2025 WNBA Pre-Season Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Pre-Season Thread

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Stagnant said:


Bad news. I worry about all of the rookies tbh. They aren’t getting a lot of rest before the professional season starts.
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That's really unfortunate for her. By the time she fully recovers (Year 3), Washington could be on to their next coach and GM. She may recover well enough to be a back-up, but the opportunity to impress the current FO enough for them to buy into her as a starter just took a significant hit.
 
MSSportsGuy said:
Ugh. Hate to hear about the three letter injury at any point, especially for a rookie just trying to get started. Hopefully she has a full recovery.
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Double Ugh. That three-letter-word always seems to be lurking on the outskirts and hits at seemingly the worst times.
Hope Georgia Amoore gets the right diagnosis, treatment and makes a full recovery.
 
JellyBean said:
Some team will give her another shot, especially after her run in China and I am pretty sure she will do well in Mexico. Or she might just like playing in Mexican and other markets and skip the W all together. I just think that she should play where she is wanted and appreciated.

If she does come back to the W, which I hope she does at some point, whatever team and coach she plays for, I hope the coach is an outside the box thinker. Like Phil Jackson said in coaching Dennis Rodman, "You can't put a saddle on a mustang." We shall see but I do hope that we have not seen the last of Chennedy Carter playing in the WNBA.
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I actually think she could be a productive player on 3 teams Minnesota, Las Vegas, and
New York.
The coaches, and the star players would rein her in.
 
Listed Transaction of the Day (Wednesday) on the WNBA home page:

- Jordyn Jenkins was waived by the Las Vegas Aces.
 
baggerbob said:
I actually think she could be a productive player on 3 teams Minnesota, Las Vegas, and
New York.
The coaches, and the star players would rein her in.
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Interesting. Team and organization culture is important part of the success of these three franchises. While the three coaches and the veteran teams have the ability to try to rehabilitate I'm wondering if it's worth the risk return. Unfortunately every where Carter has been there have been problems.

So I think the risk rate reward would have to include potential impacts on culture, locker room, and on the court issues.

With that in mind I don't think there's any way Reese would have her in the building. I think the leaders on the Liberty would have some more concerns. So the question in my mind is would Becky be willing to take that risk particularly given the stable of guardss that she has now.
 
baggerbob said:
I actually think she could be a productive player on 3 teams Minnesota, Las Vegas, and
New York.
The coaches, and the star players would rein her in.
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I agree that those are teams with strong coaches and strong player leadership. However, Chenady has long since demonstrated that she can't be reined in. Her issues are, I think, pathological.
 
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baggerbob said:
I actually think she could be a productive player on 3 teams Minnesota, Las Vegas, and
New York.
The coaches, and the star players would rein her in.
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Yeah I thought she made a lot of sense in all three places. Minnesota really struggled generating offense in game 5, and their guards were surprisingly a part of that. But I'm pretty sure cc and c will did not vibe in Atlanta.
Las Vegas lost a scoring guard and have consistently struggled with bench production. Also Gray and Lloyd are in their 30s now. The schedule is longer.
New York lost sloot. And typically in order to repeat you have to improve. I understand you have Johannes. But still.
I thought Seattle would've been fun as well.
 
baggerbob said:
I actually think she could be a productive player on 3 teams Minnesota, Las Vegas, and
New York.
The coaches, and the star players would rein her in.
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I think Las Vegas would be an ideal spot. Just because of the structure of the team and how free flowing they are. They just have competitive mindset but they just play loose and carefree. Not a lot of fans and experts like that kind of play. Coach Hammon is a players coach in the mode of a Pete Carroll. Of course she picked up some coaching skills from Gregg Popovich but she has her own spin on coaching. Here in Minnesota, I don't think Chennedy Carter and Coach Reeve would be an ideal match. Coach Reeve would try to put a saddle on that mustang and create a mess. For me, I think Chennedy needs to be on a team where there is mutual respect from her and the coaching staff and from her and the team.
 
ochoopsfan said:
pic of Gabby feom the Storm twitter site

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Man! I hope that Seattle can put it all together and make some noise in the regular season and in the playoffs. I am a Lynx fan but whenever Seattle is playing, I will watch their games, especially with this new version of Seattle. Then they got KLS with the team!! Can't wait to watch some games.
 
JellyBean said:
I think Las Vegas would be an ideal spot. Just because of the structure of the team and how free flowing they are. They just have competitive mindset but they just play loose and carefree. Not a lot of fans and experts like that kind of play. Coach Hammon is a players coach in the mode of a Pete Carroll. Of course she picked up some coaching skills from Gregg Popovich but she has her own spin on coaching. Here in Minnesota, I don't think Chennedy Carter and Coach Reeve would be an ideal match. Coach Reeve would try to put a saddle on that mustang and create a mess. For me, I think Chennedy needs to be on a team where there is mutual respect from her and the coaching staff and from her and the team.
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Well, that seems to be the gist of the whole matter but I'd suggest Point Zero is the key and starting point of this going forward: "...and from her and the team." Given her ability to score points, Carter can help a team on the floor and most teams are going to acknowledge that. However, given how many teams have shown/sent her the locker room door, it's obvious at this point that Ms. Carter has an issue being with others.

There's a lot of players known for their strong personalities and/or ball usage, but you don't see them being let go on such a frequent basis. So there's an issue there and, in my mind, Carter is probably not worth the effort for successful teams like the Liberty, Lynx or Aces. Why futz with it?

