Los Angeles Sparks @ Washington Mystics - 6/15/18

[Shades]

Washington, DC - 7:00 PM ET
TV: NBCSWA, SPECSN

Video:
WNBA League Pass

Game page:
06/15/18: Los Angeles Sparks @ Washington Mystics - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA

ESPN Gamecast:
WNBA LAvWSH,6/15/2018 - ESPN

 

[Shades]

This one turned out to be a sleeper.

52-34 LAS at the half

Parker 10 pts, 3 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl

Delle Donne 12 pts, 4 reb, 1 stl

 

[triaddukefan]

This one turned out to be a sleeper.

52-34 LAS at the half

Parker 10 pts, 3 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl

Delle Donne 12 pts, 4 reb, 1 stl

Or not..

 

[nwhoopfan]

Looks like Vadeeva played a few minutes. Was that her debut?

 

[Shades]

97-86 Sparks final

Parker 23 pts, 7 reb, 11 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk

Delle Donne 18 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl

 

[shizam]

Hines-Allen getting very limited minutes with Delle Donne back.
Toliver is sooo streaky. Probably drives Mystic fans nuts. I don’t think she has the overall game to be consistent. When she’s not scoring that team doesn’t win a lot.

 

[VAUConnFan]

My first time seeing LA in person. They are very good. Offense, defense, late game, critical possession; They even looked invincible coming out for pregame warmups.
Offensively, they are loaded with weapons. A veritable embarrassment of riches. And they play the entire bench. Vadeeva has skills and showed poise and skill during her short minutes.
Defensively, they are very disruptive; Kept the Mystics from doing what they wanted to do.

LA took their foot off the gas, had difficulty retaking control, then when the game became a possession by possession game, showed their champion caliber poise and execution.

Candace Parker was, by far, the best player on the floor. None of the criticisms expressed here on The Boneyard were evident tonight. She worked hard on both ends, facilitated the offense, and made plays down the stretch.

Riquna Williams looked like Vinny the Microwave tonight; Made everything she put up.

I totally disagree with Shizam's assessment of Kristi Tolliver. Ms Tolliver is an incredible ballplayer. Tonight, though, LA went out of their way to disrupt her; With obvious success; But, her game requires the constant attention of opposing defenses. LA is quick enough and deep enough to throw her off her game. Minnesota, on the other hand, is too old and too slow.

Elena Della Donne is rounding back into form. Too often, it seems that she is not touching the ball during critical possessions. Washington, again, showed that they are as good a team with EDD off the floor as they are with her on.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Neglected to mention that I was introduced to Penny Toler, the Sparks GM(was not aware of that fact), and a heckuva ballplayer back in the day at Long Beach State.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Sparks should be able to add Karlie Samuelson to their roster in about 10 days. They will be better in all aspects when she is on the team.

 

[Shades]

Sparks should be able to add Karlie Samuelson to their roster in about 10 days. They will be better in all aspects when she is on the team.

Why don’t they add the Russian teammate of Vadeeva, Musina?

 

[Carnac]

My first time seeing LA in person. They are very good. Offense, defense, late game, critical possession; They even looked invincible coming out for pregame warmups.
Offensively, they are loaded with weapons. A veritable embarrassment of riches. And they play the entire bench. Vadeeva has skills and showed poise and skill during her short minutes.
Defensively, they are very disruptive; Kept the Mystics from doing what they wanted to do.

LA took their foot off the gas, had difficulty retaking control, then when the game became a possession by possession game, showed their champion caliber poise and execution.

Candace Parker was, by far, the best player on the floor. None of the criticisms expressed here on The Boneyard were evident tonight. She worked hard on both ends, facilitated the offense, and made plays down the stretch.

Riquna Williams looked like Vinny the Microwave tonight; Made everything she put up.

I totally disagree with Shizam's assessment of Kristi Tolliver. Ms Tolliver is an incredible ballplayer. Tonight, though, LA went out of their way to disrupt her; With obvious success; But, her game requires the constant attention of opposing defenses. LA is quick enough and deep enough to throw her off her game. Minnesota, on the other hand, is too old and too slow.

