The fourth week of the WNBA regular season was very interesting. The WNBA recorded a record breaking attendance last month for the first time in 26 years and it had it’s most watched season yet across the American networks of ESPN, ION, ABC, ESPN2 and NBATV. On top of all of that, the United States Senior Women’s National Basketball Team released their final Olympic roster and Caitlin Clark was not on that list. But, we all know why. This is because the USA has plenty of talented senior basketball players and when players like Diana Taurasi are still playing in the league, you can’t leave her off the roster. I’m sure Caitlin Clark will be on future USA Olympic women’s basketball teams, but that didn’t stop national media from discussing it on TV and online. It became a heated topic and Clark adressed these remarks by saying she understood and was fine with the decision. As the league slowly is becoming more mainstream thanks to Caitlin Clark and this outstanding rookie class, WNBA fans will have to learn to adjust and get other fans on board to understand why the Senior USA Women’s Olympic Basketball Team is difficult to make. It isn’t easy AND very talented basketball players get left off.
It is now time to recap the fourth week of WNBA Rookies Watch. You can read the previous week here.
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WNBA Rookies Watch – Rookies Growing the League
As we continue these WNBA Rookies Watch posts, please be aware only a small handful of WNBA rookies are getting extended minutes to play while other rookies are not. This is not to dismiss their talent. There is just strong competition and it is tough to compete against WNBA veterans who have experience and have also played overseas.
*Note – These are games played from June 5th, 2024 to June 11th, 2024*
1.Aaliyah Edwards – Forward, Washington Mystics
Aaliyah Edwards has consisently improved herself and is now the top rookie this week. In this past week, she had 2 double-doubles. One was at home against the Chicago Sky in which she scored 23 points, had 14 rebounds and recorded four (!!!) blocks. The second double-double performance was at home against the Indiana Fever and she finished the game with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists. She didn’t shoot the ball that frequently on the road against New York and Atlanta, but she still managed to finish both games with decent numbers. On the road in New York, she finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. On the road in Atlanta, she managed to help her team get their first win of the season, snapping an 11 game losing streak and finished the game with 4 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time.
2. Angel Reese – Forward, Chicago Sky
Angel Reese only played twice last week and she was just as efficient as she has been all season long. She had two double-double performances, one on the road versus the Washington Mystics and one at home versus the Atlanta Dream. On the road in Washington, she finished the game with 16 points, had 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 5(!!!) steals. However, she only shot 29.4% from the field. At home versus the Atlanta Dream, she finished the game with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 5(!!!) steals and 3 assists. She also shot much better in this game, as she shot 50%. She continues be one of the top rookies in this class.
3. Caitlin Clark – Guard, Indiana Fever
Look whose back on the WNBA Rookies Watch list! It is Caitlin Clark! She makes a return to the WNBA rookies watch list after she scored a career high 30 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 4(!!) steals on the road in Washington and shot 53.8% FG from the field and 53.8% from three. Unfortunately, she also finished the game with 8 turnovers. Turnovers are something that she continues to struggle with. Unfortunately, on the road in Connecticut, she struggled against the one of the best teams in the league and she was held to just 10 points and 2 assists.
4. Cameron Brink – Forward, LA Sparks
Cameron Brink continues to be on the WNBA Rookies Watch list due to her ability to remain a steady presence on the floor for the LA Sparks in limited minutes on the floor. This past week she started off slowly on the road in Minnesota in which she fouled out of the game and scored a season low 2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in 15 minutes of playing time. She rebounded at home versus the Dallas Wings in which she finished with a double-double performance of 10 points/10 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. In the next game, which was at home against the Las Vegas Aces, she finished the game with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 (!!!) blocks. On the road in Seattle, she finished the game with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 (!!) blocks. However, she struggled shooting the ball in the past week as she she shot 29.5% from the field.
5. Rickea Jackson – Guard, LA Sparks
Rickea Jackson takes a step back this week from being the top rookie the previous week to barely making it on the list. She struggled at home versus the Minnesota Lynx and finished with a season low 2 points and 2 rebounds. She was better at home versus the Dallas Wings in which she finished with 8 points and 2 steals. She was spectacular at home versus the Las Vegas Aces in which she tied her career high in points with 16, shot 63.6% from the field and had 5 rebounds in just 22:54 minutes played. Finally, on the road in Seattle, she struggled as she scored a career low 3 points/1 rebound in just 15 minutes. This week went up and down for Rickea and she squeezed onto the list.
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