2024 WNBA Season: Part 2 (August ---)

[cancontent]

It wasn't an off-night for MItchell, but rather Aliyah Boston... she and Clark shot a combined 9 of 32 from the floor. Regardless, your question is spot on, cancontent.

As for the Aces' physical defense on Caitlin, I've seen Vegas play enough that it looked pretty much like business as usual. Jackie Young is simply aggressive beyond the norm, and she definitely bothered Clark. It was very much reminiscent of early-season games for the Fever.

Appreciate the correction.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

From a defensive standpoint I thought Jackie did a great job on Caitlin in the last game. She didn't play into the push offs that Clark usually gets away with and I think that reall threw her off. This game was hardly any more physical than any other game for either, I just think the experience helped Vegas prevail. It'll be interesting this see how both team will adapt in just two days, this is giving very much playoff vibes.

 

[cancontent]

Why are most of tonight's games scheduled for 7:30? Is this a sly way for the WNBA to test the multiview feature of LeaguePass and make sure it actually works?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Why are most of tonight's games scheduled for 7:30? Is this a sly way for the WNBA to test the multiview feature of LeaguePass and make sure it actually works?

Haven't Friday games been like this all year? A bunch of them are on ION, but they are mostly simultaneous as far as I know.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It looks like Vegas just makes life rough for Caitlin and the Fever. They had a decent lead, Indy made it close but Aces held on.

Here's a crazy stat--Plum had a +17 in 34 minutes, they only won by 4, so those 6 minutes she wasn't on the floor didn't go very well. Anyway they almost got all 3 guards scoring all in the same game. Gray had 21, Plum 18, Young 12. Wilson held in check w/ 15 but she had 17 rebounds.

Mitchell was almost on pace for 40 at the half, but barely scored after halftime. Caitlin just missed another triple double.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Dallas outscored Seattle in Q1, 2 and 4 (by a combined 19), but disastrous Q3 led to a loss. Storm outscored them 34-13 in the deciding frame. Big effort from McCowan, 23 pts/15 reb.

 

[WBBTakeover]

The longer season is affecting season records and career records. If A'ja has the highest ppg, breaking the record of Jewell or Diana, and the most rebounds, I'd call it the greatest season. In the middle of last season, I thought Stewie and A'ja were about even. Since then, A'ja has clearly been #1 in the world. Strangely, the team is not as good as last year.

The team is not as good because they have one starting post player (last year, they had two for half the season). I've said that MANY TIMES on here--and yet people continue to peddle the same ol' same ol' about the team not being as good. Of course it's not as good--because of the lack of quality starting post play. How good would NY be if they had Stewie OR Jonquel--instead of both? How good would Minnesota be if they had Phee OR Alanna--instead of both? How good would Connecticut be if they had AT OR Bri Jones--instead of both? How about Seattle if they had Nneka OR Ezi--instead of both? See where I'm going with this?

I know that you all love Kiah Stokes, but she's not a starting post player in the WNBA. Her career in this league is just about over. All the other "contenders" have multiple All-Stars and Olympians. Kiah, on the other hand, is an extreme offensive liability and has not been a good enough defender this year to make up for what she lacks offensively. To put it in perspective, Kiah has scored 1007 points in her WNBA career. A'ja could match that point total this season alone. Now, with that info known, which of the following teams would rather have Kiah starting than their current post duos: New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, or Seattle?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Minnesota womped Chicago and Washington edged Atlanta, so the Mystics are sitting pretty at the moment. Wash/Chi tied and Atl 1 game behind.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Caitlin broke the record for assists in a season.

 

[WBBTakeover]

From a defensive standpoint I thought Jackie did a great job on Caitlin in the last game. She didn't play into the push offs that Clark usually gets away with and I think that reall threw her off. This game was hardly any more physical than any other game for either, I just think the experience helped Vegas prevail. It'll be interesting this see how both team will adapt in just two days, this is giving very much playoff vibes.

I didn't see that at all. Honestly, I thought she was terrible save a few plays. She played up too high and allowed Caitlin to blow right by her on multiple occasions. Of course, she's done something similar all season with other guards.

This has been a season to forget defensively for Jackie Young. She's going to have to find a way to get quicker (maybe lose some of the bulk) or else she's going to get destroyed defensively next season as well.

