2025 WNBA Regular Season | Page 8 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Regular Season

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GamecockFam said:
Rhyne Howard was a defensive menace. She locked down CC. I think it's interesting that the core three (CC, AB, KM) had fantastic games in the loss, yet struggled in the win. Part of that was the foul trouble woes of Clark and Boston in the rematch but I also think Atlanta put a larger focus on stopping Clark/Boston which allowed for more freedom from the supporting cast.

Both Atlanta and Indiana are going to be dangerous teams in the playoffs after they become more polished.
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Regarding Atlanta, hoping Griner works out the foul trouble kinks she's experienced so far. Losing her in the 4th didn't help the Dream yesterday.
 
GamecockFam said:
Rhyne Howard was a defensive menace. She locked down CC. I think it's interesting that the core three (CC, AB, KM) had fantastic games in the loss, yet struggled in the win. Part of that was the foul trouble woes of Clark and Boston in the rematch but I also think Atlanta put a larger focus on stopping Clark/Boston which allowed for more freedom from the supporting cast.

Both Atlanta and Indiana are going to be dangerous teams in the playoffs after they become more polished.
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Natasha Howard stepped up massively last night and was the difference. It was almost like an inverse of the previous game.

IIRC Clark often struggled playing games with just 1 day of rest in between last year. We'll see if the pattern continues this year, but so far she's been brilliant on 2+ days of rest (first 2 games) and struggled in the game with just one off day in between.
 
azfan said:
On the topic of good-natured reflection, after a couple of days of back and forth on Arike I was thinking of both her and Chennedy Carter in the context of athletics and culture.

Both of these athletes are truly gifted at an elite level. They also engage in the sport with a fierce passion.

Neither has experienced ultimate success in the professional game and there's a certain...... stigma that follows them both. There's been a phrase developed over the years that indicates an athlete is uncoachable. I've been thinking that maybe some athletes are resistant to a culture that emphasizes team over self.

When it comes to team sports a key attribute is the ability to integrate with your teammates. To differing degrees and in different dimensions AO and Kennedy appear to lack the desire or the ability to do that.

I wonder if their past LED them to individual rather than team sport if perhaps their level of success at the pro level might be different.

I fantasize that they were both professional pickleball players and while they might end up being ejected from their matches there would be no question about the consequences of their responsibility or lack thereof.
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www.si.com

Dawn Staley Reveals Message to MiLaysia Fulwiley Amid South Carolina Transfer

The women's college basketball community was thrown into collective shock when it was announced that former South Carolins Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley was
www.si.com www.si.com

Dawn's take on Fulwiley hits at the point I was trying to make about AO and Chennedy.

There are givers and takers and team sports reveals wrote clearly who you are.

Paige is a giver and ....... These other folks aren't
 
bballnut90 said:
Natasha Howard stepped up massively last night and was the difference. It was almost like an inverse of the previous game.

IIRC Clark often struggled playing games with just 1 day of rest in between last year. We'll see if the pattern continues this year, but so far she's been brilliant on 2+ days of rest (first 2 games) and struggled in the game with just one off day in between.
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Both Howard and DB looked tired and old in their last game

Interesting that on the same amount of rest Howard looked so much more ..... (In the flow?) than CC.
 
open.substack.com

Takeaways from the first week of the WNBA

Looking at some of the very early trends around the league to open the season
open.substack.com open.substack.com

Collier's overview of week 1in the w is spot on and a pleasure to read if a bit lengthy. In my view this is the must-read newsletter for both anticipating action in the w and analysis

(My evaluation is certainly shaped by the fact he and I are in alignment on almost all of these week one developments)

Tidbits:

"It’s been two games so pushing a panic button right away doesn’t seem fair. And yet: Dallas, panic! Panic! Panic!"

Lol

"NYL looks the part"
Great analysts of Cloud's impact.

"Williams and Collier are crushing it for the Lynx"


Regarding Chicago

"There is no answer in sight unless______".

I would say fill in the blank with lots of delusion and drugs. The analysis of Chicago is spot on and as a Mercury fan I've seen this story unfold.

