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

[Dillon77]

Seattle missing 2 starters--Loyd and Magbegor. Looked like it wouldn't matter, up as much as 16. Then LA came roaring back and took a lead. As bad as the Sparks' season has been, they're competitive more often than not. Storm did pull out the W. Nice games for Nneka, SDS and Gabby.

Vegas 1 game up on Storm, they play on Tuesday. Aces could potentially still catch Connecticut for 3rd.

Agree. Horston saw the court again and contributed as well, adding 16 pts on 7-10 shooting in 25 minutes.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I tend to think in terms of NET assist. (Total assists per game minus total turnovers per game) rather than assist to turnover ratio. It's just easier for my mine to wrap around,

I believe she broke the season assist record by a little and the turnover record by a lot. Lots of excitement!

 

[WBBTakeover]

Yikes, I looked it up. The top 4:

Ticha Penicheiro 135

Alyssa Thomas 137

Alyssa Thomas 138

Caitlin Clark 220 and counting.

Caitlin has had a great year, but lowering her turnovers would really help. She broke the old record by over 60%.

I agree. I'm going to go back to what I mentioned earlier this season. It wouldn't hurt Indiana to run the offense through Aliyah at times while Caitlin can play off of her. The offense does not have to be initiated by Caitlin and orchestrated 100% by Caitlin. Aliyah has good vision and is an adept enough passer for the offense to run through her for stretches.

Also, 36 mpg for a rookie PG is an insane stat! That mark should've been lowered to 32 mpg. Here's where having a veteran PG worth a darn would've helped immensely. Cutting down on the rook's minutes leads to cutting down on the mental fatigue and results in a reduction in the number of TOs.

 

[WBBTakeover]

The Aces were clicking on their defensive rotations! OMG!! They looked really good over the last few games on defense. I still see a whole lot of "You got 5 shots. My turn to jack up 5 shots". Megan had some looks and the hot hand, but Gray and Young looked her off on a couple plays. I was like "Nooooo! Let's get a Heat Check!" on Megan.

True! That's never going to change, though. They (guard trio) are who they are (super talented but shoot-first--which isn't a problem when they are scorching the nets, but...), so Becky has to hope that their shots will fall at a high enough clip to justify that "gotta get mine" mentality. So far this season, that hasn't been the case outside of a handful of games. Given that the defense has improved from a once-atrocious state, however, I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Dillon77]

I agree. I'm going to go back to what I mentioned earlier this season. It wouldn't hurt Indiana to run the offense through Aliyah at times while Caitlin can play off of her. The offense does not have to be initiated by Caitlin and orchestrated 100% by Caitlin. Aliyah has good vision and is an adept enough passer for the offense to run through her for stretches.

Also, 36 mpg for a rookie PG is an insane stat! That mark should've been lowered to 32 mpg. Here's where having a veteran PG worth a darn would've helped immensely. Cutting down on the rook's minutes leads to cutting down on the mental fatigue and results in a reduction in the number of TOs.

Not disagreeing with you here: Clark (and Mitchell, btw) can use some breathers.

It's not as if Lin Dunn and Christy Sides didn't plan for this, to some degree. Erica Wheeler followed Sides from Atlanta and Dunn signed her to a large two-year contract. Wheeler played last year; this year, ehhh. She was in the game yesterday for 14 minutes, spelling both Clark and Mitchell....barely.

And then there's Grace Berger, who is firmly planted on the bench.

Now, as noted by many, Sides has really cut her rotation in the last few weeks in the chase for the playoffs. Now that they have 6th, let's see if Clark gets some air.

As per next year, Wheeler's contract is done and that frees up a lot of cash. Berger is still on that initial rookie contract.

 

[Geew1992]

Not disagreeing with you here: Clark (and Mitchell, btw) can use some breathers.

It's not as if Lin Dunn and Christy Sides didn't plan for this, to some degree. Erica Wheeler followed Sides from Atlanta and Dunn signed her to a large two-year contract. Wheeler played last year; this year, ehhh. She was in the game yesterday for 14 minutes, spelling both Clark and Mitchell....barely.

And then there's Grace Berger, who is firmly planted on the bench.

Now, as noted by many, Sides has really cut her rotation in the last few weeks in the chase for the playoffs. Now that they have 6th, let's see if Clark gets some air.

As per next year, Wheeler's contract is done and that frees up a lot of cash. Berger is still on that initial rookie contract.

They also paid Wheeler not to play overseas

 

[nwhoopfan]

I still see a whole lot of "You got 5 shots. My turn to jack up 5 shots"

Plum didn't participate in that this game. Didn't take her first shot til about midway thru Q2. She did have a stretch where she scored 9 points in less than 3 minutes right before halftime (shooting 4-5), but it was a key time of the game. Aces had led pretty much the whole way, but Sun had surged ahead. Plum's outburst staked them to an 8 point lead at the break and Connecticut never really challenged in the 2nd half. She only had 3 more FGA in the 2nd stanza.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Gabby can be a difference-maker. She's also a stat-stuffer.

Took her and the team several games to adjust, but she's really playing well now.