Your analogy of horses is appropriate: Mustangs are feral animals that used to be domesticated but now roam in the wild. Until Carter feels the urge to be domesticated and/or play nice, she'll have to be a well-paid hired gun in China who fills in off-time in leagues like Mexico.
 
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JellyBean said:
I think Las Vegas would be an ideal spot. Just because of the structure of the team and how free flowing they are. They just have competitive mindset but they just play loose and carefree. Not a lot of fans and experts like that kind of play. Coach Hammon is a players coach in the mode of a Pete Carroll. Of course she picked up some coaching skills from Gregg Popovich but she has her own spin on coaching. Here in Minnesota, I don't think Chennedy Carter and Coach Reeve would be an ideal match. Coach Reeve would try to put a saddle on that mustang and create a mess. For me, I think Chennedy needs to be on a team where there is mutual respect from her and the coaching staff and from her and the team.
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Chennedy Carter would be a horrible fit in Vegas. Becky demands accountability and defense--two things that Carter lacks.

I also wouldn't describe Vegas' style as "loose and carefree". Is there a free-flowing element to it? Sure, but only when certain players (Chelsea and Candace for half a season in 2023) are running the offense. We saw what happened when Jackie and Plum attempted to run it in 2024--it was not pretty. While Jackie improved, the latter did not (because she cannot balance ballhandling responsibilities with her score-first mentality).

Becky doesn't micromanage Chelsea (Reeve did, which is why that pairing didn't work at the Olympics). That's not the same as saying that the Aces play loose and carefree basketball.
 
jdote33 said:
Las Vegas lost a scoring guard and have consistently struggled with bench production. Also Gray and Lloyd are in their 30s now. The schedule is longer.
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Vegas also gained a scoring guard to replace the one they lost. She's less than a year older than the scoring guard they lost (who is also in her 30s).

They also acquired Tiffany Mitchell and Dana Evans, with the latter being 26. They can potentially add Aaliyah Nye (22) to that group.
 
azfan said:
So the question in my mind is would Becky be willing to take that risk particularly given the stable of guardss that she has now.
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No.

And the "stable of guards" you refer to includes three Team USA members, a solid vet in Tiffany Mitchell (31), a youngish guard in Dana Evans (turning 27) who was horribly mismanaged by two Sky coaching staffs, and a rookie in Aaliyah Nye (turning 23). The latter three are replacing Alysha Clark (38), Tiffany Hayes (36), and Sydney Colson (36), three aging guards who people criticized about being too old when they were in Vegas but somehow became irreplaceable now that other teams were willing to overpay for their services (two franchises, at least--Seattle and Golden State). Clark (2023) and Hayes (2024) won 6th POY while they were here, and I would bet that at least one of the players set to come off the bench (be it Mitchell, Evans, or a big like Liz Kitley) will be in the running this season.

Things aren't quite as dire as you make them out to be in Vegas, especially on the guard front.
 
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ochoopsfan said:
Hopefully good news on Edwards

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Thought I had seen something earlier this week showing she wasn't practicing currently. Maybe she's doing non-contact type of drills??? Never had a back injury but friends who have said they're tricky depending on how bad it is. This post gives us a slice of hope.
 
WBBTakeover said:
No.

And the "stable of guards" you refer to includes three Team USA members, a solid vet in Tiffany Mitchell (31), a youngish guard in Dana Evans (turning 27) who was horribly mismanaged by two Sky coaching staffs, and a rookie in Aaliyah Nye (turning 23). The latter three are replacing Alysha Clark (38), Tiffany Hayes (36), and Sydney Colson (36), three aging guards who people criticized about being too old when they were in Vegas but somehow became irreplaceable now that other teams were willing to overpay for their services (two franchises, at least--Seattle and Golden State). Clark (2023) and Hayes (2024) won 6th POY while they were here, and I would bet that at least one of the players set to come off the bench (be it Mitchell, Evans, or a big like Liz Kitley) will be in the running this season.

Things aren't quite as dire as you make them out to be in Vegas, especially on the guard front.
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Back court not a problemo in Vegas
 
BRS24 said:
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Sorry -- but not surprised -- to hear this news.
Ustby is an undersized wing who does most of her damage with her hustle. She's not as physical, however, as Morrow and has not developed her mid-range (and even long- , now) like Emily Engstler. If she wants to make a run at professional hoops, I'd recommend that's the key to making it, while she adds her positives in international leagues.

Otherwise, here's another idea: she, apparently, is a simply fantastic overall athlete. Learn how to do the pentathlon? With her drive, I could see her getting up to speed quickly and I'd bet Bubba Cunningham would love to let her use UNC as a training base.
 
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Thought this was a good video. Like his incredulity. I agree though with a lot of his takes and the over unders are a bit off. If Pher stays healthy I don't see Minnesota winning less than 28 games. Valkyrie winning 15 and Mystic winning above 18 seems like a reach.
 
Pre games start tonight, and they are on TV. The power of this new wave of talent coming into the W!! Those of us that have been around a long time know that the WNBA never showed any preseason games on TV back in the day.
 
Oof. Dallas looked pretty bad tonight. Dallas has a new front office and a new coach. But my issue with them is that I feel like they have made some big mistakes already.

Should have protected Carla Leite in the expansion draft. Might have gotten the coach hire wrong. And mistakenly gave Hines-Allen a basically max contract.
 
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