WNBA discussion thread?

How about some Rae love. Pretty much everyone agrees she's Unrivaled's MIP. Esp impressive since she was one of the last players invited and only got there bc others couldnt. Her team pulled off a huge upset against the heavily favored Owls to get to the championship game tonight. Rae has never been in a better position going into training camp.


 
Yep, Rae is one of those late bloomers I like to talk about. At Tennessee she was instant energy -- and sometimes two left feet. There were times it was clear that she needed more time to put it all together as her body and mind matured, and we're seeing it happen now. I love it! Her emerging confidence is making her a player who is no longer going to have to constantly worry if she'll be waived next week. She is proving she deserves to be in the league and I couldn't be happier.

But this is only happening because someone saw Rae's potential and was willing to play the long game with her. This is not typically the case in the W.

Take, for instance, Rennia Davis. Now, I always said myself that she was a bit of a loper and might have trouble sticking in the W without having more quickness, and maybe that was partially why she never stuck for long. But that beautiful long-range step-back three-point shot she had was, I thought, worth giving her more time to see if she could grow other parts of her game. That said, I generally think many personnel decisions in the W come down to personslity, and Rennia was (at that time, at least) a quiet woman without an outgoing personality. Seemed to me that maybe if she'd been gregarious and her staff and teammates had had a whopping good time around her, she may have stuck. I could be wrong, but I kinda suspected it based on how often I was seeing less talented but super-funny-clown players on teams when Rennia kept getting waived.

Anyway, back to Rae. So proud of her!
 
Yep, Rae is one of those late bloomers I like to talk about. At Tennessee she was instant energy -- and sometimes two left feet. There were times it was clear that she needed more time to put it all together as her body and mind matured, and we're seeing it happen now. I love it! Her emerging confidence is making her a player who is no longer going to have to constantly worry if she'll be waived next week. She is proving she deserves to be in the league and I couldn't be happier.

But this is only happening because someone saw Rae's potential and was willing to play the long game with her. This is not typically the case in the W.

Take, for instance, Rennia Davis. Now, I always said myself that she was a bit of a loper and might have trouble sticking in the W without having more quickness, and maybe that was partially why she never stuck for long. But that beautiful long-range step-back three-point shot she had was, I thought, worth giving her more time to see if she could grow other parts of her game. That said, I generally think many personnel decisions in the W come down to personslity, and Rennia was (at that time, at least) a quiet woman without an outgoing personality. Seemed to me that maybe if she'd been gregarious and her staff and teammates had had a whopping good time around her, she may have stuck. I could be wrong, but I kinda suspected it based on how often I was seeing less talented but super-funny-clown players on teams when Rennia kept getting waived.

Anyway, back to Rae. So proud of her!
No doubt a lot of it, esp for players on the margin, is timing and good luck. Along w the mental toughness and patience to stay ready when the chance comes. Rae talks about that in the podcast tweet
 
Dark Ph I owe you this: Angel won UR’ DOP and was the leading rebounder. Some claimed offensive progress as well. Unfortunately, she ended the season reinjured her wrist.
Thanks I appreciate that, yea that sucks that she got hurt but hopefully she just needs a lil rest and can get back in the lab.
 
Got me to thinking about Rennia Davis, so I visited her Wiki page and thought I'd give a tip of my hat to a former Lady Vol great. That game-winning buzzer-beater she made against Alabama will forever be one of my all-time greatest memories of being in Thompson-Boling Arena for a big moment like that. Rennia will always be special to me. Wherever she is I hope she is well and happy. 🧡

Brief overview:

College​

Rennia Davis played college basketball at the University of Tennessee, where she averaged 15.4 points and eight rebounds over four years. She started 116 of the 118 games she played. She finished her career top 10 in scoring, rebounds, double-doubles, points per game, rebounds per game, free-throw percentage, field goals attempted, and field goals made.

At the University of Tennessee, Davis was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Women's College Basketball Player of the Year for the 2020–21 school year. She was an honorable mention All American on the AP, World Exposure Report, USBWA, and WBCA lists that same year. The AP, USBWA, and WBCA gave her the same Honorable Mention in 2019–20. She was also named to the Coaches All-SEC First Team in 2019-2020 and 2020–21 and was named the SEC player of the week multiple times both years.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
 
Got me to thinking about Rennia Davis, so I visited her Wiki page and thought I'd give a tip of my hat to a former Lady Vol great. That game-winning buzzer-beater she made against Alabama will forever be one of my all-time greatest memories of being in Thompson-Boling Arena for a big moment like that. Rennia will always be special to me. Wherever she is I hope she is well and happy. 🧡

Brief overview:

College​

Rennia Davis played college basketball at the University of Tennessee, where she averaged 15.4 points and eight rebounds over four years. She started 116 of the 118 games she played. She finished her career top 10 in scoring, rebounds, double-doubles, points per game, rebounds per game, free-throw percentage, field goals attempted, and field goals made.

At the University of Tennessee, Davis was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Women's College Basketball Player of the Year for the 2020–21 school year. She was an honorable mention All American on the AP, World Exposure Report, USBWA, and WBCA lists that same year. The AP, USBWA, and WBCA gave her the same Honorable Mention in 2019–20. She was also named to the Coaches All-SEC First Team in 2019-2020 and 2020–21 and was named the SEC player of the week multiple times both years.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡
Rennia remains an enigma. I remember the buzz on her was that she could be the next Catchings. She had all the tools. But at the elite level, fine margins can make a huge difference and I think your assessment about why she might not have stuck in the W is spot on.
 
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Madtown, I found some clips of Rennia playing in China and she was looking good! Seems quite a bit quicker, too. Still can drain shots and rebound.
Glad to hear that!
You know, we, fans, always assume that the W is the pinnacle but playing in a place like China could make for some cool life experiences. Heck, the relative salaries might even be better.
 
Thanks I appreciate that, yea that sucks that she got hurt but hopefully she just needs a lil rest and can get back in the lab.

She needs to heal quick. I want her to get time on the court with Sloot. It is a pipe dream but I’m hoping Sloot’s experience with Reese Cardozo and Atkins will allow them to have a top 5-6 year.
 
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She needs to heal quick. I want her to get time on the court with Sloot. It is a pipe dream but I’m hoping Sloot’s experience with Reese Cardozo and Atkins will allow them to have a top 5-6 year.
Let’s hope it’s just like a 2 week healing process. It’s a pipe dream, I think they will be fighting for the 8th seed, she didn’t get drafted to a team with multiple AllStars, so they started from scratch. When u look at the rosters, only maybe the Valkyrie and Sun are worse. But even with the worse roster last year they missed the playoffs by one game with Reese being hurt.
 

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