2025 WNBA Regular Season | Page 55 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Regular Season

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nwhoopfan said:
I'm starting to think anyone who puts on a Valkyries jersey instantly becomes twice the player they ever were before. 99-62 thrashing (it's officially over now). 20 for Salaun, 19 for Leite, 16 for Charles (not Tina), 15 for Burton, 11 for Amihere.
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Cough cough Nat 4 COY cough cough

Admitting my massive bias, but Cheryl brought basically everyone back from last season and has essentially an identical record to last year, minus a commissioner's cup win. Nakase has basically close to an entire lineup of players no casual fans of the W had even heard of this time last year, and she's making them look like true starters. Charles got cut from a Worst in the W Wings team and she's starting and scoring 19 in a 37-point beatdown against Soni, Kiki, and Shakira? I mean, come on!
 
Jumper33 said:
They are tanking and have probably given up. They don’t have any players who have been remotely consistent outside of the two rookies, who have been pretty consistent. They don’t have 3 point shooters. They don’t have a true point guard. Not a recipe for success and not sure how they even won 16 games.

What Nakase has done with Golden State is incredibly impressive and she needs to win Coach of the Year.
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They are 3-9 since the Sykes trade. It's obvious that she was a major loss.
 
Hat off to Golden State and the fans. @TheFarmFan you guys got something special brewing out there with the Golden State squad. What a game!! Shout out to the whole Golden State team!! All-out effort and energy on both ends of the floor! Shot making and lockdown defense. The WNBA schedule makers did you guys no favor with this back-to-back mess playing Indiana today, but you guys are up to the task, and I will be watching. Also, congrats on another sellout crowd! 18/18. Well done.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Hey where is @azfan after the million dollar coach managed to post a 17 point win against the infallible 2X champion Brondello? Strangely enough the tale of the tape shows million dollar with a 3-1 advantage head to head this season.
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The four games yesterday reflected the importance of defense. Three of the games were foregone conclusions. The Minnesota Sun game matched the team with the best scoring defense against the team with the worst scoring offense with predictable results.

On to the game played in the valley of soul crushing heat. Phoenix played a tremendous defensive game against a Liberty team on the road. As you think about season records the million dollar coach is one and two against the presumptive champion. The one win featured AT with her season high scoring.

The million dollar coach did what he was supposed to do - that is defend the home court. I think in society today we tend to over praise people who do what they're supposed to do. That said it was a great win for Phoenix and may well have assured them home court in the playoffs-until they meet the eventual champion.

After hosting the Fever, a team plagued by an unreal rash of guard injuries, the Mercury should win out. A competent coach will assure that even if losing to the Fever the team takes care of its business down the stretch. I'm looking to the season ender in Texas where the Wing may be attempting to win their 10th game of the year. That scrappy team will pull out all the stops against the million dollar coach so it should be a fun game. Particularly if the million dollar coach rests his starters as they prepare to host what should be a fun 4/5 first round game.

We'll see how the million dollar coach plays his considerable cards down the stretch.

And speaking about the WNBA schedule makers they sure did do the million dollar coach a favor down the stretch. He should be able to limit minutes with his starters so they'll be fresh as they make the uphill climb in pursuit of the finals.
 
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TheFarmFan said:
Cough cough Nat 4 COY cough cough

Admitting my massive bias, but Cheryl brought basically everyone back from last season and has essentially an identical record to last year, minus a commissioner's cup win. Nakase has basically close to an entire lineup of players no casual fans of the W had even heard of this time last year, and she's making them look like true starters. Charles got cut from a Worst in the W Wings team and she's starting and scoring 19 in a 37-point beatdown against Soni, Kiki, and Shakira? I mean, come on!
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COY, like MVP, will be a fascinating decision. The top three candidates have done an amazing coaching job. Likewise it's hard to argue with either AT or Wilson.

What should happen

Reeves

AT

What will happen

Nakase

Wilson
 
Golden State plays in the 3 most impactful games remaining in the W season with tonight's perhaps being the most significant. All home games. I didn't include the season ender on the road in Minnesota as I suspect the home team will be resting starters.

