WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

[baggerbob]

Great win for the Aces, looked like themselves again for the first time in awhile tonight, and not just against the Liberty.

Still concerned about Aces’ ability to win what seems like a near-guaranteed Finals series without Parker back.

One thing not being taken into consideration. Each team played 4 games 8/11-8/17. Las Vegas all 4 games at home. New York the last 3 games on the road.

 

[bbsamjj]

Some follow-up to the point a couple of pages above about whether some or all of Phee, Satou, and Nneka should be considered for MVP or where they place in the 1st team All-WNBA race:

Phee 21.4/7.9/2.4 shooting 48/31/82, team is 6th @ 14-16.

Nneka 19.7/9.0/2.7 shooting 51/34/89, team is 9th @ 12-18.

Satou 18.4/8.7/4.0 shooting 43/36/87, team is 4th @16-14.

Of course, I'm biased toward Phee, but these numbers are pretty similar. Phee scores 2-3 more ppg, but has fewer rebounds and assists. Nneka had comparable numbers, but a much higher shooting percentage in her MVP year (probably because she shot fewer threes then). Does she get the vote for consistency? Do Phee or Satou get the vote for reaching a new level? LA's record hurts Nneka in my opinion, but the season isn't over. Satou plays on a team where she isn't even the leading scorer. How does the Arike factor affect this?

I think they are all pretty even as of today, and, of course, all of them are a notch below Stewie, A'ja, and AT in the MVP race. I think Las Vegas has THREE guards who could get MVP consideration as well. They are all playing really well.

If they require two guards on first team, I think all three get on second team in favor of Stew/Wilson/AT. If they require two guards on first team, I’d go with Loyd and C. Gray. If first team is positionless, I might put Phee on above Loyd, but I also might not.

As of today I think you got:

1st Team
B. Stewart
A. Wilson
A. Thomas
C. Gray
J. Loyd

2nd Team:
N. Collier
Nneka
Sabally
K. Plum
J. Young


Other folks high up: Sabrina, A. Gray, Arike, N. Howard, D. Bonner

 

[GCKSFN4L]

If they require two guards on first team, I think all three get on second team in favor of Stew/Wilson/AT. If they require two guards on first team, I’d go with Loyd and C. Gray. If first team is positionless, I might put Phee on above Loyd, but I also might not.

As of today I think you got:

1st Team
B. Stewart
A. Wilson
A. Thomas
C. Gray
J. Loyd

2nd Team:
N. Collier
Nneka
Sabally
K. Plum
J. Young


Other folks high up: Sabrina, A. Gray, Arike, N. Howard, D. Bonner

I would suggest Boston as well as high up.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I gotta say, that is vicious competition to make 1st or 2nd team all league. Any way you slice it, some very good players are gonna get left out.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Raise your hand if you thought Canada and Clarendon would totally outplay Gray and Plum today (it is only halftime though). Aces looking pretty rough again.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Aces almost stole it at the end, but Sparks fended them off. LA guards dominated this match up. Who woulda thunk it? All 3 of the All Star guards for LV stunk today.

 

[bballnut90]

Raise your hand if you thought Canada and Clarendon would totally outplay Gray and Plum today (it is only halftime though). Aces looking pretty rough again.

Vegas just didn't bring their best stuff the entire time. Made a run in the 4th but couldn't get it done. Wilson was the only one who showed up but missed 4 great looks from within about 5 feet in the last couple of possessions. Vegas is struggling without Parker--Stokes is a solid backup post but her lack of offense is hurting them. And is a slimmed down Alaina Coates really not any better than Cayla George? I don't see why she isn't getting any minutes but they keep trying George who is offering nothing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Vegas is struggling without Parker--Stokes is a solid backup post but her lack of offense is hurting them

Stokes is scoreless in 6 of their last 7 games (including Commissioners Cup). She's scored a total of 8 points in 8 games in August. I don't care how good her defense is, that just doesn't work. I thought she'd actually improved in that regard, but she's taken a gigantic step backward recently.

 

[azfan]

Vegas just didn't bring their best stuff the entire time. Made a run in the 4th but couldn't get it done. Wilson was the only one who showed up but missed 4 great looks from within about 5 feet in the last couple of possessions. Vegas is struggling without Parker--Stokes is a solid backup post but her lack of offense is hurting them. And is a slimmed down Alaina Coates really not any better than Cayla George? I don't see why she isn't getting any minutes but they keep trying George who is offering nothing.

Clearly rest makes a huge difference. Sparks looked much fresher than the Aces which is understandable.

Kelsey Plum's poor decision making stood out to me in this game. While she really made a strong effort defensively her offensive lack of patience I think did hurt the team.

Most entertaining and interesting exchange came in the sequence after Plum had a free throw and Clarendon gave her a forearm shiver. Now Plum may have exaggerated the fall but on the way down her payback was priceless.

Perhaps the Bill Laimbeer bad boys legacy?

Clarendon had an amazing game the Sparks back court really really looked good.

