😯 Layup Lines: Caitlin's new comp?

Sponsored by

Happy Friday and welcome back to Layup Lines, your quick recap of what’s going on in the WNBA.

• News we love to read: Lisa Leslie is getting a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena in September.

This 607 word newsletter should take a little over 2 minutes to read.

👀 Same as it ever was

• The league just went through a transformative, wealth-generating offseason where more than 50% of players ended up on new teams. But for everything that’s different, consider that through the first week of the season, we’re still watching:

  • The Liberty score in droves. Even without Sabrina Ionescu, New York is the first team in W history to score 95+ points in each of of its first four games.

  • The Lynx, arguably the most competitive franchise of the last 15 years, finding yet another star in Olivia Miles. The guard is leading the team in scoring with 16 ppg and looks remarkably comfortable for a rookie.

  • The Sun, who had the worst offense in the league last year, and the Sparks, who had the worst defense, continuing to not be able to do those things.

  • The Wings being coached by a new guy who might already be in over his head (see below).

🔥 Reader email of the day

This take from longtime friend of the program Ross T. needs no introduction:

• Caitlin Clark from 3 over her last 10 games: 14/71 (19.7%). I think we scouted her wrong and she’s more of a Trae Young than Steph Curry. Trae could score, could hit bombs. But his passing is what separated him. He’s not the efficient marksman of a Steph. And I think Caitlin’s game is closer to that.

  • Trae is a career .352 from 3. Very early but Caitlin is .324. Assists wise? She’s on track to average 8+ again this season and already has an assist champ in her trophy room which she won in 2024. Trae also won assist champ in 2024-25 and save for this season, has never averaged below 8 APG.

Respond to this email and I’ll make sure Ross sees your feedback. Want to be in the newsletter? You know where to find me.

Catch Bad Actors. Let Good Users Flow.

Online traffic isn’t just “human vs bot” anymore.

It’s AI agents, good bots, bad bots… all blending in and getting harder to detect.

That’s where hCaptcha stands out.

Traditional security methods are falling behind. hCaptcha exposes hidden threats with adaptive AI models and intent analysis, providing instant, private verification. 

Don’t just take it from us, hear from one of our customers: 

“Compared to last year [when using competitor], we had a 96% reduction in bot throughput.” - Top 10 Gaming Company 

Virtually all companies that book a demo with hCaptcha decide to move forward.

📺 What’s on this weekend

• Tonight, I think you should have a few small beers and watch Washington @ Indiana (7:30pm ET, ION).

  • Bet I like*: Washington +8.5

• Sunday’s entire slate is pretty fun, but Vegas @ Atlanta (1:30pm, NBC/Peacock) could be the game of the month. The Dream are so explosive and the Aces are the Aces.

  • And after reading that Clark take, I’m going to watch the Storm @ Fever (6pm, Peacock/NBCSN) through a new viewpoint.

*Record on bets I like this season: 1-0

🪞 Quote to go

• New Dallas coach Jose Fernandez, who is coaching in the W for the first time after 25 years at South Florida, had some choice words after the Wings loss last night.

  • Three games in feels pretty early to be pulling this card!

Layup Lines is written 100% by a human being with visual assistance from AI tools. I very much appreciate you reading and will see you back here Monday.

— Everett Cook, Founder & Editor