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Phoenix at Minnesota

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easttexastrash

easttexastrash

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I think that this game tonight is going to tell us a lot about Phoenix. Do they come out with a fire in their bellies and change the tone of their season, or do they play flat like they have much of the season and get their tails whipped? I don't see this team pulling it together this season and I look for some major shake-ups after this season is over. At the rate they are going they may get the number 1 draft pick for next season.
 
I, frankly, am a bit shocked. On paper, they are a better team. Last year, sans Taurasi, they were quite good. Has age caught up to Dupree, Taurasi, and Taylor? Have other teams just gotten better? Indiana is not lighting it up so far this year either. The keys to the Fever's success have always eluded me.
 
easttexastrash said:
I think that this game tonight is going to tell us a lot about Phoenix. Do they come out with a fire in their bellies and change the tone of their season, or do they play flat like they have much of the season and get their tails whipped? I don't see this team pulling it together this season and I look for some major shake-ups after this season is over. At the rate they are going they may get the number 1 draft pick for next season.
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I'm fearful that they may come out with fire in their bellies and still get their tails whipped. Lynx are gooood!
 
So far so good for Phoenix. I tell you, Bonner has never met a shot she doesn't like.

Too many TOs for Phoenix.

And BG picked up a stupid foul to try to stop a fast break when she already had 2 fouls. How can she not be more aware of her fouls count considering how often she has been in foul trouble this season? But other than that foul she has looked much better than the previous games this season and has outplayed Fowles so far. It also appears that Phoenix is actually looking to pass the ball to her as a first option instead of her being the 3rd or 4th option.
 
BG just got her 5th foul, Phoenix up 3 with 1 minute left in Q3
 
Griner seems to be in foul trouble every game I watch this season.
 
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Izzy getting exposed on both ends of the floor.
 
Phoenix cannot stop Minnesota without Griner on the floor and Griner cannot stay on the floor. She picked up one foul setting a screen 30 feet from the basket and another foul when she intentionally grabbed the player to stop a fast break. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Brondello has BG is setting picks that far from the basket.

Fowles is just playing some beautiful ball. She is better this year than she has ever been. With Fowles, Charles and BG on the Olympic team we should dominate in the paint.
 
Phoenix cannot defend on the perimeter. They either give up a three pointer or they allow their player to drive right past them. They need more quickness at the guard position.
 
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Great game for sure for Renee. But did anyone check out the + and -? Griner was + 18. She needs to figure out how to stay on the floor. Harrison in 13 minutes? -21. :eek: Monty and Perkins off the bench were big time for Minny. So cool to see players stepping up all over the place this year - and not the "usual" suspects - people who have been solid for years but are really ramping it up this season.
 
ericsandiego said:
Great game for sure for Renee. But did anyone check out the + and -? Griner was + 18. She needs to figure out how to stay on the floor. Harrison in 13 minutes? -21. :eek: Monty and Perkins off the bench were big time for Minny. So cool to see players stepping up all over the place this year - and not the "usual" suspects - people who have been solid for years but are really ramping it up this season.
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I agree that Griner needs to find a way to eliminate those fouls. She and Penny Taylor were the only two Mercury players with positive numbers in the +/- column.

BG seems to pick up at least one foul a game setting a pick about 25 feet from the basket.
Idea: quit having her set picks 25 feet from the basket. She sucks at setting picks and I am surprised that she is not called for me offensive fouls because she has a tendency to move a part of her body into the defender.
Idea: feed her the ball so that she can get her defender in foul trouble. Teams are going at her to try to get her in early foul trouble and Phoenix needs to take the same approach and feed her the ball early and put the opposing team in the same position. It's a tough position to put her in when she is asked to shut down her player in addition to all the other players who have blown by their defender and then go down on offense and watch long range shots being launched. DT and Bonner were a combined 3 of 16 in this game. That simply is not a recipe for success but it appears that Brondello either can't recognize this or doesn't have the balls to tell some players that they need to cut down on the long-range, low percentage shots.

And Griner is not the only one whose game is suffering. Dupree has turned into a virtual non-factor this season. What happened to the pick -and-roll that she and DT used to run so beautifully? Dupree took 4 shots in last night's game. She is way too important to the team to be used so sparingly. Getting her shots should be a big part of the offensive game plan.
 
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Wow, checking out the box score, Phoenix out shot (49% to 37%), out rebounded (36 to 28), had more fast break points (13 to 4) and more points in the paint (46 to 32)....and still lost the game.
 
easttexastrash said:
I always loved her game and I truly thought she would have a good chance of making the Olympic team at some point.
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She really is only now living up to her potential. In fact, not even sure she's there yet.
 
ETT, thanks for the update on Dupree. To me, she was invisible.
 
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meyers7 said:
Wow, checking out the box score, Phoenix out shot (49% to 37%), out rebounded (36 to 28), had more fast break points (13 to 4) and more points in the paint (46 to 32)....and still lost the game.
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Free throws were the difference. Phoenix just fouled way too much, putting Minny at the FT line 29 times, compared to 18 for Phoenix.
 
Rixxx said:
ETT, thanks for the update on Dupree. To me, she was invisible.
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Yeah, I agree. She has a very smooth game but she doesn't get physical, and that game last nigh was very physical. I would like to see more of Bass and Harrison on the floor with Griner.
 
easttexastrash said:
Free throws were the difference. Phoenix just fouled way too much, putting Minny at the FT line 29 times, compared to 18 for Phoenix.
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Yea, I saw that, it was just weird to win all those other categories and lose.
 
easttexastrash said:
I always loved her game and I truly thought she would have a good chance of making the Olympic team at some point.
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Here are Renee's career stats. She had very good numbers in 2010 and 2011. She dropped off a few years later, as she was no longer a starter. She's doing a nice job off the bench this season, now that she has learned the Minnesota offense. I think it's unlikely for a non-starter to make the USA Senior team, though Kara Lawson did.

Renee Montgomery - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA
 
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