2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs

[Rb335]

A classic case of play to win vs play not to lose. The liberty seemed comfortable up 15, some lazy offensive possessions with bad shots. Allowed the Lynx to put some game pressure on them and they got really frazzled. Add in some costly mistakes, missed bunnies, and the free throw.

It will make game 2 very interesting. How do the liberty respond to that. They were playing lights out for a stretch, home court was rocking, and then an almost embarrassing collapse. That felt like a game that could really get in their heads.

 

[cancontent]

Hope everyone doesn't mind me sharing, but this is what I was seeing while listening to a live stream of the game. These were minor compared to others I saw later but I'm glad I was able to multitask while the game was on.

Another benefit is that my focus was more on the audio and the sound of the crowd was amazing. It sounded like more than the 17,000+ that was announced by the team.

 

[JellyBean]

Teams don't ever seem to efficiently work the clock in the W. You see a lot of bad 3's where the offensive player clearly thinks, "this will ice the game for sure.' and then take a bad shot. Work the clock and get the best shot you can is a foreign concept. Grats to the Lynx for hanging arouind, but that was an all-time choke job by the Liberty. Stewwie and Ionescu were both brutal from the field. They combined to shoot 14 for 47. That's a combined fg% from 2 first all league players of 29.7%.

Working the clock is always tricky, especially when it does not work. Then folks are quick to blame the coach/player for not "working" the clock. If the Liberty made their shots, folks would have been complaining that they were running up the score and how the Liberty should "run more sets. Run their offense". I am just glad that the Liberty cooled off with their shooting. I feel bad for Stewie. When she missed that 2nd free throw, a shot that would put the Libert up by 1 and more than likely seal the game for New York. That has to hit hard. Then the last shot of the game in OT. I feel for Stewie but glad that my Lynx dodged a huge hit yesterday. A win like that only adds to Minnesota's confidence going into Game 2.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Truth be told, Stewie's playoff shooting performances as a member of the Liberty have not lived up to standard (her standard--the Seattle Storm standard). Her last five Finals games have been, to put it mildly, underwhelming (and the Liberty are 1-4 in those games).

She is getting heat from the NY media (as she should). It'll be interesting to see how she handles it. Her legacy is on the line and is being seriously threatened by, as fate would have it, her former UConn teammate/current Team USA teammate.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Also, gotta give props to Courtney Williams (though it pains me to do that as a Dream fan) for her Game 5 performance against Connecticut and Game 1 performance against NY. Third time (in the Finals) might be the charm for her.

 

[bballnut90]

Truth be told, Stewie's playoff shooting performances as a member of the Liberty have not lived up to standard (her standard--the Seattle Storm standard). Her last five Finals games have been, to put it mildly, underwhelming (and the Liberty are 1-4 in those games).

She is getting heat from the NY media (as she should). It'll be interesting to see how she handles it. Her legacy is on the line and is being seriously threatened by, as fate would have it, her former UConn teammate/current Team USA teammate.

Prior to last year’s playoff run Stewart was on the fast track to being the clear cut best of all time IMO. Her college career speaks for itself, and through 2022 her WNBA playoff numbers were absolutely insane. Last year she struggled and this year she hasn’t had a strong playoff run either. Plenty of time to recover but missing a FT to seal the win and the layup miss in OT to lose a finals game is something you just don’t see from players of her caliber.


All that said, props to Minnesota. They dug deep and balled out. Williams is a gamer and Collier is just so freaking good. She was brilliant on both ends.

 

[bballnut90]

Random observation from game 1, NY was abysmal in late shot clock situations. I think 3-4 times players passed the ball with 2 seconds or less on the clock instead of putting up a shot. Just not very good awareness that has to be there in a game of this caliber.

 

[cancontent]

Was looking at the minutes for both teams. A cursory glance at the distribution of minutes, it looks like the Liberty will utilize 6 players in comparison to 8 players for Minnesota.

What led me to this is that most of Minnesota's players played at least 10 minutes. With the exception of Vandersloot, the Liberty's bench played a combined 15 minutes between three players.

