2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs | Page 9 | The Boneyard

2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs

What a fun night! That Liberty/Aces game had me standing in my living room for the last 2 minutes. The Liberty defense was strong limiting A'ja (who I just love) to less than average scoring, for her. Sabrina has to be given credit for ball handling in the face of the Aces press. Honestly, I think Plum lost the game for the Aces.

I didn't see most of the second half of the Sun game, but the two former ND players (Mabrey & McBride) were at each other. I hope the Liberty can clinch it in the desert.

For those worried about TV ratings - you're now going up against football and the MLB playoffs.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
What a fun night! That Liberty/Aces game had me standing in my living room for the last 2 minutes. The Liberty defense was strong limiting A'ja (who I just love) to less than average scoring, for her. Sabrina has to be given credit for ball handling in the face of the Aces press. Honestly, I think Plum lost the game for the Aces.

I didn't see most of the second half of the Sun game, but the two former ND players (Mabrey & McBride) were at each other. I hope the Liberty can clinch it in the desert.

For those worried about TV ratings - you're now going up against football and the MLB playoffs.
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And Mabrey and Collier got into it. And Mabrey/Hines-Allen in the aftermath of it. Long story short, Marina Mabrey is not popular with the Lynx.

Agree on Plum costing the Aces last night. Picked up 2 quick fouls and was a major liability defensively for the rest of the half and didn’t contribute offensively. Everyone else was pretty good for Vegas. A’ja Wilson missed 2 great looks at the end but was great in the 2nd. Hopefully Stokes is okay, scary to go out after banging heads.

For NY, Sabrina is playing lights out. Stewart disappeared late but was impactful as a passer most of the game despite her shot being off. Slot was also huge for them in the middle part of the game. I think Libs win in 4. Aces aren’t consistent enough to win 3 straight and the Liberty are the better team this season
 
bballnut90 said:
And Mabrey and Collier got into it. And Mabrey/Hines-Allen in the aftermath of it. Long story short, Marina Mabrey is not popular with the Lynx.

Agree on Plum costing the Aces last night. Picked up 2 quick fouls and was a major liability defensively for the rest of the half and didn’t contribute offensively. Everyone else was pretty good for Vegas. A’ja Wilson missed 2 great looks at the end but was great in the 2nd. Hopefully Stokes is okay, scary to go out after banging heads.

For NY, Sabrina is playing lights out. Stewart disappeared late but was impactful as a passer most of the game despite her shot being off. Slot was also huge for them in the middle part of the game. I think Libs win in 4. Aces aren’t consistent enough to win 3 straight and the Liberty are the better team this season
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And if it is a concussion, flying could have an impact as well. I recall a team mate on my daughter's AAU team decided to fly home instead of getting a ride back to Canada and it made her symptoms worse. Fingers crossed that's not the case here.
 
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GoUconn7961 said:
Honestly, I think Plum lost the game for the Aces.
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Well she didn't play in the 4th quarter, other than an a few offense/defense substitutions in about the last minute, so that's pretty strong. She didn't have a good game, but I wouldn't say she lost it for them.
 
I wonder if Hammon is ever going to change up her switching on every pick defense. How many times do you need to see Plum get stuck trying to defend somebody like Laney-Hamilton or Thornton in the post to figure out it doesn't work. Let alone when she sometimes gets stuck with Stewie of JJ. It sets her up to fail.
 
TheFarmFan said:
I think Plum sat because, as several posters predicted, the Lib were a really bad defensive assignment for her. Young had to handle Sabs, and when Fiebich was in, who's 5'8" Plum going to guard between 6'4 Fiebich, 6'4" Stewie, and 6'6 Jones? (5'11" Gray was the natural assignment on a very athletic 6'0" Laney.)

Maybe you've forgotten the name of this board... Homer's going to home, just as they should. ;)
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LOL. But we're in the general section. Just felt like it took something away from an amazing accomplishment being acknowledged.
 
It’s interesting how big of an impact the acquisition of Fiebich was. Last year NY (if my memory is correct) struggled with the speed of the Vegas guards on defense, and Sabrina struggled to get open offensively. Plug Fiebich in for Vandersloot and suddenly NY is bigger, stronger, and quicker. Their defense improves greatly as well.

It basically feels like 9/10 players on the court are the same, but the way the game is played and the on court advantages are so different. Obviously a lot of factors are impacting that, but it’s crazy to think that a trade of draft rights that a causal fan would be oblivious to is having such a huge impact.
 
