I covered several of Clark's games in high school. She has come a long way since then, when she often took more than half of her team's shots and would get frustrated with her teammates. She went 7-of-29 with just 2 assists in one 20-point loss. As a senior, her team didn't even make it to the state tournament. I know she has gotten a lot better, but I'm amazed that some of the high school coaches who opposed her could figure out how to stop/contain her while these college coaches like Kim Mulkey think she can be guarded with just one defender. How did that work out for LSU last night? I have a feeling that UConn and potentially South Carolina will use a different strategy to defend Clark. Auriemma and Staley will force someone else to beat them.
To answer your question, though, it's just so hard to compare players from different eras.
It's Stewie - 23/9/3 with 3 blocks, 21/9/4 with 2 blocks, 8/15/0 with 4 blocks, 24/10/6 with 2 blocks in four title games, shooting 55% from the floor and 43% from 3. Four rings and four Final Four MOP awards, with championship wins by 33, 21, 10, and 31. Won every Player of the Year award at least twice, most three times, and even the "5 loss" stat doesn't do her teams justice, as four of those were in her freshman year. She won 45 games in a row (including two titles), lost by 2 in OT on the road at #6 Stanford, then won **73** games in a row and two more titles.
She was Kareem at UCLA.
(also FWIW Paige is better than Caitlin don't get mad at me everyone I'm not even a UConn fan I swear!)
I would go with Taurasi--all she did was win. EVERYWHERE.
But, what Clark has has done is amazing. She has become the biggest name in college basketball. Period. Doesn't matter if you're talking men or women. So, I say, good on her!
I think you have to look at Cheryl Miller's stats in context. Yes, she was incredible, but I'd argue the level of competition has become much more difficult in women's college basketball than it was in her heyday.
There just wasn't the talent pool that exists today.
I covered several of Clark's games in high school. She has come a long way since then, when she often took more than half of her team's shots and would get frustrated with her teammates. She went 7-of-29 with just 2 assists in one 20-point loss. As a senior, her team didn't even make it to the state tournament. I know she has gotten a lot better, but I'm amazed that some of the high school coaches who opposed her could figure out how to stop/contain her while these college coaches like Kim Mulkey think she can be guarded with just one defender. How did that work out for LSU last night? I have a feeling that UConn and potentially South Carolina will use a different strategy to defend Clark. Auriemma and Staley will force someone else to beat them.
To answer your question, though, it's just so hard to compare players from different eras.
It's Stewie - 23/9/3 with 3 blocks, 21/9/4 with 2 blocks, 8/15/0 with 4 blocks, 24/10/6 with 2 blocks in four title games, shooting 55% from the floor and 43% from 3. Four rings and four Final Four MOP awards, with championship wins by 33, 21, 10, and 31. Won every Player of the Year award at least twice, most three times, and even the "5 loss" stat doesn't do her teams justice, as four of those were in her freshman year. She won 45 games in a row (including two titles), lost by 2 in OT on the road at #6 Stanford, then won **73** games in a row and two more titles.
She was Kareem at UCLA.
(also FWIW Paige is better than Caitlin don't get mad at me everyone I'm not even a UConn fan I swear!)
I would go with Taurasi--all she did was win. EVERYWHERE.
But, what Clark has has done is amazing. She has become the biggest name in college basketball. Period. Doesn't matter if you're talking men or women. So, I say, good on her!
I think you have to look at Cheryl Miller's stats in context. Yes, she was incredible, but I'd argue the level of competition has become much more difficult in women's college basketball than it was in her heyday.
There just wasn't the talent pool that exists today.