OK, WNBA draft came and went. I'm assuming nobody drafted Naama? Anyone hear if she's going to try an get picked up as a free agent or is she heading home?

She'll play overseas. She was never a WNBA candidate. Bradford and Inma are the only girls in the conference athletic enough to play in the WNBA.

(04-22-2013 05:37 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  She'll play overseas. She was never a WNBA candidate. Bradford and Inma are the only girls in the conference athletic enough to play in the WNBA.

Does she have to go into the army?

Film of Naama doing drills at the overseas combine in New Orleans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw0Bm4ncT...A&index=67

This site lists all the players at the combine with grades ... I don't know what the grades mean, but Naama is tied for the highest grade of all the players.
http://overseasbasketballcombines.com/2013-new-orleans/

(04-22-2013 08:46 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Film of Naama doing drills at the overseas combine in New Orleans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw0Bm4ncT...A&index=67

This site lists all the players at the combine with grades ... I don't know what the grades mean, but Naama is tied for the highest grade of all the players.
http://overseasbasketballcombines.com/2013-new-orleans/

just seems so wrong, she should be on a wnba team right now. she can play circles around most of the league. and my god, thats the best crossover i've seen any basketball player do!

(04-22-2013 06:12 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  

(04-22-2013 05:37 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  She'll play overseas. She was never a WNBA candidate. Bradford and Inma are the only girls in the conference athletic enough to play in the WNBA.

Does she have to go into the army?

As a follow-up question to that, does her strict religious background exempt her from military service?

At Seton Hall, we had a freshman point guard on the men's team this year and it looks like he will have to drop out of school to fulfill his military obligations. The coaches are trying to find any way to get him out of it, but the religious angle isn't going to work since he's not orthodox. The coaches should have done their homework and saw that almost every Israeli men's basketball player started their U.S. college career (Doron Sheffer at UConn probably being the highest profile) AFTER they did their three years in the military. Sheffer was 21 when he was a freshman at UConn.

I agree, that Naama can hang athletically, but what WNBA team is going to make the same kind of religious allowances that UT did? Practices and games, etc. Maybe there is to much hassle factor? The military angle is interesting, what exactly are the requirments in Israel?

(04-23-2013 07:51 AM)emanoh Wrote:  I agree, that Naama can hang athletically, but what WNBA team is going to make the same kind of religious allowances that UT did? Practices and games, etc. Maybe there is to much hassle factor? The military angle is interesting, what exactly are the requirments in Israel?

I believe it's a minimum of three years for men and two years for women. The rules surrounding exemptions from service are what I'm not sure about.

Military service in Israel generally takes place right after high school. The Orthodox are exempt, so I assume that Naama has not served and will not have to serve.

Aren't there only like 12 picks in the WNBA draft?

(04-23-2013 10:20 AM)inductchuck16 Wrote:  Aren't there only like 12 picks in the WNBA draft?

I think it was 3 rounds of 13 picks, so 39 total. I think.

(04-23-2013 08:50 AM)Dwight Wrote:  Military service in Israel generally takes place right after high school. The Orthodox are exempt, so I assume that Naama has not served and will not have to serve.

This is what made the situation at Seton Hall complicated. The point guard we're about to lose to military service spent the last year or two of high school at a European boarding school that specializes in athletics. I think our coaches didn't do their homework and thought that he wouldn't have to do military service since, even though he's an Israeli citizen, he spent over 3/4 of the year in the Canary Islands.

Your assessment of Naama's situation is my understanding as well.

I think the problem for Naama at WNBA level is that she isn't big enough. By that I primarily refer to a lack of strength. She would be a real liability on defense. If she tried to use her patented "take a charge" defensive style, I am not sure she could make it through the season. Offensively she would not be able to be effective inside and therefore would need to dramatically improve her outside shooting percentage. The latter is possible because she is certainly a talented player and should become a better shooter with practice but I don't see how she would be anything but a liability on defense.

(04-24-2013 02:46 PM)temoxley Wrote:  I think the problem for Naama at WNBA level is that she isn't big enough. By that I primarily refer to a lack of strength. She would be a real liability on defense. If she tried to use her patented "take a charge" defensive style, I am not sure she could make it through the season. Offensively she would not be able to be effective inside and therefore would need to dramatically improve her outside shooting percentage. The latter is possible because she is certainly a talented player and should become a better shooter with practice but I don't see how she would be anything but a liability on defense.

the guard for the phoenix mercury (samantha prahalis) isnt big enough either and she went to ohio state and is smaller than naama.


anything is possible. and despite what people think, most wnba players are NOT extremely tall.

Another thing to factor in is that the WNBA does not pay well compared to other leagues. It's standard for WNBA players to play overseas during the offseason to make real money. The best women's basketball players stay in the WNBA primarily for publicity and marketing purposes. Griner just signed with a Chinese league that pays Maya Moore over double what she makes in the WNBA.

wnba oughta be ashamed since the nba runs that league. its really stupid because the tickets arent that much cheaper than an nba game. so wheres all the money going?

(05-10-2013 01:38 PM)crusher38 Wrote:  

(04-24-2013 02:46 PM)temoxley Wrote:  I think the problem for Naama at WNBA level is that she isn't big enough. By that I primarily refer to a lack of strength. She would be a real liability on defense. If she tried to use her patented "take a charge" defensive style, I am not sure she could make it through the season. Offensively she would not be able to be effective inside and therefore would need to dramatically improve her outside shooting percentage. The latter is possible because she is certainly a talented player and should become a better shooter with practice but I don't see how she would be anything but a liability on defense.

the guard for the phoenix mercury (samantha prahalis) isnt big enough either and she went to ohio state and is smaller than naama.


anything is possible. and despite what people think, most wnba players are NOT extremely tall.

Its not her height which is my concern. Its her slim body type. She lacks the strength to bang with stronger players.

(05-11-2013 12:52 AM)crusher38 Wrote:  wnba oughta be ashamed since the nba runs that league. its really stupid because the tickets arent that much cheaper than an nba game. so wheres all the money going?

The short answer is that nobody knows where the money is going because the NBA doesn't have to release its financials.

The longer answer is that it's suspected that the WNBA loses a ton of money and doesn't have the sponsorship, attendance, and TV money to be sustainable on its own. It's widely suspected that the revenue sources (ticket sales, TV contract, sponsors) don't come close to covering the operating expenses of the WNBA. The NBA already subsidizes it and won't put any more money towards the league. Last season, the salary cap per team was $878,000 and the max for a player was $105,000. To put things in perspective, Kobe Bryant was the highest paid NBA player and he made about $340,000 per GAME this season.

The NBA has a lot of initiatives to build its brand across many demographics all over the world and unfortunately for women's basketball, that is how the NBA treats the WNBA. The tough part is that without the NBA, the WNBA wouldn't have the sponsors it does have, wouldn't have access to the facilities it does, and wouldn't have the small TV contracts it has. We have seen how long leagues have lasted trying to make it independently. The ABL had better players, had much better salaries than the WNBA, played in lower-cost facilities, had much lower expenses, and still couldn't make it beyond two seasons.

Basically, the WNBA needs the NBA to exist, but the money the NBA is putting into it is keeping it from growing, and the NBA won't put more money into it because it views the league at a marketing initiative that loses money.