Hoops

Liz Cambage in the WNBA

“An interesting article.

One reference in the article that resonated with me - that Liz's coaches in the past really didn't understand stresses on her tall, still growing frame; that she would be accused of shirking if she complained about hip or lower back pain.

I anticipate a lot of eye-rolls to this by many in this forum.

However I suspect there is a strong element of truth to this. What does it reflect? (Many will say it is just Liz's victim mentality - take this too far and you de-legitimate ALL the feedback we get from her).

For me, it probably reflects the fact that she is such a weapon that coaches become frustrated when she either cannot play, or plays well below her best. “

But she stopped growing years ago!!!.........what’s been her excuse since then(insert eye roll)

against aja wilson probable rookie OTY and one of the other form players in the W

43 points. 13 rebounds. Playoff-bound!

"there are very few coaches around who played as centres."

There's a reason for that. Passing along the detailed knowledge you gained in your playing career needs more than "run basket to basket", which is all 99% of centres ever master :)

btw Liz is in beast mode right now ... 23 & 7 and it's not half time yet

Yeah, that part resonated with me too. It's an aspect I don't usually consider.

Thanks Luuuc for the link

An interesting article.

One reference in the article that resonated with me - that Liz's coaches in the past really didn't understand stresses on her tall, still growing frame; that she would be accused of shirking if she complained about hip or lower back pain.

I anticipate a lot of eye-rolls to this by many in this forum.

However I suspect there is a strong element of truth to this. What does it reflect? (Many will say it is just Liz's victim mentality - take this too far and you de-legitimate ALL the feedback we get from her).

For me, it probably reflects the fact that she is such a weapon that coaches become frustrated when she either cannot play, or plays well below her best.

There is one other factor at work - most coaches played as guards in their day; there are very few coaches around who played as centres.

Coaches who were formerly guards often pretend to know the stresses and operating environment that centres work within. They pretend to have empathy.

But their understanding arises from abstraction and observation; not a lifetime of experience playing the role facing different opponents and countering different strategies. Just as point guards would question advice given about their craft offered by centres; it does cut the other way.

Liz is reportedly ion US$113k for the Wings this season.

$400K for a four month season. Crazy money.

She has been overly spoilt by the ridiculous money thrown at her by the Chinese league. Also meant she has been able to avoid tougher competition in Europe. Easy money, easy league and easy to get away with more as she is by far the most dominant in China.

""It sucks because I love to be here, I love to put the game out there, I love what comes with playing here. But at the end of the day, for my longevity, I worry about my body, my mind and my soul. I really don't get paid enough to be beaten up every game. I'm not a WWE wrestler and that's how it feels sometimes out on the court."""

says the person who happily throws punches,shoves,and elbows anyone in her way....but hey dont call her on it as thats just not fair.


she wont be back because the officials had had enough of her antics....she gets away with more in China but even there shes been involved in punch ups. Its her attitude thats her biggest hindrance,and until that changes every league she plays in will be critisised by her,shes said the exact same thing about the WNBL.

Yeah, agree about the timing.
Note also that the WNBA CBA is approaching renewal time, and a number of players (including Liz) have been vocal this season about the pay & conditions of WNBA players, so her comments continue that narrative too.

In her own words spending five days in Aus so do you even need a house? Wait she probably went big on DJ equipment.

Big mortgage.

Maybe stop spending so much, Liz.

"I'll see how I feel after China," Cambage said. "I think I probably have five days at home [in Australia] for the rest of this year, until February next year. We'll see how I'm feeling."
...
"I've said this many times: [The WNBA] doesn't pay my bills ... playing here doesn't pay my bills," Cambage said. "We make more money overseas. I'm ready to have next summer off and focus on getting a European contract where its 10 seasons here worth the pay."


Wings' Liz Cambage says WNBA return in 2019 up in the air

2nd in tech fouls. if she gets one more she will be disqualified for a game.

Currently

1st in points
2nd in rebounds
3rd in blocks
4th in field goal %

There were 5 tech fouls in that match and none of them were on Liz :O

There were a couple of times when she clearly wanted to have a crack but restrained herself. Kudos for that. I'll be interested to see how long Zen Liz lasts. I wouldn't put money on it being a long time but I'd love to be wrong.

