WBNA Playoffs - here we go!

[Dillon77]

Chris Gunther of Her Hoops Stats takes a (very) in-depth look at Final Regular Season stats (scoring, rebounding, assists) and
offers his takeaways. He then goes into miscellaneous stats, ranging from shooting percentages from mid-range and long-range, to defense and clutch shooting (looks at takes in the last five minutes and OT).

Gunther's points on the miscellaneous stats and a few of my executive points in ( ). Plus, the entire article is attached.

- A’ja is also good at defense.
(Alanna Smith and NaPheesa Collier are right behind, and Stewie and Gabby aren't far behind them!)

- If it wasn’t clear yet, A’ja should be the number one pick in any draft.
(That would be a fantasy draft....)

- Sonia Citron was accurate from deep.
(To the tune of leading the league with 44.5% accuracy from three-pt. land. Lots of Liberty...Fiebich, Jones and Burke and the Lynx dynamic trio of 'Phee, K-Mac and Courtney Williams.)

- Courtney Williams doesn’t care where the 3-point line is.
(She is the queens of the mid-range, particularly from 16 ft. to 3-pt. land. Paige B rules the 10-16 ft. area and is 2nd overall. These two were the best in the W by quite a bit. )

- Jackie Young will show up when you need her.
(In the final five minutes of regulation or overtime when the score is within five points, Jackie Young is the player you want with the ball, followed by Alyssa Thomas, A'ja Wilson, Rickea Jackson and Sonia Citron. 'Phee, Satou Sabally and Kiki Iriafen come next.)

WNBA Season Leaders: A Closer Look

A (Slightly) More Advanced Ranking

herhoopstats.substack.com

 

[nwhoopfan]

NO other WNBA players routinely get double digit FT's nearly every game, nor do the moving screens get ignored like Wilson. I don't know how many more in that game last night. Quite a few by my eye. She leans her hip out and keeps moving in nearly every screen she sets. She also routinely gets called for only 1-2 fouls per game playing major minutes.

Wilson averaged 7.3 FTA per game. Stewie averaged 6.5. That's not that big of a difference, is it? I know there were multiple games where Stewie had as many attempts as the entire opposing team did. She hits double figures in FTs plenty often. Stewie was #6 in the league in FTA for the season, despite missing 13 games.

 

[Reypl21]

PHX is buzzing so far. They are targeting Sabrina in the half court. Then getting into transition.

 

[JellyBean]

These playoffs have been fun to watch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm gonna tempt fate. Almost 30 point margin w/ less than 3 minutes, even I can't jinx that.

So...paging @azfan. Any comments?

 

[MilfordHusky]

NYL forgot to show up. They were run off the floor and out-shot 48% to 30%.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Brondello's superior coaching kept the Liberty within 26 points at home.

 

[Hayven]

It seemed like that knee was on Stewie’s mind all game. I hope she plays game three injury free and gets some rest for Unrivaled (no way the Liberty win this series)

 

[TheFarmFan]

Two more quarters like that plz. Pretty pretty plz.

 

[TheFarmFan]

On

Two more quarters like that plz. Pretty pretty plz.

One more quarter. Let's do this!

 

[TheFarmFan]

Not sure how to upload this from my phone, but I'll post it later: the crowd stayed and gave a standing ovation to our players like they just won the championship. And honestly, in our hearts, they did. What a season.

 

[JstVisiting]

Wilson averaged 7.3 FTA per game. Stewie averaged 6.5.

It gets better.

A’ja: 7.3 FTA/16.5 FGA; 1 FT:2.26 FGA
Stewart: 6.5 FTA/13.2 FGA; 1 FT:2.03 FGA

No one in 49 states who has watched the two since college should be surprised.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Not sure how to upload this from my phone, but I'll post it later: the crowd stayed and gave a standing ovation to our players like they just won the championship. And honestly, in our hearts, they did. What a season.

Great season for the Valkyries. Nakase and Burton won individual awards. They probably set a record by selling out 18,200+ seats over 23 games, including 1 in San Jose, roughly 50 miles from home.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Here it is. We ride or die in Ballhalla.



And you can even see me on the far left, about 8 rows up! Really proud of everything about how tonight went except those last 4 seconds.

 

[JellyBean]

Not sure how to upload this from my phone, but I'll post it later: the crowd stayed and gave a standing ovation to our players like they just won the championship. And honestly, in our hearts, they did. What a season.