 

[JellyBean]

Definitely a shocking game between the Sparks and the Aces today. The Aces shooting 36% (25% from 3point land) will not win any games. Heck not many teams shooting like that will win any games. But when one the better shooting teams in the W is shooting that poorly, nothing good can happen. Just gotta put this one on the back burner and get ready for the next one and have the confidence that your shot will drop in the next game.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Kelsey Plum's poor decision making stood out to me in this game. While she really made a strong effort defensively her offensive lack of patience I think did hurt the team.

Hey now, ya gotta mention Gray too. She had some really bad passes throughout the game. Young had a pair of horrible passes early on. It was definitely a team effort.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Stokes is scoreless in 6 of their last 7 games (including Commissioners Cup). She's scored a total of 8 points in 8 games in August. I don't care how good her defense is, that just doesn't work. I thought she'd actually improved in that regard, but she's taken a gigantic step backward recently.

But somehow she was +12 yesterday, while A'ja was -14.

 

[lenbo]

Dorka not in the starting lineup anymore but she still getting major minutes off the bench and contributing in big ways. 1st Team All-Rookie for sure. Great win, Minnesota in the first of the Back-to-Back against Seattle. Game #2 tomorrow.

On Friday, the UConn Napheesa-Dorka duo combined to log 31.5% of the Lynx minutes, scoring 39.7% of the points, 47% of the assists, and 61% of the rebounds.

 

[lenbo]

On Friday, the UConn Napheesa-Dorka duo combined to log 31.5% of the Lynx minutes, scoring 39.7% of the points, 47% of the assists, and 61% of the rebounds.

Other stats: 50% of steals, 67% of FT, 55% of +/-, but only 23% of turnovers, 5.6% of fouls. Coincidentally, both were 0-2 from three, and their block percentage was NaN since strangely the team recorded no blocks in the win.

 

[nwhoopfan]

But somehow she was +12 yesterday, while A'ja was -14.

Yeah, that's why I don't lend much credence to +/-. Maybe if you look at a whole season, but for individual games it's pretty close to useless.

 

[cancontent]

Yeah, that's why I don't lend much credence to +/-. Maybe if you look at a whole season, but for individual games it's pretty close to useless.

The +/- rating comes across as a team stat than an individual stat to me. Maybe it can help identify a trend, but I struggle with how it can be interpreted. Five players are on the court who all impact this stat.

 

[ochoopsfan]

After Saturdays game there are no longer any players who are in the 50-40-90 category. (fg%, 3pt%, FT%)
The top 3, I can find are

Chelsea Gray 49.5 - 43.8 - 92.0
Karlie Samuelson 47.0 - 42.5 - 93.8
Kelsey Plum 48.3 - 39.0 - 90.8

 

[jake0414]

After Saturdays game there are no longer any players who are in the 50-40-90 category. (fg%, 3pt%, FT%)
The top 3, I can find are

Chelsea Gray 49.5 - 43.8 - 92.0
Karlie Samuelson 47.0 - 42.5 - 93.8
Kelsey Plum 48.3 - 39.0 - 90.8

Layshia Clarendon (17 games) 47.1 - 48.3 - 90.0
Evina Westbrook (3 games) 50.0 -100.0 - 100.0

Correction - just checked wnba.com. Evina played 9 games with Phoenix.
Overall 16.7 - 15.4 - 100.0 (oops!)

 

[JellyBean]

But somehow she was +12 yesterday, while A'ja was -14.

OMG. When I saw that +/- line I had to roll my eyes.

 

[MilfordHusky]

After Saturdays game there are no longer any players who are in the 50-40-90 category. (fg%, 3pt%, FT%)
The top 3, I can find are

Chelsea Gray 49.5 - 43.8 - 92.0
Karlie Samuelson 47.0 - 42.5 - 93.8
Kelsey Plum 48.3 - 39.0 - 90.8

50/40/90 is really hard to do over a full season, whether it's 34 games or 40 games. I think only EDD has done it in the W and only 9 guys (some of the best shooters ever) have done it in the NBA.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Dallas beat Washington again. Crystal had 14 points in 29+ minutes and was +17, tied for best on the team. The Wings appear to have a grip on 4th place. And Lou may be back soon, as she was in practice this week.

 

[Geew1992]

 

[ochoopsfan]

50/40/90 is really hard to do over a full season, whether it's 34 games or 40 games. I think only EDD has done it in the W and only 9 guys (some of the best shooters ever) have done it in the NBA.

EDD has only played 16 games so far this season
She is close at 48.6% 39.5% and 98.4%.
I didnt mention her as I dont think she will play anymore games this season and I dont think 16 would qualify you for that level.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Did Phoenix forget for a week or two that they were tanking this season? They started playing better, but back to their losing ways again. Now they are in a death match with Indiana for last place. Seattle "surged" one game up in the win column on both of them.

Chicago has slipped and slid their way out of the #8 spot and LA has taken their place.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Wings appear to have a grip on 4th place.

Yeah, I called them out recently. Previously they looked fairly solid at #4, then stumbled a bit, but back on track with solid wins back to back against Connecticut and Washington.


#5-7 has a lot to be sorted out yet. The 3 teams are within 1/2 game of each other.