May 2024 WNBA Thread, part II | Page 2 | The Boneyard

May 2024 WNBA Thread, part II

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Well Indiana looking much, much better in game 4. Thought they might pull out a W, but completely collapsing last minute or so. Still nice to see them very competitive against the Connecticut team that beat them badly about a week ago. Getting Mitchell in the starting lineup is big. Fagbenle has been giving them great minutes tonight.
 
Boston blew a layup that would've tied it w/ 5 seconds left. There was a defender in the vicinity but it wasn't that tightly contested. Gotta make that one. Sun win by 4. Close but not quite.
 
Heard them say that A Thomas and Bonner are engaged. I know it’s not the first, but teammates in a relationship is a complication we haven’t seen in other sports.
 
The Clark take foul and subsequent technical after a turnover was a brutal sequence. Although Bonner missed one of the FTs, gifting the opponent 2 foul shots plus the ball in 4th quarter crunch time is tough. Although, she’s looking far more comfortable which is good to see. The fever need to make more of an effort to run actions that get her clean looks.
 
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I am so tired of seeing A. Thomas knocking opponents over like bowling pins on both ends of the court and never getting called for a foul, and if you even think about trying to play defense against her you'll get the whistle. So ridiculously uneven the way refs officiate everything having to do with her. Can she retire already? She is really good, but I don't like her, I don't like the way she plays, and I can't stand what the refs let her get away with.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I am so tired of seeing A. Thomas knocking opponents over like bowling pins on both ends of the court and never getting called for a foul, and if you even think about trying to play defense against her you'll get the whistle. So ridiculously uneven the way refs officiate everything having to do with her. Can she retire already? She is really good, but I don't like her, I don't like the way she plays, and I can't stand what the refs let her get away with.
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This drove me nuts tonight. Blatantly leads with the shoulder but literally always gets every call to go her way. She's a great player but it's frustrating to watch her get preferential treatment, plus she whines to the refs all game too.
 
Rb335 said:
The Clark take foul and subsequent technical after a turnover was a brutal sequence. Although Bonner missed one of the FTs, gifting the opponent 2 foul shots plus the ball in 4th quarter crunch time is tough. Although, she’s looking far more comfortable which is good to see. The fever need to make more of an effort to run actions that get her clean looks.
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Scoring isn't a big problem for CC or the team but she (and they) need to cut down on those turnovers. 5 more for her tonight. They won't start winning until they fix that.
 
Rb335 said:
The Clark take foul and subsequent technical after a turnover was a brutal sequence. Although Bonner missed one of the FTs, gifting the opponent 2 foul shots plus the ball in 4th quarter crunch time is tough. Although, she’s looking far more comfortable which is good to see. The fever need to make more of an effort to run actions that get her clean looks.
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Gotta say that, except for a few flashes, Fever generally looked better when Clark was on the bench. Hopefully she develops some defensive skills. Kelsey Mitchell and Fagbenle looked really good.
 
Vowelguy said:
Heard them say that A Thomas and Bonner are engaged. I know it’s not the first, but teammates in a relationship is a complication we haven’t seen in other sports.
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The USWNT (soccer) has had teammates in relationships.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I am so tired of seeing A. Thomas knocking opponents over like bowling pins on both ends of the court and never getting called for a foul, and if you even think about trying to play defense against her you'll get the whistle. So ridiculously uneven the way refs officiate everything having to do with her. Can she retire already? She is really good, but I don't like her, I don't like the way she plays, and I can't stand what the refs let her get away with.
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By contrast, I'm still shaking my head that the refs "confirmed" the foul call on Fagbenle knock Ty Harris when Harris was setting a screen. Or, more to the point, starting to set a screen. She was still sliding her foot going into the set and last I checked, you've got to have those lets set. (At this point in my nearly 60+ years of playing hoops, I set a lot of screens and know I've got to have those feet set.).

Just why do the refs have these replays when they come up with definitive calls when anybody else watching the same feeds are more open to discussion. (The same thing happened ona crucial no-call in a lacrosse game I watched yesterday.)

As for Thomas, since she's an established player, her physical nature seems to be acceptable even if most other players would be called for offensive fouls. More than a bit obvious at this point.
 
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Best game (by far) for the Fever this year. I will say, the amount of improvement from the first 2 games to the last 2 is huge. They could've won this game tonight if just a couple of things go differently (opening sequence kicked ball gets called, or if Boston didn't miss the layup late).

