WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2 | Page 7 | The Boneyard

WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

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Indiana looked like a competent team yesterday. They actually had good ball movement at times and there was only some instances of hero ball. When Wheeler is playing under control and making better decisions this team plays much better.
 
It's gonna take me a minute to get used to Alanna Smith with bleached blonde hair. I couldn't even figure out who she was at the beginning of the game today.


New York...still a hard team to figure. They alternated between looking fantastic and looking awful several times today, before blowing it wide open.

Ionescu is gonna shatter the record for most made 3s in a season.
 
After Wilson laid an egg vs. NY she's stormed back and put up 28/14 and tonight dropped 40/12. Just a work horse and unstoppable out there. Vegas looked great (again) tonight but they're essentially a 4 woman team now. Their four stars are all 1st Team WNBA caliber players, but the depth concern is legitimate playing 36 games followed by a couple of potential 5 game series.

Hawkins left the game after hitting heads with Wilson and Cloud left the game after landing awkwardly on her hip, hope both are okay. Washington has been just decimated by injuries.
 
Yeah, massive game for Wilson. This season has to be record setting for number of 40 point individual performances.

Plum had a rare for her double double w/ 19 points and 10 assists.


Hawkins looked great tonight, too bad about that collision causing her to leave the game.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Yeah, massive game for Wilson. This season has to be record setting for number of 40 point individual performances.

Plum had a rare for her double double w/ 19 points and 10 assists.


Hawkins looked great tonight, too bad about that collision causing her to leave the game.
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The offense is brilliant this year and seems to improve every season.

Vegas leads the league with 93.6 ppg, Phoenix is last at 78.0 ppg.

10 years ago the leader was Minnesota at 82.9 ppg, NY was last at 69.6.

20 years ago Detroit led the league at 75.0 ppg, Phoenix was last at 61.7.

Plus with great PGs like Clark/Bueckers/Miles entering the league soon, the sky is the limit
 
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bballnut90 said:
Plus with great PGs like Clark/Bueckers/Miles entering the league soon, the sky is the limit
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With more games per season, and as you noted offensive numbers continuing to rise, will be interesting to see if any of that group of promising young PGs can get anywhere close to Bird's assist record (or it may very well be Vandersloot's record by the time that trio has a few years in the league under their belt).
 
bballnut90 said:
After Wilson laid an egg vs. NY she's stormed back and put up 28/14 and tonight dropped 40/12. Just a work horse and unstoppable out there. Vegas looked great (again) tonight but they're essentially a 4 woman team now. Their four stars are all 1st Team WNBA caliber players, but the depth concern is legitimate playing 36 games followed by a couple of potential 5 game series.

Hawkins left the game after hitting heads with Wilson and Cloud left the game after landing awkwardly on her hip, hope both are okay. Washington has been just decimated by injuries.
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nwhoopfan said:
With more games per season, and as you noted offensive numbers continuing to rise, will be interesting to see if any of that group of promising young PGs can get anywhere close to Bird's assist record (or it may very well be Vandersloot's record by the time that trio has a few years in the league under their belt).
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I think a lot of the records are potentially at risk long term if the league expands and continues to use a 36 game season.

Breakable Records:
-Sloot should break Bird's assist record in 2025 or 2026
-Tina Charles should surpass Fowles for rebounds if she plays a couple more seasons. Parker too has a shot (though less likely). Stewart and Wilson if they stay healthy could contend.
-Parker is 29 rebounds away from catching Syl for #1 in career defensive rebounds
-Charles is 134 rebounds from catching Brunson for #1 in career offensive rebounds
-Griner is well positioned to set the all time blocks record in 2025 or 2026. Long term Wilson could contend for this as well.
-Career TO's has DT at #1 but if she retires in 2024 and Sloot plays long enough (5+ seasons), she could catch DT.

Unbreakable for a long long time:

Steals is the biggest one that I don't see being broken any time soon, perhaps ever. Catchings for her career averaged 2.4 steals which is more than anyone has reached in a single season since she retired in 2016. The game is also much more offensive than it was for most of Catchings career, so this one I think is cemented as an all time record.

Elena Delle Donne's career FT percentage at 93.8% is going to be tough for anyone to beat. It beats the all time NBA percentage by 3%. One of the more underrated facts about EDD.

Single season FT% can only be tied. Becky Hammon went 35-35 her final season.

DT's scoring record will be hard for anyone to beat any time soon. She had a stretch of insane numbers while playing in Westhead's high octane offensive system, and even at 41 she's still putting up big numbers. If she plays through 2024 (guessing she will since she's on a max contract), the mark to beat will require remarkably consistency and longevity. Arike/Loyd/Stewart/Wilson could be contenders if they stay healthy but I think it's a long shot unless the league adds more games per season.

