2024 WNBA Season: Part 2 (August ---) | Page 29 | The Boneyard

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

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Raise your hand if you thought Sloot would outscore Ogunbowale this game (well it's not quite over yet so that could change, but that it's even a possibility is unexpected).
 
nwhoopfan said:
Okay, how is Dallas this bad? They started to play well after the Olympic break w/ Sabally's return, but that has gone out the window.
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I feel like the chemistry is not right. They have the talent but it’s not translating and looking the way it should on the court. I wish Sims could have stayed with them but yeah it’s just a hot mess
 
cancontent said:
All true but how does that answer the question though? Should the Olympic portion of this year be considered as part of the exercise in determining whether Wilson's season is the best of all time?
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I would do two iterations (first one: solely WNBA, second one: a filter of WNBA+):
  • there are top players who don’t play overseas (e.g. Elena Della Donne);
  • with the advent of Unrivaled, if it takes off, some top players may choose to play in the 3x3 tournament rather than overseas in the offseason; this seriously impairs comparisons (within a season and across seasons) of top players — how do you compare 5x5 vs 3x3 tournaments?
  • the Olympics / World Cup should probably be a comparison note, as top players in non-Olympic / World Cup years are unnecessarily disadvantaged.
The flavor of the above discussions seems to favor (recent) forwards who could dominate leaderboards in points and rebounds.

But how about guards/wings like Cynthia Cooper, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi, a center like Lisa Leslie or an earlier forward like Lauren Jackson who had comparatively dominant seasons (even more so if normalization is applied)?

Maybe a composite stat like Efficiency should be the controlling variable?
 
nwhoopfan said:
Okay, how is Dallas this bad? They started to play well after the Olympic break w/ Sabally's return, but that has gone out the window.
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I think they've given up for the season now that they're eliminated from the playoffs. Some of the younger players are still playing with heart but the rest are just going through the motions. IMO I think it would be best if the bench players get more experience and playing time now that their season is effectively over.
 
There are 3 teams fighting for the last spot in the playoffs: Sky, Dream, and Mystics. Interestingly, three of the Dream's last four games are against the Sky (x1) and Mystics (x2), so their destiny is still in their control. The Dream and Mystics play tonight at 7:30 ET on ION and again on Sunday. It should be a fun series to watch. I expect some really good basketball with nothing held back. If either team goes 0-2, they will be eliminated.
 
The last fever vs aces game generated a lot of hateful (on both sides) fan social media arguments about A’ja vs Caitlin for MVP. It was disgusting on both sides. There may have been some justification regarding complaints about officiating - but isn’t there always

Nevertheless the rematch has some importance in jockeying for playoff position. I think the Fever players also want to fight hard to stay above .500.
 
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visitingcock said:
The last fever vs aces game generated a lot of hateful (on both sides) fan social media arguments about A’ja vs Caitlin for MVP. It was disgusting on both sides. There may have been some justification regarding complaints about officiating - but isn’t there always

Nevertheless the rematch has some importance in jockeying for playoff position. I think the Fever players also want to fight hard to stay above .500.
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Agreed that the rhetoric needs to die down with respect to the MVP conversation.

This should be another good game tonight. How does Indiana adjust? Was it just an off night for Clark and Mitchell or was it Vegas' strategy? How will the Wilson vs Boston battle in the paint play out this time? A lot of interesting plot lines.
 
visitingcock said:
The last fever vs aces game generated a lot of hateful (on both sides) fan social media arguments about A’ja vs Caitlin for MVP. It was disgusting on both sides. There may have been some justification regarding complaints about officiating - but isn’t there always

Nevertheless the rematch has some importance in jockeying for playoff position. I think the Fever players also want to fight hard to stay above .500.
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Noone can compete with Ar'ja for the MVP award,Napheesa and Stewie wll come 2nd and 3rd - Ionescu , ALYSSA thomas and McBride should be the final votes for all WNBA FIRST TEAM;

Caitlin is not on the MVP conversation, neither on the first team
 
All I seen online was that the Aces guards were fouling CC on every possession and getting away with too much physicality. I haven't been able to watch the game, so can't give an opinion. I saw the highlights, which of course won't show those plays.
 
cancontent said:
Was it just an off night for Clark and Mitchell or was it Vegas' strategy? How will the Wilson vs Boston battle in the paint play out this time?
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Reypl21 said:
All I seen online was that the Aces guards were fouling CC on every possession and getting away with too much physicality.
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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.
 
The deacon said:
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.
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Appreciate the correction.
 
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.
 
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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? :rolleyes:
 
cancontent said:
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? :rolleyes:
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
MilfordHusky said:
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.
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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?
 
Minnesota womped Chicago and Washington edged Atlanta, so the Mystics are sitting pretty at the moment. Wash/Chi tied and Atl 1 game behind.
 
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Caitlin broke the record for assists in a season.
 
GCKSFN4L said:
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.
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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 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 said:
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.
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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.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
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.
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I glanced at the box score at halftime. Were Clark and Hull scoreless in the first half?
 
WBBTakeover said:
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?
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Even after Parker got hurt, I think Vegas was better last year than this year.
 
MilfordHusky said:
I glanced at the box score at halftime. Were Clark and Hull scoreless in the first half?
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I don't think scoreless but Clark struggled to make shots in the first half. Second half she got back on track.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Even after Parker got hurt, I think Vegas was better last year than this year.
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(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.
 
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.
 
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