WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

[Bigboote]

From a twitter post regarding LA Sparks Lexie Brown

Oh Lordy, that sucks. I've always liked Lexie, and nobody deserves what she's going through.

 

[GoChips20]

Interesting philosophical question - is the MVP an individual award or a team award.

Without a doubt the top three players in the league this year are Wilson, Stewie, and Thomas.

Convincing arguments can be made for any of the three.

I recall a Super Bowl MVP that was ordered to a player on the losing team. Clearly that's a philosophy of providing an award to the best player regardless of teen outcome.

While it's more difficult to do this I think I'm more sympathetic to recognize the most valuable player in the league irrespective of team performance. Where that leads me to the current WNBA MVP race is still unclear.

If Thomas were to be recognized this year I would find that to be a fitting honor and would have no complaints. Although I'd say the same thing about the other two contenders.

Yeah, someone else posted on here that all three are playing and producing better than any league MVP in the last five years and I’d have to agree with that.

Worth noting that the last few MVPs have followed the “best player on the best team” rule: Wilson (2022), J. Jones (2021), Wilson (2020), EDD (2019), Stewart (2018). Have to think it’s between Wilson and Stewie for that reason.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Wow talk about parity.

 

[visitingcock]

Wow talk about parity.

Lotto sweepstakes still open.

 

[MilfordHusky]

L.A. beat Phoenix by roughly 30. Nneka was the 7th leading scorer for L.A. with 7 points. A measure of how bad Phoenix can be.

 

[JellyBean]

L.A. beat Phoenix by roughly 30. Nneka was the 7th leading scorer for L.A. with 7 points. A measure of how bad Phoenix can be.

Holy smokes! LA beat Phoenix like that!?

 

[cancontent]

Holy smokes! LA beat Phoenix like that!?

Griner and Taurasi were also out. That could have been a factor as well.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Griner and Taurasi were also out. That could have been a factor as well.

What was Taurasi out for?

 

[JellyBean]

Griner and Taurasi were also out. That could have been a factor as well.

Thanks. Yeah, missing those two definitely puts the score and game in a better perspective.

 

[SECbbfan24]

 

[wingsfan055]

What was Taurasi out for?

To get the #1 draft pick.

 

[nwhoopfan]

After shooting, what, 21 or 22 FTs in the previous game, Wilson got 0 tonight. That's a pretty stark contrast. I think Chicago led most of the game, but LV pulled ahead late. Heavy minutes for most of the starters.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Every time I think Dallas has solidified it's hold on the #4 slot, they slip again and let the others right back in the race. About to lose to Minnesota again.

 

[JellyBean]

Yes! Minnesota back to .500 ball. Of course, we got New York followed by Washington. Hopefully we catch both teams sleeping.

 

[bballnut90]

Aces/Sky was an entertaining game. Sky badly outplayed the Aces in the first half but Aces stormed back and took over the second. Chicago was gritty but largely fell apart in the second half once shots stopped falling and they settled for some really bad looks. Evans in particular had some ill advised shots that really sucked the energy out of the Sky. They're a gritty squad though and competed the whole way even though they were just outclassed by Vegas in the second.

Young/Gray were the stars of the night. Young in particular was so good at getting in the lane and using her physicality to overpower opponents. She was huge in the second. Gray was stellar tonight too, she's just unguardable 1 on 1 in isolation plays. I dare say she might be the best 1 on 1 iso guard the WNBA has ever had. She's just so good and such a strong passer. She should be a lock for 1st Team All-WNBA this year. Plum finished with a nice statline and took over the 3rd quarter but largely struggled aside from that. Wilson kept them in it in the first half but was quiet in the second as the guards took over.

Vegas though has an uphill battle if they're planning to solely rely on their 4 stars. If any of them can have an off night, they instantly become much more beatable. Wilson is near impossible for posts to guard 1 on 1, but if you double her or bring help side defense she has a much tougher time getting buckets. Going up against a team like NY that has waves of height and strength inside is going to be tough for her in a physical 3-5 game series. Vegas has no other interior post threat and will have to rely 100% on perimeter players outside of A'ja which is not a good recipe for success. After the top 4, the outlook is grim for Vegas. They're getting nothing offensively out of Stokes (scoreless in 6 of the last 9 games), Clark is streaky as a perimeter threat who is struggling as of late, and I'm not sure Bell/George are WNBA caliber players. That's tough when matching up against a Liberty team that brings really good players like Thornton, Dolson, and Johannes off the bench.


