Paige's Wings Page (merged thread) | Page 25 | The Boneyard

Paige's Wings Page (merged thread)

In a season of frustration it is great to see the Wings come away with a huge win over the defending champs. Even without Stewie, that is a formidable opponent. It is only one game, but still nice for them to experience that. It would have been devastating if they ended up blowing it, so feelings of both joy and relief.

Haley Jones was in the starting lineup, she appears to have found a fit and resurrected her career. They went 10 deep and thankfully, Paige only played 30 minutes. Her midcourt game is exceptional and she was doing it against Cloud, a tremendous defender.

They do have some young talent and hopefully they can add some solid veterans for next season.

The box score says that Arike had 14 assists last night. I am assuming that is a misprint.
 
It was a tale of two cities. The first three quarters were awesome. Paige played very well, and giving credit where it's due, Arike was tremendous. Ten assists in the first half alone and she was on fire shooting the ball. Then the team went 1-16 from the field in fourth. Some of it seemed to be the result of tired legs, some of it was ill-advised shots by the wrong folks, and some of it was ramped up defense by the Liberty. But the Wings hung on and won by ten. All in all, a satisfying win.
 
Huskee11 said:
The box score says that Arike had 14 assists last night. I am assuming that is a misprint.
Expand ...

Why would you assume it's a misprint?


IMG_1377.jpeg
 
temery said:
Why would you assume it's a misprint?


View attachment 110858
Expand ...
Arike played the best game of the season - last few years? - last night. There's a lot of negative about her on this forum including at times yours truly but we all need to give credit where credit is due. She was feeling it and her teammates knew it. Good for her. Now let's see and hope for the Wings that carries over for the rest of the season.
 
I just have to add this. Arike played well but so did our girl. Paige is absolutely amazing. There is not a shot that she can't make. Her between the legs dribbling and then pull up right in front of the Liberty defender (didn't catch her name) was one of absolute beauty. She has a graceful flow about the way she moves with and without the ball that is a delight to watch. Paige is truly unique.
 
Arike Ogunbowale had a double-double at halftime. As for those 14 Assists, that is not a made-up stat.

As noted in an earlier post, when she plays well, the Wings are a pretty darn good team. The knock against Arike is that she is so streaky; like virtually no one else in the league she can be cold as ice -or- hot as a branding iron, and it just comes on instantly and/or goes away. Like a baseball closing pitcher, she has the 'don't let the last one get into your head, keep heaving it up there!' attitude. She is not shy about shooting the ball, that is for certain!
 
During that 4th quarter, along with virtually everyone else on the team, Paige also missed several wide-open mid-range jumpers, basically free-throw line and/or closer. And they didn't collect any offensive rebounds which certainly didn't help their cause.
 
Huskee11 said:
Because she averages less than four assists per game for her career and her previous season high was eight, that's why. Also an attempt at humor, she does have that volume shooter reputation thing going on.
Expand ...
Like you, I have watched games when Arike is so focused on getting her own shot that she doesn’t see wide open teammates. To her credit, last night she struck the perfect balance between taking her shot and dropping dimes on her teammates. That’s exactly the way that Paige plays the game, and it’s clearly rubbing off on Arike. :)
 
WiseWillie said:
I just have to add this. Arike played well but so did our girl. Paige is absolutely amazing. There is not a shot that she can't make. Her between the legs dribbling and then pull up right in front of the Liberty defender (didn't catch her name) was one of absolute beauty. She has a graceful flow about the way she moves with and without the ball that is a delight to watch. Paige is truly unique.
Expand ...
That was 31 year old veteran Stephanie Talbot who was abused by Paige. Clearly, Paige does not respect her elders …. ;)
 
oldude said:
That was 31 year old veteran Stephanie Talbot who was abused by Paige. Clearly, Paige does not respect her elders …. ;)
Expand ...
Paige dealing on Talbot was truly a thing of beauty. But equally impressive, if not more so was Paige’s move vs Natasha Cloud to start the game. Cloud is one of the best defenders in the W. She immediately came out extremely aggressive against Paige, trying to lock her down by bodying her up, to the point where, quite honestly, the refs could have called a foul on Cloud. Paige calmly ducked under Cloud’s pressure, dribbled to the foul line and gave a quick fake. Cloud passed by slapping Paige on the wrist as she went up sinking a midrange shot along with an “and 1” for a 3-pt play to start the game.

For the rest of the game, Cloud never again tried to crowd Paige defensively. She played what I would suggest was a respectful defense against Paige from that point on. Subsequently, Cloud played off Paige somewhat, trying to react to Paige’s movement rather than locking her up in a pseudo “bear hug.”
 
WiseWillie said:
What caused the Wings to lose perspective after being up by 30 in the 3rd? Well, couple obvious issues that were mentioned in the post-game presser but what I found interesting was that Paige did not put shots up in the 4th even when she was open. Instead, time and again after bringing the ball up she would pass off to other players to shoot a clanker and then the entire team lazily fail to get back in transition. Shows you even a 30 point lead can slide away if you let it. They were lucky to come away with a win because a couple of baskets at the end by the Liberty could have made it a nail biter if not a loss.
Expand ...
sure sounds familar ... paige lovin' being a 'facilitator' even when it hurts the team's odds of winning.
 
