₦airaland Forum

lovewins:
Took too damn long. If the Chicago front office weren't dummies, they would have signed her long time ago cause they literally need a PG like her. Hoping she gets some time on the floor and make the most of it.

.....when is Atlanta dream playing again o....i want to watch Ezinne in the W...

carbonado:
... absolutely,it took too long, I have a feeling Chicago is deliberately tanking,word out there is that they can get Paige (UConn guard) cant remember her last name...there are some potential exciting Wnba rookies this year too. Maybe that's why they are deliberately tanking,also since they were hitted with lots of injuries,they just called it a wrap,hoping to get value in the draft class. Potential rookies(Page UConn,Flaujae :LSU, PaoPao South Carolina, Raven Johnson South Carolina ,don't know if Juju watkins would go into the draft...All in all,I am happy for Ezinne...so I have a new team in the W..

Paige Bueckers. That is the name of the UConn guard. Cheers.

Baby girl is home....so happy for her.. seems they have a game today..

lovewins:
Took too damn long. If the Chicago front office weren't dummies, they would have signed her long time ago cause they literally need a PG like her. Hoping she gets some time on the floor and make the most of it.

Yea Chicago could have definitely used a player like Ezinne but they couldn't make any signings. Remember Marina was traded for 2 players Bahnam and Moriah. They would have had to cut a player

Ezinne finally got in the game at the end of the 2nd quarter. Hopefully she gets more time in the 2nd half

Okay Ezinne back in this thing. Less than 2 minutes in the 3rd

And 1 Kalu and the commentator said Naija in the building

Which kind nonsense turnover is this na. See Kalu standing here, why are u running past her and throwing a nonsense back pass

Well, we move to the playoffs. Atlanta will face NY again in the 1st round

Ezinne played 13 minutes scored 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steals with a -7 plus minus.

BascoVanVeli:
Ezinne finally got in the game at the end of the 2nd quarter. Hopefully she gets more time in the 2nd half

..lol..slept off,I waited all first half and she was not introduced into the game, thought she was not going to play again for the day...

carbonado:
..lol..slept off,I waited all first half and she was not introduced into the game, thought she was not going to play again for the day...

By the 2nd half they realized they were in the playoffs no matter what so they benched their starters.

BascoVanVeli:
By the 2nd half they realized they were in the playoffs no matter what so they benched their starters.

...i see, what is your take on how she played....i saw the game highlight,however, i could not judge much based on the highlights.

I got banned by the anti spam bot early yesterday while trying to respond to Carbonado. This is the third time it's happening to me and it occurs almost always on this thread. Not sure why that is.

That said, to your earlier comment, Chicago wasn't tanking like you said, they wanted to make the playoffs cause there was little to no incentive vying for a lottery spot.

They are not getting Paige. First, LA Sparks is more likely to get the no 1 pick because of their 2 year record.

Also, should Chicago by some miracle get the no 1 lottery, Dallas owns the swap right to thier pick. It's why they were trying all they could including playing a injured Kamila just to make it.

Glad Ezinne made her Debut. She didn't do badly in my opinion.

lovewins:
I got banned by the anti spam bot early yesterday while trying to respond to Carbonado. This is the third time it's happening to me and it occurs almost always on this thread. Not sure why that is.

That said, to your earlier comment, Chicago wasn't tanking like you said, they wanted to make the playoffs cause there was little to no incentive vying for a lottery spot.

They are not getting Paige. First, LA Sparks is more likely to get the no 1 pick because of their 2 year record.

Also, should Chicago by some miracle get the no 1 lottery, Dallas owns the swap right to thier pick. It's why they were trying all they could including playing a injured Kamila just to make it.

Glad Ezinne made her Debut. She didn't do badly in my opinion.

Sorry about the ban....i knew someone got banned, but i could not tell who it was, i thought it was redman44 that got banned, as regards Chicago, i do not even know they had all that trade deals and all, anyway, i wish them well, the season was not so much of a good one to be honest, i kinda expected more,although injury to players like Elizabeth Williams,early off in the season and the coach not knowing her personel early in the season, its well. Good to know that about Ezinne, let see what happens from here on.

carbonado:
...i see, what is your take on how she played....i saw the game highlight,however, i could not judge much based on the highlights.