Elena Della Donne is rounding back into form. Too often, it seems that she is not touching the ball during critical possessions. Washington, again, showed that they are as good a team with EDD off the floor as they are with her on.

Don't forget Tolliver played with the Sparks from 2010 - 2016. They know her strengths and weaknesses all too well.

 

[bballnut90]

Sparks should be able to add Karlie Samuelson to their roster in about 10 days. They will be better in all aspects when she is on the team.

Not seeing it...she’ll be lucky to get any playing time outside of garbage minutes.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Don't forget Tolliver played with the Sparks from 2010 - 2016. They know her strengths and weaknesses all too well.

And down the stretch, The Sparks offense went after her with isolations against the taller, stronger Alana Beard.

 

[shizam]

Don't forget Tolliver played with the Sparks from 2010 - 2016. They know her strengths and weaknesses all too well.

Final year Toliver played with Sparks they won championship and she was a major reason.

 

[shizam]

Mystics go as Toliver goes.
Games Kristi is in single digits team is 1-3. (8,3,6,6)
Games Kristi in double digits team is 5-2 (16,13,19,20,25,15,25)
She has scored double digits in 64% of games.
Team winning % so far 54%

 

[VAUConnFan]

Mystics go as Tolliver goes.
Games Kristi is in single digits team is 1-3. (8,3,6,6)
Games Kristi in double digits team is 5-2 (16,13,19,20,25,15,25)
She has scored double digits in 64% of games.
Team winning % so far 54%

Elena has also been out a number of games and was nowhere close to 100% in a few of the games she played.

 

[willtalk]

Parker had a good game against the Mystics, but she was still a bit too ball dominant for my tastes. It isn't just about an individual players numbers but how they are achieved. Since Parkers return the Sparks ball movement has suffered and that has affected team balance. When Parker is not hitting her shots her ball dominance will hurt the team. Parker is very good at the two man isolation game. She usually does that with Nika and also other players when they post up or on cuts to the basket. She is also very effective with the ball on breaks. Still she does not know how to run a half court offense that facilitates involving everyone through ball movement. The Sparks have a team loaded with offensive talent and the best way to utilize that is not with Isolation play but ball movement. You need to keep all your players engaged.

Running isolation plays is a viable part of any offense and they just need to find a better balance between incorporating that within their offensive flow. Parker is not a real point guard and should not really be running the offense. She was feeling it in this last game but there are games when her with the ball becomes a real liability.

 

[shizam]

I was not a fan of Parker and then she had that great year of team ball when they won the championship. She surprised me with her interest in playing with effort every game. I think Nika is a great influence on her.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Parker had a good game against the Mystics, but she was still a bit too ball dominant for my tastes. It isn't just about an individual players numbers but how they are achieved. Since Parkers return the Sparks ball movement has suffered and that has affected team balance. When Parker is not hitting her shots her ball dominance will hurt the team. Parker is very good at the two man isolation game. She usually does that with Nika and also other players when they post up or on cuts to the basket. She is also very effective with the ball on breaks. Still she does not know how to run a half court offense that facilitates involving everyone through ball movement. The Sparks have a team loaded with offensive talent and the best way to utilize that is not with Isolation play but ball movement. You need to keep all your players engaged.

Running isolation plays is a viable part of any offense and they just need to find a better balance between incorporating that within their offensive flow. Parker is not a real point guard and should not really be running the offense. She was feeling it in this last game but there are games when her with the ball becomes a real liability.

I cannot claim to be conversant in Ms Parker's entire body of work, but, being a Lynx fan means keeping an eye on their more formidable opponents. Friday from the third row, it appeared that LA's version of the triangle offense is designed to run primarily though Parker; Understandably. And LA's offense moves quite smoothly and efficiently with more options than I have seen on any one WNBA team. It is possible that the great Houston Comets teams boasted more options, but this LA team is loaded with options and there is only one other team that has multiple WNBA MVPs on their roster.
As mentioned earlier, I have read all the criticisms leveled against Ms Parker on this forum, none of them were evident Friday night. It is hard to understand what more the critics can ask of Parker. In Friday's game, there were six LA Sparks in double figures scoring, there were 29 assisted baskets, and Parker only took 11 shots. LA has been among the WNBA's top teams for the past four seasons and has been quite good throughout Ms Parker's tenure. What am I not seeing?

