Unrivaled playoffs | The Boneyard

Unrivaled playoffs

It was a great (& long) night at Barclay's, with the second game starting more than 45 minutes later than scheduled. The crowd was huge, loud and involved for their favorite players and teams - none more so than Stewie.

There were actually 5 Huskies spolighted on the jumbotron last night: Napheesa, Sue, Azzi, Stef and KK! - all got great ovations from the crowd.

The Breeze v Mist game was very competitive, with the Breeze blowing to a 16 point lead after the first quarter (obviously something that was unsustainable against a team as talented as the Mist). The Mist couldn't hit anything and the Breeze (with the exception of Paige) couldn't miss and played great defense.

At that point, I told my wife (who is a Stewie/Liberty/Mist fanatic) not to despair as it was only the first quarter and these things have a strange way of turning around.

Unfortunately for me (Paige/Breeze fanatic), I was correctly as the Mist started to steadily chip away at the lead over the next 2 quarters and slipped by the Breeze in the 4th with the primary aid of Stewie's defense and interior scoring and the long-range bombs of Arike and Alanna Smith (Smith was 3 for 3 from distance on the night) who went super nova.

Paige had an off night shooting (abetted by Stewie's 3? blocks on her and the referees deciding to swallow their whistles in the midst of a very physical game - 0 foul shots for Paige), but a great floor game with 10 rebounds and 5 assists vs 1 turnover (when Paige's pass to Rickea zigged just as Rickea decided to zag).

Eventually, the Breeze were done in for the game by Malonga getting totally gassed in the last quarter and the struggles of Brink and Rickea with turnovers - Cameron having 3 of them on moving screens, and the disparity in 3 point shooting.

Stewie, too, had a rough shooting night, but was a tiger on D and made critical shots in the final quarter.

In the first game, Tiffany Hayes really chipped in with clutch baskets and a lasting image of her using every ounce of strength and leverage to try to keep Griner from the basket, as the under-manned Phantom held to defeat the Vinyl.
 
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I continue to be fascinated with the Unrivaled business model that links top women’s players with top shelf facilities and sponsors, big event atmospheres in both Philly and Brooklyn and, ultimately, established a profitable WBB league in just a couple of years.

Hopefully, the WNBA is watching and learning. Assuming that the WNBA reaches a new CBA, it will be interesting to see if Unrivaled survives. Nevertheless, the success of Unrivaled is something that the players, partners and fans should all be very proud of.
 
oldude said:
I continue to be fascinated with the Unrivaled business model that links top women’s players with top shelf facilities and sponsors, big event atmospheres in both Philly and Brooklyn and, ultimately, established a profitable WBB league in just a couple of years.

Hopefully, the WNBA is watching and learning. Assuming that the WNBA reaches a new CBA, it will be interesting to see if Unrivaled survives. Nevertheless, the success of Unrivaled is something that the players, partners and fans should all be very proud of.
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They also showcase/advertise the hell out of their players. WNBA not so much.
 
Geew1992 said:
They also sowcase/advertise the hell out of their players. WNBA not so much.
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I hadn’t really thought about this before. But if the league and players don’t reach agreement on a new CBA, resulting in a strike, what’s to keep Unrivaled from evolving into a 5 on 5 league to “Rival” the W?

It would be a big lift for sure. But Unrivaled has proven they can think out of the box, grow and be profitable in a very short time. Maybe the best thing for WBB is to kill the W and come up with something different and better that would focus on the players.
 
Milford was at Barclay’s too. The crowd was huge and loud. Both games were well played and competitive. I would highly recommend Unrivaled games.

I was happy to see Tip contribute; Plum is a star. In the second game, I was torn between Stewie and Paige. Malonga was a huge problem early on; later, Stewie drove into Dom to create space and get her shot off. The finals should be exciting. This league is more than viable!
 
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AzzisBraids said:
You'd think Azzi was Beyonce from the fanfare, reactions, photos and how viral she went just from sitting courtside looking elegant watching the game. The stars were out and she was the brightest in Barclays that day.
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Yes, Azzi looked like Beyonce and was treated like her. I think she borrowed her coat from Denzel in American Gangster. Stylish!!
 
