2025 WNBA Regular Season | Page 19 | The Boneyard

2025 WNBA Regular Season

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Dillon77 said:
I've heard variations of the word "trolling," but I'm probably not using the most recognizable one.
So I'll go with a different tact: it seems to me that you're using the WNBA thread as a way of lashing out at the administration of the club, vis a vis the actual players themselves.

So, my apologies for that, but I still wanted to know if, hey, you enjoyed some aspects of being a Merc fan. ;)
(My thought is life's too short...enjoy the good of whatever is happening and this crew has at least a 6-3 record for now. Gosh, imagine being a Sun, Sky or Wings fan this season.)

BTW, I enjoy the coverage you give us all on all the AZ teams over the years....was just noting the discomfort with the Merc.
(And yes, the firing of Brondello in my mind was completely a knee-jerk reaction....)
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I think the word you're looking for is "dunking on." @azfan is not living up to their name with respect to any prominent AZ team and does indeed seem to get great pleasure from dunking on them. I get to some extent frustrations with a particular coach or particular management team, but it's been pretty unyielding, with rarely even a single occasional gracious remark, for years now, and for every prominent women's basketball team in the state (Wildcats, Sun Devils, and Merc). So I think dunking is the right word, and questioning if they're even actually a fan in good faith is very reasonable. That said, I think I'd be pretty disillusioned too if those were the three teams I'd had to root for over the past few seasons...
 
Well, the Sun isn't permanently set! Connecticut gets its first home and second overall win, beating the Atlanta Dream, 84-76.
The Sun had a slim, one-point lead going into the fourth quarter and then outscored Atlanta, 22-15 to take home the win. The Sun's starters scored 75 of those 84 points led by Bria Harley's 11, Tina Charles' 18 and, especially, Marina Mabrey's 34. Mabrey did most of her damage inside the arc tonight, going 10-14 from two-point range and 5-6 from the FT line. She also had 4 assists, while Harley led the team with 6 of those.

The Sun lost Olivia Nelson-Ododa early on and in the second half rookies Kariata Diaby and Aneesah Morrow tried to fill the void. Morrow wasn't ready to take on Brittany Griner, put hit a clutch spin, turn and drive to help keep the Sun in front.
The Sun rookie who shined though was Saniya Rivers who had, not one, but two blocks on Rhyne Howard. She oozes athletic confidence and Mabrey & Hartley have her back. If she can work on her shooting, this could be a case of a player who takes big steps in the pro's.

So, rooks Rivers, Morrow and Diaby all helped the vets bring it home in eastern Connecticut.
 
Hamby and Stevens both had 20 point games for LA. Good for them. Sims has strung a couple nice games together. Good to have Jackson back. Plum wasn't scoring much but had 9 assists and only 1 TO. Got the win over the Wings.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Hamby and Stevens both had 20 point games for LA. Good for them. Sims has strung a couple nice games together. Good to have Jackson back. Plum wasn't scoring much but had 9 assists and only 1 TO. Got the win over the Wings.
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Not a whole lot of sunshine to see in the Wings' 79-93 loss to the Sparks...for this season, but...the best two players on the court for them last night were Luisa Geiselsoder, the 25-year old rookie post from Germany and Kaila Charles, the 27-year-old from Maryland. Of course -- given that this is the Wings -- Geiselsoder will leave shortly until the end of the month to play for Germany until the end of June. But last night had to be tantalizing for Coach Chris Koclanes: 11 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. I think she could play well with Ms. Bueckers in 2026.
 
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Wow. Just finished watching that Wings/Sparks game. My heart goes out to Coach Koclanes. I don't think any coach could muster up a lot of wins with a team that lacks depth, dealing with injuries to players especially your key players, having players missing easy baskets, or having one of your key players struggling with her shot. That is not a good sign for any type of success.

One player on the Wings (3rd quarter) grabs a rebound and goes coast to coast...and misses the easy layup. Now it looked like a makeable basket but who knows what that player was thinking or feeling at that moment. All I know and saw, she had the basket or she had a teammate open on that 2 on 1 break. She took and missed the layup. That is not on the coach. It is still early in the season. 9 games in roughly 33-34 games left in the season. Just set small goals and go from there. I think the Wings will get things going shortly.
 
