Fever @ Liberty

[nwhoopfan]

Yikes, New York lost at home to hapless Indiana 68-55. Only 1 player in double figures, Charles w/ 11. Maybe they are tanking. 32% shooting, 17% behind the arc, 19 TOs. They've turned into a train wreck this season. Blew a 21-7 first quarter lead, only scored 2 points in the 4th quarter (at least according to ESPN's box score). How is that even possible?! Will Katie Smith still be their coach next season or will she be dismissed after this disaster?

NY now only 2 1/2 games up on Indiana for worst record in the league.

 

[EricLA]

Smith is a disaster. From 3rd to almost worst with basically the same team. I say let her go and don't look back...

 

[BostonCanuck]

I DVR'd the game and just finished watching it now. The product that the NY Liberty put on the floor today is probably the worst I've ever seen in the WNBA. Anyone who watched the game or even looked at the stats sheet will know what I'm talking about.

NY jumped out to an early 14-point lead. For the first five minutes of the second quarter, Indiana continued to play bad basketball. Even though NY was up by 12 for most of that stretch, the long faces on their players foreshadowed what was to come. NY played right down to the level of their opponent, and could not get further separation. Their play never got any better, and as Indiana finally collected themselves, there was slow and steady points leakage from then on, with Indiana winning by 13.

I almost turned it off half way through the forth in disgust, but hey, who doesn't enjoy watching a train wreck unfolding in slow motion? Late in the game, the Liberty were shanking so many shots off the back iron that I actually started trying to discern if they might possibly be throwing the game. I ultimately concluded that they were not, but the amount by which they were missing virtually all of their shots at that stage was shocking.

Katie Smith is clearly not cut out for coaching. Any decent coach would never allow the terrible shot selection that has become a standard feature of the team. Combine the on-floor product with the most unfortunate move out to Westchester, and it's sad to say but the Liberty look like a badly damaged franchise right now.

 

[BigBird]

In addition to a painful basketball exhibition, the watching experience isn’t aided much by the pointless droning of the stadium organist alternating between two chords for most of the game. This was borrowed from the MSG days and the Knicks. It deserves a decent burial, and soon. Drives me (more) nuts.

One positive to mention, at least. Anyone else notice how much Julianne Vianni has grown and improved as a broadcaster?

 

[BostonCanuck]

In addition to a painful basketball exhibition, the watching experience isn’t aided much by the pointless droning of the stadium organist alternating between two chords for most of the game. This was borrowed from the MSG days and the Knicks. It deserves a decent burial, and soon. Drives me (more) nuts.

One positive to mention, at least. Anyone else notice how much Julianne Vianni has grown and improved as a broadcaster?

Yes, I noticed that too, and thought the Liberty's home broadcast team were quite good last night, especially given the circumstances.

They correctly pointed out the worst officiating call I've seen in the WNBA all year. Either late in the third or early in the forth, a Fever player (I don't recall whom) is trying to grab an offensive rebound in the paint, and gets fouled on the way down while still trying to corral the ball. The ref sends her to the line for two shots, even though she never had control of the ball and obviously wasn't in the act of shooting.

 

[UConnCat]

The Fever are in last place but at least Cappie is getting her 30 minutes of playing time.

 

[Shades]

The Fever are in last place but at least Cappie is getting her 30 minutes of playing time.

They have been winning more with Cappie, but it’s hard to say it’s all her doing.

 

[huskeynut]

In addition to a painful basketball exhibition, the watching experience isn’t aided much by the pointless droning of the stadium organist alternating between two chords for most of the game. This was borrowed from the MSG days and the Knicks. It deserves a decent burial, and soon. Drives me (more) nuts.

One positive to mention, at least. Anyone else notice how much Julianne Vianni has grown and improved as a broadcaster?

Kudos to Julianne from my home town of Poughkeepsie, NY. She played high school ball at Our Lady of Lourdes HS in Poughkeepsie and then her college career at Marist, also in Poughkeepsie. Brian Giorgis, Marist's head coach, was also Vianni's coach for two years at Lourdes when Lourdes won two state titles. Glad to see her succeeding as an announcer.

 

[Rixxx]

I agree that Katie Smith might be on the hot seat. If not, she should be. I thought every team had a go to play or two that the team went to when the shots weren't falling. Evidently, Fever took those plays away or Liberty didn't execute.
I did turn the game off in the fourth quarter which is now becoming a habit. When Tina is not on, somebody has to pick up the slack. Kia Nurse was able to do that in the past against the Fever, but her three point shot is junk right now. The team does not have a consistent player that can make a shot when you absolutely need a basket. Yesterday Prince, Zellous, and for most of the game Vaughn were not available. But, the players on the floor need to score in their absence.
Tomorrow is a matinee game at MSG. Maybe the old energy and production will return. I am a Liberty fan, as you can tell. As someone pointed out third in 2017, to 11th in 2018???????????

 

[Carnac]

I agree that Katie Smith might be on the hot seat. If not, she should be. I thought every team had a go to play or two that the team went to when the shots weren't falling. Evidently, Fever took those plays away or Liberty didn't execute.
I did turn the game off in the fourth quarter which is now becoming a habit. When Tina is not on, somebody has to pick up the slack. Kia Nurse was able to do that in the past against the Fever, but her three point shot is junk right now. The team does not have a consistent player that can make a shot when you absolutely need a basket. Yesterday Prince, Zellous, and for most of the game Vaughn were not available. But, the players on the floor need to score in their absence.
Tomorrow is a matinee game at MSG. Maybe the old energy and production will return. I am a Liberty fan, as you can tell. As someone pointed out third in 2017, to 11th in 2018???????????

