Ariel Atkins Injured after Career Day

[MilfordHusky]

Ariel had a career day with 26 points, including 5-5 on threes. She is about as athletic as Gabby and has a nice 3-point shot, especially from the corner. I saw her play last week, and she looked good then too. As VaUConnFan wrote, she made 2 uber-athletic plays then.

Today, she went up for a rebound and made mid-air contact with an opposing player. Ariel went down hard and lay on the floor for almost 10 minutes. She was helped off and was holding her left knee. I hope she is ok. She has been a solid rookie and moved into the starting lineup. The Mystics looked quite good against Seattle and Dallas.

 

[VAUConnFan]

We were there. I, personally, did not see a foul on Atkins drive to the basket along the right baseline;ay, and have looked at the replay repeatedly and cannot determine if it was contact that sent Atkins crashing violently to the floor.

 

[oldude]

I love how hard she plays but Atkins has a history of hard falls and collisions. A few years ago against UConn, she knocked herself out of the game, sustaining a concussion when she slipped, hitting her head on the floor during the game at the Mohegan Sun. Last season, she ran head first into a Mercedes Russell screen vs TN, once again knocking herself out of the game. At that time, I expressed concern for Atkins style of play which showed little regard for her own health and well being. While I have not seen the play yesterday, I suspect that once again Atkins was playing aggressively with complete disregard for her own safety.

 

[eebmg]

I love how hard she plays but Atkins has a history of hard falls and collisions. A few years ago against UConn, she knocked herself out of the game, sustaining a concussion when she slipped, hitting her head on the floor during the game at the Mohegan Sun. Last season, she ran head first into a Mercedes Russell screen vs TN, once again knocking herself out of the game. At that time, I expressed concern for Atkins style of play which showed little regard for her own health and well being. While I have not seen the play yesterday, I suspect that once again Atkins was playing aggressively with complete disregard for her own safety.

Honestly, with few exceptions, who in the WNBA can afford to play without disregard to their body. The physicality of the WNBA is unreal. In any game, you have double digit incidents of players crashing into the stantion. If you don't play that way, (again with few exceptions), you will not make it in the league.

 

[MilfordHusky]

We were sitting in the 3rd row on the baseline. This game is VERY physical! Lots of contact, and some big bodies.

 

[oldude]

Honestly, with few exceptions, who in the WNBA can afford to play without disregard to their body. The physicality of the WNBA is unreal. In any game, you have double digit incidents of players crashing into the stantion. If you don't play that way, (again with few exceptions), you will not make it in the league.

No doubt you are correct, but Atkins appears to have developed a particular skill for going all out and hurting herself. Sometimes she plays like a crash test dummy.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The Washington Post reports Coach Mike as saying that Ariel basically landed on her right hip. No word on her condition.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

You can make a case for Ariel Atkins being named the Rookie of the Year in the WNBA ! She is starting for one of the top 4 teams in the WNBA with very solid stats! Ariel has made herself a very valuable piece in Washington's offense and defense!
A'ja Wilson also has solid stats but even with her great play Las Vegas is not going to be in the playoffs!
A'ja will win the award because the press decided the 1st day of training camp that she'll be the R of the Y!

 

[VAUConnFan]

You can make a case for Ariel Atkins being named the Rookie of the Year in the WNBA ! She is starting for one of the top 4 teams in the WNBA with very solid stats! Ariel has made herself a very valuable piece in Washington's offense and defense!
A'ja Wilson also has solid stats but even with her great play Las Vegas is not going to be in the playoffs!
A'ja will win the award because the press decided the 1st day of training camp that she'll be the R of the Y!

While Ms Atkins has certainly become my favorite WNBA rookie, she is on a better team than Ms Wilson. Let's not penalize outstanding play for mediocre teams that do not make the playoffs. There are a few past rookies of the year whose respective teams failed to make the playoffs including the 2004 recipient.

 

[eebmg]

Unlike MVP where the record of the team is perhaps the biggest factor, ROY should not have that standard. The nature of the draft puts the best rookie players on poor teams and a single player cannot be expected to change the situation dramatically (Should Stewie be handing back her ROY award ??) Wilson with all the responsibilities she has is the best rookie this year and I do not think it is very close. And she still may make the playoffs.