TheFarmFan said:
I think the word you're looking for is "dunking on." @azfan is not living up to their name with respect to any prominent AZ team and does indeed seem to get great pleasure from dunking on them. I get to some extent frustrations with a particular coach or particular management team, but it's been pretty unyielding, with rarely even a single occasional gracious remark, for years now, and for every prominent women's basketball team in the state (Wildcats, Sun Devils, and Merc). So I think dunking is the right word, and questioning if they're even actually a fan in good faith is very reasonable. That said, I think I'd be pretty disillusioned too if those were the three teams I'd had to root for over the past few seasons...
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As I was mentioned in this explanation of trolling/dunking *(thank you) I wanted to perhaps clarify my love of and rooting for WBB.

I am very appreciate to have discovered the BY - a unique, animated a community of thoughtful, gracious, passionate and predominately civil fans discussing and debating all things women's basketball and at times other fields and topics.

I have tremendous respect for WBB in general and in particular our Arizona participants and I relentless and regularly praise and delight in: Molly Miller and the Antelopes and now Sun Devils (over 100 positive posts expressing my respect and admiration), Lorre Payne and the Jacks - now at Santa Clara (over 100 gracious posts expressing my appreciation, respect and gratitude) WBB in general - particularly the end of season tournaments in Las Vegas for WAC, WCC, and MW that I attend and presented gracious fan based posts from attend the past 2 March madness seasons and attending 20+ games each tournament season over the past 2 years. These posts were 180 degrees from the characterization of my fan based enthusiasm)

As I value and appreciate this community I make every effort to respect the norms and conventions of online discussion.

Over the past 30 years I have been a consistent and passionate fan of the ASU Sun Devils (going back to the hiring of CTT from NAU), The NAU Lumberjacks, the GCU Antelopes and the Mercury.

Over the past years I have posted:

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks over 50 posts of praise, respect, admiration and anticipation outlining Coach Loree Payne, Sophie Glancy, Taylor Feldman and the excitement of the offense first scheme that turned the program from an 11 win team to a 27 win team. More that rare there 50 plus posts were intended to be gracious and as I reread them I do think most would regard these posts as more than rare and positively gracious.

Grand Canyon Antelopes over 75 posts that were intended to and I think achieved gracious respect for coach Molly Miller (now the ASU coach) and here talented team and a culture of grace, graciousness and success. As I discussed Coach Miller, the Olympian TSA from Puerto Rica, the transfers from Las Vegas and the GREAT crowds of students I was enthusiastically passionate about both the type of program and the success and culture of support.

Arizona State University 80+posts - during the CCT era I posted my pleasure and admiration for the team and memories including the Rumble on The REZ when Kim Mulkey brought her Baylor squad to Window Rock to face the Devils (*A team with Kalani Brown, current Mercury and the Robbi Ryan lead team led at the end of the first quarter). the unbelievable comeback from 18 points down in the 4th quarter against Utah on my birthday in 2018, Courtney Ekmark transferring back to the valley of the Sun, well the frequent, relentless, not rare positive posts about my beloved ASU Sun Devils did change with the disaster of Adair, a response any respectable, passionate fan would express - I think? Don't you?

General women's basketball - 50 posts - my attendance at the WAC, Mountain West, West Coast Conference tournaments in Las Vegas were unrelentingly positive, passionate, enthusiastic and grateful for the chance to see these great athletes and coaches in person. SOOOO much fun and I really took unrelenting, frequent pleasure in sharing with the BY community.

Have I posted critical and passionate concern as a fan? Of course.

ASU rival - UofA - the kitties - 100 posts poking the kitty. For those aware of rivalry - tOSU v Michigan, Oklahoma v Texas, on the BY Huskies v Irish or Vols or . . my posting fall into the unrelenting rivalry subgenre.

ASU Natasha Adair - 100+ - enough said, any fan of the Sun Devils would have joined me. 3 years, 20 loses a season . . . don't get me started.