That said, she's still a better defender than Kelsey Plum. I'm sure the Valkyries fans will love that defensive "effort" from KP after a couple of 10-30 seasons with her as the franchise face.

 

[pvdoggy]

I am surious why does a team like Dallas who is already out of the playoff picture continue to play their star player 40 minutes instead of seeing what they have in their younger players sitting on the bench with 0 minutes? Even the major league teams not in contention will call up their prospects for evaluation at this time of the year. Seems weird to me.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Merc blown out by Sun. Big surprise.

 

[cancontent]

Haven't Friday games been like this all year? A bunch of them are on ION, but they are mostly simultaneous as far as I know.

Most of the time it's been a couple games at 7:30, and some at 10. Don't think there's been a Friday with 4 games at 7:30.

 

[Dillon77]

Merc blown out by Sun. Big surprise.

...particularly with no Copper for the Merc. For the Sun, Jones (20) and Mabrey (19) lead way in scoring with Thomas dishing out 11 assists.

 

[MilfordHusky]

It looks like Vegas just makes life rough for Caitlin and the Fever. They had a decent lead, Indy made it close but Aces held on.

Here's a crazy stat--Plum had a +17 in 34 minutes, they only won by 4, so those 6 minutes she wasn't on the floor didn't go very well. Anyway they almost got all 3 guards scoring all in the same game. Gray had 21, Plum 18, Young 12. Wilson held in check w/ 15 but she had 17 rebounds.

Mitchell was almost on pace for 40 at the half, but barely scored after halftime. Caitlin just missed another triple double.

I glanced at the box score at halftime. Were Clark and Hull scoreless in the first half?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Caitlin broke the record for assists in a season.

I believe the season records for points, assists, and rebounds have all been set this year, the second year with a 40-game season.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The team is not as good because they have one starting post player (last year, they had two for half the season). I've said that MANY TIMES on here--and yet people continue to peddle the same ol' same ol' about the team not being as good. Of course it's not as good--because of the lack of quality starting post play. How good would NY be if they had Stewie OR Jonquel--instead of both? How good would Minnesota be if they had Phee OR Alanna--instead of both? How good would Connecticut be if they had AT OR Bri Jones--instead of both? How about Seattle if they had Nneka OR Ezi--instead of both? See where I'm going with this?

I know that you all love Kiah Stokes, but she's not a starting post player in the WNBA. Her career in this league is just about over. All the other "contenders" have multiple All-Stars and Olympians. Kiah, on the other hand, is an extreme offensive liability and has not been a good enough defender this year to make up for what she lacks offensively. To put it in perspective, Kiah has scored 1007 points in her WNBA career. A'ja could match that point total this season alone. Now, with that info known, which of the following teams would rather have Kiah starting than their current post duos: New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, or Seattle?

Even after Parker got hurt, I think Vegas was better last year than this year.

 

[cancontent]

I glanced at the box score at halftime. Were Clark and Hull scoreless in the first half?

I don't think scoreless but Clark struggled to make shots in the first half. Second half she got back on track.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Even after Parker got hurt, I think Vegas was better last year than this year.

(1) Chelsea Gray was healthy. Almost a year after her injury, she's now rounding back into form.
(2) Teams aren't allowing Kelsey and Jackie to go off on them this season (and neither player has been able to consistently alter their attack to stop forcing shots). For much of the year, they have not played at an All-WNBA level. KP may still earn honors. Jackie won't.
(3) Kiah was somewhat effective in her role. This year, she is far, far, far, far, far from it. She is a legit liability on both ends of the floor. As I mentioned earlier, her WNBA career hangs in the balance because of this season.
(4) In 2023, Minnesota didn't have Alanna Smith, Seattle didn't have Nneka, and Connecticut didn't have Bri Jones.

I think having Tiffany Hayes to turn to due to #2 raises Vegas' potential beyond what it was last year. They can't do anything about #3 except to limit Kiah's minutes so that she isn't too much of liability.

 

[Dillon77]

Meanwhile, in the game that had direct imput on the 8th (and final) playoff spot, the Mystics beat the Dream in a tight one, 72-69. Mystics outscored the Dream 20-10 in the 2nd quarter to take a 4-pt. halftime lead and they basically went neck and neck in the second half. Brittney Sykes led the way for the Mystics with 20, while Stef Dolson has a solid outing, with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Sika Kone continued her solid play as of late, finishing with 9 points and 8 rebounds. The Mystics were the visiting team here, so that was a key win. They're 13-24, as are the Sky.