Voepel agrees

www.espn.com

Best surprises, worst surprises and no surprises: Takeaways from Week 1 of the WNBA

The Mercury's depth is better than expected, and shooting from the Sky and Valkyries has underwhelmed.
www.espn.com www.espn.com


We may not know exactly what Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen are going to be in the WNBA but it was pretty clear in their first three games that they are going to be something.
The Storm have no depth but they’re doing the right thing with Malonga
 
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JellyBean said:
Hats off to Golden State on their 1st win of the season and to their fanbase. Another packed house!? Well done.
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Thanks! I was at the game, and it was probably the best women's basketball game crowd vibe I've ever attended. It was so lit, and our fan-base is so into it that it's almost self-replicating: when everyone else is going wild, you kind of want to too. When Slim missed the first of her two free throws down the stretch, it sounded like we just won the Super Bowl.

I'm viewing this season as an opportunity to audition future free agents who roll through town and hopefully will leave thinking
i want to go to there 30 rock GIF


Genuinely, I have to imagine at least some of the players leave thinking how cool it would be for this to be every home game, and I'm hoping we win just enough games (and keep it close in a number more) to keep the crowd in it. Quality of basketball aside, it's just a really awesome fan experience.
 
azfan said:
Both Howard and DB looked tired and old in their last game

Interesting that on the same amount of rest Howard looked so much more ..... (In the flow?) than CC.
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May have been motivated due to her awful showing the previous game. At any rate, she stepped up and more than came through for Indiana.
 
This is not a game thread, but during a timeout in the Minnesota-Conn. game:
  • Saniya Rivers is going to be able to play in this league. Easily.
  • The reffing is woefully inconsistent. Bodies flying and nothing, then arbitrary weird "really?" calls.
  • Mabrey's first two games are over. She's on all cylinders so far with intensity.
  • Phee missed her first free throw of the year?
18-0 run out of nowhere now has Minnesota in front with a three by Heidemann
 
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Lynx come back to win 76-70, as Sun score 2 points in last five minutes.

As hot as Connecticut was in the first half, they were middlin' in the third and ice cold in the fourth.
Lindsay Allen went out in the first quarter with a leg injury and never returned. She was missed in the fourth when there was no rhyme or reason to the Sun.

Lynx kept their composure until they got it going. Phee went for 33 (!) and Heidemann scored 11 in the fourth quarter.
Shepard had 13 and, amazingly, those were the only three in double figures. They're undefeated and Kayla McBride just showed up on the bench, so they'll only get better.
 
Dillon77 said:
This is not a game thread, but during a timeout in the Minnesota-Conn. game:
  • Saniya Rivers is going to be able to play in this league. Easily.
  • The reffing is woefully inconsistent. Bodies flying and nothing, then arbitrary weird "really?" calls.
  • Mabrey's first two games are over. She's on all cylinders so far with intensity.
  • Phee missed her first free throw of the year?
18-0 run out of nowhere now has Minnesota in front with a three by Heidemann
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Entertaining game. First time I've gotten a chance to watch Connecticut play and I liked what they're doing. Unfortunate that they went cold in the fourth. Turnovers didn't help.

While Minnesota's ability to dig in and come back was fun to watch, is it me or this has been their habit so far? Hopefully it's not a habit/trend. They may not be able to make up double digit deficits that easily against the top teams in the lead.
 
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cancontent said:
Entertaining game. First time I've gotten a chance to watch Connecticut play and I liked what they're doing. Unfortunate that they went cold in the fourth. Turnovers didn't help.

While Minnesota's ability to dig in and come back was fun to watch, is it me or this has been their habit so far? Hopefully it's not a habit/trend. They may not be able to make up double digit deficits that easily against the top teams in the lead.
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The schedule they have to start the season is the easiest in the league.
 
cancontent said:


Dang. Talk about uphill battle.
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And despite this loss, they were winning this game until the last two seconds until Jewell Loyd, who had one shot all game, hit a three to cement a 75-72 win. I thought Coach Johnson should've used his last timeout several times to set up a play, but he relied on Sutton or Sutton to create plays. More often than not, it didn't work. What did work was Iriafen's rebounding and Sonia Citron's overall play.
Coach...next time, set something up for those two to work off each other.
 
