2025 WNBA Regular Season | Page 67 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Regular Season

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nwhoopfan said:
So was McDonald irreplaceable? Or Colson? Now they've got Sims, seems like a fairly decent swap out for Aari.
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She is, or better yet, she will be. Time will tell as she's getting caught up after being out of the league until this point of the season.
 
cancontent said:
She is, or better yet, she will be. Time will tell as she's getting caught up after being out of the league until this point of the season.
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She was with LA to start the season, played 12 games. Was released beginning of July, so hasn't been out all that long.
 
Aces win again. I kinda think they're starting to become that team you don't really want to draw in the 1st round of the playoffs. Wilson has been on a rampage lately. 30/16 tonight, she had a 30/20 game recently.
 
Seattle finally breaks their losing streak 80-78 over Atlanta. Move back to 1/2 game ahead of LA, after they were briefly tied for a couple hours.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Seattle finally breaks their losing streak 80-78 over Atlanta. Move back to 1/2 game ahead of LA, after they were briefly tied for a couple hours.
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Seattle needed that win and to split these games with the Dream. Williams gave fans a scare briefly when she landed on her hand awkwardly. Glad it wasn't something serious. Malonga continues to impress me with how she's progressing this season too.

The fans in Vancouver were definitely in the Storm's corner yesterday. While not a full house, it sounded loud and that the fans were having a good time. It was also cool to see Swin Cash on hand to be for some of the events that were scheduled this weekend.

For me, it was also great to have a Canadian broadcast to watch last night. TSN was able to steal Megan McPeak from her Washington Mystics/Wizards gig. Glad they were able to have her call the game. She does a good job, but not enough Canadians know about her. Maybe one day she'll work for the Tempo (fingers crossed).
 
nwhoopfan said:
This is kinda crazy, Plum and Allisha Gray both hit 4000 points on the same night, and they are from the same draft class. What are the odds of that happening?
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And the wild part in all of this, nobody minus Allisha Gray and maybe her family and friends, expected her to make it in the league or this long even though she was drafted 4th or 5th in that class. Gray has done well for herself. Congrats, Gray and Plum.
 
JellyBean said:
And the wild part in all of this, nobody minus Allisha Gray and maybe her family and friends, expected her to make it in the league or this long even though she was drafted 4th or 5th in that class. Gray has done well for herself. Congrats, Gray and Plum.
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I can't say I expected her to be this wildly successful but I had confidence she would make a career out of it. I think people thought, of the guards on that team, that Kaela Davis would have a more prolific career. There were a lot of great players on that championship team who have dabbled in the W...A'ja Wilson, Allisha Gray, Kaela Davis, Alaina Coates, Ty Harris, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan.
 
Winning on the road is hard.

Becky in her sixth consecutive win goes into the valley of the Sun and in her match against the million dollar coach and former presumptive COY came out on top.

For the million dollar coach his big three plus Bonner plus three point shooting wasn't enough against the Aces.

In a preview of what may well be the 4/5 game Wilson and crew were just too much for the Merc.

In a post anticipating this matchup I indicated the pressure was squarely on Nate and crew and at home before a crowd that was trying everything to help they were unable to respond to the pressure.

Four time COY Cheryl Reeves indicates that it's key to protect the home court. Nate was unable to do this.As the season comes to an end there will be other opportunities for Nate to show whether or not he can do either a hard thing or protect the home court. The rematch will be in Vegas Thursday at the end of a three-game road trip that begins with Seattle goes to Golden State and I'm wondering who has more pressure and how they will react to that pressure.

While Nate navigates the three game road trip the Aces are home against the Wing and Dream so may have an eight-game winning streak when the Merc hit Sin City

Excellent coaches have their team peaking right before the playoffs. Becky seems to be doing that. Nate well.......
 
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nwhoopfan said:
So was McDonald irreplaceable? Or Colson? Now they've got Sims, seems like a fairly decent swap out for Aari.
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@cancontent

Hmm...I dunno about this. I watched the entire Mystics-Fever game last night and felt that what the Fever got from Mtichell, they kinda got from Sims. A combo guard that looks for her shot first, but will dish credibly when need be. And, both of them can drive to the left all day until that part of the lane is gerrymandered.

Plus, I've got thing being super-person takes effort. Yes, Mitchell had 9 assists last night, but went 6-19 (1-6 from three) and some misses down the stretch that I've got to think fatigue had something to do with. That...and Sonia Citron and Jade Melbourne chasing you around all night with those young legs.

We'll see...Sims is a pretty pick-it-up-fast player during her various tours of WNBA teams, but with McDonald out, I thought the Fever might've been better served finding a 'pass-first player like Lindsey Allen to run the half court for 10-15 minutes a game and let Kelsey M. be the go-to-scorer that she is.
 