Tonight

Fever- home

Tuesday

Liberty - home

Sat

Lynx - home

Golden State fans are in for a treat.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Hey where is @azfan after the million dollar coach managed to post a 17 point win against the infallible 2X champion Brondello? Strangely enough the tale of the tape shows million dollar with a 3-1 advantage head to head this season.
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1000002477.jpg

The real question is where is Mack. Answer: everywhere. A key element in the successful run of the Merc in August
 
LA barely beat the recently hapless Mystics. On the second day of a back to back on the road. Right after they got beat by 37. LA can't make anything easy for themselves.
 
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TheFarmFan said:
Well this is embarrassing. Ballhalla rocks so loud we knocked the clocks off sync and no one can figure out how to fix it....
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That was an excruciating, truly horribly refereed first half. I don't think the league has any ump defenders left, but if they did, they'd be embarrassed. Hopefully someone does a highlight reel of this game to illustrate how much they need to fix this.
 
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Golden State is pretty safely in now. They’re got a +3 win lead over LA. Tough end to the season with the Liberty, Lynx x2, Storm, and Wings. I don’t think they’ll lose five straight though and wouldn’t be surprised if they get two wins or even three. Even just one more would get them to .500. Terrific feat for an expansion team.

Indiana could well end up as the #8 seed. I don’t think that’s a team I’d want to see there if I’m the Lynx. The Fever already beat them in the Commissioner’s Cup final without Clark and if she’s back for the playoffs, a three-game series could be risky for Minnesota.

Indiana’s had as bad of luck with injuries as anyone in the league this year with knocking out all three PGs and then Cunningham to boot who was having a great season. Definitely a “what if” year. But they’ll get another shot at it if they can keep Mitchell around.
 
GoChips20 said:
Golden State is pretty safely in now. They’re got a +3 win lead over LA. Tough end to the season with the Liberty, Lynx x2, Storm, and Wings. I don’t think they’ll lose five straight though and wouldn’t be surprised if they get two wins or even three. Even just one more would get them to .500. Terrific feat for an expansion team.

Indiana could well end up as the #8 seed. I don’t think that’s a team I’d want to see there if I’m the Lynx. The Fever already beat them in the Commissioner’s Cup final without Clark and if she’s back for the playoffs, a three-game series could be risky for Minnesota.

Indiana’s had as bad of luck with injuries as anyone in the league this year with knocking out all three PGs and then Cunningham to boot who was having a great season. Definitely a “what if” year. But they’ll get another shot at it if they can keep Mitchell around.
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I was looking over the Golden State, Indiana, Seattle, and Los Angeles remaining game and felt like 23 was the magic number of wins needed to differentiate between the 6, 7, and 8. Win greater than 23 and I think that'll be the 6 seed, win 23 and you'll be the 7 seed, and less than 23 will be the 8.

Golden State really only has one easy opponent left against the Wings, otherwise they play the Liberty, Storm, and Lynx twice. They could easily go 1-4 in their remaining game (finish with 22 wins), but I think they could win a few of those to get to 24 wins (go 3-2) IMO. Between 22 and 24 wins is my guess.

Indiana has four games left and two against easier opponents in the Sky and Mystics. Then they have the Mercury and Lynx. I think they go 2-2 (finish with 23 wins) but with their roster issues, they could go 1-3 as well. Between 22 and 24 wins is my guess.

The Storm have 3 games left and really no gimme games. They play the Sparks, Liberty and Valkyrie. One benefit is that they have nice spacing between their remaining games and that may give them the rest to power through those games. Honestly, the Storm are the biggest question mark. They could go 0-3 or 3-0, and both seem plausible. Between 22 and 25 wins is my guess.

