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00:00Kaitlin Clark, Paige Beckers.
00:02And I know people are going to look at Kaitlin like, I want to kind of almost,
00:07I don't want to say punt this past year for Kaitlin,
00:09but I don't think we could use that as a metric because of the fact that she
00:13was hurt, right?
00:14And she was hurt pretty much all year.
00:16So lining up rookie year to rookie year, you're a GM,
00:21you're tasked with you can have one of these two to build a franchise based
00:27off their first year to rookie year.
00:30Paige or Kaitlin, who do you take and why?
00:34I take Kaitlin.
00:35You know, I don't really think too hard about it.
00:38It reminds me of LeBron versus like Mello or Kevin Durant,
00:42where those debates would come up a lot and people would make the argument for
00:46a Mello or a KD because they had more of a bag or like a smoother all around
00:51game. But you know, the Hulk's all around game isn't always so smooth,
00:55but it's effective when he just smashes.
00:58That's a good tactic.
00:59And for me, what Kaitlin does, that's different from everybody else.
01:04Really, it's twofold.
01:06She extends the defense out so far, you know, not, not even,
01:10it's not even about the shooting so much as what she's able to do playmaking as
01:15well.
01:15So she can either pull from 35 feet or dice you up that way.
01:20And she gets to the cup and finishes.
01:23So I think her ability from deep and her ability at the rim and her ability to
01:28playmake in between is a differentiator.
01:30While Paige is really effective in the mid range and has a super smooth middie and gets
01:36to her spots really, really well.
01:39I don't think it's quite as explosive at what Kaitlin's as what Kaitlin's able to do
01:44also in transition, because Kaitlin's really good at getting the ball, rebounding and getting
01:49out and going.
01:50So, I mean, that takes nothing away from Paige Beckers, who's absolutely tremendous.
01:54And this is part of a transformative era, I think, for the WNBA in a sense where they're
01:58moving toward more guards when it's been very post and big heavy in the past.
02:03But yeah, I mean, there's a reason why Kaitlin Clark set all those records at college and
02:09then went into the WNBA and set all those records immediately.
02:13I really do think she's just a different level talent than everybody else.
02:17And I take the other side as a coach.
02:21And, you know, think about just the fact of, first things first, no one really scores
02:26a ton at UConn, because Geno's kind of like, I guess you'd say, Dean Smith, right?
02:31They always score more when they get to the next level.
02:33So when you look at me as a coach, I'm taking Paige because of, number one, her shooting splits
02:41were just a little bit higher, I think about a 47.7% from the field as a rookie.
02:46Obviously, Kaitlin does the more of the dynamic plays, right?
02:50The long threes, the logo threes, the sexy passes.
02:53But in regards to efficiency, based off of a lower usage rate, her numbers are a little
02:58bit higher.
02:59Now, the crazy thing about it is, honestly, folks, it's so close to me.
03:06I think the reason why I go with Paige is probably her ability a little bit bigger, really good
03:10defensively, 1.6 steals per game this past year, but it's so close.
03:16And I think the thing what's great about it is, is like I said, it's the debate that
03:20Robert could have, and he could, Robert could say, Kaitlin, I could say Paige, and neither
03:25one of us could be wrong.
03:26Because those two are so dynamic, and I feel like the WNBA is in such great hands, and I
03:32will say this, and I'll go throw it back to Robert real quick, you wait, folks, because
03:37there's another kid coming in two years, and that's Juju Watkins.
03:40And she could be the best out of all of them, with her being at about six foot four.
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