2024 WNBA Season: Playoffs

[GoUconn7961]

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.

 

[azfan]

Or, maybe you can and see if she can do it again in Connecticut? After all, mission accomplished (to me, at least) for the Sun: they grabbed one away and come home 1-1.

Absolutely..... In this format the visitor getting a split accomplished their mission! Lynx will now need to split in Connecticut.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Man, what a career Bonner has had.

Maya is 5th and played only 8 seasons!

 

[cancontent]

Maya is 5th and played only 8 seasons!

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.

 

[bballnut90]

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.

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

 

[cancontent]

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

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.

 

[GamecockFam]

But the games are played on the court in so Storm 5th best based upon play.

Thank you for your post. I would have never known that the games were played on the court without your insightfulness.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Honestly, I think Plum lost the game for the Aces.

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.

 

[nwhoopfan]

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]

Vegas nearly stole this despite playing poorly, but Gray with a bad inbound pass w/ 10 seconds left w/ a chance to tie or take the lead gave away any chance. She had a good first quarter but was bad after that. Terrible game for Plum, she got benched just about the whole 4th quarter. Wilson was good but not quite MVP level. Good game for Young.

Stewie did stat sheet stuffing but wasn't on fire this game like Game 1. She didn't need to be, good balanced scoring. Ionescu best player on the floor tonight.

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.)

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.

Maybe you've forgotten the name of this board... Homer's going to home, just as they should.

 

[cancontent]

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.

LOL. But we're in the general section. Just felt like it took something away from an amazing accomplishment being acknowledged.

 

[Rb335]

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.

 

[Geew1992]

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.

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

 

[JellyBean]

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.

Oh, Dorka is healthy and probably could play 5-10 minutes, but I think Coach Reeve is going with her 7-player rotation.

 

[nwhoopfan]

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.

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.

 

[bballnut90]

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.

 

[Dillon77]

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.

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.)

 

[JellyBean]

Maya is 5th and played only 8 seasons!

It is scary to think what could have happened had Maya played a few more years beyond those wonderful 8 years.

 

[jonson]

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.

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.

 

[nwhoopfan]

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.

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.