The Sparks seem like dead women walking -- they're eliminated but just haven't realized it yet. They have six games left with only one gimme against the Wings. Otherwise they have the Storm, Dream twice, Mercury and Aces. Since 22 seems like the magic number, that means they'll need to go 4-2 to possibly enter a tiebreaker scenario. I highly doubt they win 4 games against the above teams. IMO they go 2-4 in those games, maybe 3-3. So, between 19 and 21 wins is my guess.

Anyways, this is my best guess:
6. Storm - 24 wins (2-1 in remaining games)
7. Valkyrie - 23 wins (2-3)
8. Fever - 23 wins (2-2, lose tiebreaker to the Valkyrie)
9. Sparks - 20 wins (2-4)
 
Iluvacc2 said:
Carrington’s trade to the Lynx has been so good! I knew she would fit in well.
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Not gonna lie. I was worried about the trade at first. I slowly came around watching after her 2nd game here in Minnesota. Her Carrington's energy, toughness on defense, and ability to knock down key shots from time to time, is a huge plus. Then throw in her bench energy. She is a great addition to the Lynx team.
 
JellyBean said:
Not gonna lie. I was worried about the trade at first. I slowly came around watching after her 2nd game here in Minnesota. Her Carrington's energy, toughness on defense, and ability to knock down key shots from time to time, is a huge plus. Then throw in her bench energy. She is a great addition to the Lynx team.
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A lot of us here thought it was somewhere between a puzzling move and an outright bad decision, but she’s been really good and it should surprise no one that Executive of the Year Cheryl Reeve knows what she’s doing. Carrington gives them some nice perimeter athleticism.
 
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Interestingly the 2-5 race I think is more about which teams slips up and lose to the inferior teams. There are no remaining matchups between 2-5 and it's mostly eliminated teams they are facing, so that's why I think that. The Liberty seems to have the hardest road but it isn't as hard as some other teams like the Valkyrie and Sparks. Honestly the current order of the 2-5 teams today seems very likely for the end of year as well (Aces #2, Dream #3, Mercury #4, Liberty #5). If that's the case, then I think this is the most likely playoff scenario:

1/8: Lynx/Fever
2/7: Aces/Valkyrie
3/6: Dream/Storm
4/5: Mercury/Liberty
 
GamecockFam said:
Interestingly the 2-5 race I think is more about which teams slips up and lose to the inferior teams. There are no remaining matchups between 2-5 and it's mostly eliminated teams they are facing, so that's why I think that. The Liberty seems to have the hardest road but it isn't as hard as some other teams like the Valkyrie and Sparks. Honestly the current order of the 2-5 teams today seems very likely for the end of year as well (Aces #2, Dream #3, Mercury #4, Liberty #5). If that's the case, then I think this is the most likely playoff scenario:

1/8: Lynx/Fever
2/7: Aces/Valkyrie
3/6: Dream/Storm
4/5: Mercury/Liberty
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Is it possible that there will be NO sweeps in Round 1? Those games all look tough.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Is it possible that there will be NO sweeps in Round 1? Those games all look tough.
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I mostly agree. I think the most likely sweep would be the Dream over the Storm. If Clark isn't back, I don't see much hope for the Fever either.
 
JellyBean said:
Not gonna lie. I was worried about the trade at first. I slowly came around watching after her 2nd game here in Minnesota. Her Carrington's energy, toughness on defense, and ability to knock down key shots from time to time, is a huge plus. Then throw in her bench energy. She is a great addition to the Lynx team.
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Personally, I don't think she got a fair shake with everything going on in Dallas. It's like what she accomplished the previous season went out the window. Being named Most Improved isn't a fluke.

This is not to say that she played to the level she can (and should have) while in Dallas. She was erratic to put it mildly. However, we've seen other players go through similar rough patches get more benefit of the doubt. It's nice to see her playing more like herself again and I hope she's the missing piece for the Lynx roster.
 
cancontent said:
Personally, I don't think she got a fair shake with everything going on in Dallas. It's like what she accomplished the previous season went out the window. Being named Most Improved isn't a fluke.