Rb335 said:
It’s interesting how big of an impact the acquisition of Fiebich was. Last year NY (if my memory is correct) struggled with the speed of the Vegas guards on defense, and Sabrina struggled to get open offensively. Plug Fiebich in for Vandersloot and suddenly NY is bigger, stronger, and quicker. Their defense improves greatly as well.

It basically feels like 9/10 players on the court are the same, but the way the game is played and the on court advantages are so different. Obviously a lot of factors are impacting that, but it’s crazy to think that a trade of draft rights that a causal fan would be oblivious to is having such a huge impact.
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I def agree with you, but you do have to remember Sloot was going through personal stuff, re her mom. Which had rolled over to this year
 
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Bigboote said:
Is Juhasz still not healthy? I think she could be effective when the Sun have Nelson-Ododa in. Plus I‘d like to see that.
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Oh, Dorka is healthy and probably could play 5-10 minutes, but I think Coach Reeve is going with her 7-player rotation.
 
Rb335 said:
It’s interesting how big of an impact the acquisition of Fiebich was. Last year NY (if my memory is correct) struggled with the speed of the Vegas guards on defense, and Sabrina struggled to get open offensively. Plug Fiebich in for Vandersloot and suddenly NY is bigger, stronger, and quicker. Their defense improves greatly as well.

It basically feels like 9/10 players on the court are the same, but the way the game is played and the on court advantages are so different. Obviously a lot of factors are impacting that, but it’s crazy to think that a trade of draft rights that a causal fan would be oblivious to is having such a huge impact.
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Fiebich has definitely been a big addition. I keep hearing the players reference one more year of playing together being a big factor. Remember they added 3 new starters last season.

While Fiebich has recently entered the starting lineup, in reality she is replacing Johannes in the rotation, not Vandersloot. I always enjoyed watching Johannes play, but I think Fiebich is more a steady contributor.
 
Wright was fired by Atlanta. This decision made sense. Team was mediocre at best and Wright trashed players in post game interviews in what wasn’t a good look earlier in the year. I wouldn’t be shocked if TSpoon is picked up here.
 
bballnut90 said:
Wright was fired by Atlanta. This decision made sense. Team was mediocre at best and Wright trashed players in post game interviews in what wasn’t a good look earlier in the year. I wouldn’t be shocked if TSpoon is picked up here.
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There's a lot of vets on that team at this point, so maybe a T'Spoon could work there. She wasn't exactly great on offensive sets but one might not need it if Tina Charles comes back and Rhyne Howard/Alisha Grey are bombing away.

(FWIW, there's also a WNBA offseason thread that also has discussion on this (and other matters 'tween seasons.)
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Fiebich has definitely been a big addition. I keep hearing the players reference one more year of playing together being a big factor. Remember they added 3 new starters last season.

While Fiebich has recently entered the starting lineup, in reality she is replacing Johannes in the rotation, not Vandersloot. I always enjoyed watching Johannes play, but I think Fiebich is more a steady contributor.
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I think the gains from inserting Fiebich were already clear given how the Liberty performed during the period CV was absent prior to the Olympic break. So the change in the starting lineup at the beginning of the playoffs was really a "return" of sorts. And, in addition to all the reasons outlined above, the move also had a significant impact on Ionescu's game--really good prior to the break, really not very good since, and then really good again (so far, anyway) during the playoffs. In saying this, I don't mean to question CV's talent--a hall-of-fame player surely--but the backcourt pairing with Ionescu has always been problematic and/or less than the sum of its parts. The most obvious issue is defense, but I also believe it has a negative impact on Sabrina's overall game despite--maybe even because of--her willingness to make any changes necessary after CV's arrival. Starting Fiebich turned out to be a really effective answer to these problems.
 
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jonson said:
I think the gains from inserting Fiebich were already clear given how the Liberty performed during the period CV was absent prior to the Olympic break. So the change in the starting lineup at the beginning of the playoffs was really a "return" of sorts. And, in addition to all the reasons outlined above, the move also had a significant impact on Ionescu's game--really good prior to the break, really not very good since, and then really good again (so far, anyway) during the playoffs. In saying this, I don't mean to question CV's talent--a hall-of-fame player surely--but the backcourt pairing with Ionescu has always been problematic and/or less than the sum of its parts. The most obvious issue is defense, but I also believe it has a negative impact on Sabrina's overall game despite--maybe even because of--her willingness to make any changes necessary after CV's arrival. Starting Fiebich turned out to be a really effective answer to these problems.
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I agree with this, it's not a good pairing. They are both better when they are the primary ball handler/play maker, and you can't have two players doing that simultaneously.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I agree with this, it's not a good pairing. They are both better when they are the primary ball handler/play maker, and you can't have two players doing that simultaneously.
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Well, in particular, you can't have these two players -- Ionescu and CVS -- doing it simultaneously.