Semantics anyone..............?

Maybe the anon's "she's just tall" comment was read by and triggered Liz's 53pt game?

Liz's:
footwork - is exceptional for her size
catching & finishing ability - is exceptional for her size
speed & agility - are exceptional for her size
shooting ability - is still improving and exceptional for her size

Her attitude stinks and unfortunately I hold out no hope of sustained improvement. But she's not just big.””

Hate to omit put the obvious here but!!!!
You do realised you have just give her “size” as the reason/excuse for all her skill set

So if you take away her size would HER skill sets stand out ?
Just bit of food for thought lol

None of them had a 53 point game either!

“So explain how there have been all those other players of Liz's height, and far better attitudes, come and go from the WNBA without coming close to her effectiveness?
Just admit you don't know her game, or the game in general.”

Kara Wolters Drinan ( 6-7 ) ...
Katharen Ruth Mattera ( 6-7.5 ) ...
Brittney Griner ( 6-8 ) ...
Maria Stepanova ( 6- 8 ) ...
Lindsay Taylor ( 6- 8 ) ...
Elizabeth Cambage ( 6-8 ) ...
Zheng Haixia ( 6-8.5 ) ...
Malgrozata ' Margo' Dydek ( 7-2 )


Read this for the answer to your question, plenty of good bigs that didn’t have the attitude or hype she gains
https://sport.one/the-top-10-tallest-female-basketball-players-in-the-wnba/

anon 696750, your comments looking pretty silly now after that 53,10,5 game. 2 time gold medalist and former WNBA MVP, and New York Centre Tina Charles, wanted no part of her. She comes up v Griner and Fowles regularly and matches or beats them and they are the best bigs in the world and at 6 8 and 6 6 essentially the same height. Liz is a brat we all know that, but she could be one of the best in the world if she can play to her potential like today!

perhaps take a look and apart form her 3 point shooting, mid range shooting, spin moves, drives, post moves, and blocks, but apart form that, she got nothing!

http://www.wnba.com/video/liz-cambage-scores-wnba-record-53-pts-to-go-with-10-reb-5-blk/

sounded like camp day watching the highlights with all the noise. NY defence ? Liz did not even play the full game. Wings smartly coached - now how to get the best out of their team. Got to say well done Liz.

So explain how there have been all those other players of Liz's height, and far better attitudes, come and go from the WNBA without coming close to her effectiveness?
Just admit you don't know her game, or the game in general.

“I still don't get why some people can't separate Cambage's playing ability from her demeanour. “

So what makes her a stand out player if you take away her height, does she have exceptional ball handling, foot work, court smarts, passing, is she a fast paced athlete, great defender, is she a phenomenal shooter, remember take away her height and what that allows her to do, such as gettting the rebounds and put backs simply because she’s bigger than anyone else there, do you ever see her even attempt to exert herself, just what does she bring to the game except her height. Look past her height, she is not a patch on LJ with her work ethic, her court smarts, her aggressive defence, she also doesn’t even come close to what Penny Taylor brought to,a game with her leader ship, team play, selfless and retlentless in her work ethics, her athleticism.

All Liz Cambage bring is height , hype and attitude.

I still don't get why some people can't separate Cambage's playing ability from her demeanour.

Her talent if you can call it that is she’s tall, that’s about where it stops

No one in the world will go past Jackson, greatest of all time.

liz cambage who at 27 years should go past batkovic and taylor but not jackson..

The refereeing of Liz has been no different to any other player in the WNBA
It has nothing to do with her surname and everything to do with her bad attitude and enormous over inflated ego
It was the same in Australia and China
All the refs can’t be wrong

And she’s not “better than this” this IS her

Her talent if you can call it that is she’s tall, that’s about where it stops

It’s insulting penny taylor and Lauren Jackson to even use her name in the same sentence let all be compare her to them

The problem stems from her being pandered to her whole life and and that’s what she expects

Time for her to grow up, but it’s doubtful she will even think she’s the problem

I don't know why she still fails to realise that she's not the only player in the league who doesn't get every single call she wants. How has it still not sunk in that after everywhere she has played, for all these years, maybe it's not actually a global conspiracy against her but maybe, just maybe, copping some missed calls is just a normal part of basketball for every damn person who plays the sport.