The Mercury - 100 - posts - THE GOAT, Sandy, the championships and . . . . oy

While I celebrated the successes, the GOAT, BG, etc, the recent disaster is so much like Natasha Adair

After years of success (4 finals and a championship) Sandy was shown the door in 2022 (same year CTT retired and Adair was hired) and
if we go back to that time and put together a list of the top 25 candidates to replace Sandy -- would anyone expect that a hire with no experience as a head coach, never coached women would be the selection? This is after trying out the high school coach and Nikki Blue.

So, my posts have been unrelentingly passionate, varied, frequent, enthusiastic and based upon firm fandom, a committed rooting for the Devils, Lopes, Jacks and Mercury.

@TheFarmFan may be reflecting (suffering from?) recency bias as the recent troubles at ASU and Mercury Land have been . . . negative?.. and while the posting of positive comments regarding NAU, GCU, WBB tournaments were very positive, gracious and celebratory they were in the spring and the WNBA is ongoing now.
 
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I get the skepticism regarding the Mercury (have played 67% of their games to date at home against less-than-stellar opponents for the most part), but at some point you have to give credit to their coaching staff (not just Tibbetts) for making the best out of what they have currently.

That said, I do expect them to lose to Seattle tonight.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Just saw a clip of Carrington pulling Barker to the floor by her hair. Nasty. It was a tech, but probably should be looked at by the league and upgraded to something more retroactively.
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Yeah. I saw that replay and was like, "Oh that should be a 1-2 game suspension." Carrington just got into a situation with Skylar Diggins earlier in the week and she picked up a flagrant foul. That foul by Carrington was so dangerous. She not only could have injured Sarah but also Sarah's teammate because Sarah slammed her head into the Sparks player's leg. Then Carrington had the nerve to throw her hands up like "What did I do?" SMH

I get playing hard but Carrington out there playing wreckless aka dirty. Too dangerous. The League should really look at this play and seriously consider an upgrade. I can't even imagine what would have happened if this was a player who shall remain nameless and Carrington pulled that stunt! Yikes!
 
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JellyBean said:
Yeah. I saw that replay and was like, "Oh that should be a 1-2 game suspension." Carrington just got into a situation with Skylar Diggins earlier in the week and she picked up a flagrant foul. That foul by Carrington was so dangerous. She not only could have injured Sarah but also Sarah's teammate because Sarah slammed her head into the Sparks player's leg. Then Carrington had the nerve to throw her hands up like "What did I do?" SMH

I get playing hard but Carrington out there playing wreckless aka dirty. Too dangerous. The League should really look at this play and seriously consider an upgrade. I can't even imagine what would have happened if this was a player who shall remain nameless and Carrington pulled that stunt! Yikes!
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Agree. There's no place for reckless play. The league really should put their foot down hard regarding this kind of stuff, but I don't have much confidence they will.
 
For as many “I’m not that kind of player” quotes to the media Carrington has made, the eye test says otherwise. Seems like every few games she’s involved in clawing/pushing/pulling another player, which is a shame because she’s a good enough defender to not have to resort to those antics.

Paige is a gracious professional nonetheless, but there are bad vibes out of Dallas this season.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Just saw a clip of Carrington pulling Barker to the floor by her hair. Nasty. It was a tech, but probably should be looked at by the league and upgraded to something more retroactively.
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+100 on this. I watched the game this morning as I had plans last night, and was shocked that the announcers weren't all over that play. It was dirty and totally unnecessary. Carrington has quickly become one of my least favorite players. Dallas needs to package her and Ogunbowale up and trade them.

If not, should Dallas not get the #1 pick, maybe make them part of a player trade and package to trade up to #1.
 
What fun to watch a team of mostly unknown's go poundtown on the former champs, the Aces. Love seeing Wilson and her team lose, even to I love Stokes and actually am a Jackie Young fan. I do think Nye might end up the steal of the draft - she's a gamer.

And I thoroughly enjoyed A'ja's complaining about not getting the calls. Don't get me wrong - a great player, but one of many who seems to complain for a foul almost every time they take a shot.
 