Everyone played well for Indiana tonight aside from KLS (who wasn't awful, she just didn't do much out there). Defense is still a problem though. Clark got cooked by Ty Harris in the second half and kept going under screens and no one did anything to stop Alyssa Thomas in the first half (mostly Smith to blame). The offense looks much better though. Better spacing and ball movement. Connecticut is a legitimate title contender this year so not a bad loss, though I'm sure the team is frustrated.

In regards to Clark, for as much talk about her having a learning curve that'll take time, she's averaging 17 points, 5.5 assists and 4 rebounds per game so far which is stellar. TOs are high but are improving (as is her FG efficiency, up to 41% FG, 34% from 3) and most important, the chemistry with her teammates is developing each night.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I am so tired of seeing A. Thomas knocking opponents over like bowling pins on both ends of the court and never getting called for a foul, and if you even think about trying to play defense against her you'll get the whistle. So ridiculously uneven the way refs officiate everything having to do with her. Can she retire already? She is really good, but I don't like her, I don't like the way she plays, and I can't stand what the refs let her get away with.
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It's beyond annoying, but the refs aren't going to do anything about it. She's gunning for MVP because at 32 (same age that Catch was when she won; Fowles was turning 32 the same year that she won), this may be her last legit shot at it.
 
bballnut90 said:
Best game (by far) for the Fever this year. I will say, the amount of improvement from the first 2 games to the last 2 is huge. They could've won this game tonight if just a couple of things go differently (opening sequence kicked ball gets called, or if Boston didn't miss the layup late).

Everyone played well for Indiana tonight aside from KLS (who wasn't awful, she just didn't do much out there). Defense is still a problem though. Clark got cooked by Ty Harris in the second half and kept going under screens and no one did anything to stop Alyssa Thomas in the first half (mostly Smith to blame). The offense looks much better though. Better spacing and ball movement. Connecticut is a legitimate title contender this year so not a bad loss, though I'm sure the team is frustrated.
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Agreed. They may just have to embrace the "all offense, not so much defense" mentality to win a few games when the schedule softens. That said, I would imagine that they can compete with a poor-shooting Storm team and the also winless (to this point) Sparks.

In regards to Clark, for as much talk about her having a learning curve that'll take time, she's averaging 17 points, 5.5 assists and 4 rebounds per game so far which is stellar. TOs are high but are improving (as is her FG efficiency, up to 41% FG, 34% from 3) and most important, the chemistry with her teammates is developing each night.
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Can this comment be pinned, bolded, underlined, and starred? Because if any other rookie posted these averages after playing against NY (x2) and Connecticut (x2) ONLY at this point of the season, we'd be talking about their induction into the Basketball HOF.
 
darkstar1 said:
Gotta say that, except for a few flashes, Fever generally looked better when Clark was on the bench. Hopefully she develops some defensive skills. Kelsey Mitchell and Fagbenle looked really good.
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You are correct, and her -18 in a 4 point loss supports your claim. I’m neither a fan or a hater of hers, but as a long time fan of the sport I have to admit she’s really intriguing. She can score, nobody doubts that. But does she have other qualities to impact winning? Even though this should theoretically be the worst she looks in the W, you want to see a franchise who got a number one pick improve on their “games won” the season the number one pick arrives. Will that happen this year?
 
Dillon77 said:
@Vowelguy
Pretty sure this was public knowledge during last year's playoffs.
Plus, 'Sloot and Quigley were a couple when they were on the Sky.
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Yes I know. I noted this has occurred before.
It’s just a challenge.

No company wants a married couple working together. This is even more complicated!
I recall a few NBA teams with brothers, and there were hard feelings when one got traded.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
I am so tired of seeing A. Thomas knocking opponents over like bowling pins on both ends of the court and never getting called for a foul, and if you even think about trying to play defense against her you'll get the whistle. So ridiculously uneven the way refs officiate everything having to do with her. Can she retire already? She is really good, but I don't like her, I don't like the way she plays, and I can't stand what the refs let her get away with.
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That is the reason Connecticut will never win a × WNBA title. They play very physical basketball, and officials won't call everything.
But when you get to the playoffs playing better teams with the best refs, there are more fouls called.
The WNBA needs to get rid of the ultra physical style of play. The WNBA shouldn't be WWE lite.
 
