What Do You Think About the New Rules?

This Is What You Think...
The Voice of the Fans:

"I think the rule changes are the best thing to happen to the WNBA yet! It makes sense that it be structured more like the NBA game, considering it's called W(NBA). I've only watched 1 WNBA game in my life and that was during the first year. I'm a huge fan of NBA basketball and will be watching the WNBA this season because of these new and improved changes."
-Erika, Cincinnati, OH

"I think the 4 quarter format is just Great it give longer time to set plays more time on the floor even tho its the same length at 2 periods. the 24 seconds will also speed up plays and give more time for scoring. as for jump balls they are just silly.... um hammon vs. dydek need i say more. I say the longer the game the more happy fan's are im a fan and i pay good money to see hammon and wait all year just to see her for an hour. Yeah im sure they dont want to play that long."
-Lauren, Brownsburg, IN

"i think its good, we have it out in australia, our wnbl league has it and were very excited that the big league has decided to takeit on."
-dea, melbourne, australia

"I'm afraid the 24 second clock will lead to rushed play with more turnovers and missed shots, rather than to increased scoring."
-Joe, Ithaca, NY

"I'm looking forward to a tougher more aggressive game this season. I believe the rule changes will elevate the game by society not just viewing it as "women's basketball," but as basketball regardless of gender that is appears on the court. I also believe these changes will have a positive change on women's basketball."
-Nugyrl, Ypsilanti, MI


"i think these rules will have a big impact on the games. the players will have to be able to run the floor well. i am looking foward to watching and learning from the washington mystics. i want to see how they will adjust to the new rules. im also looking foward to watching kasha terry play with the fevers. i have watched her game improve on the college level and is looking foward to watching her improve in the wnba!"
-Keerica, Riverdale, GA


"These rules will impact the game tremendously and can do nothing but enhance the game. The game will be faster as it will force teams to execute their offenses quickly, thus increasing the tempo which will be fun to watch. I'm looking forward to the 24 second shot clock and the four-quarter format. The international game has been playing this way since the last Olympics, so I'm excited the WNBA has agreed to adopt this format."
-Ken, Syracuse, NY

"I think the new rules are great. The new rules will bring a more intense and fast paced ball game. It will require all player to react under pressure and have there head in the game at all times. The four 10 min quarters is good because it's geared more like the NBA. Teams will have to do alot more scoring within the quarters. Over all I like it. I have nothing negative to say about the new changes at all. I am ready for the new season to start. I am anxious to see all of the new and upcoming talent. I'm excited for all of the WNBA players and coaches. I hope everyone has a good season."
-Holly, Peoria, IL

It finally has a professional feel to it with the 4 quarters and the 24 second clock will speed things up a bit...the real athletes will shine.
-KimArt, Phoenixville, PA

The new rules will take some getting used to the four-quarters won't
be so bad and same with the jump balls to begin second, third and fourth
quarters the big change will be the shot clock this means teams will need to get
players who can get score in a shorter amount of time and the will need good
point gaurds to set up the offence faster and more efficient.It will be interesting though.
-Katy-Sue, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

The WNBA announced three key new rule changes that will speed up the play of the game and lead to more offense: four ten-minute quarters, a :24 second shot clock and no more jump ball to start the second half. Players and fans are looking forward to a new style of play this season.

Tamika Catchings, Indiana Fever
"I think its awesome, I'm so excited about it, even playing overseas, playing in Korea, we get to play four quarters and I think its great because it cleans up the game and it differentiates between the college and the professional games. The 24-second clock obviously speeds the game up, I know a lot of people are worrying the game might get a little sloppy, but when you know you have ten minutes, and after that no matter what you're going to have a break, it will help, even though it might be sloppy in the beginning just because of the adjustment, I think by the end of the season, and not even by the end by the middle, teams will have adjusted, most players have played overseas, but even in high school you play with it."