This is not to say that she played to the level she can (and should have) while in Dallas. She was erratic to put it mildly. However, we've seen other players go through similar rough patches get more benefit of the doubt. It's nice to see her playing more like herself again and I hope she's the missing piece for the Lynx roster.
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To me, the issue was personnel. On the Wings, you've got four slashers who can all beat their (wo)man to the basket: Arike, Paige, JJ, and Aziaha. Carrington provides better defense than all but Paige but there just wasn't a need for another, especially since Carrington is a streaky shooter from outside.

By contrast, the Lynx really didn't have a true three-level scoring guard - Williams can get to the basket but she prefers the pull-up and is a lot smaller framed and so less successful at drawing contact. And McBuckets can get to the basket with the right matchups, but her strength is the basis for her nickname, and she doesn't have the quickest first step. Carrington added a true missing piece for the Lynx, in addition to outstanding D.
 
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TheFarmFan said:
To me, the issue was personnel. On the Wings, you've got four slashers who can all beat their (wo)man to the basket: Arike, Paige, JJ, and Aziaha. Carrington provides better defense than all but Paige but there just wasn't a need for another, especially since Carrington is a streaky shooter from outside.

By contrast, the Lynx really didn't have a true three-level scoring guard - Williams can get to the basket but she prefers the pull-up and is a lot smaller framed and so less successful at drawing contact. And McBuckets can get to the basket with the right matchups, but her strength is the basis for her nickname, and she doesn't have the quickest first step. Carrington added a true missing piece for the Lynx, in addition to outstanding D.
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I think the key in all this is post-trade Carrington playing at her optimal level (including making a much better percentage on her drives to the basket).
 
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@Basingstoke @cancontent @TheFarmFan

Gave a "thumbs up" to each of your posts on the Carrington scenario.
However, I'm still scratching my head a bit because the guy that brought her into Dallas -- GM Curt Miller -- was very, very aware of what she could do because he built the culture at Connecticut in which she thrived. So he knew what he was getting.
Was it personnel, as The Tree Whisperer posted? Or is there, perhaps, some personal issues, as well? As we know, Carrington's partner, Nalyssa Smith, totally flamed out in Dallas and was shipped off to Las Vegas? Was Carrington not so eager to stick around? Who knows?

But, I can certainly agree that GM Reeve saw a ways to help Coach Reeve and went for it. Miyisha Hines-Allen probably wishes she could've been yo-yo'd back to Minny, as well, but -- then -- the Wings would have even fewer true paint players.
 
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GoChips20 said:
Indiana could well end up as the #8 seed. I don’t think that’s a team I’d want to see there if I’m the Lynx. The Fever already beat them in the Commissioner’s Cup final without Clark and if she’s back for the playoffs, a three-game series could be risky for Minnesota.
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Will Clark even be back for the playoffs? And if she is, how rusty will she be? She's played in what, 1 or 2 games since the All Star break? I've always been in the Indiana is better with her camp, but at this point it's almost too late to get her back in the fold and in synch with the rest of the team.
 
Uh oh. Elise Woodward is calling a volleyball match in Pittsburgh right now. I don't think she's gonna manage to get back to Seattle in 2 hours to call the Storm game. That will be weird with Dick Fain not having his usual partner to work with.
 
Dallas hung in there for a while, but lost by 25. What a cobbled together line up. Again with the no front court options available. Raise your hand if you predicted at some point a team would play Okonkwo, Berger, Christyn Williams and Sundell for a combined 80 minutes, and two of them would start.
 
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Fun game at the Target Center tonight. Paige back home and it was a blast. I am sure Paige wants to win but she understands that those wins will come in time. For us Minnesota fans. What a night! Great to see Napheesa have another solid game and great to see Coach Reeve finally listen to the crowd and rest Phee when up 20 plus points. BC and Natisha. Huge game by those two. When we get, like any team, additional scoring production from other players on the Lynx, we are dangerous. BC's shot was falling tonight. She is huge in how far the Lynx can go in the playoffs. We need her doing her thing on both ends of the floor. Natisha (and Courtney) is huge when her shot is falling and she is dishing the ball like she did tonight. Great game, Minnesota!!
 