Dillon77 said:
And despite this loss, they were winning this game until the last two seconds until Jewell Loyd, who had one shot all game, hit a three to cement a 75-72 win. I thought Coach Johnson should've used his last timeout several times to set up a play, but he relied on Sutton or Sutton to create plays. More often than not, it didn't work. What did work was Iriafen's rebounding and Sonia Citron's overall play.
Coach...next time, set something up for those two to work off each other.
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You mean Coach Johnson mean he relied on Jade Melbourne and Sug Sutton to create and more often than not, it didn't work. Mystics had a chance to win in regulation but the ball when out bounds on Melbourne tried to play hero ball and got her block shot by Kiah Stokes with 7.2 left.

Seattle avenged their loss to Phoenix. Skylar Diggins with 23 points and a franchise record tying 14 assists.

Golden State defeated Los Angeles for their 2nd win on the season.
 
Dillon77 said:
And despite this loss, they were winning this game until the last two seconds until Jewell Loyd, who had one shot all game, hit a three to cement a 75-72 win. I thought Coach Johnson should've used his last timeout several times to set up a play, but he relied on Sutton or Sutton to create plays. More often than not, it didn't work. What did work was Iriafen's rebounding and Sonia Citron's overall play.
Coach...next time, set something up for those two to work off each other.
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Wasn't able to stay up to watch. It's on my list to watch later today!
 
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Looking at the Seattle-Phoenix box score and damn! Diggins with 14 of the team's 21 assists last night. That's impressive.

Nice bounce back game against the Mercury overall it seems. Clark's minutes remains a puzzle to me. Less than 15 minutes? Another game I have to watch to see what happened.
 
cancontent said:
Looking at the Seattle-Phoenix box score and damn! Diggins with 14 of the team's 21 assists last night. That's impressive.

Nice bounce back game against the Mercury overall it seems. Clark's minutes remains a puzzle to me. Less than 15 minutes? Another game I have to watch to see what happened.
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Another puzzle has been Ezi Macbegor. Is she coming back from an injury maybe? Skylar and Nneka have been really good this season so far to help carry the load.
 
cancontent said:
Looking at the Seattle-Phoenix box score and damn! Diggins with 14 of the team's 21 assists last night. That's impressive.

Nice bounce back game against the Mercury overall it seems. Clark's minutes remains a puzzle to me. Less than 15 minutes? Another game I have to watch to see what happened.
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@sivad40

Some notes on the importance of floor leaders:
  • Sky organized the Storm throughout that game with a mix of passing and scoring. Nneka consistently hit some funky shots throughout and was the main ingredient along for the Storm, along with Sky and some clutch shots by Gabby Williams..
  • Thought the losses of the Sun and Mystics to some degree could be pegged on the lack of a definitive presence in the backcourt.
  • Jacy Sheldon is a bit too amped still and Mabrey's effectiveness in games fades when she has to do too much (or feels she has to). Lindsay Allen is a cool customer and knows what is coming from the Lynx and could've added some calm to the proceedings.
  • And, as noted by @sivad40 , Coach Johnson let Sug Sutton and Jade Melbourne try to handle matters and they didn't. (BTW, Melborune's play on that hero drive was to throw a skip pass to a wide-open Citron.) With Brittany Sykes out, there was no one else who had "been there, done that." Lastly, you can see why they drafted Georgia Amoore to run the show. Ah, next year. :(
 
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Dillon77 said:
@sivad40

Some notes on the importance of floor leaders:
  • Sky organized the Storm throughout that game with a mix of passing and scoring. Nneka consistently hit some funky shots throughout and was the main ingredient along for the Storm, along with Sky and some clutch shots by Gabby Williams..
  • Thought the losses of the Sun and Mystics to some degree could be pegged on the lack of a definitive presence in the backcourt.
Jacy Sheldon is a bit too amped still and Mabrey's effectiveness in games fades when she has to do too much (or feels she has to).
Lindsay Allen is a cool customer and knows what is coming from the Lynx and could've added some calm to the proceedings.
- And, as noted by @sivad40 , Coach Johnson let Sug Sutton and Jade Melbourne try to handle matters and they didn't. (BTW, Melborune's play on that hero drive was to throw a skip pass to a wide-open Citron.) With Brittany Sykes out, there was no one else who had "been there, done that." Lastly, you can see why the drafted Georgia Amoore. Ah, next year. :(
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Hopefully the leg injury reported isn't serious.
 
cancontent said:
Hopefully the leg injury reported isn't serious.
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For Sykes? Agree...as someone noted, she -- unfortunately -- has a history of off-and-on injuries.

