USC in this case is the University of South Carolina, not the University of Southern California. Yeah, it can be confusing, like saying, “the U” or UW.
But again, Clark made the sign after hitting another long three on her way to a 40 point triple double as Louisville called time out and both teams were walking to their benches. I look at that the same way I would look at a player throwing the 3 fingers after hitting a three as the teams are transitioning.
Seems quite a bit different when after throwing the “can’t see me now” lined up right next to the Clark on lined up for a foul shot and getting totally ignored to run into the back court away from your team to get in front of the player to throw it as time is running out in the game you just won.
The disrespect to the USC player was that Clark wouldn’t guard her on defense and dropped into the middle of the key to stop USC’s 2 bigs at the basket. When the USC player got the ball out beyond the 3 point line Clark just waved her hand at her from the middle of the key and refused to guard her. Eventually that USC player hit a couple 3’s and they started guarding her a little closer but she was enough of a non-offensive threat that they were willing to leave her wide open most of the game. And when I say wide open, there wasn’t an Iowa player within 10-15 feet of her. USC would throw her the ball and Iowa wouldn’t even run at her. Now that is true disrespect. But it was warranted because she was not an offensive threat at the 3, until she proved she was willing to take and hit some 3’s.
It doesn’t sound like disrespect, it’s just simple math. It happens in the NBA all the time. If a player has a low expected success rate of uncontested 3s, there is no need to guard them (assuming offensive rebounds aren’t too high). Perhaps this player had a history of going cold with her attempts and when she warmed up later in the game, they started pressuring her more.
Agreed. Disrespect is a bit of a stretch. Strategy/Playing the odds? Sure. CC waving her hand at that player when she got the ball was a bit disrespectful but again, she didn’t stalk her following the game and do that right in her face. That’s my main gripe with what Reese did.
This whole thing has blown way out of proportion. And now The First Lady saying she wants to invite both LSU AND Iowa to the White House (ridiculous, by the way) is only going to make it that much worse.
In her remarks, Biden also marveled at how far women’s sports in the United States have come since Title IX in 1972 gave women equal rights in sports at schools that receive federal funding.
“It was so exciting, wasn’t it? It was such a great game” she said. “I’m old enough that I remember when we got Title IX. We fought so hard, right? We fought so hard. And look at where women’s sports have come today.”
So… “let’s not treat the women like the men, and let’s have the winners AND the runners-up at the White House!”
You know, cuz little girls.