Thought I saw a post in another thread where it's the belief that the Liberty has a deeper bench. If these numbers hold up for the series, I'm not sure about that.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Random observation from game 1, NY was abysmal in late shot clock situations. I think 3-4 times players passed the ball with 2 seconds or less on the clock instead of putting up a shot. Just not very good awareness that has to be there in a game of this caliber.

This is what happens when you don't play full-time with a true PG, but they're in a pickle because the one that they have is too much of a defensive (and shooting) liability to play for long stretches--especially when paired in the backcourt with another really bad defender in Ionescu. They needed a Natasha Cloud, Jordin Canada, or Skylar Diggins-Smith--and got none of the three.

If the Liberty go on to lose this series, they'll look back on the last two free agency periods and see where they made critical errors. Vandersloot was not and should not have been a priority for a team (and coach) who stresses defense.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Prior to last year’s playoff run Stewart was on the fast track to being the clear cut best of all time IMO. Her college career speaks for itself, and through 2022 her WNBA playoff numbers were absolutely insane. Last year she struggled and this year she hasn’t had a strong playoff run either. Plenty of time to recover but missing a FT to seal the win and the layup miss in OT to lose a finals game is something you just don’t see from players of her caliber.


All that said, props to Minnesota. They dug deep and balled out. Williams is a gamer and Collier is just so freaking good. She was brilliant on both ends.

Her 2022 series against Las Vegas was, IMO, the top performance in the history of the WNBA playoffs by a player who didn't ultimately go on to win the title that season.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Hope everyone doesn't mind me sharing, but this is what I was seeing while listening to a live stream of the game. These were minor compared to others I saw later but I'm glad I was able to multitask while the game was on.

Another benefit is that my focus was more on the audio and the sound of the crowd was amazing. It sounded like more than the 17,000+ that was announced by the team.

I’ll throw mine in.

 

[Bigboote]

I got a text from a friend who lives about a mile away that there was a good show here near DC. Unfortunately I didn't see it till half an hour ago.

 

[cancontent]

 

[Bigboote]

And a certain nameless wunderkind wasn’t playing.

 

[packwrap]

What a game.
Despite giving the game away, the Liberty really never quit and had shots to win in both reg and OT.

On make up of Liberty. When they play Ionescu, Fiebich, Stewart, Jones, BLH, that team fits together as well as one built for fit.

What I saw was that Minnesota has no answer for Jones. If Liberty play 4 out with Stewy on perimeter, Jones could score 50 inside unless the Lynx changed something up.

Stewy basically still averages 20 and 10, a little too early for her eulogy.

Collier always a favorite for me. She carries herself with grace and dignity. She is so smooth, it's easy to miss her athleticism.

The winning shot had high difficulty. Well defended, double inside fake to fade away jumper.

Can't wait for game 2.

 

[cancontent]

And a certain nameless wunderkind wasn’t playing.

Shocker, eh?

 

[JellyBean]

And a certain nameless wunderkind wasn’t playing.

Hmmm....

 

[cancontent]

Hmmm....

Let's be clear, while we're poking fun it's more in reaction to social media trolls than Clark herself. What those numbers prove is the narrative that no one is watching isn't true. And to see an increase of almost 60% percent is amazing from a year over year perspective. What business would not want that type of growth?

 

[WBBTakeover]

On make up of Liberty. When they play Ionescu, Fiebich, Stewart, Jones, BLH, that team fits together as well as one built for fit.

It's their best line-up against everyone except the team that they're currently playing against for the championship. This Liberty team was constructed to beat the Aces, which they did. They're not constructed to beat a team that they didn't anticipate having to face (Lynx, who have now defeated them four times in five tries). You could beat this year's Aces with length because they didn't move the ball well at all and didn't shoot the three well enough. Minnesota, on the other hand, moves the ball so well and shoots the three extremely well--which nullifies length. And when those three-point shots are dropping, there's no one that Ionescu can hide on defensively.

Phee essentially cannot be doubled because of the ball movement and the three-point barrage. So what can the Liberty do? You have to hope that they don't make a ton of three-point shots (they shoot 38% from three on the season, which is absurd), but that hasn't happened so far this season--has it?