Gotta shout out the 16 HUGE points by Gamecock Ty Harris!
 
bballnut90 said:
In regards to Clark, for as much talk about her having a learning curve that'll take time, she's averaging 17 points, 5.5 assists and 4 rebounds per game so far which is stellar. TOs are high but are improving (as is her FG efficiency, up to 41% FG, 34% from 3) and most important, the chemistry with her teammates is developing each night.
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Prior to this game, I saw a stat she was one of only four rookies to ever amass 50 points and 15 assists in their first 3 games in the league. Think about that. While she was "struggling," she did something only 3 players had done in the previous 25+ years of the league's existence.
 
bballnut90 said:
Everyone played well for Indiana tonight aside from KLS (who wasn't awful, she just didn't do much out there).
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Didn't Wallace get almost all of her minutes in the second half? Berger and Hull were permanently glued to the bench this game.
 
Teams have scored 80 or less 11 times this year to just 3 games of teams scoring over 89. The physical nature of the WNBA makes it boring and is the reason is it much less popular than college basketball. If they don't do something about it, the Caitlin bump is going to be a blip.
 
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Indiana played their best stretch of the season with Boston and Clark on the bench.

I know everyone online is blaming Boston for the loss for that missed layup but Caitlin killed them in the fourth with those turnovers and terrible defense on Harris.

I know everyone is celebrating this 4 point home loss to a CT team that just barely escaped the 0 win mystics team but this game left me with more concerns I had about the Fever than I did last week.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
Indiana played their best stretch of the season with Boston and Clark on the bench.

I know everyone online is blaming Boston for the loss for that missed layup but Caitlin killed them in the fourth with those turnovers and terrible defense on Harris.

I know everyone is celebrating this 4 point home loss to a CT team that just barely escaped the 0 win mystics team but this game left me with more concerns I had about the Fever than I did last week.
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How so? Sure it wasn't pretty but the team seems to be making small improvements with each game. Considering who they've faced during their first four games of the season, not sure what more you could expect out of the Fever.
 
cancontent said:
How so? Sure it wasn't pretty but the team seems to be making small improvements with each game. Considering who they've faced during their first four games of the season, not sure what more you could expect out of the Fever.
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I expected the Fever to be a top 6 team in the league and I don’t think the Sun are a top 3 team in the league right now with that back court. They might get there but right now they are a good but not great team that had a bad night and the Fever couldn’t get the win desperate on their home floor.

What caused me concern for the Fever is Caitlin was -18 and her team was + 14 without her on the floor. The biggest difference i saw between this game and the last one with CT was that stretch she was out with the twisted ankle and went from down 8-10 to up 3 at the half. Without that I think we see a similar game as the last one where the CT lead is hovers around 8-12 points all game and then they go on a little run in the 4th to extend to 15. Whatever they are doing when Caitlin is on the court isn’t working and a close loss is just hiding that.

Caitlin is a great talent as is Aliyah Boston but the best stretch for the Fever came with both of them on the bench to end the second half.

The most concerning thing for the Fever is Wallace is one of their best 5 players this season and not because she got better. They added one of the greatest rookie talents and still somehow managed to figure out a way to downgrade their roster overall. Perplexing franchise.
 
WBBTakeover said:
Also, Allen, Cloud, and Copper are massive upgrades defensively for Phoenix's perimeter personnel.
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An upgrade...... over last year's pathetic perimeter defense.

Gray was 8-12 (3-4 from 3)
Howard was 7-15 (5-9 from 3)
Young was 6-16

Plum who's been asked to step up and fill the Chelsea roll was 8 for 20.

Massive upgrade? Yes but when you're comparing defense to pathetic massive merely takes you to ineffective.

In their last three games the final preseason and first two regular season games this upgraded personnel has limited opponents to 10-23, 9-29 and 12 - 23 from threeland. Both million dollar coach and these three upgraded personnel appear to lack the consistent effort and were not for the Fever would be at the bottom of the league in points allowed.

The improved defense has proved exhausting for the Mercury as they've been outscored in all second half quarters during the regular season to date, allowing 48 second half points to both Aces and the Dream.

Apparently this improved personnel lacks proper structure and coaching. I'm wondering if the Mercury are reconsidering the ROI on their million dollar coach in spite of his initial w as a woman's coach last week.

As the Aces remain undefeated in their struggle to hit from three land the Mercury were fortunate to survive the Dream and most certainly will go to 1-2 after tomorrow night's double digit loss to the Aces.
 
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