 

[The deacon]

I am surious why does a team like Dallas who is already out of the playoff picture continue to play their star player 40 minutes instead of seeing what they have in their younger players sitting on the bench with 0 minutes? Even the major league teams not in contention will call up their prospects for evaluation at this time of the year. Seems weird to me.

Likely because, IMO, Arike calls the shots, both literally and figuratively... as long as that's the case, the Wings won't seriously contend (last year's semis 'run' was not serious contention).

 

[JellyBean]

I am surious why does a team like Dallas who is already out of the playoff picture continue to play their star player 40 minutes instead of seeing what they have in their younger players sitting on the bench with 0 minutes? Even the major league teams not in contention will call up their prospects for evaluation at this time of the year. Seems weird to me.

It could be a host of reasons. I know on the NBA side of things, players have contracts that state they are required X amount of minutes of playing time. Reggie Theus (Chicago Bulls before Jordan) had that verbiage in his contract. We find out later that Jordan had "Play anytime anywhere" in his contract. Certain players, usually your "superstars", have those "agreements" with management. I get what you are saying because I feel that way watching Minnesota play, but behind those closed doors, we don't know what is going on.

 

[Reypl21]

SDS has been playing great, which I love to see. Think she's gets a lot of flack. Gabby Williams is starting to find her spot in that lineup.

Gray looked really good against the Fever. I'm going to freshen up on some highlights from last season, because I forgot her game. It's so good.

 

[willtalk]

It looks like Vegas just makes life rough for Caitlin and the Fever. They had a decent lead, Indy made it close but Aces held on.

Here's a crazy stat--Plum had a +17 in 34 minutes, they only won by 4, so those 6 minutes she wasn't on the floor didn't go very well. Anyway they almost got all 3 guards scoring all in the same game. Gray had 21, Plum 18, Young 12. Wilson held in check w/ 15 but she had 17 rebounds.

Mitchell was almost on pace for 40 at the half, but barely scored after halftime. Caitlin just missed another triple double.

Plus- minus stats are not always indicative of a players level of play while on the court. There are many other factors at play, such as the contrabutions of the players on the court with you both offensively and defensively. Shooting is also streaky and the opposition often will shoot really well or badly for a period of time often with little impact by the defense played against them.

Frankly, I do not think Plum's contrabution was very positive in this game. Her 6 for 17 shooting attests to this and we know that she is seldom impactful defensively. Never the less Plum was more impactful than Young who has not been playing well lately. Plum did hit a key 3 pointer towards the end of the game.

 

[willtalk]

I didn't see that at all. Honestly, I thought she was terrible save a few plays. She played up too high and allowed Caitlin to blow right by her on multiple occasions. Of course, she's done something similar all season with other guards.

This has been a season to forget defensively for Jackie Young. She's going to have to find a way to get quicker (maybe lose some of the bulk) or else she's going to get destroyed defensively next season as well.

That said, she's still a better defender than Kelsey Plum. I'm sure the Valkyries fans will love that defensive "effort" from KP after a couple of 10-30 seasons with her as the franchise face.

I would totally agree with you about Youngs defensive play this season. I initially thought it was because she was focused too much on offense due to them playing without and having to compensate for Grays absense. But it has continued into the present. She does slow and sluggish and far too often makes positioning misakes.

In one of their recent losses, she made two end of game mistakes that hurt the team. The team was up by three with little time on the clock. They needed to defend against the three but Young played off her man and let her take an open undefended shot to tie. She was also beaten for the same players go ahead shot to win the game right after. Young was playing off her man because she had been beaten off the dribble all game. However, in that circumstance you give up the two but defend the three.



Often players ride on their reputation when reality no longer lives up to it. I remember when Alana Beard won two defensive player of the year awards in a row, with he second one being rather iffy. She followed those playing very mediocre defense her last season, but the media still labeled her as being an elite defender even though it was obvious that she was not. I think Alana recognized this an retired the next season. She had lost her quickness. I think Youngs defensive drop off, that actually began last season, is one of many reasons for the Aces decline.

Something just seems off with her this season.