That probably holds true for most pairings of lead guards, but as a longtime Knick fan, one can never discount how Walk "Clyde" Frazier and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe worked together in the early '70's. Heck, even the first guard off the bench -- Dean "The Dream" Meminger -- was used to being the main ballhandler when he was at Marquette before joining that Knick team.

Switching back to Women's Basketball, it will be really interesting to see how Notre Dame's Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo, two very ball-centric guards, adapt to playing with one another this season.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Fiebich has definitely been a big addition. I keep hearing the players reference one more year of playing together being a big factor. Remember they added 3 new starters last season.

While Fiebich has recently entered the starting lineup, in reality she is replacing Johannes in the rotation, not Vandersloot. I always enjoyed watching Johannes play, but I think Fiebich is more a steady contributor.
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Absolutely, regarding the replacement of Johannes. It’s a major upgrade in my opinion because Fiebich has great shot selection, great defense, and is a low turnover player. Essentially the opposite of things Johannes struggles with, while still providing the same if not better perimeter shooting.
 
SB coaching?

"Sandy Brondello said, "I liked the second quarter." She should have. That's when New York won the game. The Aces were the better team for the other 30 minutes, but in the second quarter, New York exhibited why it was the best team in the regular season. The Liberty outscored Las Vegas 24-13. Stewart scored or assisted on 13 of those points, with the strategy of making the two-time MVP a facilitator paying off. "

www.espn.com

How Liberty went up 2-0 vs. Aces, and how Lynx evened series with Sun

New York is a win away from sweeping two-time defending champ Las Vegas out of the semifinals. Minnesota and Connecticut are all even.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

I know some view Liberty performance through a dark lens in which they win in spite of their coach. For those Brondello has only a negative impact and if the Liberty do in fact win it will be in spite of her.

As a Mercury fan I fondly remember Brondello particularly in light of her successors. I would also guess franchises in Chicago and Atlanta would consider her to be an upgrade.As an all-time top 10 winning coach in the league she has bona fides and to repeat Phoenix would welcome her back with open arms and perhaps send the million dollar coach on his way to seek his fortunes in Chicago for Atlanta? Or more likely never again to hold a head coaching assignment.

In any event the playoff stretch has been a delight particularly the semi final games.
 
Dillon77 said:
Well, in particular, you can't have these two players -- Ionescu and CVS -- doing it simultaneously.

That probably holds true for most pairings of lead guards, but as a longtime Knick fan, one can never discount how Walk "Clyde" Frazier and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe worked together in the early '70's. Heck, even the first guard off the bench -- Dean "The Dream" -- was used to being the main ballhandler when he was at Marquette before joining that Knick team.

Switching back to Women's Basketball, it will be really interesting to see how Notre Dame's Olivia Miles and Hannah Hidalgo, two very ball-centric guards, adapt to playing with one another this season.
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Ionescu did well sharing point-guard duties with Cazorla in college.

I'm right there with you wondering about Miles and Hidalgo.
 
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cancontent said:
Update on Stokes for tomorrow night.

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Gonna have to play Gustafson some this game. I can't see going small ball for 40 minutes. She hasn't appeared yet in this series.
 
cancontent said:
Why do you always have to chime in with a UConn reference when someone posts to credit a non-Uconn player? Everyone knows how awesome Maya was. It goes without having to be said.
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A lot of people have forgotten about Maya. She hasn't played in 6 years.

And congrats to DWB. She has been really good for a long time and is probably under-appreciated. Plus, she was pleasant enough to chat with some of us at the World Cup in Istanbul in 2014.
 
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GamecockFam said:
Why do I get the feeling that A'ja is about to go wild on the Liberty? She always seems to step up her game when her back is against a wall...
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There's that and Coach Hammond's comments after game 2 that could be another motivating factor. The last thing I think A'ja wants to hear is that she isn't focused on the end goal.
 
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