HVL & CLW in New Zealand Game 1

HVL & CLW in New Zealand Game 1

The Tokomanawa Queens took a loss in HVL and CLW first appearance in the New Zealand Tauihi League, going down to the Mainland Pouākai 114 - 77.

HVL led the Queens with 20 pts, 1 ast, 6 reb, 2 stl, 3 TO in 30 mins of action.

CLW had 19 pts, 7 ast, 4 reb, 3 stl, 1 TO in 23 mins of action, not playing the last few minutes of the 3rd quarter and the whole 4th quarter due to calf cramp.

For the Pouākai, they were simply too dominant inside, with Mikayla Vaughn (formerly Notre Dame University) taking full advantage of the weaker bigs of the Queens leading all scorers with 32 pts, 12 Rebs and 3 ast, and McKenna Dale (Brown University) with 28 pts (5/10 3pt), 19 rebs, 5 ast.

u/ClaimFresh — 11 days ago

CLW x HVL in the offseason

Presumably yall will not be familiar with the New Zealand women’s league, but following the end of the WNBA regular season, Charlisse and Hailey will be coming to New Zealand and teaming up to play for the Tokomanawa Queens!

The league is called the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa and is in its 5th year, comprising of 5 teams based in other cities around New Zealand. Due to the limited number of teams, the season is quite short, from end of September to mid December.

The league has been lucky enough to host a few WNBA draftees and players such as Jordan Horston (Seattle), Jihyun Park (LA Sparks), Jamie Nared, Natasha Mack (Mercury), as well as a large number of former D1 players.

HVL and CLW will also be joining Charlisse’s sister Krystal - the first time they will be playing together since when Charlisse was at WSU (prior to UCLA).

The signing of HVL is huge for the league as she is easily the biggest player the league has had the pleasure of signing. Hopefully this will lead to more WNBA talent to grace the shores of New Zealand following the regular season for futures to come!

I believe ESPN might be streaming the games for fans in the US to enjoy. Hope you can get behind and support the girls and our league!

EDIT: I have been advised that ESPN+ streams the Tauihi games

u/ClaimFresh — 25 days ago

Hot take: the only players that should be locked in for the comets

To be honest I have no idea how it officially works when an old team is being relocated to a new city. This may be a hot take but IN MY OPINION the only players that should be locked in for the comet roster are:
Charlisse Leger-Walker
Nell Angloma
Olivia Nelson Ododa
Leila Lacan
Aaliyah Edwards
Saniya Rivers

Everyone else should be working extra hard to try solidify their spot.

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u/ClaimFresh — 2 months ago

So we can all agree KP>CR right?

And equally so, Asafo Aumua should be the number 1 hooker

Edit: Oops meant Cortez not cam lol

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u/ClaimFresh — 2 months ago

Who has made enough of an impact to potentially play themselves into a test match 23

Personally I think it’s gotta be Peter Lakai for sure, Leroy Carter has been everywhere too.
I know who definitely hasn’t and that’s Simon Parker.
Would’ve like to see less of Cortez and more of KP

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u/ClaimFresh — 2 months ago

Honest thoughts on the Connecticut Sun this season so far

- This coach’s rotations are actually terrible and make no sense
- I am convinced the people that want Morrow and HVL to start don’t actually watch the games and are just saying that bc they’re popular players
- Morrow has great hustle but her shot creation/scoring is one dimensional, and her defence is horrible (often absent and just caught ball watching)
- HVL is better as a shooting guard (decent scorer which we saw at Louisville) but is undersized. She seems to get flustered bringing the ball up when defended by taller players.
- KB is not worth $1mill. She literally averaged less than 10 points her whole career in the league and last season was the first time she averaged more than 20 mins a game. She’s not exceptional enough at anything to be getting paid 1 mil.
- CLW is a better PG than HVL and is most productive when paired with good bigs (like at UCLA). I would love to see more pick and roll type offence with her and BG and Aaliyah Edwards (I would include Beers but she looks lost after setting the screen half the time).
- This team plays with too much ego and hardly any team ball movement - too many people are playing iso and holding onto the ball until the last second in the shot clock to either force a terrible shot or pass it off to another player for a forced shot.
- GK is the best shooter on the team but looks flustered on the court. I always thought she would have the toughest time transitioning to the pros out of all the UCLA girls (coming from a UCLA fan)
- This team by far has the worst offence in the league and needs a legit scorer- hopefully LL can fill that role when she comes in

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u/ClaimFresh — 5 months ago

Warner Dearns hypothetical

IF he was available and eligible for the All Blacks immediately, would you have him as one of your starting locks?

Edit: I am fully aware he is a Japan national player and that he was born in NZ. I am also aware that there is a stand down period before changing representation for country

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u/ClaimFresh — 5 months ago