FIBA and the WNBA
Wednesday 07 September 2005
Thanks to Tritogeneia for inspiring this blog post.
Amidst the usual end of season LJ "will she or won't she" bruhahaha, there is an interesting tidbit about Donna O's response to Iziane's question about scheduling and the world championships
"If they say they are not going to do anything for the World Championships, then I have to think about it because that's going to be my country," said Castro Marques. "It's going to be a huge event for us, especially since women's basketball is not that big there. It'll be important for all [Brazilian] players to be there."Castro Marques said the WNBA's players association has broached the topic but when the guard questioned new president Donna Orender about the championships, at an August game in New York, the response was "our league is our league."
Maybe there's more missing from the quote but at face value, I don't think it's a good attitude to take. If push comes to shove, most international players would pick their national team over the WNBA (Baranova, Abrosimova and Vodichkova are exceptions, not the rule) and that would certainly hurt several teams in the WNBA significantly (Seattle, Phoenix). Ms Orender should remember that the United States is also participating in the World Championships and a two week preparation schedule simply won't do.
What should the WNBA do? I think compressing the season is the only answer. Starting the season earlier would only incur more clashes with the Euro leagues and unlike the Olympics, the timing is so that splitting the season isn't going to work. Maybe the WNBA could have discussed things with FIBA beforehand but FIBA doesn't care about the WNBA (mainly because it is not a FIBA sanctioned league).
Just a general comment about the WNBA, FIBA and synchronising schedules - if the WNBA wants something to be done, they will have to be the one to make concessions. The WNBA has very little bargaining power in this situation and FIBA has little to gain by altering its schedules. My suggestion would be for the WNBA to start later than it currently does. It's been repeatedly said that baseball would interfere with the WNBA but the WNBA ran well into September and October in 2004 and it still got good coverage and drew good crowds. There is the wacky idea that the WNBA should make itself a FIBA sanctioned league (with all the associated rule changes) but I don't see that happening anytime soon especially with the MNBA in charge.
Of course, the WNBA could avoid the whole situation by ponying up more cash for salaries.
Comments
Dead on; I think there is a level of American arrogance to the statement of the league. It appears Donna O. feels the league is the melting pot of all great basketball players, and can dictate to the other governing bodies because of it. However, without the cash, there is no clout. Something I'm afraid she'll find out sooner rather than later.
Posted by: David | Wednesday 07 September 2005
The money (to pay WNBA players more) isn't there yet, though in the long term we can hope it will be.
Compressing the season without reducing the number of games would reduce the quality of play and probably increase injuries as well: going to fewer games would be a step back. WNBA front offices should want more games over more weeks, not the same number (or fewer) over fewer.
Is the short term solution simply for WNBA GMs not to rely on international players as much as some have? LJ is irreplaceable, of course-- as, to judge by this season and last, is Tully-- but would Phoenix's season look better in retrospect had the Merc played Irvin more and not bothered with Stepanova?
Posted by: accommodatingly | Wednesday 07 September 2005
Phoenix wouldn't have been in the playoff race without Stepanova.
I was only suggesting compressing the games for next season because of the World Championships.
Money is an interesting issue because European WBB teams generally don't earn enough revenue on their own - they rely heavily on sponsorship. They also generally don't make profits but the investors view it as a good investment for talent development/branding purposes.
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