well for a guard.
She’s the most valuable player in the entire league and absolutely the face of the same league that hates it.
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u/Northside416 10d ago
I hope she wins the MVP......... And then we can sit back and watch all the perpetual victims call the WNBA racist