May 2024 WNBA Thread, part II

[nwhoopfan]

96-69 final, what an embarrassment. Way to slide into the All Star/Olympic break for Taurasi and Griner.

Banham added 1 more for good measure, 8-11 from deep, game high 24 points.

 

[azfan]

Mercury arguably have a top-3 starting five in the league, way too talented to be .500. I know they’ve had some injuries but they’re still getting rocked by some of the league’s mediocre teams.

Could it be dare I say it a million dollar coach?

 

[azfan]

96-69 final, what an embarrassment. Way to slide into the All Star/Olympic break for Taurasi and Griner.

Banham added 1 more for good measure, 8-11 from deep, game high 24 points.

Absolutely. The lack of effort, the lack of performance, the lack of pride is an insult to the Mercury name. This was an excuse for a WNBA team and the fault has to begin with the million dollar coach

 

[nwhoopfan]

Atkins could have her back to the basket at half court, close her eyes, throw the ball in the air and it would go in the bucket.


I've seen a number of players get picked on by various posters for their lack of defense. Vanloo is getting worked by whoever she's guarding in this one. Doesn't matter, because the Mystics are hitting every 3 they take.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Special guest at Mercury v Sun game today, to visit her old friend Taurasi.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Atkins is pretty much beating the Aces by herself at the half.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hayes with her best game in quite a while, Aces needed it. Wilson was her usual self. Plum had a good game. Young a bit off and Gray was terrible. Is she ever gonna ger her game back?

Career high 36 for Atkins. Only player from Mystics in double figures. Kept them in it til late in Q4.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Banham's 8 made 3's today set a WNBA record for a non starter.

 

[cancontent]

Atkins is pretty much beating the Aces by herself at the half.

And A'ja took it personally to help pull Vegas ahead to win. The jinx continues to be in effect!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Big 4th quarter for Indiana leads to come from behind win against Minnesota. Nice game for Boston, career high 16 rebounds to go w/ 17 pts and 4 blocks. Not a great game for Clark but made plays down the stretch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

And just like that the Aces have climbed to 3rd in the standings. That didn't take very long. Imagine if Chelsea Gray ever starts to look like herself.

 

[cancontent]

Big 4th quarter for Indiana leads to come from behind win against Minnesota. Nice game for Boston, career high 16 rebounds to go w/ 17 pts and 4 blocks. Not a great game for Clark but made plays down the stretch.

Entertaining game from what I watched. Indiana looks to be buying in on being better on defence as well. Ball movement by Indy in the fourth was important as well. Don't think I've seen Minnesota scrambling to close out on shooters the way they did today.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Mercury arguably have a top-3 starting five in the league, way too talented to be .500. I know they’ve had some injuries but they’re still getting rocked by some of the league’s mediocre teams.

I agree 100%.

That said, they're (mainly Kah) going to be a pain for someone in the playoffs. As long as it's not Vegas (until the WNBA Finals), I don't care who they face along the way.

 

[triaddukefan]

Banham's 8 made 3's today set a WNBA record for a non starter.

She can shoot, she can rap... what can't she do

 

[WBBTakeover]

Could it be dare I say it a million dollar coach?

It's definitely him. He's got four of the best defensive players in the league in his starting line-up--yet they can't defend as a team! How is that even possible?

 

[WBBTakeover]

36 points by Ariel Atkins against...Vegas (Gray, Plum, Young)?

Someone's still salty about being left off the Olympic team!

 

[nwhoopfan]

Has Atlanta sunk all the way down to the bottom tier w/ Dallas, LA and Washington? About to lose by double digits to Seattle on a day that Loyd, Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith didn't bring their A game. Storm did get some extra scoring from Ezi, Horston and Whitcomb to make up for it.

edit--yeah, 34 combined points on 16-22 shooting from Ezi and Horston is pretty nice

 

[JellyBean]

Clark-skeptic Reeve will have the Lynx (even if shorthanded) ready to play/ready to check Clark in the first Lynx-Fever game of the season. Will be surprised if CC keeps up her recent good play today.