I've barely missed a Wings game all season, and she actually started off well from a behaviour POV. Clearly more demonstrative than most players, but kept a lid on it and got on with the job of being a team player and winning basketball matches. Recently it has snowballed, and the problem is that now she's making a reputation for herself with the officials. You go off at them all the time, including some times when it is NOT warranted, and it's only human nature that they're gonna start remembering you.
So right now it's time for her to decide whether she wants to pull her head in and help her team make a title run - and they are quite capable of it this season - or does she want to be selfish, continue to spit the dummy, and add the WNBA to the growing list of leagues who "don't know how to ref her".

The tech she copped yesterday was harsh, but that's what happens when you are in the refs' faces constantly. You cop the cumulative "straw that broke the camel's back" techs on top of the obvious ones.
Even in the world's best league she is a pretty big deal, so her complaints are going to be listened to. I'm guessing that in the next couple of games the refs will be under instruction to keep a closer eye on the contact she gets. But if she keeps acting like an infant then the favours will dry up very quickly.

There's a right and a wrong way to go about pointing out dissatisfaction with the reffing. Yelling in a ref's face, swearing and making gestures at them during the game is not working out well for Liz so far, since she currently leads the WNBA in tech fouls and is in real danger of hitting the limit that gets you an automatic 1 game suspension.

Seattle is the hottest team and also have the clear mvp. They beat Dallas today but Liz did have an impact with a tech and a flagrant on the back of 2 techs last game. She has gone full infant with her carrying on at the refs and they have now had enough of her bs. I wish her well in her global search for refs who can ref her.

They're coming out of the hand pretty nicely this season so I could see it becoming a regular part of her arsenal if she keeps at it.

Liz doesn’t have a reliable 3-point shot yet, although I notice she has hit one or two this season

I think she is very close in skills but the attitude part could not be more different. I remember when Loz got fired up it meant look out here comes trouble for the other team. When DJ Lizzy gets emotional it just means tech fouls and quitting on plays and sulking. She has all the grit and determination of a 2 year old.

Your Aussie bias is showing. Liz will never be an MVP in a US league - they’ll almost always vote for their own.
LJ was an exception because she WAS a true MVP in terms of her stats, carrying the team, and being a positive role model for the WNBA to feel good about. She played hard at both ends, dominated taller players, played hard even when losing, but still played a team game.

LC may have the advantage of her height to help her dominate, but she will never have the range of skills or the attitude that LJ had.

Well said Luuuc

A banged-up Penny Taylor "sidekicked" her way to a game high 30 in the championship decider on the road to give Phoenix their first WNBA championship. That's after another 30 point near triple-double earlier in the series. Which was the year after she was tournament MVP of the Opals only gold medal team. You seem to also be mixing up "fierce competitor" with "bland personality".
It's also certainly not Liz's outspoken personality that rubs everyone up the wrong way. Personally I'm a fan. But the undiciplined, me-first attitude that appears too often is not a good quality on the court. Especially when contrasted with Taylor, who was a warrior her whole career, and dived after more loose balls in a game than Liz probably does in a year.

Liz has crazy potential. She could have been better than LJ rather than in the conversation for who was #2. For the most part I'm loving her season in Dallas and have barely missed a game. But get back to me with the comparisons once she has achieved something because so far she hasn't proven herself to be better than Suzy Batkovic let alone Penny Taylor.

Foul was probably there but her first response was dumb and going even harder at the refs after the tech was beyond selfish & stupid.

Vadeeva did bring her defensive arm down on her during the lay up, IMO foul was there but call was not made.

Oh dear so the refs in the USA won’t take her crap either lol I’m surprised it has lasted this long , wonder if she will throw another tanty and say she won’t be stepping foot on USA courts as “they just don’t understand her” either

Even if Liz wins WNBA MVP this season you won't find me saying her name in the same sentence as.
LJ or Penny.

I was sure that a new post in this thread was going to be about her getting ejected this morning.
Cayla stepped up nicely in Liz's absence though. Dallas are really rolling now.

dont forget to vote for the wnba all star game

Liz and Skylar are a good on court combo - Dallas would be happy

IMO yes - there are a number of legit candidates right now and she is one of them.