 

[willtalk]

I cannot claim to be conversant in Ms Parker's entire body of work, but, being a Lynx fan means keeping an eye on their more formidable opponents. Friday from the third row, it appeared that LA's version of the triangle offense is designed to run primarily though Parker; Understandably. And LA's offense moves quite smoothly and efficiently with more options than I have seen on any one WNBA team. It is possible that the great Houston Comets teams boasted more options, but this LA team is loaded with options and there is only one other team that has multiple WNBA MVPs on their roster.
As mentioned earlier, I have read all the criticisms leveled against Ms Parker on this forum, none of them were evident Friday night. It is hard to understand what more the critics can ask of Parker. In Friday's game, there were six LA Sparks in double figures scoring, there were 29 assisted baskets, and Parker only took 11 shots. LA has been among the WNBA's top teams for the past four seasons and has been quite good throughout Ms Parker's tenure. What am I not seeing?

My post was not meant so much as being critical of Parker as it was about the most consistently effective style of play for the Sparks. Parker had a great night because the things she does best were working. that along with LA hitting 80 % from 3pt range and 62% over all. Your perspective is based more on this one game. I was just stating that the team usually does not function more efficiently when Parker is as ball dominant. When players are hot and knocking down 8 for 10 from outside it is not that important to work the ball for the better shots. A lot also has to do with the opposing teams defense.

The offense generally is more consistently effective running through Gray. Other teams recognize that and have recently game planned to take the ball out of her hands Angler knows that so he needs to find alternative options . Parker is the most important piece in that respect. Agler is still in the process of integrating all his pieces and that includes Parker who missed a lot of early games. It is about finding the right balance in utilizing her skills to the max. Once they get Vedeeva integrated into the rotation they will be really tough because she brings an aspect that was sorely lacking except for Nika who was the only player on the team who was an inside banger. Lavender likes to roam the 3 pt line along with Parker. But Parker is effective out side due to her vast skill set. In the game today Vedeeva got 4 rebounds in her limited 3 min on the floor. She really hits the boards and has a pretty good inside game as well. With her on the floor less pressure will be put on Nika.

I stated in my earlier post the skills Parker possesses in respect to her relationship with her teammates on offense. What she does, she does very well. The thing is that ball movement requires more than just finding an open man, but quickly recognizing when it is time to get it to someone else who is in a better position. It is the quality of thinking moves ahead. Very few players have that ability.Gray does. She sees the floor as well as anyone who has ever played the game and along with having the ability to get them the ball at any point on the court. That is why at the end of the game the ball is usually in her hands.

It is not so much Nika who has made Parker a better team player but Grays presence on the floor. Parker trusts her. I suspect it was never that Parker was not a team player but that she tended to do what she felt the team needed and jsut she just felt she was the best player on the team to run the offense. She is good at a lot of the facets of running the offense, but tends to want to do too much. She is still, however, because of her height, the best at running the two man iso play with Nika, Vedeeva ( once she gets integrated) or any other player who posts up or makes the right cuts to the basket. That was really working against the Mystics.

People tend to notice Gray now because she has remolded her body which has improved her offensive and defensive abilitis. But the best part of her game was always her BBIQ and her ability to not only see the entire floor but deliver the ball. There have been players who have had BBIQ , the ability to recognize space and see the floor but it seems that it is seldom combined with the passing skill to deliver the ball. When you add the new improved athleticism Gray has attained through her remade body, you have a player who can now do it all.

I remember Charles Barkely speaking about the different levels of BBIQ. He stated that what separates the good from the elite was the ability to not only recognize and hit the open man, but to also recognize which player on the floor is in a better position than they are to do that. It is about finding the player on the court who can make the next pass to get the assist. It's the difference between a chess player who can see multiple moves ahead as opposed to one who plays one move at a time. Since in a basketball game the board is constantly in flux and changing it makes that skill of recognizing moves ahead much more difficult and scarce.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Sparks should be able to add Karlie Samuelson to their roster in about 10 days. They will be better in all aspects when she is on the team.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I think someone is very Happy to be back

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think someone is very Happy to be back

And many of us are happy that she’s back!!