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azfan said:
In a preview of what may well be the 4/5 game Wilson and crew were just too much for the Merc.
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I don’t think the Aces are going to settle for 4/5. Feels like the media had already decided to give Collier her Barkleyesque MVP this year, but A’ja is still the best player on the planet. Last time the media gave away one of her MVPs for narrative, A’ja picked apart Stewart and friends like a mean kid playing with bugs in the Finals.
 
Some thoughts while looking at Friday night boxscores:
Washington 88, Indiana 84
  • Mystics actually had one fewer assist and four more turnovers than the Fever.
  • But they shot better: 53% overall for the Mystics, vs. 45% for the Fever. In particular, the Fever only shot 33% frLom three-pt. land while the Mystics went 47%. Notably, both Sonia Citron and Alysha Clark went 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Los Angeles 96, Dallas 96
Beyond the "who has the last shot" aspect of this game....
  • Two double-doubles for LA: Dearica Hamby with 20 pts. and 10 rebounds and Julie Allemand with 12 points and 10 assists.
  • JJ Quinerly of Dallas almost got there, coming off the bench to score 11 points and dish 9 assists.

Seattle 80, Atlanta 78
Yet another "down-to-the-wire" special.
  • For the victors, Skylar Diggins went for 21 points and 11 assists while
  • Brionna Jones scored 18 points and snared 10 rebounds for the Dream.

Golden State 90, Chicago 59
  • 5 Valkyries end up in double figures and in the +/- column, all pluses or zeroes.
  • That sound you hear is Minnesota doing a happy dance the more Chicago plummets in the standings.

Las Vegas 86, Phoenix 83
  • Aja Wilson on fire: 30 points, including 14-15 from the FT line, and 16 rebounds.
  • Chelsea Gray showing signs of life, with 16 pts and 9 assists and making those passes at the right time and place.
  • Phoenix got firepower from it's gang of four (AT had 15 points and 9 assists, Satou Sabally went for 26, Bonner had 13 and Kahleah Copper had 15, but on 6-15 shooting).
  • As you know, I'm a big believer in synchronicity and all these shoes aren't fitting...yet. At least not like Held, Laska and Westbeld supporting whatever of the big 3 were present earlier in the season. Stay tuned.
 
JstVisiting said:
I don’t think the Aces are going to settle for 4/5. Feels like the media had already decided to give Collier her Barkleyesque MVP this year, but A’ja is still the best player on the planet. Last time the media gave away one of her MVPs for narrative, A’ja picked apart Stewart and friends like a mean kid playing with bugs in the Finals.
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Wilson demonstrated this superlative talent over the years. Perhaps the million dollar coach shouldn't feel so bad being beaten at home in a critical game by Wilson and company.
 
Dillon77 said:
Some thoughts while looking at Friday night boxscores:
Las Vegas 86, Phoenix 83
  • As you know, I'm a big believer in synchronicity and all these shoes aren't fitting...yet. At least not like Held, Laska and Westbeld supporting whatever of the big 3 were present earlier in the season. Stay tuned.
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Yet .....ahhhhh

With a million dollar salary perhaps Nate receives more patience than the ordinary coach or bear to quote Yogi
 
JstVisiting said:
I don’t think the Aces are going to settle for 4/5. Feels like the media had already decided to give Collier her Barkleyesque MVP this year, but A’ja is still the best player on the planet. Last time the media gave away one of her MVPs for narrative, A’ja picked apart Stewart and friends like a mean kid playing with bugs in the Finals.
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It's not out of the realm of possibility for the Aces to finish as high as 2nd at this point. They are in a virtual tie w/ Phoenix and only 1.5 games behind NY and Atlanta. Some good drama brewing for the end of the season for playoff seedings.
 
nwhoopfan said:
It's not out of the realm of possibility for the Aces to finish as high as 2nd at this point. They are in a virtual tie w/ Phoenix and only 1.5 games behind NY and Atlanta. Some good drama brewing for the end of the season for playoff seedings.
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Outside of Minnesota everyone else just needs to get their players healthy. New York, Phoenix, Atlanta, have had injuries to multiple players.
 
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baggerbob said:
Outside of Minnesota everyone else just needs to get their players healthy. New York, Phoenix, Atlanta, have had injuries to multiple players.
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All of these teams, including Minnesota need to be healthy. While Minnesota has shown they can manage without Collier, seeing her back on the court will be big for their play off run.
 
JstVisiting said:
I don’t think the Aces are going to settle for 4/5. Feels like the media had already decided to give Collier her Barkleyesque MVP this year, but A’ja is still the best player on the planet. Last time the media gave away one of her MVPs for narrative, A’ja picked apart Stewart and friends like a mean kid playing with bugs in the Finals.
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I'm starting to get similar feelings. It took a little bit for A'ja and the Aces (great band name!) to rev that engine, but they are starting to round into playoff form. The biggest knock against A'ja this season has been the team's ranking and they're starting to climb the ladder up and up. Combine that with her ridiculous scoring and rebounding numbers (first 30/20 game, ever!) and Collier being sidelined by her injury, and that gap between Collier and Wilson is rapidly fading.
 
