2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs

[cancontent]

Yeah. That was my view on the matter as well. The replay showed Mabrey pointing towards her temple not her eyes.

That's what's frustrating about it all. I don't care if people think the eye poke is intentional. They're entitled to their opinion.

What I have a problem with is how something can be manipulated to look like something it isn't and it becomes fact without people knowing what actually happened. And the gesture occured well after the eye poke, so how does it line up with this "celebration" narrative?

 

[cancontent]

Well done Storm social media team.

 

[azfan]

ABC pre game to the first semi-final was very interesting. They perceptively pointed out that Jonquil Jones presents a real problem for the Aces.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Liberty was better during the regular season than the Aces, and they were better today. Bottom line. Stewie w/ a magnificent game, and Ionescu was also very good.

They swarmed Wilson and made life difficult. Great game for Plum, Young was decent. Gray was invisible. They can't play Stokes. NY completely ignores her defensively and she can't make them pay for it.

 

[Geew1992]

I’m think the aces shouldn’t have mocked Stewie last year cuz she ain’t playing

 

[Hayven]

I’m think the aces shouldn’t have mocked Stewie last year cuz she ain’t playing

I must have missed this. What happened?

 

[Geew1992]

I must have missed this. What happened?

Stewie had a bad shooting night in game 4. And the team and coach were sayin 3 for 17 or whatever her shooting numbers were, during the parade

 

[Dillon77]

62-57 Lynx over Sun after 3. Good one: 10 lead changes and 7 ties so far.
Carleton, K-Mac and Collier all in double figures for the Lynx.
Mabrey and Thomas leading the Sun with 20 and 13, respectively. Mabrey has 6 three pointers (6-10 shooting from three-pt. land)
Bonner not having a good shooting night (2-13).

Now 62-62. Whew.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I turned on the last few minutes. I think there were a combined 6 or 7 empty possessions in a row. That last sequence was brutal for Minnesota, looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Certainly didn't have a good play set up for a tying 3.

I don't like the Sun, I think everybody knows that, but I've learned you never bet against them in the playoffs. They are just built for post season basketball.

 

[Dillon77]

Sun steal one 73-70 in Minnesota. Thomas scores two hoops at the end and Sun make the Lynx scramble to get off a forced three at the end. Lynx only score 8 in the fourth. Thomas scores 17, grabs 10 rebounds and has 9 assists, while Mabrey finished with 20.
Carrington has 13 and Bonner 10. Veronica Burton played 27 minutes off the bench and helped a lot on the defensive end.

Connecticut did a great job pushing the Lynx further out from the three-pt. line and anticipated the swing passes to the line.
Lynx only had 5 three's; one less than Mabrey's six.

 

[Dillon77]

I turned on the last few minutes. I think there were a combined 6 or 7 empty possessions in a row. That last sequence was brutal for Minnesota, looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Certainly didn't have a good play set up for a tying 3.

I don't like the Sun, I think everybody knows that, but I've learned you never bet against them in the playoffs. They are just built for post season basketball.

Andraya Carter had some interesting post-game points on this iteration of the Sun:

• Per your (understood) and previous posts), the Sun -- with their defense -- are a tough out. They dictate play.
• The Sun has Alyssa Thomas (and no one else does). That ability to lead in three facets of the game is undeniable.
• Now the Sun have Marina Mabrey, which she called "the trade of the season." She acknowledged the obvious (three-point shooting) but says Mabrey does something else: Even if DeWanna Bonner is off shooting-wise (which she was most of the game), Mabrey can make up for that; allowing Steph White to keep Bonner in to rebound, play defense (which she did against Collier on the last-second shot). Mabrey, of course, also fits the Sun mentality like a glove.

And Steph White gave kudos to Veronica Burton, as well, saying Burton's ability to play (very) tough defense allows the Sun to go small (and fast) on the Lynix, which might've thrown them off. With that in mind, perhaps the "cut and pick up" of the year goes to Greg Bibb for cutting Veronica Burton and to the Sun for picking her up off the waiver wire.

 

[GoUconn7961]

So, I guess the Liberty did OK against the Aces. Loved it. I'm hoping they can keep it up.
I have mixed feelings on which team I want to win when it comes to CT/Lynx. I want to see Phee in the finals against Stewie, but I live in CT.

Both were great games yesterday. I'm not one to analyze every single play, I just enjoy good basketball.

 

[azfan]

X-Factors and key stats for the WNBA Semifinals

The top four teams in the regular season standings remain, making for some fascinating matchups

open.substack.com

On point preview of last night's game. Really nailed the Sun and Lynx regular season series and anticipated what happened in the game. Advantage Sun going forward

 

[JellyBean]

Hats off to Connecticut. They played well and took one from Minny. I was going to post last night after the game, but I was wore out. The crowd at the Target Center was loud and really into the game! Love that the fans showed up and showed out. Even had some Connecticut fans in the house. This is going to be a battle that I see going 5 games. Courtney had that look (Michael Jordan stare with that bent leg, hand on hips, looking at Veronica and Marina laughing it up) on her face. Now who knows if Courtney has a Jordan game in her, but I know she did not look happy at all seeing Connecticut laughing it up like they did. Or she could have been upset about her play. Who knows. We shall see tomorrow. Oh, somebody throw some cold water on Marina! Jeez she was cooking out there! She just might be the difference maker out there with her shooting. Veronica is a beast! Dallas slept on her. I am just happy for her. The so-called experts were writing her off as "Too small", "Can't handle the pace of the WNBA", "Not a good guard". She is just showing those folks what can be done when given a chance. A fair chance. Well done, Veronica. With that being said, Let's go, Lynx!!

