Sparks @ Lynx - 10/04/17 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Sparks @ Lynx - 10/04/17

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Congrats to the Lynx--they played better as a team and appeared to want it more. Fowles was an absolute beast tonight and Whalen had a great game. Moore did a lot of little things well and made the biggest play of the night.

3rd year in a row that Nneka has performed quite poorly against the Lynx in the playoffs. She hit the winner last year but was subpar most of the series. Tonight she was flat out bad...she got owned on the boards and was largely ineffective besides a few buckets early.

Sad for Parker that she didn't get another title tonight. She worked her butt off all night and did what she could to rally LA. I thought it was an uphill battle for the Sparks with the reffing tonight but they had their chances and didn't make the most of them. Lots of missed shots by Lavender, Sims and Beard. They need a better backup post to replace Lavender next year. Someone with size and who can rebound. I think La is the favorite next year if the starting 5 return. The guards are onl getting better and Nneka/Parker aren't slowing down.
 
Blueballer said:
Really? I saw it completely the opposite. The refs tried like hell to keep LA in the game. That foul on Maya on that 3 was a disgrace. She never touched the girl.
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At least they tried to keep Parker clean. If any other Sparks player was within 10 feet they gave Parker's fouls to someone else.
 
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I loved the response by Cheryl Reeves to Holly Rowe's question " Were you nervous when the Sparks cut the lead to 1 basket with under a minute to go? " Answer. "No. We wanted them to the make the game close and then we ripped it away from them." :D

That is how rivals are supposed to respond.

Next year. Same time. Same Channel. Same Result.
 
bballnut90 said:
Congrats to the Lynx--they played better as a team and appeared to want it more. Fowles was an absolute beast tonight and Whalen had a great game. Moore did a lot of little things well and made the biggest play of the night.

3rd year in a row that Nneka has performed quite poorly against the Lynx in the playoffs. She hit the winner last year but was subpar most of the series. Tonight she was flat out bad...she got owned on the boards and was largely ineffective besides a few buckets early.

Sad for Parker that she didn't get another title tonight. She worked her butt off all night and did what she could to rally LA. I thought it was an uphill battle for the Sparks with the reffing tonight but they had their chances and didn't make the most of them. Lots of missed shots by Lavender, Sims and Beard. They need a better backup post to replace Lavender next year. Someone with size and who can rebound. I think La is the favorite next year if the starting 5 return. The guards are onl getting better and Nneka/Parker aren't slowing down.
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Nneka said she had never been in such physical games. She had to match up with Sylvia 5 times in 2 weeks. That's a load.
 
That was another heavyweight matchup. As the announcers noted, it is likely the best rivalry in WNBA history.

By losing a game to a weaker team early in the season, L.A. was unable to grab home court advantage. That probably made the difference in a tight series.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Nneka said she had never been in such physical games. She had to match up with Sylvia 5 times in 2 weeks. That's a load.
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It is a lot to handle. That said, I still thought she'd perform better this series than she did. 11 points and 3 rebounds in game 5 while fouling out while giving up 17/20 from Syl was the difference tonight.
 
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bballnut90 said:
Congrats to the Lynx--they played better as a team and appeared to want it more. Fowles was an absolute beast tonight and Whalen had a great game. Moore did a lot of little things well and made the biggest play of the night.

3rd year in a row that Nneka has performed quite poorly against the Lynx in the playoffs. She hit the winner last year but was subpar most of the series. Tonight she was flat out bad...she got owned on the boards and was largely ineffective besides a few buckets early.

Sad for Parker that she didn't get another title tonight. She worked her butt off all night and did what she could to rally LA. I thought it was an uphill battle for the Sparks with the reffing tonight but they had their chances and didn't make the most of them. Lots of missed shots by Lavender, Sims and Beard. They need a better backup post to replace Lavender next year. Someone with size and who can rebound. I think La is the favorite next year if the starting 5 return. The guards are onl getting better and Nneka/Parker aren't slowing down.
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It's too bad that Agler didn't know how to utilize Jen Hamson. She would've been the answer to Fowles in this series. Fowles would not have gotten a lot of those rebounds. If the Sparks could've made Hamson an integral part of their offense then they would've had more of a chance. Trying to double-team Fowles all the time will not work in the long run with the lineup the Lynx has.
 
Striper69 said:
It's too bad that Agler didn't know how to utilize Jen Hamson. She would've been the answer to Fowles in this series. Fowles would not have gotten a lot of those rebounds. If the Sparks could've made Hamson an integral part of their offense then they would've had more of a chance. Trying to double-team Fowles all the time will not work in the long run with the lineup the Lynx has.
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No way Hamson is mobile enough to be effective against Fowles....she's barely played at all in the WNBA.
 
UConn990411 said:
Fowles should end up in the Naismith HOF when all is said and done.

She's flown somewhat under the radar as an all-time player.
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Probably because she spent her first 7 years playing on an ill-run Chicago organization.
 
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bballnut90 said:
Congrats to the Lynx--they played better as a team and appeared to want it more. Fowles was an absolute beast tonight and Whalen had a great game. Moore did a lot of little things well and made the biggest play of the night.