 

[JellyBean]

Let's be clear, while we're poking fun it's more in reaction to social media trolls than Clark herself. What those numbers prove is the narrative that no one is watching isn't true. And to see an increase of almost 60% percent is amazing from a year over year perspective. What business would not want that type of growth?

Yeah, the social media side of things has really impacted the narrative which then drives the talking heads over on that four-letter network to offer their megawatt personalities take on things. We all are glad that the W is doing well and the numbers are improving and they are only going to get better over the years.

 

[azfan]

Game two on ABC tomorrow should have an interesting analysis post game as to viewership. Going head to head with the NFL will prove an interesting challenge for the W

 

[donalddoowop]

I read on the BY that Ionescu is weak defensively. Is she really weak on defense? Never paid much attention to her defense. Why does she start if she is weak defensively?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Why does she start if she is weak defensively?

Because of all the other things she can do.

She doesn't have great lateral quickness, which can really cause some limitations for a defender. I see her get some blocks and steals, so it's not like she puts no effort into D.

 

[WBBTakeover]

I read on the BY that Ionescu is weak defensively. Is she really weak on defense? Never paid much attention to her defense. Why does she start if she is weak defensively?

She starts for NY because of what she brings offensively. She opens up the court for everyone else, especially Stewie and Jonquel Jones. Now--if she's not hitting, she's a complete liability on the floor.

She didn't play as much as people expected her to play in the Olympics. As a reminder, Cheryl Reeve (the 5x5 Olympic Team head coach) emphasizes defense.

 

[cancontent]

Game two on ABC tomorrow should have an interesting analysis post game as to viewership. Going head to head with the NFL will prove an interesting challenge for the W

Game 1 was up against a tough trifecta Thursday night. There was the start of the NHL, MLB playoffs and an NFL night game. Plus there was a semi-final between NY and Vegas that had over 900+ going up against the NFL recently. That could help provide some insight on how Game 2 will do tomorrow.

 

[azfan]

According to Sports Media Watch, Game 1 of the Lynx-Liberty series on ABC and ESPN averaged 1.14 million viewers, the most for a Game 1 in the WNBA Finals ever.

Overall, it ranks as the most-watched WNBA Finals game since a Game 3 matchup in the 2003 WNBA Finals between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Detroit Shock.

Game 1 of WNBA Finals tops 1 million viewers, ranks as most-watched Game 1 ever

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on ESPN between the Lynx and Liberty averaged 1.14 million viewers, the most for a Game 1 WNBA Finals matchup ever.

awfulannouncing.com

 

[WBBTakeover]

I should also point out that Jonquel only has about two dominant games per five-game series. Her teams really need to win when she has one of those performances. She had one in Game 1, and it resulted in a loss. Wasted opportunity.

 

[JellyBean]

I read on the BY that Ionescu is weak defensively. Is she really weak on defense? Never paid much attention to her defense. Why does she start if she is weak defensively?

Sabrina has improved her defense over the years. She is not a true lock down defender. Heck there aren't too many in the W but she does well on the defensive end of the floor. She isn't the weakness defender out there that is for sure. As for "why does she start" if she is weak defensively. I think that is where a coach decides to look at what they have and say "decide that they have enough of something of the positive to counter the negative." But Sabrina is a decent defender.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Heck of a start to Game 2. Can both teams keep this up?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Fiebich just slammed the door shut with a 3. I thought for sure the Lib were gonna choke this away again when the lead got down to 2.

Huge props to Laney-Hamilton, by far her best game of the playoffs thus far.

Ionescu and Stewie came out blazing in Q1 and both pretty much disappeared after that.

It seems like Williams has scored a lot more points than the box score is showing her with. Collier with a good game but not as good as Game 1. Seven TOs for her is pretty rough.


This game started with the teams trading buckets and playing at an incredible pace. After that it devolved into a rugby match. Refs absolutely swallowed their whistles for much of the game. I think they took "let 'em play" to too much of an extreme.