Hats off to the Golden State Valkyries, the coaching staff, and the fans!! What a game. GSV played hard, shot the ball well, and played an all around great game. For the season, GSV (along with Atlanta) is everything that makes the WNBA exciting and a joy to watch, again to me. I love the GSV fans. They are in the game from the opening tip to the final whistle. The GSV fans have set the standard for all expansion teams and their fans. Will other teams reach the level or exceed the level of GSV? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, GSV fans have set the bar.
As a team. If GSV can keep the roster and the players stay humble, develop their games, and understand & embrace their current roles on the team. GSV is going to be a huge problem next season. Again, great game and great game.

 

[cancontent]

Great season for the Valkyries. Nakase and Burton won individual awards. They probably set a record by selling out 18,200+ seats over 23 games, including 1 in San Jose, roughly 50 miles from home.

The audience was fully invested the whole game and it was awesome. Don't know who caused the audio issues but having no commentators for a bit gave us a chance to appreciate it.

This 1-1-1 format has provided fans some great games. Wasn't sure about this change but the games in Seattle and San Jose have me thinking differently. Maybe the travel and turnaround times are an okay trade off.

 

[Dillon77]

Here it is. We ride or die in Ballhalla.



And you can even see me on the far left, about 8 rows up! Really proud of everything about how tonight went except those last 4 seconds.

Congrats on buying your season tickets and the experience you got to enjoy all season. Wow!
It will be interesting to see how the powers-that-be add to this core group next year. Given how they selected/augmented this year, I'm sure the fan base will have a lot of trust in the process.

 

[cancontent]

Here it is. We ride or die in Ballhalla.



And you can even see me on the far left, about 8 rows up! Really proud of everything about how tonight went except those last 4 seconds.

Welp.....................no pressure for us Tempo fans to match this. None, whatsoever...................... 😉

 

[JstVisiting]

Welp.....................no pressure for us Tempo fans to match this. None, whatsoever...................... 😉

No dog in the fight whatsoever, but you are already way behind Golden State and Portland in both mascot and logo. They have a couple of the strongest combinations I have seen in any sport.

Tempo is turrbul. Name and logo look like something from a Nintendo game that couldn't get afford the licensing agreement.

 

[azfan]

I'm gonna tempt fate. Almost 30 point margin w/ less than 3 minutes, even I can't jinx that.

So...paging @azfan. Any comments?

Hard thing accomplished, win on the road in the playoffs and ending the losing streak. In matching the Liberty win in Phoenix beating a NY squad at home ( with an injured Stewie) Nate did something hard. Although maybe not that hard?

I would guess many would have anticipated the series would be tied at this point although not in the manner in which it became tied.

Unlike the opener in the series the Merc shot the ball well.

Phoenix has to feel good coming home to face a New York squad with an injured Stewie who is struggling but playing.

Other comments.

Winning a first round playoff series in which you're the higher seed might be an expectation rather than a way to go moment for Nate. In my mind it's telling that when you do something you're supposed to do ie higher seed with a home court advantage winning we find celebratory fandom thinking yeah this guy is worth 1.2 million. If true then wouldn't Cheryl be worth twice that with her sweep? .

That said I'm delighted at the hometown team opportunity to advance tonight and, assuming Nate and the Merc take care of business, what should be an interesting series against the top ranked Lynx.

Hummmm ...... Any pressure on the million dollar coach or is this just business as usual?

 

[azfan]

NYL forgot to show up. They were run off the floor and out-shot 48% to 30%.

MCL strain?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Congrats on buying your season tickets and the experience you got to enjoy all season. Wow!
It will be interesting to see how the powers-that-be add to this core group next year. Given how they selected/augmented this year, I'm sure the fan base will have a lot of trust in the process.

I expect they will sign their 2025 pick (#5 overall).

Justė Jocytė - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hard thing accomplished, win on the road in the playoffs and ending the losing streak. In matching the Liberty win in Phoenix beating a NY squad at home ( with an injured Stewie) Nate did something hard. Although maybe not that hard?

I would guess many would have anticipated the series would be tied at this point although not in the manner in which it became tied.

Unlike the opener in the series the Merc shot the ball well.

Phoenix has to feel good coming home to face a New York squad with an injured Stewie who is struggling but playing.

Other comments.

Winning a first round playoff series in which you're the higher seed might be an expectation rather than a way to go moment for Nate. In my mind it's telling that when you do something you're supposed to do ie higher seed with a home court advantage winning we find celebratory fandom thinking yeah this guy is worth 1.2 million. If true then wouldn't Cheryl be worth twice that with her sweep? .

