WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

[nwhoopfan]

Two datapoints come to mind on Carrington. When Tara had an extra scholarship to bring back a senior at Stanford for a fifth year, she chose Anna Wilson over Carrington.

The way I remember it, Wilson had already been given the scholarship before it was known whether Carrington intended to come back or not. If that is the case, it's really not a matter of Tara choosing Wilson over Carrington.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Yeah, Gray is gonna abuse any smaller guard that gets matched up on her. Dallas must not have liked the match up w/ Dangerfield and Plum either.

 

[Waquoit]

At the end of the day, I feel that the Sun is just a bit outgunned. But they play hard until the end and I think they can move forward from here. I had questions when Miller and Jones both bailed. But it seems to me the Sun is establishing a positive franchise identity. White has been such a good hire. I feel confident they can stay in the mix going forward.

 

[bbsamjj]

I get your points loud and clear, but:

• This is the first time the Wings have made the semi-finals. That's top four, which isn't mid-level.
• A lot of people, in part, give credit to Latricia Trammell, the first-year head coach for getting them to this point. This is largely a revised team. She's not going anywhere.
• And next year figures to bring in players who missed due to injuries (DeShields, Senechal) and more draft choices. With those extra players. Trammel might have options to sit players who are having off nights.
• BTW, Sabally is a free agent. Does she stay or go? Bibb seems to like offensive players so I think she stays.

I'm not saying your take is wrong (except coaches like Bill Laimbeer aren't coming back...), but GM Greg Bibb and Dallas ownership have put their money where their beliefs are, with the extension of Arike and the probable same thing with Sabally.

Also, while Dallas certainly should have won game 3, I don't think anyone was picking them to win the series. I think Dallas would have matched up a bit better with NY, but they seemed to make big strides this year on both O and D.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Why not put Crystal on Plum and size on Gray in that case?

I was thinking that Crystal would be undersized against Gray or Young, but might have a chance against Plum.

 

[Dillon77]

Also, while Dallas certainly should have won game 3, I don't think anyone was picking them to win the series. I think Dallas would have matched up a bit better with NY, but they seemed to make big strides this year on both O and D.

Agreed. I didn't have them going beyond getting one game.
With DeShields and Senechal coming back -- along with two (I believe) first-round draft picks -- GM Greg Bibb and Trammel can add to the mix. Need to add some outside shooting off the bench and decide how they want to go at point guard.

 

[Geew1992]

Agreed. I didn't have them going beyond getting one game.
With DeShields and Senechal coming back -- along with two (I believe) first-round draft picks -- GM Greg Bibb and Trammel can add to the mix. Need to add some outside shooting off the bench and decide how they want to go at point guard.

I think it depends on who they add from the draft. Because they sure like to pick the same type of players

 

[Dillon77]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Dangerfield fairly steady as a PG for most of the season? How her minutes dropped that drastically was surprising.

From what I remember hearing from the announcers, the change in PG for the play-offs was due to size versus Vegas. While I get the logic, Sims wasn't the answer obviously.

@nwhoopfan @MilfordHusky

Yup. Sure looks like Coach Trammell didn't want Crystal to get overpowered by Gray, but didn't want to totally give up offense, so she went with Odyssey Sims. Then, the Sims option didn't work and went with Veronica Burton. So, if you can combine the best of all three of them....

Odyssey Sims seems to pop up as a veteran option in a few places (Minnesota, Dallas). We'll see if it lasts past this year. Or would Trammel want to combo Crystal and Veronica? Since this is Greg Bibb land, you can almost bet he''ll go for volume and draft a point guard to have even more options.

 

[cancontent]

At the end of the day, I feel that the Sun is just a bit outgunned. But they play hard until the end and I think they can move forward from here. I had questions when Miller and Jones both bailed. But it seems to me the Sun is establishing a positive franchise identity. White has been such a good hire. I feel confident they can stay in the mix going forward.

Their lack of bench depth isn't helping either. Rebecca Allen being out Friday was a huge factor. They're running with 6-7 players currently right now aren't they?

 

[oldhusky]

I don't think match-up changes in this series by Dallas should mean much regarding what next year will look like. Dangerfield trying to guard Gray is a unique unusual scenario. Gray is pretty tall and strong and with her fade away can often score with a defender right in front of her, that is her own height, much less 6 inches shorter.

It was an impossible match-up for Crystal, but the good news for her is not many point guards can do what Gray does.. Dangerfield may be a marginal long term prospect to start at the point, but can probably carve out a long WNBA career as a reliable backup, and until they get a better option I suspect she could still be in the mix for next year,

Size in the back-court is also an issue for Dallas because of their shooting guard. Arike has point guard size but obviously is more of a shooting guard in style. Combing her with a smaller point guard means there will be some defensive match-up problems.

Look at Vegas for comparison. Plum is also more point guard size but shooting guard in style. But she pairs very well with Gray because Gray is big enough to guard the SG's and Plum can guard the PG's. They reverse positions on the defensive end and it works.

 

[Waquoit]

The Sun is such an easy team to root for

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Sun is such an easy team to root for

Uh...easy to root against. Way too physical and probably the 2 biggest whiners in the game (although they haven't been as bad today; they were ludicrous in Game 3).

 

[nwhoopfan]

This game was ridiculously physical, but the refs let it happen, and New York did what they had to and responded by being very physical themselves. Not much scoring from the backcourt (although 14 combined assists), but Stewie/Jones/Laney were all huge today.

Thomas had a monster game. Carrington was really big off the bench. Whatever happened with her last game was apparently irrelevant.

 

[From France]

And it will be an Aces / Liberty final as we all presumed

 

[oldude]

What a great game. Yes, it was incredibly physical. But I love the fact that both teams were competing ferociously and it came down to the wire. Now we get to watch the matchup that everyone expected between the Liberty and the Aces.

 

[visitingcock]

Two best teams with the two “generational” players ( no slight intended to Thomas). Magic vs. Bird

 

[JellyBean]

The Sun is such an easy team to root for

So true. They played hard out there today, heck all season. They are a blue-collar team. Thomas, with another triple double, is the heart and soul of that team. Great game and great season.

 

[nickp91]

This will be a great WNBA Finals match-up this will be like a heavyweight championships fight

 

[From France]

Jones, Stewart lead New York to first WNBA Finals in 21 years with 87-84 win over Connecticut

Jonquel Jones scored 25 points, including five in the final minute, and New York earned its first trip to the WNBA Finals in 21 years with an 87-84 win over the Connecticut Sun.

apnews.com

 

[Waquoit]

The Liberty was clearly the preferred team by the WNBA. That was some precision officiating.

 

[Waquoit]

Uh...easy to root against. Way too physical and probably the 2 biggest whiners in the game (although they haven't been as bad today; they were ludicrous in Game 3).

Please.

 

[From France]

That will be an untertaining finals series - And yeah the WNBA wished it but I think the Liberty owns its place, it wasn't given to them

 

[From France]

Congrats to A.Thomas for a ninth triple double

 

[From France]

seems like the verbals between DJ Carrington and ONO had en impact on this game roster