It's too bad the Mystics lost, but -- glass half-full -- they played tough on the road until the end, which is where inexperience usually rears its obvious head. I could tell Vegas coach and players were very much onto Citron in the second half in that Gray was virtually face-guarding her. There was one sequence in which Citron was virtually involved in a game of "musical screens" with Gray and Dolson (the screen). It was pretty amusing to watch, with Citron springing open to unleash a three. Net.

Note to Coach Johnson for clutch situations until Sykes comes back: Citron can orchestrate an offense from the half court...effectively. Give her a high-post (Big Stef?) for a pick and pop and look for Iriafen down low. Or she goes to the hole. If she gets fouled, she'll make you pay. She makes good decisions.
 
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Dillon77 said:
For Sykes? Agree...as someone noted, she -- unfortunately -- has a history of off-and-on injuries.

It's too bad they lost, but -- glass half-full -- they played tough on the road until the end, which is where inexperience usually rears its obvious head. I could tell Vegas coach and players were very much onto Citron in the second half in that Gray was virtually face-guarding her. There was one sequence in which Citron was virtually involved in a game of "musical screens" with Gray and Dolson (the screen). It was pretty amusing to watch, with Citron springing open to unleash a three. Net.

Note to Johnson for clutch situations until Sykes comes back: Citron can orchestrate from the half court...effectively. Give her a high-post (Big Stef?) for a pick and pop and look for Iriafen down low. She makes good decisions.
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While I agree with this, I was referring to Allen as she left the game early last night versus the Lynx.
 
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Dillon77 said:
This is not a game thread, but during a timeout in the Minnesota-Conn. game:
  • Saniya Rivers is going to be able to play in this league. Easily.
  • The reffing is woefully inconsistent. Bodies flying and nothing, then arbitrary weird "really?" calls.
  • Mabrey's first two games are over. She's on all cylinders so far with intensity.
  • Phee missed her first free throw of the year?
18-0 run out of nowhere now has Minnesota in front with a three by Heidemann
Expand ...
Mabrey's intensity is pretty impressive. She just never quits. That Conn. coach, another import from France, looks to know what he's doing.
 
azfan said:
www.si.com

Dawn Staley Reveals Message to MiLaysia Fulwiley Amid South Carolina Transfer

The women's college basketball community was thrown into collective shock when it was announced that former South Carolins Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley was
www.si.com www.si.com

Dawn's take on Fulwiley hits at the point I was trying to make about AO and Chennedy.

There are givers and takers and team sports reveals wrote clearly who you are.

Paige is a giver and ....... These other folks aren't
Expand ...

Dawn wants her players to be happy, but wanted them to cry hard after the UConn loss. Sounds strange to me.
 
Dillon77 said:
Lynx come back to win 76-70, as Sun score 2 points in last five minutes.

As hot as Connecticut was in the first half, they were middlin' in the third and ice cold in the fourth.
Lindsay Allen went out in the first quarter with a leg injury and never returned. She was missed in the fourth when there was no rhyme or reason to the Sun.

Lynx kept their composure until they got it going. Phee went for 33 (!) and Heidemann scored 11 in the fourth quarter.
Shepard had 13 and, amazingly, those were the only three in double figures. They're undefeated and Kayla McBride just showed up on the bench, so they'll only get better.
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Hiedeman had 11, but Courtney was 0-11. She's normally a great shooter.
 
Dillon77 said:
And despite this loss, they were winning this game until the last two seconds until Jewell Loyd, who had one shot all game, hit a three to cement a 75-72 win. I thought Coach Johnson should've used his last timeout several times to set up a play, but he relied on Sutton or Sutton to create plays. More often than not, it didn't work. What did work was Iriafen's rebounding and Sonia Citron's overall play.
Coach...next time, set something up for those two to work off each other.
Expand ...

Melbourne, whom I like, rushed a layup attempt well before the buzzer and turned it over, which gave Vegas time to set up Jewell's shot. Reminded me of the 2017 Final Four loss.
 
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