She played okay. Defended pretty good even though there were a couple slip ups. I wish she shot the ball more but I guess she was going with the flow of the game. The refs used her to shine a bit with the fouls but that was just because she is a new player to the league. All together it was a good first outing

BascoVanVeli:
She played okay. Defended pretty good even though there were a couple slip ups. I wish she shot the ball more but I guess she was going with the flow of the game. The refs used her to shine a bit with the fouls but that was just because she is a new player to the league. All together it was a good first outing

Much of it had to do with Maya Caldwell not passing her the ball whenever she was open. I kinda understand it though cause she's also fighting for a place in the team and may not want Kalu who is new to the team to get the shine.

BascoVanVeli:
She played okay. Defended pretty good even though there were a couple slip ups. I wish she shot the ball more but I guess she was going with the flow of the game. The refs used her to shine a bit with the fouls but that was just because she is a new player to the league. All together it was a good first outing

...nice one..hope she has enough time to show what she bring to the table...wish her all the best..

lovewins:
Much of it had to do with Maya Caldwell not passing her the ball whenever she was open. I kinda understand it though cause she's also fighting for a place in the team and may not want Kalu who is new to the team to get the shine.

Hahaha CC fans ehn
U are right sha, I did see her get looked off a couple of times. I was praying Tina Charles came back into the game cos she would have definitely helped Ezinne. Like u said everyone on the court was a bench warmer so they also felt it was their time to shine.

Ezinne Kalu vs New York Liberty


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOoz8c5U7jY?si=IO3ncbTz5DbSxPSP

Just discovered that Arike is amongst the 3 highest-paid WNBA players, in terms of base salary.
She reportedly earns $241,000/year…

PDPGuy:
Just discovered that Arike is amongst the 3 highest-paid WNBA players, in terms of base salary.
She reportedly earns $241,000/year…

Really doesn't mean much quite frankly and she may likely not earn that much in the next contract. I'll explain.

Unlike the NBA, the best players do not necessarily earn the most in the WNBA. That's due to the limited salary cap available. What that usually means is that the best players in the league, who are usually the most popular earn less than they deserve to either fit into a team they want, or allow their team enough money to sign another player that will help their title aspirations.

A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Naphessa Collier who are the best players in the league earns $200k, $205k and $208k respectively. When the great Candace Parker signed for Vegas last season her salary was $100k. This isn't because they don't want to earn the most, but because they need other great players on their team and earning the maximum with the current cap space may prevent that. These set of players are also able to do that because they make significantly more from partnerships and brand deals unlike their colleagues. It's why I think Arike may need to go the same route soon if she wants other great teammates in Dallas.

BTW, there are cases where teams make up for this by paying players more under the table. At least we now know of the Aces (Lol).

Chai!! I missed Ezinne's first playoff game they lost to the liberty but she played like 13 minutes. Had the highest plus minus on her team at plus 8.

Ezinne Kalu scored 35 points for her Chinese team!😤😤

Going by the performances being put up by the MFM women’s team, it’s safe to say our dominance in the African women’s game would have to be sustained by the U.S. and Europe-based pros for the foreseeable future…

Meanwhile, 6’6” USC center, Clarice Uche Akunwafo, put up a monster performance in their last game.

Reminder that this year’s women’s Afrobasket runs from July 25 - August 3..

Another reminder….

Fun facts:

D’Tigress are 24-0 in Afrobasket play, stretching from their win over Angola in the 2015 Afrobasket bronze-medal match.

D’Tigress are also 28-0 against African opposition, in all competitions, since 2015

Who's watching this unrivaled basketball? The running involved is something else

BascoVanVeli:
Who's watching this unrivaled basketball? The running involved is something else

It's novel. A cull court 3v3 is kinda strange.

Not really my cup of tea. Watched the first game day but mostly skipped the rest. And when I do watch like I did earlier today, I wait till the 4th quarter.

Like the overall emphasis on player welfare, not just sure it makes business sense in the long run. Hope it survives for the player's sake.

lovewins:
It's novel. A cull court 3v3 is kinda strange.

Not really my cup of tea. Watched the first game day but mostly skipped the rest. And when I do watch like I did earlier today, I wait till the 4th quarter.

Like the overall emphasis on player welfare, not just sure it makes business sense in the long run. Hope it survives for the player's sake.