Early on LA was up 13-10. It's now 40-27 Seattle. The Sparks look like something is broken. They stink. I don't think Lynne Roberts is the right coach.

Here's a memo: you might want to guard Nneka on the 3 point line. Hit 5 straight before finally missing one. Another recent game she was 7-7.
 
Diggins broke Bird's Storm record for fastest to 500 assists.

Because she started so young, Malonga is gonna set a lot of records. She was youngest to get to 100 points, now she's the youngest to get to 300.
 
JellyBean said:
We (fans) showed Berger some love and laughs for helping DiJonai on that one.
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Speaking of Berger (& not harping on her inability to shoot well), does anyone recall her frequently (or ever) playing point guard while in college?
 
Seattle 10-17 from 3...at the half. LA's trademark defense has definitely showed up tonight. 14 point lead for the Storm.
 
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This is unbelievable, Brink has picked up 3 fouls...on one possession. How is that even possible? LA just can't secure a defensive rebound, clock keeps resetting with 4 fouls called. I think it's lasted about 2 minutes.
 
IMHO how can Dallas use Berger at PG about 85% of the game when they have Paige Bueckers healthy and in the lineup with her?
The ball should be in Paige's hands almost every offensive play! Paige needs to be making the decisions not Berger!
 
Whoa! My reverse jinx actually worked in my favor, for the first time ever. This is earth shaking. Seattle managed to blow a 17 point lead early in Q3 and still up as much as 8 in Q4. Ended up losing by 6. And that was w/ Plum having a poor game. Hamby and Jackson were really good, Burrell gave them some good minutes off the bench.

Storm fell in love w/ those 3's that were falling in the first half, they went ice cold but kept shooting them.
 
LA keeps their playoff hopes barely on life support, take the season series 3-1 against Seattle if it somehow comes down to a tie breaker.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Whoa! My reverse jinx actually worked in my favor, for the first time ever. This is earth shaking. Seattle managed to blow a 17 point lead early in Q3 and still up as much as 8 in Q4. Ended up losing by 6. And that was w/ Plum having a poor game. Hamby and Jackson were really good, Burrell gave them some good minutes off the bench.

Storm fell in love w/ those 3's that were falling in the first half, they went ice cold but kept shooting them.
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The Office Party Hard GIF


Happy dance time!!!!
 
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JellyBean said:
Fun game at the Target Center tonight. Paige back home and it was a blast. I am sure Paige wants to win but she understands that those wins will come in time. For us Minnesota fans. What a night! Great to see Napheesa have another solid game and great to see Coach Reeve finally listen to the crowd and rest Phee when up 20 plus points. BC and Natisha. Huge game by those two. When we get, like any team, additional scoring production from other players on the Lynx, we are dangerous. BC's shot was falling tonight. She is huge in how far the Lynx can go in the playoffs. We need her doing her thing on both ends of the floor. Natisha (and Courtney) is huge when her shot is falling and she is dishing the ball like she did tonight. Great game, Minnesota!!
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JellyBean, what do you mean by "great to see Coach Reeve finally listen to the crowd and rest Phee"? Fans in the stands were calling out for Pheesa to sit? Or were they shouting for certain subs to go in? Legit question - one can't tell watching on WNBA League Pass.
 
YKCornelius said:
JellyBean, what do you mean by "great to see Coach Reeve finally listen to the crowd and rest Phee"? Fans in the stands were calling out for Pheesa to sit? Or were they shouting for certain subs to go in? Legit question - one can't tell watching on WNBA League Pass.
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It's gotta be such a tricky balance of continuing Phee's campaign for MVP and not messing up the team chemistry by resting starters for too long. Since they have the #1 overall seed on lockdown I expect starters will play less minutes than usual but I think they need to get 20 minutes to stay in game shape and keep team chemistry.
 
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