Helen Darling, Charlotte Sting
"I was always for having four quarters just to separate us and make us different than the college game. I'm not sure what the :24-second shot clock will bring. I'm excited because it suits my up-tempo style of play. I love to run up and down, but Tina Thompson made a good point about the zone defense. A team can sit in that zone for less time and shut a team down. Teams may need to get some quick hitters. We want to be a defensive team that can shut you down. What Sacramento was last year will be the Charlotte Sting this year."

Becky Hammon, New York Liberty
"I like it, I think they're good changes, the one thing you have to consider with the NBA being at the 24-second clock is there are a lot of rules that allow them to be more creative such as defensive three seconds, nobody really plays zone, illegal defense, all those things come into factor, and I think the league seriously has to look at adjusting some other rules if you want to go with that 24-second shot clock. But I think it's part of the evolvement of the game, but it's quick, so I'm happy in the aspect that it's going to move the game, make it more up-tempo, more up-and-down, because I think it's a more exciting brand to watch and a more exciting brand to play. It's still going to be, we're testing new ground here so it's going to be interesting."

Kristin Haynie, Sacramento Monarchs
"I am not sure what to expect as far as big changes to the game. I like that they are trying to differentiate our game from the college feel. I don't think changing to four quarters will be that different because we still have 20-minite halves. The 24-second shot clock, I think the game will be a bit faster. You might see quicker shots taken, though that doesn't necessarily mean worse shots. It will benefit our team on the offensive and defensive end."

Niele Ivey, Phoenix Mercury
"I'm not sure. I know they said in the meeting they were talking about just changing it from the collegiate game to the professional, kind of have our own amateur league, the college league and bringing it up to the professional level. Hopefully that works and the only transition will be for the college players, hopefully it works, it's a difference, the game might change a little bit, you get more time to go over last minute plays at the end of quarters, so that's a huge thing for coaches to get out, a quick hitter or something like that, so I think it should work."

Betty Lennox, Seattle Storm
"The :24 second shot clock will make things faster, which should be right up these younger kids' alley."

Sancho Lyttle, Houston Comets
"I think with the four quarters will give us more time to rest, with the halves we would play twenty minutes and wait for a timeout, but with the four timeouts we get four quarters and two minutes of rest where players can rejuvenate themselves. With the shot clock we are going to see a lot of people running, I guess that's why they cut it to four quarters, it's going to be fast paced and you'll need set shooters, I guess when people figure out that this is what they are coming into with the 24-second clock they're going to be in the gym shooting every day because you can't wait for the ball to you, you have to come and get go get it."

Kristen Mann, Minnesota Lynx
"I think these rule changes will make the game a lot faster and I have different opinions as to whether or not that is necessarily a good thing. I think it will be good because people want to see us score more which will help us get noticed by more fans and make it more likely that ESPN and other sports networks show more of our highlights. But I also think it might force some players or teams to rush things. I think shooting percentages might drop a little bit."

Coco Miller, Washington Mystics
"I definitely think the 24-second clock will speed the game up, a lot of overseas players will be used to the system because that's what they do over there. Four quarters, I don't think that will affect it a whole lot, but I think the pace of the game might even be faster because of the 24-second clock, and that will make it more exciting."

Kelly Miller, Phoenix Mercury
"I think many of our players are already used to this style from having played overseas."

Ruth Riley, Detroit Shock
"As a player you really can't make a decision until you've been involved and playing with them. I'm a little unsure about the 24-second clock, but we will see what happens"

Katie Smith, Detroit Shock
"I like the new rules. Having played in the ABL with four quarters and a shorter shot clock, I know that it will benefit the game. I think we may the ball up a little bit more, but that is fine with me."

Kendra Wecker, San Antonio Silver Stars
"I think these changes will improve the overall entertainment value of the game and the product. It will be a faster-paced game and should result in some more scoring and that will hopefully get more people in the stands."

Lindsay Whalen, Connecticut Sun
"I think it's going to isolate a lot of players talents, because you're going to have the shot clock running down in the end, and it's going to be obviously more fast-paced, you're going to see some shots you don't want to see taken, but overall it's going to help and allow a lot of players to do some individual things as well as some more quick-hitting types of offenses, and we're going to see what the our coach and the coaches around the league do."