That said I'm delighted at the hometown team opportunity to advance tonight and, assuming Nate and the Merc take care of business, what should be an interesting series against the top ranked Lynx.

Hummmm ...... Any pressure on the million dollar coach or is this just business as usual?

Let's not gloss over the fact that NY is the defending champs, and despite a few personnel losses with the additions of Cloud and Meesseman they have even more talent than last year. Technically Phoenix is favored since they have the higher seed, but anything short of returning to the Finals is a massive underachievement for Brondello and the Liberty. Even w/ Stewie less than 100%, they have another league MVP (JJ), a Finals MOP (Meesseman), and 2 other players who have played significant roles on Championship teams (Ionescu and Cloud). By comparison Phoenix has...Copper with one Finals MOP, no MVPs, AT who has been to the semis or finals numerous times but never gotten over the top. Oh, I guess there is Bonner who was with the Merc when they won titles ages ago, but she was probably 3rd or 4th option on those teams.

So to say Nate is supposed to win this series and just leave it at that is not really an accurate assessment in my view.

 

[azfan]

So to say Nate is supposed to win this series and just leave it at that is not really an accurate assessment in my view.

Leave it ... Leave it.........leave it. I've been justly accused of a number of shortcomings over my life but leaving it.... That's a first. Never before been described as one who would leave it.

In a segment in my online certificate program evaluating coaching we spent some time on the math of sport: strengths and shortcomings. This is reflective of the fun of debating sports numbers there are lies, damn lies and sports statistics. As part of my extended response to the welcome victory of the Merc on the road in New York (this is a portion of where I did not leave it...lol). I pointed out that Nate did do a hard thing just not as hard as it would have been had Stewie not had a strained MCL. Roster construction and analysis aside because I do think that Natasha Cloud was the reason for the victory in game one, that Sabrina is critical for the success of the team, and that JJ actually is extraordinarily key to the performance of this team. And I would point out that JJ is not playing all that well right now although much of what she's doing is not appearing in the box score. But....I digress, rather than....

So Nate did something that was hard just not as hard as it would have been had there been no sprain In contrast when Sandy went into Phoenix in the first game if I'm not mistaken Phoenix was it full strength that is no walking wounded. So she did something that was hard.....er.

Leaving aside the challenge of winning on the road teams really care about seating after all that's really the only reason for the regular season. So as the number four seed playing the number five seed one would expect if seeding was properly done and reflective of performance that the four seed would beat the five seed. I got a c+ in this portion of the online program of applying math to evaluation of coaching. Maybe that's why I remember it so well.

We'll both be watching tonight this will be fun as a Merc fan I have my fingers crossed. And to miss quote a political debate I knew Nikki Blue, I evaluated Nikki Blue, and Nate you are no Nikki Blue.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Leave it ... Leave it.........leave it. I've been justly accused of a number of shortcomings over my life but leaving it.... That's a first. Never before been described as one who would leave it.

In a segment in my online certificate program evaluating coaching we spent some time on the math of sport: strengths and shortcomings. This is reflective of the fun of debating sports numbers there are lies, damn lies and sports statistics. As part of my extended response to the welcome victory of the Merc on the road in New York (this is a portion of where I did not leave it...lol). I pointed out that Nate did do a hard thing just not as hard as it would have been had Stewie not had a strained MCL. Roster construction and analysis aside because I do think that Natasha Cloud was the reason for the victory in game one, that Sabrina is critical for the success of the team, and that JJ actually is extraordinarily key to the performance of this team. And I would point out that JJ is not playing all that well right now although much of what she's doing is not appearing in the box score. But....I digress, rather than....

So Nate did something that was hard just not as hard as it would have been had there been no sprain In contrast when Sandy went into Phoenix in the first game if I'm not mistaken Phoenix was it full strength that is no walking wounded. So she did something that was hard.....er.

Leaving aside the challenge of winning on the road teams really care about seating after all that's really the only reason for the regular season. So as the number four seed playing the number five seed one would expect if seeding was properly done and reflective of performance that the four seed would beat the five seed. I got a c+ in this portion of the online program of applying math to evaluation of coaching. Maybe that's why I remember it so well.

We'll both be watching tonight this will be fun as a Merc fan I have my fingers crossed. And to miss quote a political debate I knew Nikki Blue, I evaluated Nikki Blue, and Nate you are no Nikki Blue.

Okay. Of course the MCL is not to be overlooked. But let me add, as long as we're talking about numbers and statistics and lying and all that, while the series is tied at 1-1, winning on the road in OT is not quite the same as winning on the road by 26 in regulation, right?