 

[cancontent]

Way too short of a clip to post by ESPN. It sounds like Lobo had more context to put around her statement. Now I gotta see if there's a replay of NBA today to hear the entire piece.

 

[bballnut90]

I agree. I'm going to go back to what I mentioned earlier this season. It wouldn't hurt Indiana to run the offense through Aliyah at times while Caitlin can play off of her. The offense does not have to be initiated by Caitlin and orchestrated 100% by Caitlin. Aliyah has good vision and is an adept enough passer for the offense to run through her for stretches.

Also, 36 mpg for a rookie PG is an insane stat! That mark should've been lowered to 32 mpg. Here's where having a veteran PG worth a darn would've helped immensely. Cutting down on the rook's minutes leads to cutting down on the mental fatigue and results in a reduction in the number of TOs.

They have been running more offense through Boston since the All Star break. She’s been terrific passing the ball and they consistently run backdoor for Mitchell via Boston which has worked great. The chemistry between those two is excellent. If the Fever can add in Sabally next year with CC/AB as facilitators, they’re a real title threat.

 

[GamecockFam]

Not disagreeing with you here: Clark (and Mitchell, btw) can use some breathers.

It's not as if Lin Dunn and Christy Sides didn't plan for this, to some degree. Erica Wheeler followed Sides from Atlanta and Dunn signed her to a large two-year contract. Wheeler played last year; this year, ehhh. She was in the game yesterday for 14 minutes, spelling both Clark and Mitchell....barely.

And then there's Grace Berger, who is firmly planted on the bench.

Now, as noted by many, Sides has really cut her rotation in the last few weeks in the chase for the playoffs. Now that they have 6th, let's see if Clark gets some air.

As per next year, Wheeler's contract is done and that frees up a lot of cash. Berger is still on that initial rookie contract.

I would like to see Berger, Saxton and Wallace get 10+ minutes while the starters only put in like 20 minutes of play against the Mystics on Thursday. The Fever are stuck in the 6th seed no matter the outcome, so they might as well get the reserves some meaningful experience.

 

[Bigboote]

I would like to see Berger, Saxton and Wallace get 10+ minutes while the starters only put in like 20 minutes of play against the Mystics on Thursday. The Fever are stuck in the 6th seed no matter the outcome, so they might as well get the reserves some meaningful experience.

I don’t get Berger being stuck to the bench. Last year she averaged 4/1.5/2 in 15 minutes with decent shooting percentages and played almost every game.

 

[Dillon77]

They have been running more offense through Boston since the All Star break. She’s been terrific passing the ball and they consistently run backdoor for Mitchell via Boston which has worked great. The chemistry between those two is excellent. If the Fever can add in Sabally next year with CC/AB as facilitators, they’re a real title threat.

Don't want to be a kill joy, but there's an "if" there: If I read my Her Hoop Stats off-season preview for the Dallas Wings correctly, GM Greg Bibb can core Ms. Sabally.

Will he? I've got to think "yes" if he intends to try moving forward with the Sabally, Arike, Big T/Brown, Siegrist approach (Howard's contract is finished).

 

[ochoopsfan]

Nice

 

[cancontent]

I don’t get Berger being stuck to the bench. Last year she averaged 4/1.5/2 in 15 minutes with decent shooting percentages and played almost every game.

Add me to that list. Just as stumped.

 

[Dillon77]

Add me to that list. Just as stumped.

Cube it.
Berger is a cool, calm customer who could pick up on what is needed at that time in the game and perform accordingly.
If Sides/Dunn don't want her, maybe Berger can be made available to Golden State in the expansion draft (can people under rookie contracts be offered up?).

 

[cancontent]

Cube it.
Berger is a cool, calm customer who could pick up on what is needed at that time in the game and perform accordingly.
If Sides doesn't want her, maybe she can be made available to Golden State (can people under rookie contracts be offered up?).

No idea but I like the idea.

 

[cancontent]

 

[nwhoopfan]

Tough blow for the Storm. I think they have to win that game to keep their hopes alive for the #4 seed.

 

[Dillon77]

Tough blow for the Storm. I think they have to win that game to keep their hopes alive for the #4 seed.

Yup...I read the same thing. With all due respect, beating LA without those two is one thing, taking on a seemingly focused Aces bunch is another.

 

[cancontent]

Yay for Emily. Drat for Aaliyah, but the comment that she's progressing is nice to read.

 

[cancontent]

If Atlanta can't capitalize on this tonight

 

[GoUconn7961]

This Lynx/Sun game has been fun. It’s such a shame that Phee doesn’t have a chance at MVP this season.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Yup...I read the same thing. With all due respect, beating LA without those two is one thing, taking on a seemingly focused Aces bunch is another.

Aces started and ended strong, in between Seattle made a close game of it.

Gotta like Plum and Young combining for 37 points on 14-21 shooting.

 

[12au]

Interesting how much Berger love there is around here. I've been frustrated with their handling of her as well, but for a different reason. I wish they'd cut her (and Saxton) to invest in players w/ actual development potential. Or someone who would've been useful during the season.