I wish Coach Reeve would have seen your message before the game.

 

[GamecockFam]

Has Atlanta sunk all the way down to the bottom tier w/ Dallas, LA and Washington? About to lose by double digits to Seattle on a day that Loyd, Ogwumike and Diggins-Smith didn't bring their A game. Storm did get some extra scoring from Ezi, Horston and Whitcomb to make up for it.

edit--yeah, 34 combined points on 16-22 shooting from Ezi and Horston is pretty nice

Atlanta looks completely different without Howard. I agree. If they continue on this path, they'll miss the playoffs.

 

[JellyBean]

Banham went nuts, not exactly something you game plan for. 7-10 from 3.

I will have to watch the replay but I am happy for Banham! She got caught up in whatever Coach Reeve was trying to do over the years here in Minnesota. Just nothing really consistent for Banham with the Lynx. Glad that she is getting quality minutes with Connecticut and playing decently.

 

[JellyBean]

The Caitlin Clark impact for the game is awesome!! Packed Target Center today. Great to see Iowa/Caitlin Clark fans in the house. Heck the fan based looked darn near even! It could have been more Fever/CC fans in the house than Lynx fans. But anyway, what a game! My Lynx, with another 4th quarter melt down, just could not make shots especially when they needed to. Too many missed layups. The last two games, Minnesota has only scored 21 points in the 4th quarter of those two games. I know we are missing Phee but other players have to step up and help Kayla with the scoring on a consistent basis. Great game and win by Indiana, especially Boston and Mitchell!

 

[cancontent]

I wish Coach Reeve would have seen your message before the game.

Thought they did a decent job of it, especially during the first half. Their lapses in the 4th is what hurt, but at the same time Indy was making it hard for them. Minnesota has been leading the league in defence. Indy got the better of them today. One game down, with two more in their series to see how things play out long term.

 

[JellyBean]

Thought they did a decent job of it, especially during the first half. Their lapses in the 4th is what hurt, but at the same time Indy was making it hard for them. Minnesota has been leading the league in defence. Indy got the better of them today. One game down, with two more in their series to see how things play out long term.

The Lynx did well defensively with Clark. We knew it was just a matter of time before she would got going. The Lynx just could not buy a bucket. Normally Courtney is able to hit that pull up jumper from the key or elbow area. Today just was not there. Same with Kayla's shot. Shot making was not there for the Lynx. Hats off to Indiana. Back to Back wins. Pretty impressive.

 

[12au]

Mercury arguably have a top-3 starting five in the league, way too talented to be .500. I know they’ve had some injuries but they’re still getting rocked by some of the league’s mediocre teams.

Just reviewed their whole schedule, here are their losses, and who was injured in each game (of their core 6):

at LV (Griner)
Dallas (Griner)
at Conn (Allen, Griner)
at NY (Allen, Griner)
at Minn (Allen, Griner)
at Seattle (Allen, Griner)
LV (No one)
at Minn (No one)
Ind (No one)
Conn (Allen, Taurasi)
at Ind (Cloud, Taurasi, Griner)
at Conn (No one)

So most PHX's losses have mostly come against the league's elite teams... Their core 6 rotation is fantastic. But they have maybe the worst collection of role players in the league. Seems like their goal should be load management to have max-health for the playoffs. Even if it costs them in the standings.

 

[Bjbod]

Big 4th quarter for Indiana leads to come from behind win against Minnesota. Nice game for Boston, career high 16 rebounds to go w/ 17 pts and 4 blocks. Not a great game for Clark but made plays down the stretch.

One of the worst games I've seen Clark play...she just seemed off from the start. Then started to force some shots. Nalyssa Smith starting to figure out how to be a teammate. Will be interesting to see what they do in the season's second half.