It's a whole new sport so u expect a couple hiccups here and there but so far so good I like what I see. I can see the league lasting because they do have an advantage. Which is they don't have any competition. This is almost like having NFL players in the XFL during the summer. Of course the W is much smaller but at least u have that foundation.
Right now I feel the players are getting used to the game but I expect the intensity to pick up as the season pushes on. We've not even seen a real pushing match in unrivaled. When we get some beef going, watch out

BascoVanVeli:
It's a whole new sport so u expect a couple hiccups here and there but so far so good I like what I see. I can see the league lasting because they do have an advantage. Which is they don't have any competition. This is almost like having NFL players in the XFL during the summer. Of course the W is much smaller but at least u have that foundation.
Right now I feel the players are getting used to the game but I expect the intensity to pick up as the season pushes on. We've not even seen a real pushing match in unrivaled. When we get some beef going, watch out

I was even speaking to the business side of things. Their model is very pro-players, just not sure if it is practicable in the long run seeing the TV numbers so far. The league itself isn't bigs friendly. It is for the most part better suited for guards. With time like you rightly said the players will adjust, hopefully the business side of it will also add up.

As per competition, actually they do somewhat. This isn't the first domestic basketball league in the US, it's just the one with this kind of noise and this kind of money. Athletes Unlimited has been on since 2022 and it features WNBA players primarily and US players hoping to make a team. A couple of players who are currently in Unrivaled have played in AU before. The difference however is that Unrivaled has the most stars and that's because it pays a whole more than AU. AU is 5x5 so that's also a difference.

lovewins:
I was even speaking to the business side of things. Their model is very pro-players, just not sure if it is practicable in the long run seeing the TV numbers so far. The league itself isn't bigs friendly. It is for the most part better suited for guards. With time like you rightly said the players will adjust, hopefully the business side of it will also add up.

As per competition, actually they do somewhat. This isn't the first domestic basketball league in the US, it's just the one with this kind of noise and this kind of money. Athletes Unlimited has been on since 2022 and it features WNBA players primarily and US players hoping to make a team. A couple of players who are currently in Unrivaled have played in AU before. The difference however is that Unrivaled has the most stars and that's because it pays a whole more than AU. AU is 5x5 so that's also a difference.

That's the same side I was speaking about. That's why I brought up the part about competition. I kind of look at Unrivaled like a new show on tv. The numbers are not always sky high at the beginning. U have to build into it with good story lines and strong characters. Some shows take more than 2 seasons before they become household musts.

I don't agree about the guard part. The best player in unrivaled is a big (Napheesa Collier). U also have BG, Angel, Rikea, Satou, Hamby, Boston, etc cooking. Don't get me wrong the guards are cooking too but that's not because the game is suited for them only. Everyone gets a whole bunch of space to show their stuff, it's all about what u do with it.

I think Athlete unlimited is like what Uchenna Kanu did in her collegiate off-seasons. Thats a semipro type situation. This is the big league.

BascoVanVeli:
That's the same side I was speaking about. That's why I brought up the part about competition. I kind of look at Unrivaled like a new show on tv. The numbers are not always sky high at the beginning. U have to build into it with good story lines and strong characters. Some shows take more than 2 seasons before they become household musts.

I don't agree about the guard part. The best player in unrivaled is a big (Napheesa Collier). U also have BG, Angel, Rikea, Satou, Hamby, Boston, etc cooking. Don't get me wrong the guards are cooking too but that's not because the game is suited for them only. Everyone gets a whole bunch of space to show their stuff, it's all about what u do with it.

I think Athlete unlimited is like what Uchenna Kanu did in her collegiate off-seasons. Thats a semipro type situation. This is the big league.

Phee has been the best player obviously, but outside of her most bigs have been underwhelming. Surprising you mentioned Boston and Angel. They have been average at best and the vast majority of commentaries from media and fans agree with this. The best players in the league have been overwhelming guards and this isn't even up for debate. Of the top 15 players, 10 of them are guards and none is a center. The remaining 5 who are forwards are those who can move the ball like guards.

And for Athletes Unlimited, no it isn't semipro. It is as professional as unrivalled. The 40 woman 2024 roster had 18 active WNBA players and 11 others who had WNBA experience. This year 2025 has 20 players with WNBA experience. At least a 3rd of those currently playing in Unrivaled have played in AU before now. So it's as professional as they come. They just do not have the kind of funding Unrivaled has.