AzzisBraids said:
You'd think Azzi was Beyonce from the fanfare, reactions, photos and how viral she went just from sitting courtside looking elegant watching the game. The stars were out and she was the brightest in Barclays that day.
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Wonder if Geno was thinking "Nice to get the attraction but is all this Beyonce-like publicity a bit too much distraction?" Nevermind. I'm just a grumpy old man today. It's all good as long as Azzi and all the team has the "eye of the tiger" heading into the Tournament and the NCAA. Go Huskies ! 39-0 !
 
oldude said:
I hadn’t really thought about this before. But if the league and players don’t reach agreement on a new CBA, resulting in a strike, what’s to keep Unrivaled from evolving into a 5 on 5 league to “Rival” the W?
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My thoughts exactly. There’d be huge infrastructure an logistics issues. But it’s a credible threat and might even represent an improvement, since the new league would not necessarily be saddled with all the baggage of the W.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the playoffs in the Barclays Center yet. Did they play on a regulation size court?
 
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Bone Dog said:
My thoughts exactly. There’d be huge infrastructure an logistics issues. But it’s a credible threat and might even represent an improvement, since the new league would not necessarily be saddled with all the baggage of the W.

I haven’t had a chance to watch the playoffs in the Barclays Center yet. Did they play on a regulation size court?
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The court they used was the smaller 3x3 court. But for 18,000+ fans on hand and countless others watching on TV & streaming services it was quite a spectacle, particularly the 2nd game battle between Paige and the Breeze with Stewie and the Mist.
 
rford53 said:
40 - 0!
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Thanks for correction. The simple math for a non-math major 😀 : 31-0 regular season + 3 wins (Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final for BE Championship) + 6 wins ( First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship) = 40 - 0 ! Go Huskies!
 
WiseWillie said:
Thought Breeze would roll based on first half but there were complete lapses in defense in 4Q. Were they surprised or gassed? Maybe both?
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To me, it was a combination of Malonga being totally gassed, Paige being stuffed by Stewie, ineffectiveness and sloppiness by the rest of Breeze and an otherworldly performance in the 4th by Stewie, Alaina & Arike.
If the Breeze are able to return the same team next year, I have a feeling that they would be able to withstand this type of challenge at that time.
 
Basingstoke said:
To me, it was a combination of Malonga being totally gassed, Paige being stuffed by Stewie, ineffectiveness and sloppiness by the rest of Breeze and an otherworldly performance in the 4th by Stewie, Alaina & Arike.
If the Breeze are able to return the same team next year, I have a feeling that they would be able to withstand this type of challenge at that time.
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Well next year Pheesa will be back along with Boston and who knows maybe CC will play and Asia too
 
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oldude said:
I hadn’t really thought about this before. But if the league and players don’t reach agreement on a new CBA, resulting in a strike, what’s to keep Unrivaled from evolving into a 5 on 5 league to “Rival” the W?

It would be a big lift for sure. But Unrivaled has proven they can think out of the box, grow and be profitable in a very short time. Maybe the best thing for WBB is to kill the W and come up with something different and better that would focus on the players.
Expand ...
I'd been thinking about this the second negotiations were falling apart and Engelbert was making all sorts of PR errors. But it is tough to grow that big that rapidly where they can employ all the WNBA players, so I kind of doubt they'll try. As for profitable, I'm not sure about that...yet. They might be getting close. While they grew their audience tremendously by going to Brooklyn, they also grew their expenses. But it's a really smart growth move. To get to the point where the investors can start taking profits out, I would assume it's going to be another couple of years. Realistically, an endeavor of this scope takes about 5 years before returns kick in. But, based on fan engagement and reaction, they're well on their way.

I would be wary of too much growth too fast, though. Once you spread out geographically, each team turns into a profit center that has to feet the main entity which also requires a profit. Right now, the teams are the league, it's all one entity, so it takes less income to get to that profit level.

A couple of years? Who knows, but I can't imagine the WNBA losing more than another month or so to negotiations.
 
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