GamecockFam said:
I can't say I expected her to be this wildly successful but I had confidence she would make a career out of it. I think people thought, of the guards on that team, that Kaela Davis would have a more prolific career. There were a lot of great players on that championship team who have dabbled in the W...A'ja Wilson, Allisha Gray, Kaela Davis, Alaina Coates, Ty Harris, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan.
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I'm with you on Allisha. People forget that she played 2, 3, and 4 in college, and IIRC, mostly 4 her senior year. So a player with a not-particularly-beefy 6-foot frame was going up against bigger forwards in the SEC and coming out ahead. Plus she's always struck me as a great teammate, always team-first. I'm glad to see her getting more attention this year.
 
Interesting game. Minny was roasting NY early. Lib fought back into it by halftime, then took the lead early in Q3 and held it most of the rest of the game. But Lynx surged back ahead at the end. Huge game for C. Williams. A. Smith was also really impactful on both ends of the floor. Minny scared their fans w/ a bunch of missed FTs at the end, but it didn't matter. Lynx own the Lib this year, w/ and w/out Collier.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Interesting game. Minny was roasting NY early. Lib fought back into it by halftime, then took the lead early in Q3 and held it most of the rest of the game. But Lynx surged back ahead at the end. Huge game for C. Williams. A. Smith was also really impactful on both ends of the floor. Minny scared their fans w/ a bunch of missed FTs at the end, but it didn't matter. Lynx own the Lib this year, w/ and w/out Collier.
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Smith was particularly impactful, in my view, on the defensive end with the three blocks and excellent weak-side help.
But she had help up front in fellow forward, Jessica Shepard, who had 17 points on 5-7 from the field and 10 rebounds. Eight of those were defensive and then she turned and fired those Kevin Love-like outlet passes. It's quite a duo and makes one realize how strong the Lynx front line with the three-person rotation will be when 'Phee comes back (oh, 2 1/2-person roatation, considering how little Collier comes out). One other thing those two do well, particularly Shep , is set screens for Willams to work off of. I've been seeing that since her college days.

Even though the Lynx only outrebounded the Liberty by one, it felt like more. Or maybe they got to a few more 50/50s.
The Liberty are just a different kind of team without Stewie...a good one that is well-coached, but missing a bit of the intuitiveness that Stewie brings. Plus, other teams are double-teaming Ionescu relentlessly.....
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Interesting game. Minny was roasting NY early. Lib fought back into it by halftime, then took the lead early in Q3 and held it most of the rest of the game. But Lynx surged back ahead at the end. Huge game for C. Williams. A. Smith was also really impactful on both ends of the floor. Minny scared their fans w/ a bunch of missed FTs at the end, but it didn't matter. Lynx own the Lib this year, w/ and w/out Collier.
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This stood out to me today. Didn't the announcers say that FTs have been an issue lately? This isn't typical of a Minnesota team from what I recall.
 
cancontent said:
This stood out to me today. Didn't the announcers say that FTs have been an issue lately? This isn't typical of a Minnesota team from what I recall.
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McBride is right behind the league leader for FT percentage, around 94%, but went 8-12 today including some misses at the end that could've helped ice it. The announcers kept saying how poor Smith and Shepherd's FT% are (unbelievably only 41 and 57). Also Carrington is only hitting 55% since she's been with them.

Smith hit 71, 68 and 75 in the 3 previous seasons, so how in the world is she shooting so poorly from the charity stripe this season?! 🤔
 
nwhoopfan said:
McBride is right behind the league leader for FT percentage, around 94%, but went 8-12 today including some misses at the end that could've helped ice it. The announcers kept saying how poor Smith and Shepherd's FT% are (unbelievably only 41 and 57). Also Carrington is only hitting 55% since she's been with them.

Smith hit 71, 68 and 75 in the 3 previous seasons, so how in the world is she shooting so poorly from the charity stripe this season?! 🤔
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If one rounds up a smidge, K-Mac is at 90% for her WNBA career, so gosh knows what got into her today.
Shep, while at Notre Dame, was pretty much a 70% FT shooter, which was pretty much her average in the pros up to this year.

Expect K-Mac to get back to usual and the Lynx would be overjoyed for Shepard to get back in the 66%+ area.
 
Dillon77 said:
If one rounds up a smidge, K-Mac is at 90% for her WNBA career, so gosh knows what got into her today.
Shep, while at Notre Dame, was pretty much a 70% FT shooter, which was pretty much her average in the pros up to this year.

Expect K-Mac to get back to usual and the Lynx would be overjoyed for Shepard to get back in the 66%+ area.
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Smith shot 66% in college and 64% as a pro, so her shooting this year is truly mind boggling.
 
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