Side note-despite losing tonight, Dewanna Bonner has tied Sue Bird for #7 in all time points and will likely pass Pondexter for #6 all time her next game. By the end of the season she'll probably have sole possession of #5 all time, and has a good shot to reach #2 all time next season. She is easily one of the most under appreciated players in league history.

 

[JellyBean]

Aces/Sky was an entertaining game. Sky badly outplayed the Aces in the first half but Aces stormed back and took over the second. Chicago was gritty but largely fell apart in the second half once shots stopped falling and they settled for some really bad looks. Evans in particular had some ill advised shots that really sucked the energy out of the Sky. They're a gritty squad though and competed the whole way even though they were just outclassed by Vegas in the second.

Young/Gray were the stars of the night. Young in particular was so good at getting in the lane and using her physicality to overpower opponents. She was huge in the second. Gray was stellar tonight too, she's just unguardable 1 on 1 in isolation plays. I dare say she might be the best 1 on 1 iso guard the WNBA has ever had. She's just so good and such a strong passer. She should be a lock for 1st Team All-WNBA this year. Plum finished with a nice statline and took over the 3rd quarter but largely struggled aside from that. Wilson kept them in it in the first half but was quiet in the second as the guards took over.

Vegas though has an uphill battle if they're planning to solely rely on their 4 stars. If any of them can have an off night, they instantly become much more beatable. Wilson is near impossible for posts to guard 1 on 1, but if you double her or bring help side defense she has a much tougher time getting buckets. Going up against a team like NY that has waves of height and strength inside is going to be tough for her in a physical 3-5 game series. Vegas has no other interior post threat and will have to rely 100% on perimeter players outside of A'ja which is not a good recipe for success. After the top 4, the outlook is grim for Vegas. They're getting nothing offensively out of Stokes (scoreless in 6 of the last 9 games), Clark is streaky as a perimeter threat who is struggling as of late, and I'm not sure Bell/George are WNBA caliber players. That's tough when matching up against a Liberty team that brings really good players like Thornton, Dolson, and Johannes off the bench.


Side note-despite losing tonight, Dewanna Bonner has tied Sue Bird for #7 in all time points and will likely pass Pondexter for #6 all time her next game. By the end of the season she'll probably have sole possession of #5 all time, and has a good shot to reach #2 all time next season. She is easily one of the most under appreciated players in league history.

The Aces, like any team, do have their problems but in a 3-5 game series, they should be okay, even against a team like New York. Stokes was the same last year for the Aces and that turned out pretty good.

 

[cancontent]

What was Taurasi out for?

Injured her toe on Sunday if memory is correct.

 

[Geew1992]

To get the #1 draft pick.

I came to say this

 

[azfan]

What was Taurasi out for?

Reportedly....toe. consideration for shutting her down for the rest of the year. As far as BG when she's done with the safety and health protocol I'm wondering if a mental health week will follow.

Mercury have packed it in for the year.....and perhaps next.

Paige, Caitlin, Brink and their teams take notes.

 

[azfan]

nothing offensively out of Stokes (scoreless in 6 of the last 9 games), Clark is streaky as a perimeter threat who is struggling as of late, and I'm not sure Bell/George are WNBA caliber players. That's tough when matching up against a Liberty team that brings really good players like Thornton, Dolson, and Johannes off the bench.


Side note-despite losing tonight, Dewanna Bonner has tied Sue Bird for #7 in all time points and will likely pass Pondexter for #6 all time her next game. By the end of the season she'll probably have sole possession of #5 all time, and has a good shot to reach #2 all time next season. She is easily one of the most under appreciated players in league history.

I think you hit it on the head. Clark is still a tremendous defensive presence but her shooting has a evaporated over the last 3 weeks. She returns to her historical offensive level and the Aces are a lock to win. I've been wondering if it's an age issue for clark. She expands so much energy defensively that may be affecting her off house. In the last game against the Liberty she matched up against everyone and as I recalled at a pretty darn good job on Stewie. Wonder if Harmon should consider resting Clark the rest of the season and playing her judiciously in the first round? Fresh legs would go a long way to help in Clark's offense.

Plum also has been struggling from the field but she's such a talented all around player that Harmon's confidence in her and the rest of the team offense is well founded. Clark will need to be able to score in my view for the Aces to beat the Liberty in the finals

 

[azfan]

To get the #1 draft pick.

You're giving the organization too much credit.

While the "organization" practices Larry Scott sports management even the clown car that is the Mercury front office cannot be oblivious to the fact that Paige CC, and Brink will never come to the valley of the Sun.