GoChips20 said:
Valkyries have been a nice surprise to open the year, but a team with the reigning MVP and three All-W caliber guards shouldn’t be down 20 at the half. I like the Aces but it’s looking like their championship window has closed.
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So, while watching the Sparks vs the Mercury and now the Aces vs the Valkyries, these two thoughts -- which have permeated my brain from time to time -- hit me again:
  • I know there were, ahem, administrative issues, but the Las Vegas Aces gave the Sparks Dearica Hamby & a first-round draft choice for Amanda Zahui B and a second-roundi pick. Dearica Hamby is the 9th leading scorer in the W right now and I'm once again watching Becky Hammons play A'ja Wilson and three guards trying to score, whether Kia Stokes is in the game or not.
  • One of the gripes that has followed "Thibs" around in the WNBA is that he'll stick with certain players and then run them into the ground, which can have an effect on performance but also allows teams to defense them. I feel like Hammon has a bit of Thibs in her. When push comes to shove, same players are out there doing the same thing and other teams are catching on.
And Golden State's coach, with her Aces background, just attacked what she knew was and wasn't coming.
  • Also, something new: where's the defense? 93 points given up? Whew
  • I see subs in the game now, but they're down 25. If the game is close, same old-same old.

At this point, Minnesota doesn't even have to look in their rear-view mirror in the West for the black and silver.
 
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Oh, and what were the Aces (not) thinking getting rid of Kate Martin? Don't care if she's nothing more than a charismatic spark plug who can give a team 10-15 minutes. The Aces just look lethargic....
 
EricLA said:
+100 on this. I watched the game this morning as I had plans last night, and was shocked that the announcers weren't all over that play. It was dirty and totally unnecessary. Carrington has quickly become one of my least favorite players. Dallas needs to package her and Ogunbowale up and trade them.

If not, should Dallas not get the #1 pick, maybe make them part of a player trade and package to trade up to #1.
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While I share your and other's thoughts on the Carrington play (what were people not seeing?), I'm not sure you'll see much movement on Carrington and/or Arike...at least not this season. AsI put in another post just a few pages back:
  • New GM Curt Miller went out of his way to bring Carrington to Dallas. Remember, it was Miller who drafted her in Connecticut, so he knew what he was getting (in fact, he went so far to also trade for Carrington's partner, N'Lyssa Smith).
  • But here's the bigger deal: both Carrington and Ogunbowale are UFA's next year and they're going to on the market. I simply can't imagine another team or teams gong the "rent a player" mode. Maybe, maybe, for one of them...and only to make a playoff run.
 
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I'm stunned at what the Valks are doing as a brand new expansion team. They are so far beyond the sum of their parts at this point. Maybe their coach is an absolute genius?

There's no way anybody had Loyd being this ineffective so far on their bingo card.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
I'm stunned at what the Valks are doing as a brand new expansion team. They are so far beyond the sum of their parts at this point. Maybe their coach is an absolute genius?

There's no way anybody had Loyd being this ineffective so far on their bingo card.
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This. We were skeptical, but at this point, I think Nakase closed. But don't discount us fans. I'm very confident we have the best home court advantage in the league, a whole 7 games in.
 
Like a lot of Yard family members here, I enjoyed that Golden State/Las Vegas game. Golden State is literally the visual example of "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard". The hustle plays, the energy, the effort, and that desire, was all on display in this game. Huge win for Golden State especially for the coaching staff. Talk about a motivational moment. This is an expansion team that cleaned the clock of a 2X WNBA Champion.
 
Unless things turn around in the 4th for the Sky, it's looking like two blowouts today.

Vandersloot when down in the first on what was a basically a non-contact injury to her right knee. I fear the worst (ACL) but am hoping for the best. Van Lith had to take over and is getting overwhelmed by the athleticism and physicality of the defense.
 
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A'ja Wilson was -18, and Veronica Burton was +40. Really??

Coach Nakase was with Vegas for the last 3 years. How much do they miss her? A lot or a whole lot?
 
TheFarmFan said:
This. We were skeptical, but at this point, I think Nakase closed. But don't discount us fans. I'm very confident we have the best home court advantage in the league, a whole 7 games in.
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Are you attending games regularly?
 
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