I had been awake a handful of seconds, leaned out the side of my bed at 6am and fumbled excitedly for my phone as I scrawled through twitter for the 2018 WNBA draft outcome.

Had Maria Vadeeva defied expectations and took the number one spot? Or did she have to settle for the podium? Top five at least – right? Okay then, where did she finish in the Top 10?

Cue an instinctive and hearty belly laugh when I saw that the best teenage player in the World, one of the best prospects I have ever seen while covering the women’s game and someone who is proven at the professional and elite international level like nobody else in the draft was way down in 11th.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhfVvzKjCIS/

I then sat and went through some of the messages I had received from those who don’t reside in the American bubble.  ‘Clueless’, ‘No appreciation of the FIBA game’, ‘Insular ’ – with ‘#BasketballwithBorders’ [an ironic version of the without Borders #] being the one that struck me most.

I have had lengthy debates on social media about Vadeeva’s commitment and that fear she would not play. I also wrote a piece at FIBA about why she deserved to be the number one pick – even if she was never likely to be. I also get that the franchises can’t afford luxury picks and have businesses to run.

But say it to yourselves very slowly and maybe out loud. …. The best league in the women’s game just drafted one of the best players in the women’s game as 11th pick.

It defies belief.

But then I should not be surprised. The lack of appreciation of what is going on outside of America has genuinely had my jaw hanging in the past few weeks. It is the kind of ignorance that would put Mr Trump to shame. Without wanting to make a sweeping statement about everyone involved with the WNBA, I would add the caveat that a handful of people are very aware of talent worldwide.

But I was genuinely astonished at some of the pre-draft analysis. I almost fell off my chair when the esteemed Rebecca Lobo admitted she did not know much about Vadeeva. I was even more shocked that ESPN had not told her to grab a coffee and sit down to click on something called YouTube – with I am guessing 1,000 hours plus of Vadeeva kicking the butt of senior pro’s and international players. Indeed some WNBA players.

Plus Rebecca, did you not see Vadeeva royally destroying USA and others at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2017?

Then arguably and even more esteemed observer like Michelle Voepel does not even bother to check the FIBA calendar to see that Russia have no international senior commitments this summer – and about their struggles at the Europe and and World level. The curriculum of Vadeeva is also shortened in one piece – the most important part, her time at Sparta&k brushed over. The Dolson and Meesseman connections don’t seem to even exist.

Sean Hurd of ESPN then stated “Vadeeva will have to continue to expand her range beyond the arc in the WNBA and will need to improve her speed to better run the floor.” Same questions apply to Syl Fowles or Brittney Griner? Not sure the best coach in the world Lucas Mondelo is losing much sleep right now as to Vadeeva not dropping triples – because he knows she can finish on the fast break just fine and is a machine in the paint.

All of this is fuel for the cynics who feel the WNBA is mainly just a bunch of Americans playing American ball. It is why it remains interesting up until a point, but struggles to truly capture that global appeal. There is a clash with the FIBA international calendar, but this is waning and slowly being resolved.

The excuses are running out. When you see a draft like this, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry as an observer who is not entrenched in the ‘American World View’ that seems to have resonated throughout these last few WNBA weeks.

In mitigation and hopefully proving that if nothing else, I like to consider injecting some balance, credit to Los Angeles Sparks for getting Vadeeva. If she does play, they have a world class talent on their books. I bet they couldn’t believe their luck – they are a franchise who know talent when they see it – and have reached into the European pool previously on multiple occasions.

Nevertheless, the fact Sparks even got the chance to take her way down at 11th, had my colleague Pierre raging, “I hope she plays, destroys everything in sight and wins ‘WNBA Rookie of the Year’. Although are international players even allowed to take this honor?”

There is credit that Vadeeva’s running mate, Raisa Musina was drafted.

Technically, she has incredible skills and while she has not got the senior or pro track record of her compatriot, she could be an incredible player in the next decade or so.

Park Jisu of Korea getting drafted was of course, simply fascinating. I have watched her live during at least 5 FIBA tournaments. She may suffer burnout earlier than some as she has been over-used since she was 13 years old for her country, but if she shows more durability than I expect, she is a nice prospect. There is also the wonderful cultural aspect too and opportunities to promote the WNBA even more within a large community which would be fantastic. With Gulich and Reisingerova also getting picked up, it did  at least make for an interesting draft.

I will leave you with this…

Had the WNBA observers and ‘experts’ at least both recognised and appreciated Vadeeva was the best (or competing with Wilson to be the best), but would not get selected due to doubts over her commitment, then I would have been able to handle it more easily. But the lack of research, effort and knowledge is inexcusable. For goodness sake, she was one of the best three whole years ago – All Tournament Team at U19 in 2015.

If I was Vadeeva, I would be tempted to stick my middle finger proudly in the air for the lack of respect. A multi-millionaire teenager who could be an All-Time Great, there is even a possibility that the WNBA needs her, more than she needs them.

Anyway, got to run, must scrawl through more Skype messages, DM’s and mails from people who think the WNBA and its Stateside observers leaked some serious credibility. So, sorry for taking the global view, but it looks a whole lot different from across the Pond.

Keep it locked to @basketmedia365