2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs

[GoChips20]

One of the best playoff games I’ve ever seen.

 

[REB1094]

That was INSANE. Have to pop a melatonin because there’s no way I’ll be able to fall asleep after that

 

[Blueballer]

What a phenomenal game. Too bad somebody had to lose. Feel bad for Stewie. She didn't shoot well tonight. Gutsy performance by Minn.

 

[WBBTakeover]

10/16 from the field with SIX blocks (!!!) is literally insane. Making 13 three-pointers on good shooting AND LOSING AT HOME is literally insane. Taking 26 shots when there are two MVPs in the post is literally insane.

Kudos to Minnesota! They're the ONLY team in the league that treats the Liberty like the Liberty (and others) treat the Aces. They are committed to putting belt to bare bottom EVERY SINGLE TIME they face New York and I'm all for it.

 

[cancontent]

That was INSANE. Have to pop a melatonin because there’s no way I’ll be able to fall asleep after that

I'm glad I listened to the game while capturing the aurora by a lake. If I had seen it all live, there wouldn't be enough melatonin to put me to sleep!

 

[Bigboote]

WOW! I was thinking early on that the Lynx should rest their starters. Slow on defense, all the misses were short, all signs of fatigue. But I was so wrong.

 

[DRR25]

WOW!

 

[GamecockFam]

That game was going how I expected up until that last second run by the Lynx. The plot I dreamed up in my head before the game: Liberty go up big in the first half, the Lynx crawl back into the game and make it competitive, and then the Liberty go on a tear in the 4th, winning the game convincingly by double digits. Obviously the third act didn't happen because of the one and only Courtney Williams!

Prior to the game my head was saying that NY would win it in 4 but my heart was desiring for the Lynx to win it all. I'm going with my heart from here on out...let's go Lynx!

 

[cancontent]

This graphic is wild. Look at where everything changed!!!! Just insane!

 

[JellyBean]

Like others have stated, this was a great game!! I am not going to lie and say I saw Minnesota coming back and getting a win. New York was just clicking. I mean up 15-20 points, you kind of know the game is in the game. But thankfully Minnesota players hung in there and did not give up. Courtney Williams. I am so glad that we have her in Minny. That big 4-point play! That was a huge shot. Way to go, Minnesota!!

 

[ConnManFan]

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%.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I didn't know whether to cry for Stewie or cheer for Phee, so I did a bit of both.

I know A'ja had a year, but it's astounding that Phee didn't get one first place MVP vote. She is clutch, she is the center of that team and between her and Williams, they willed the Lynx to win last night.

As far as Stewie, I can hear CD yelling at her - Breanna Stewart!!!

Also - JJ needs to stop with those half-hearted toss passes. She's causing way to many turnovers.

 

[Bigboote]

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%.

The Washington Post had a column yesterday on the different approaches the Liberty and Lynx took to building their teams. The Lib went for talent and the Lynx for fit/chemistry. That‘s part of the difference you cite in your first couple of sentences.

 

[Dillon77]

Initially posted this in WNBA offseason by mistake (I was channel switching between this game and the Yankees-Royals and lost track of our "way too many" WNBA threads). Anyways:

Whoa. Lynx come back from what once was an 18-pt. deficit to get a 95-93 win in OT led by three 20+ pt. performances by Courtney Williams (23), Kayla McBride (22) and Napheesa Collier (21). K-Mac carried the Lynx early, Williams helped bring them back in regulation (huge 4-pt. play at end of regulation to take a one-pt. lead) and 'Phee sealed the deal, like usual.

Special shout out to Alanna Smith for grabbing a missed Williams three-pt. attempt and tossing it back to Williams, who then hit a trey, got fouled by Ionescu and hit the four. Key play.

Huge win. How huge? Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve was jumping up and down on the sidelines after the last horn.

 

[Dillon77]

The Washington Post had a column yesterday on the different approaches the Liberty and Lynx took to building their teams. The Lib went for talent and the Lynx for fit/chemistry. That‘s part of the difference you cite in your first couple of sentences.

Chemistry point is well-taken (and completely on target in general).
However, I think I've read the basis for at least three of these Liberty players (Stewie, Jonquel Jones and Vandersloot) came about when they'd had good vibes playing together in Europe. Ionescu, of course, was drafted.

 

[WBBTakeover]

It's just one game, but it could be a costly one for the Liberty:

 

[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.