3rd year in a row that Nneka has performed quite poorly against the Lynx in the playoffs. She hit the winner last year but was subpar most of the series. Tonight she was flat out bad...she got owned on the boards and was largely ineffective besides a few buckets early.

Sad for Parker that she didn't get another title tonight. She worked her butt off all night and did what she could to rally LA. I thought it was an uphill battle for the Sparks with the reffing tonight but they had their chances and didn't make the most of them. Lots of missed shots by Lavender, Sims and Beard. They need a better backup post to replace Lavender next year. Someone with size and who can rebound. I think La is the favorite next year if the starting 5 return. The guards are onl getting better and Nneka/Parker aren't slowing down.
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Some of your analysis is on point, but blaming the reffing is really weak — and really, the Sparks have no right to complain after last year's botched 8-second call in the closing seconds of Game 5 helped them to the win. Tonight there were some questionable calls and no-calls that went both ways, which is pretty much the most we can ask for.

I also don't like that you're throwing Nneka under the bus. She more than any other single person has been responsible for the Sparks' renaissance in the last three years, and they wouldn't have even been in the finals two years in a row if it weren't for her. I notice that you don't mention at all her fantastic Game 3, where she had 16 points (on 6-of-11 shooting), 10 rebounds, and only 1 turnover in 30 minutes of play, compared to Parker's 13 points (on 4-of-13 shooting), 7 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 35 minutes of play. She had a rough night in Game 5, but let's face it, she had the far more daunting defensive assignment than Parker did.

I think we should also have a more nuanced assessment of Candace's performance. Yes, she did many good things, but she showed two major weaknesses:
— Turnovers: Parker averaged more TOs in the playoffs than anyone else on the Sparks or Lynx. In the regular season she was 4th in the league in turnovers per game.
— 3-point shooting: Parker was 4-of-23 from 3-point range in the finals, including 1-of-10 in Games 4 and 5.
 
Nneka and Candace did have less than stellar games but look who they were playing. Minny completely shut down the other teams in the games I went to see this year. I was surprised to see LA win the first game.
 
Plebe said:
Some of your analysis is on point, but blaming the reffing is really weak — and really, the Sparks have no right to complain after last year's botched 8-second call in the closing seconds of Game 5 helped them to the win. Tonight there were some questionable calls and no-calls that went both ways, which is pretty much the most we can ask for.

I also don't like that you're throwing Nneka under the bus. She more than any other single person has been responsible for the Sparks' renaissance in the last three years, and they wouldn't have even been in the finals two years in a row if it weren't for her. I notice that you don't mention at all her fantastic Game 3, where she had 16 points (on 6-of-11 shooting), 10 rebounds, and only 1 turnover in 30 minutes of play, compared to Parker's 13 points (on 4-of-13 shooting), 7 rebounds, and 4 turnovers in 35 minutes of play. She had a rough night in Game 5, but let's face it, she had the far more daunting defensive assignment than Parker did.

I think we should also have a more nuanced assessment of Candace's performance. Yes, she did many good things, but she showed two major weaknesses:
— Turnovers: Parker averaged more TOs in the playoffs than anyone else on the Sparks or Lynx. In the regular season she was 4th in the league in turnovers per game.
— 3-point shooting: Parker was 4-of-23 from 3-point range in the finals, including 1-of-10 in Games 4 and 5.
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The reffing was subpar at best last night...I think most non-Lynx fans would agree with that. LA did get a couple of make up calls after bad calls were made against them, but IMO the initial bad calls were big momentum shifters and usually worked out in the Lynx's favor. Feel free to disagree with me on that one.

And nice job scrambling to find statistics that put Parker in a bad light. That game 3 Parker had 5 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks plus she set the tone defensively in a low scoring win. She was great that night even if she shot poorly from the floor. Nneka had a good game...fantastic may be a stretch if you watched it.

Parker did have turnovers (3.6 per game...keep on mind Gray averaged 3.4, Fowles 3.2 and Whalen 3.0) and didn't shoot well from 3, but she work her tail off on both ends last night and guarded Fowles for long stretches when Nneka was out. I did think some of the calls against Nneka were chippy, but at the end of the day she has to avoid fouling out in game 5 of the finals with most of the 4th quarter to go.

2 years ago in the deciding game 3 vs the Lynx, Parker had 28 points, 13 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 TOs on 9-19 shooting. Nneka had 12 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 5-7 shooting and fouled out in 32 minutes.

Game 5 last year, Parker had 28 points, 12 boards, 1 assist, 4 TO on 12-22 shooting. Nneka had 12 points, 12 boards, 1 assist on 6-10 shooting with 5 fouls in 31 minutes of play.

Last night in game 5 the difference was production by the frontcourt. Brunson and
Fowles combined for 30 points and 28 rebounds (not to mention Moore's 18/10). Parker worked her butt off and finished with 19/15, 5 assists, 5 blocks, 2 steals (and 5 TOs) while Nneka fouled out with 11/3 in under 30 minutes.

Three years in a row in the deciding game where Nneka has a subpar performances. She's a great player, but that was the difference in the game. I'd Nneka avoids the fouls and rebounds harder, LA could've won last night.
 
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