 

[bbsamjj]

The NY/CT game was...wild. Sun are up by 20 in second half; NY storms back to get within 2, and then with 4s to go Bonner loses a routine inbounds pass from Thomas...which is stolen by Sloot...who finds Sabrina...who is fouled by Rebecca Allen while shooting a 3...who makes her first 2FTs but misses the 3rd...sending the game to OT. Then Stewart, who has struggled with her shot most of the game, takes over in OT and the Liberty eventually pull away.

A lot of impressive stat lines:

Stewart finishes with 24pts, 12 rebounds, 4 assists.
Jones, who lead the Liberty's 2nd half comeback, with 21pts and 14 rebounds.
Ionescu with 18pts, 4 assists, 4 rebounds.
Sloot with 13pts, 8 assists.

A. Thomas with 22pts, 7 rebounds, 12 assists (she breaks WNBA single season record for double doubles)
Bonner with 30pts (12-20FG, 6-12 from 3) and 12 rebounds

 

[Dillon77]

Aces/Sky was an entertaining game. Sky badly outplayed the Aces in the first half but Aces stormed back and took over the second. Chicago was gritty but largely fell apart in the second half once shots stopped falling and they settled for some really bad looks. Evans in particular had some ill advised shots that really sucked the energy out of the Sky. They're a gritty squad though and competed the whole way even though they were just outclassed by Vegas in the second.

Young/Gray were the stars of the night. Young in particular was so good at getting in the lane and using her physicality to overpower opponents. She was huge in the second. Gray was stellar tonight too, she's just unguardable 1 on 1 in isolation plays. I dare say she might be the best 1 on 1 iso guard the WNBA has ever had. She's just so good and such a strong passer. She should be a lock for 1st Team All-WNBA this year. Plum finished with a nice statline and took over the 3rd quarter but largely struggled aside from that. Wilson kept them in it in the first half but was quiet in the second as the guards took over.

Vegas though has an uphill battle if they're planning to solely rely on their 4 stars. If any of them can have an off night, they instantly become much more beatable. Wilson is near impossible for posts to guard 1 on 1, but if you double her or bring help side defense she has a much tougher time getting buckets. Going up against a team like NY that has waves of height and strength inside is going to be tough for her in a physical 3-5 game series. Vegas has no other interior post threat and will have to rely 100% on perimeter players outside of A'ja which is not a good recipe for success. After the top 4, the outlook is grim for Vegas. They're getting nothing offensively out of Stokes (scoreless in 6 of the last 9 games), Clark is streaky as a perimeter threat who is struggling as of late, and I'm not sure Bell/George are WNBA caliber players. That's tough when matching up against a Liberty team that brings really good players like Thornton, Dolson, and Johannes off the bench.


Side note-despite losing tonight, Dewanna Bonner has tied Sue Bird for #7 in all time points and will likely pass Pondexter for #6 all time her next game. By the end of the season she'll probably have sole possession of #5 all time, and has a good shot to reach #2 all time next season. She is easily one of the most under appreciated players in league history.

Solid post. I watched most of the 1st half and too much of the 4th (from a Sky perspective) and I agree that Young/Gray were the main instruments of LV coming back. Besides being powerful, Young has this ability to burst at the point of attack that allows her to get a shot off/draw fouls. Uncanny. Copper is a wonderful athlete and aggessive on defense, but Young just keeps coming at her.

I'd kept the television on the NBA channel one night and in the morning when I woke up was a replay of an early 1970's game with the New York Knicks. I was struck by one image: When Earl the Pearl Monroe dribbled up court he had a knack of bowing his shoulders while keeping his head up and surveying what to do next. Gray has this similar stride. And like Pearl, she's virtually ustoppable with the back-in jumper.

Switching over to the Sky: they play best when they move the ball and look for open shots or favorable ISO's (usually by Copper). Like many (most?) teams, they can revert to "hero" ball when they're down and/or frustrated; none more so than Evans. Her rushed or out of sync three-point heaves left teammates looking down at the floor. The team, individually and collectively, misses James Wade, who seemed to have a way to be uplifting and also lay down the law at the same time. They're outmatched by a team like LV from an overall personnel perspective and need to play right and tight.

 

[bballnut90]

To get the #1 draft pick.

The best they can hope for is having the 2nd best odds. As long as LA makes the playoffs or finishes at least 2 games ahead of Phoenix (current 5.5 games ahead), they'll have the 2nd best odds at 27.6% of getting #1.

 

[darrell]

Coming down to the wire.