Paige, as usual, played her very good, solid game. If I could have one small critique, it would be when the lane opens up for her, she needs to get to the rim, and not pull up for 6/7 footers where she doesn't use the rim.
 
oldude said:
With the WNBA trade deadline fast approaching on August 7, there is an increased amount of speculation about potential trades involving the Wings. One recent article suggests the possibility of Arike to the Valkyries. Golden State is currently the last playoff team, but they have lost all star Kayla Thornton for the season.

The Wings aren’t going to the playoffs and Arike is a free agent next year, so trading Ogunbowle to Golden State makes sense for both teams. Golden State currently has the lowest payroll in the W, so they could easily absorb Arike’s salary for the rest of the season. If I’m GM Curt Miller, I am looking at every possibility to trade any veteran on the team for a draft choice or rookie under contract for multiple seasons.
Expand ...
If they can get a good return for Arike, they should jump at the chance. In the little I've seen of her this season, there's been an appalling lack of effort on the defensive end on her part. Shockingly bad.
 
I recorded the game and just watched it.
I was shocked as others that Dallas got a 30 point lead! But NOT shocked that they gave back 20 points!
These are 2 teams going in different directions!
NY came in 17-7 and Dallas was 7-19.
Dallas came out like gangbusters and Paige and Arike were on fire and their teammates caught their emotions and played way over their heads to dominate the game for about 3 quarters.
Then the superior talent took over for NY and brought them back to final score of 92-82. The 30 point deficit was just too much to get over!
Geiselsoder was channeling her Willis Reed vibes shooting like an All-Star!
I disagree with some of you about Carrington! The last two years with the Sun she was among the most improved players in the WNBA! I do agree there are times that she tries to do too much and the team pays for it!
Obviously Stewie, Burke, and Sabally being out made a tremendous difference! But as they say, "that's why you play the games!"
I am really not a fan of Arike but she somehow turned into a TEAM player and had 14 assists. That may be the last time we see that!
I don't think Koclanes is the right coach for such a young team!
He might be better suited for a more veteran team!
Curt Miller is going to have to make some good trades or signings in the post season! Getting rid of Arike, IMHO would be very important for the team chemistry!
Reading over the above I am amazed that my 77 year old brain could be this lucid for this long!
It must be the heat!
 
The young Wings seem to be figuring things out (Paige already knows 99% of it, I'm talking about the others).

They have shown this annoying tendency to blow leads, partly due to youth, but mostly due to less-than-stellar depth... and a big need at Center. Yueru is a pretty good backup, as are Geiselsoder and McGowan, but none are really starter material in my book... Maybe they can get there, but not really at this point...

My guess is they either draft the top big from 2026 college, or find a way to get a good one in whatever other way they can.

I'd love to see Azzi join Paige, but another guard isn't their biggest need unless other roster moves happen.
 
AidanFan20 said:
Adding a couple more thoughts to what I said above:

1) I was VERY impressed by the athleticism of the players, something you can't fully realize when watching on TV.

2) Both the variety and sophistication of the sets on offense and the clever defenses are absolutely amazing! These teams are reallllllyyyyyyy good!
Expand ...

I saw Minnesota at Washington maybe 10 years ago, while sitting directly behind the Minnesota bench. I was amazed at how big the women were. I struggled to see over the players when they stood.
 
As I watch the Valkyries game live on TV.... This has to be said again. The officiating is horrible... Not just the calls, many of those are 50/50, but sheesh... the communication! There have been several stoppages of play with no explanation. Announcers have no idea who's challenging, or if there even IS a challenge.

There are plenty of high-school refs around here in NorCal that would do better than these guys.
 
And now... During play, some BRIGHT GREEN object went flying through between players, apparently tossed from the stands... And the refs didn't even stop play immediately...

Now security is out in hopes of hunting the thrower down... Only reason they had a chance to do that is because the Valkyries challenged something else, I think the number of fouls.

This would make a great B movie... or, maybe a bad one...

btw, score is tied at 75 with some 30 seconds left.... I'm confused now, too. Annnnnnnndddddd.... another challenge on at out-of-bounds call.

btw, Chen hasn't played for the V's.
 
AidanFan20 said:
They have shown this annoying tendency to blow leads, partly due to youth, but mostly due to less-than-stellar depth... and a big need at Center. Yueru is a pretty good backup, as are Geiselsoder and McGowan, but none are really starter material in my book... Maybe they can get there, but not really at this point...
Expand ...
Also partly due to a coach that directed them to start milking the clock with a 30 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Just keep doing what's working, coach.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Online statistics

Members online
55
Guests online
1,610
Total visitors
1,665
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Share This Page

Forum statistics

Threads
163,960
Messages
4,376,755
Members
10,168
Latest member
CTFan142


.
..
Top Bottom