 

[cancontent]

A New York tradition like no other.

 

[cancontent]

Hats off to Connecticut. They played well and took one from Minny. I was going to post last night after the game, but I was wore out. The crowd at the Target Center was loud and really into the game! Love that the fans showed up and showed out. Even had some Connecticut fans in the house. This is going to be a battle that I see going 5 games. Courtney had that look (Michael Jordan stare with that bent leg, hand on hips, looking at Veronica and Marina laughing it up) on her face. Now who knows if Courtney has a Jordan game in her, but I know she did not look happy at all seeing Connecticut laughing it up like they did. Or she could have been upset about her play. Who knows. We shall see tomorrow. Oh, somebody throw some cold water on Marina! Jeez she was cooking out there! She just might be the difference maker out there with her shooting. Veronica is a beast! Dallas slept on her. I am just happy for her. The so-called experts were writing her off as "Too small", "Can't handle the pace of the WNBA", "Not a good guard". She is just showing those folks what can be done when given a chance. A fair chance. Well done, Veronica. With that being said, Let's go, Lynx!!

Same here. She was fun to watch while she was at Northwestern. Coach McKweon must have been beaming while the game was on.

 

[Stagnant]

The expansion draft info finally came out.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Both Game 2's will be telling, IMO. I don't expect to see either loser from Sunday go down 0-2.

 

[azfan]

If history holds the Aces and Lynx REALLY need wins tonight.

Becky will need to figure out match ups as SB was relentless in exploiting Vegas when Stokes was on the floor. I believe she only had 15 minutes and it's going to be a challenge for the Aces to win with the four guard lineup against Liberty front court.

Cheryl Reeves has to have her fingers crossed that her team hits the three ball. I got the sense the Sun smelled blood in the water as they closed out Minnesota Sunday

 

[bballnut90]

Both Game 2's will be telling, IMO. I don't expect to see either loser from Sunday go down 0-2.

If they do, they're cooked. Must wins for both Minnesota and Vegas.

 

[12au]

BBall Index just released advanced stats for this WNBA season. They aggregate player impact using a stat called LEBRON. The ranking is based on a per-possession basis.

Some interesting observations. Angel Reese finishes slightly ahead of CC, 24th vs 32th (Time to re-kindle the embers of that debate). Brink is number 1 in the league in D-LEBRON. Kelsey Mitchell's defense grades out horribly.

 

[ninety-nine]

Feels like every 10th post I see on Facebook right now is a "told you so" celebrating the much lower TV ratings the WNBA drew for Sunday's semifinal games. The Sun-Lynx dropoff was particularly stark, drawing around 650,000, compared to the 2.5 millionish that Sun-Fever game 2 drew. (Liberty-Aces drew about 300K more for their semifinal opener.)

I'm finding this dynamic really frustrating. It seems like there's this mass of vindictive "Caitlin or bust" people that want the WNBA to rig games (either on the sly or openly) so Clark and whatever team she's on keep winning all the way through to the finals, which is terrifying pro wrestling stuff. However, the TV ratings really are several times larger when she's playing, and I'd imagine some WNBA folks are going to be tempted to boost the Fever whenever possible, and cut the knees off teams like Connecticut that play in small markets and have little fan support outside of their home area. In fact, I have a feeling the Sun won't be playing in Connecticut much longer - the league is going to want to move them to Boston to capture a larger TV market. As a local Sun fan, I'm hoping they find a way to win it this year, because I doubt they'll get many more chances while representing my home state.

 

[GamecockFam]

BBall Index just released advanced stats for this WNBA season. They aggregate player impact using a stat called LEBRON. The ranking is based on a per-possession basis.

Some interesting observations. Angel Reese finishes slightly ahead of CC, 24th vs 32th (Time to re-kindle the embers of that debate). Brink is number 1 in the league in D-LEBRON. Kelsey Mitchell's defense grades out horribly.

Kelsey also tended to play against the best guard, so there is some leeway needed because she was definitely better than most of their other guards (with the eye test) but she got cooked more often because she was defending again better competition. One thing I noticed about the Fever is that Boston is their only good all-around player. That needs to change. They basically have three good offensive players (Boston, Mitchell and Clark) and two good defensive players (Boston and Fagbenle).

Another thing to note is that on paper, Seattle looks like the second best team in the league.

 

[Dillon77]

Kelsey also tended to play against the best guard, so there is some leeway needed because she was definitely better than most of their other guards (with the eye test) but she got cooked more often because she was defending again better competition. One thing I noticed about the Fever is that Boston is their only good all-around player. That needs to change. They basically have three good offensive players (Boston, Mitchell and Clark) and two good defensive players (Boston and Fagbenle).

Another thing to note is that on paper, Seattle looks like the second best team in the league.

Didn't Lexie Hull get put into the lineup due to her defensive prowess (or at least the ability to stay with the opposing team's wing)?
And then, after the Olympics, she (re)discoverd her three-pointer and became as well known for that?

 

[GamecockFam]

Didn't Lexie Hull get put into the lineup due to her defensive prowess (or at least the ability to stay with the opposing team's wing)?
And then, after the Olympics, she (re)discoverd her three-pointer and became as well known for that?

Yeah, I think her LeBron numbers would be in the positive direction based on her after-olympics heroics but since the numbers are a story of the whole season, she basically had neutral metrics. But yes, I think going forward that Lexie could be another good all-around player for the Fever.