RBD fades the Caitlin Clark drama in Indiana and grabs the points with the red-hot Atlanta Dream on the road in this WNBA betting pick.
Atlanta Dream at Indiana Fever
A Pick on the Spread
There’s trouble in Clarksville and I’m looking to take advantage of it tonight.
I try to limit my betting to games that qualify for my different handicapping systems, but there are a couple of other situations that I keep an eye out for, and one of them is locker room dissension.
To win at professional sports, a team has to be totally focused on the game at hand. The WNBA doesn’t really qualify as professional sports but I’m going to apply the rule to it anyway.
Drug scandals, domestic violence, teammates fighting, and clashes between players and their head coach all serve to distract from the task at hand – beating your next opponent.
In their last game, the Caitlins lost.
Not only that, they lost SU as Double Digit Favs.
Not only that, they lost by Double Digits.
To an expansion team.
At home!
And there was drama on the court.
Indiana’s coach, in-the-closet Clark hater Stephanie White, pulled Caitlin from the game at the three minute mark of the first quarter, with the Caitlin’s leading 8-2.
Have you ever watched the basketball game at ANY level? If so, have you ever seen a coach pull a player three minutes into the opening quarter?
No.
In her three minutes of play Clark had three assists and one basket, meaning she played a part in all eight of her team’s points.
And White pulled her from the game.
Clark ended up playing only 22 minutes.
Indiana backup forward Mykala Timpson played 25 minutes.
Have you ever heard of Mykala Timpson?
No?
You’re not alone, no one else has either.
The Indiana Fever are two games away from being in the basement of the WNBA standings.
In their last game they lost by 16 points to an expansion team, while their star player, one of if not the best player in the league, sat on the bench for much of the game. It seems coach White has decided to come out of the closet and doesn’t care if anyone sees her disdain for Clark.
In the second quarter of the game, White pulled Clark again, and the two exchanged words in a video that went viral.
Clark is 4th in the league in PPG.
Clark is 1st in the league in assists per game.
Clock is 4th in the league in three pointers made.
And White has her riding the pine in games her team loses by 16 points against an expansion team.
Caitlin Clark puts butts in the seats.
And not just in Indiana. Every team in the league gets substantial bumps in fan attendance when Clark is in town. They pay to see her play, not sit on the bench. And she deserves to be on the court.
The Fever held a team meeting this week to discuss the problems they’re having.
The meeting lasted for TWO hours.
That’s two hours they could have been practicing on the court.
That’s two hours they could have been working on a game plan for their next opponent.
That’s two hours wasted because the problem will not go away until Indiana decides who stays and who goes because Clark and White cannot exist on the same team.
Naturally you would think the team would keep the best player in the league and dump the coach, but this is the WNBA, with its well established reputation for dumping on Clark.
Jealousy, hatred, and yes – racism are the reasons for it. They fester and flourish under commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s “leadership.”
Sideline altercations, locker room dissension, unhappy players and unresolved issues all take focus away from the task at hand. And makes me want to put my money on that task at hand – the Atlanta Dream.
The Fever face the Dream tonight.
The team with the second best record in the league at 6-2.
The team who’s won four of their last five.
They’ve won two straight, mirroring the Fever’s losing two straight.
All this points to a Fade of the Caitlin’s for me.
But I have more.
Already leaning towards the Dream tonight, how happy was I when I finished my handicapping and saw that Atlanta qualified for one of my Wrong Favorites models, WF1.
WF1 is just 4-3 on the season BUT it’s 3-1 on Rd teams. And Atlanta is on the Rd tonight.
The game opened at Indiana -1′, and that’s where it’s sitting, all across the betting board.
It’s a good number considering that Atlanta can win SU.
I’ve got the better team.
I’ve got the hotter team.
I’ve got the team that’s playing as a unit rather than one that’s mired in disarray.
And I’m getting a point and a half.
Maybe the locker room talk will prove to be effective on the court tonight, and the Fever will put together a solid effort for the home fans.
But until they show that they can play together as a solid, cohesive unit I’ll be looking to Fade them.
And they won’t be able to play as a solid, cohesive unit until either White or Clark is gone.
My play: ATL +1′
Recap: 1-0
Record: 5-7
Review:
Banked a unit with my last play.
I laid 13′, got a win by 16.
With . . . Atlanta.
Same team I’m using tonight.
You know I like to stick with what’s working.
