Washington Mystics vs Phoenix Mercury - 9/15/20 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Washington Mystics vs Phoenix Mercury - 9/15/20

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Turner with some key blocks and Peddy with some key steals as the Mercury decided to play defense in Q4. Plus Taurasi & Diggins shot lights-out in Q4 too. Is Griner coming back??
 

eebmg

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Turner with some key blocks and Peddy with some key steals as the Mercury decided to play defense in Q4. Plus Taurasi & Diggins shot lights-out in Q4 too. Is Griner coming back??

Guessing you are asking about Griner coming back next season ?
 
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Guessing you are asking about Griner coming back next season ?
Haha - no that’s not what I meant.

So are we expecting Fowles to play Thursday? If she plays and no Griner, then it could be difficult for the Mercury.
 

eebmg

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Check out this irony.
August 17, 2020
Connecticut Sun: Essence Carson – Awarded On Waivers
Connecticut Sun: Jacki Gemelos – Waived
Las Vegas Aces: Megan Huff – Waived
Washington Mystics: Shey Peddy – Waived
Oh wow. Revenge is best served cold.
 

nwhoopfan

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So are we expecting Fowles to play Thursday? If she plays and no Griner, then it could be difficult for the Mercury.

If Fowles returns, that would certainly help their interior D. It might hurt them on offense in the short term. They would totally change the way they've been playing, and it's been working for them. Would take an adjustment period to re-integrate her into the offense.
 

nwhoopfan

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Fowles taking Bridget Carleton’s starting spot will be a definite upgrade.

This is kinda like the disagreement we had with...was it the Aces with and without Cambage? Obviously Fowles is a better and more accomplished player than Carleton, but you can see that Minnesota has changed their style of play and the role of all of their players since Fowles has been unavailable, right? She played 1 minute in her 7th game of the season (Aug. 13th). They've played 2/3 of the year, and more than a month, without her. Suddenly trying to go back to playing with her, without much in the way of practice time, might cause at least a little bit of a hiccup.


edit--not to mention Phoenix was clearly better without Griner this year, even though "on paper" there's no way losing a player like Griner should make a team better.
 

bballnut90

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This is kinda like the disagreement we had with...was it the Aces with and without Cambage? Obviously Fowles is a better and more accomplished player than Carleton, but you can see that Minnesota has changed their style of play and the role of all of their players since Fowles has been unavailable, right? She played 1 minute in her 7th game of the season (Aug. 13th). They've played 2/3 of the year, and more than a month, without her. Suddenly trying to go back to playing with her, without much in the way of practice time, might cause at least a little bit of a hiccup.


edit--not to mention Phoenix was clearly better without Griner this year, even though "on paper" there's no way losing a player like Griner should make a team better.

Agree 100%. Collier/Danger have emerged as go to players for the Lynx and the dynamic is incredibly different adding in a star who the offense will now revolve around. We see it time and time again tbat adding an extra chess piece, even a very good one, oftentimes doesn't yield better results for a one off situation like this. Inside Turner has been playing incredibly well defnesively and Big Syl is likely going to be rusty. Id put money on Phoenix advancing Thursday.
 

bballnut90

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Insane game, especially the 4th quarter and ending. Phoenix looked so mediocre all game until the late third when DT came alive and the team just lit it up. Great contributions from Vaughn offensively and Turner was dominant defensively. DT's stellar elimination game record gets saved by Shay Peddy of all people. I think they beat Minnesota on Thursday. A semis between Phoenix and Seattle would be awesome if Connecticut pulls an upset.

Heartbreakers for Mystics who are going to be scary good on paper next year if they can get their best players to stay, although I think they'll have several defects with 3-4 likely starters back next year.
 
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This is kinda like the disagreement we had with...was it the Aces with and without Cambage? Obviously Fowles is a better and more accomplished player than Carleton, but you can see that Minnesota has changed their style of play and the role of all of their players since Fowles has been unavailable, right? She played 1 minute in her 7th game of the season (Aug. 13th). They've played 2/3 of the year, and more than a month, without her. Suddenly trying to go back to playing with her, without much in the way of practice time, might cause at least a little bit of a hiccup.

edit--not to mention Phoenix was clearly better without Griner this year, even though "on paper" there's no way losing a player like Griner should make a team better.

If you exclude the game she played only 1 minute the Lynx are 5-1 (83.3%) with her and 9-7 (56.3%) without her.

Versus other playoff teams (excluding Top 2 of Storm and Aces) Lynx with her were 4-0 and without her 3-3.

1600241812861.png
 

Dillon77

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Haha - no that’s not what I meant.

So are we expecting Fowles to play Thursday? If she plays and no Griner, then it could be difficult for the Mercury.

Turner has filled the chief rebounding and defensive role for the Merc pretty admirably (11 rebounds and 4 blocks last night).
However, the Mercury could use a consistent third offensive option, but Bria Hartley's not coming back until next season and who knows about B.G.

More to the point, the Mercury are thin -- particularly in the front court: Turner played all 40 minutes last night and if she or Vaughn get in early foul trouble, that's going to hurt them.
 
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Turner has filled the chief rebounding and defensive role for the Merc pretty admirably (11 rebounds and 4 blocks last night).
However, the Mercury could use a consistent third option, but Hartley's not coming back until next season and who knows about B.G.

More to the point, the Mercury are thin: Turner played all 40 minutes last night and if she or Vaughn get in early foul trouble, that's going to hurt them.

I don't think BG is coming back this yer. She would have to quarantine before entering. I would think they would have mentioned it if she was.
 

nwhoopfan

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If you exclude the game she played only 1 minute the Lynx are 5-1 (83.3%) with her and 9-7 (56.3%) without her.

Versus other playoff teams (excluding Top 2 of Storm and Aces) Lynx with her were 4-0 and without her 3-3.

View attachment 58745

I think you're missing the point though. We don't know how they will play with Fowles now because we haven't seen it yet. I'm not disputing they were better with her prior to her injury.



This is certainly apples and oranges, but I often think back to Duke mbb in 2010-11. Kyrie Irving was hurt early and missed most of the season. They did fine in his absence. He returned for the NCAA Tourney, and it fairly clearly threw off their chemistry. A player that talented, they had to play him once he was healthy, but it also really didn't work out. They got to the Sweet 16, but then got absolutely boat raced in the second half against Arizona (one of the most satisfying games I've EVER watched, still brings a smile to my face!).

edit--they were the defending National Champs, brought back quite a few players from the previous year, spent most of the season ranked #1 and were a 1 seed, so their performance in the Tourney was a huge disappointment.
 
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I have always been a fan of team chemistry vs star power. Often, so called stars, make their teammates adjust to their syle of play which often effect their own contributions. It's often a trade off who's effects can not really be seen until it happens. I have often noticed that certain types of players have a striking negative affect on their teammates while themselves putting up big numbers. Alen Iverson was such a player, who once he left a team they played much better. I also suspect that Melo also negatively affected the team he was on.
 

eebmg

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It depends on how well the Lynx guards (or others) make their entry into Fowles in the post. If the offense becomes stagnant and post entries are based on trench warfare, that will be big problem. If the entry is based on motion, ball reversal and good screens. that is optimal. Just don't force it in.
 

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