I'm a Liberty fan too, but this is ridiculous. Last month I said they were circling the drain. Today they're down the drain. How can they look themselves or their fans in the eye? Two lousy points in 10 minutes of play? How can the organization ask fans to come out and support their team when they're playing like garbage?

They need to do some serious planing and take a serious look at their roster during the winter. This team is NOT getting it done. They're not even competitive.
They can start with a new head coach. Kate Smith has got to go. I would not ask the Liberty fan base to endure another year with her as the head coach.

My favorite Liberty player Kiah Stokes has managed to slide all the way down to the end of the bench. Playing about 6 minutes a game, rarely scoring more than 4 points (the last few games, she hasn't score at all). In her glory days, she was playing 25 -30 minutes a game. In her defense, shes not taking very many shots either. She needs a change of scenery. She was making slow but steady progress under Laimbeer, but has regressed under Smith. Sell the team to a new owner that is enthusiastic about having the team, and is serious about putting a team on the floor that is competitive.

 

[Rixxx]

My thoughts exactly, Scoop, about Kiah. I was thinking the Stokes experiment is over. However, I believe she signed a three year contract at the beginning of the season. I also agree, she needs a change of scenery. She is still offensively challenged and doesn't take a shot or have a play run for her so she can score.

 

[bballnut90]

Pretty painful game to watch on both sides....lots of bad shots by both teams. NY's offense was atrocious, they scored just 34 points over the last 3 quarters. As others have noted, Smith needs to go.

For Indiana Cappie/K. Mitchell couldn't throw the ball in the ocean or pass to a teammate (1 assist compared to 24 shots) but were bailed out by Dupree who was fantastic all night. Kelsey Mitchell looked especially bad....her shots were mainly 1 on 1 andmost of them just weren't close at all. Achonwa missed her share of looks but worked hard and was really active on the glass. I like Pokey as the coach for Indiana and think they could be vastly improved next year with a top pick and if Kelsey Mitchell can make big improvements in the offseason.

 

[Carnac]

Pretty painful game to watch on both sides....lots of bad shots by both teams. NY's offense was atrocious, they scored just 34 points over the last 3 quarters. As others have noted, Smith needs to go.

For Indiana Cappie/K. Mitchell couldn't throw the ball in the ocean or pass to a teammate (1 assist compared to 24 shots) but were bailed out by Dupree who was fantastic all night. Kelsey Mitchell looked especially bad....her shots were mainly 1 on 1 andmost of them just weren't close at all. Achonwa missed her share of looks but worked hard and was really active on the glass. I like Pokey as the coach for Indiana and think they could be vastly improved next year with a top pick and if Kelsey Mitchell can make big improvements in the offseason.

The season is winding down for the W. With only a handful of games left, the 8 teams that will qualify for the playoffs are pretty much set except for that 8th and final spot. Dallas has a 1.5 game lead over the Aces who have put the pedal to the metal since the all star break trying desperately to over take the Wings, and extend their season. In spite of her signing a 3 year extension prior to the beginning of this season.

It is what it is!!! Lest we forget what Bill Parcells said about "records". It was true then, it's true now.

 

[EricLA]

Pretty painful game to watch on both sides....lots of bad shots by both teams. NY's offense was atrocious, they scored just 34 points over the last 3 quarters. As others have noted, Smith needs to go.

For Indiana Cappie/K. Mitchell couldn't throw the ball in the ocean or pass to a teammate (1 assist compared to 24 shots) but were bailed out by Dupree who was fantastic all night. Kelsey Mitchell looked especially bad....her shots were mainly 1 on 1 andmost of them just weren't close at all. Achonwa missed her share of looks but worked hard and was really active on the glass. I like Pokey as the coach for Indiana and think they could be vastly improved next year with a top pick and if Kelsey Mitchell can make big improvements in the offseason.

Obviously I'm biased, but why is it so hard for teams to even have some semblance of copying the motion offense that UCONN employs? Stanford, ND, and I'm sure other teams in WCBB do that to a greater or lesser extent as well, and while they tend to get top players, playing team offense almost always results in better games and more wins.

Teams in the WNBA are more talented than any college team. How is it that they just don't get that playing team ball (even like San Antonio and Golden State) will yield better results than helter skelter 1 on 1 basketball?

 

[bballnut90]

Obviously I'm biased, but why is it so hard for teams to even have some semblance of copying the motion offense that UCONN employs? Stanford, ND, and I'm sure other teams in WCBB do that to a greater or lesser extent as well, and while they tend to get top players, playing team offense almost always results in better games and more wins.

Teams in the WNBA are more talented than any college team. How is it that they just don't get that playing team ball (even like San Antonio and Golden State) will yield better results than helter skelter 1 on 1 basketball?

Overall I think the offense has been great this year in the W...yesterday was particularly bad between the Fever and Liberty, the two lowest scoring teams in the league.

For NY, they had several late arrivals which messed up any chemistry that was developed early on (see Kia Nurse's productivity at the beginning of the season vs. now), plus they have a coach who seems in over her head and doesn't know how to manage a roster.

For Indiana, they're incorporating rookies who've traditionally been volume shooters and are used to having the green light. Add in a roster that isn't very talented to begin with, plus it's an extremely fast season without much (if any) practice time so it's hard to run a good offense without talent and shoot first guards. More than that, they really don't have any size or a back to the basket post player. Their bigs, Dupree and Achonwa, are good, but they are just 6-2 and 6-3 which pales in comparison to most other teams.

 

[Rixxx]

Dupree had a nice game yesterday. Some of her shots were contested, but she made most of them. I don't know if she is the number one option, but she contributed mightily.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Dupree had a nice game yesterday. Some of her shots were contested, but she made most of them. I don't know if she is the number one option, but she contributed mightily.

She is their best player and should be the #1 option.