Her number of career 3s (1358) more than doubles any active player.

She's also #1 in fouls with 1637. No one else playing has over 1000, so that's safely her record.



Playoff Records:
Almost all of the playoff stats seem very breakable with longer playoffs and no Lebron/Jordan type figure in the women's game. Championship teams play 8-13 games now, where in previous years it was fewer between byes and shorter series, meaning there were far fewer chances for players to rack up stats. Also, there hasn't been anyone on the women's side like a Lebron or Jordan who had a 15-20 year career and consistently made the finals. Moore was on pace to be the equivalent on the women's side but retired at just 29. Parker right now is #2 in points, #1 in rebounds, #2 in blocks, #2 in steals, and #5 in assists, but I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't top 5 in any of those categories 10-15 years from now.

Looking ahead, Wilson and Stewart are well positioned to be strong contenders for breaking records if they continue to lead their squads in deep playoff runs. Both are at the peak of their game right now and show zero signs of slowing down.
 
@nwhoopfan or anyone:

There were a number of personnel moves made in the last two weeks (goodbye Emily Engstler, Alaine Coates, etc.), but this one below just baffles me:

- "Ivana Dojkić signed a Contract Amendment - Divorce with the Seattle Storm."

- "Ivana Dojkić was waived by the Seattle Storm."

How does a player who was considered the non-draft "find" of the season just a month ago, move from the starting lineup to divorce on the court? I mean, it's not as if Jade Melbourne is suddenly killing it. And her salary can't be that taxing on the Storm.

Did she, perhaps, figure: "If I'm not starting, please just send me home so I can get ready for the season in Europe?"

Signed,
Perplexed
 
Dillon77 said:
@nwhoopfan or anyone:

There were a number of personnel moves made in the last two weeks (goodbye Emily Engstler, Alaine Coates, etc.), but this one below just baffles me:

- "Ivana Dojkić signed a Contract Amendment - Divorce with the Seattle Storm."

- "Ivana Dojkić was waived by the Seattle Storm."

How does a player who was considered the non-draft "find" of the season just a month ago, move from the starting lineup to divorce on the court? I mean, it's not as if Jade Melbourne is suddenly killing it. And her salary can't be that taxing on the Storm.

Did she, perhaps, figure: "If I'm not starting, please just send me home so I can get ready for the season in Europe?"

Signed,
Perplexed
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What you posted is something I can never grasp about the W's roster moves. Clearly 11 and 12 player rosters mean there will be times fill in players may be called up, especially with injuries which seem to have exploded this year.

Lobo tweeted earlier every team should keep two players on like a reserve contract or something during the season so if/when someone become unavailable for an extended period, those are the two players who will join the team. The never ending 7 day rosters/waivers/pick ups/only to waive again cannot be good for continuity with a team.
 
Dillon77 said:
@nwhoopfan or anyone:

There were a number of personnel moves made in the last two weeks (goodbye Emily Engstler, Alaine Coates, etc.), but this one below just baffles me:

- "Ivana Dojkić signed a Contract Amendment - Divorce with the Seattle Storm."

- "Ivana Dojkić was waived by the Seattle Storm."

How does a player who was considered the non-draft "find" of the season just a month ago, move from the starting lineup to divorce on the court? I mean, it's not as if Jade Melbourne is suddenly killing it. And her salary can't be that taxing on the Storm.

Did she, perhaps, figure: "If I'm not starting, please just send me home so I can get ready for the season in Europe?"

Signed,
Perplexed
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I read on another site she always intended to leave to join her club team, but I don't know if that was speculation or a confirmed fact. Only thing that makes any sense to me.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
40 games this season.
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Oh I somehow missed that. Yeah every record is going to be at risk then, especially if the league keeps extending the season.
 
bballnut90 said:
After Wilson laid an egg vs. NY she's stormed back and put up 28/14 and tonight dropped 40/12. Just a work horse and unstoppable out there. Vegas looked great (again) tonight but they're essentially a 4 woman team now. Their four stars are all 1st Team WNBA caliber players, but the depth concern is legitimate playing 36 games followed by a couple of potential 5 game series.

Hawkins left the game after hitting heads with Wilson and Cloud left the game after landing awkwardly on her hip, hope both are okay. Washington has been just decimated by injuries.
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If Washington gets EDD and Austin back for the playoffs, and makes it they will be a dangerous team.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I read on another site she always intended to leave to join her club team, but I don't know if that was speculation or a confirmed fact. Only thing that makes any sense to me.
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Thanks for the input.
That development would be the only option I could think of in the "makes sense" mode, as well.

Yes, it did seem like she wasn't quite as sharp (and/or the league was onto her) the second time around, but still looked a solid addition to the new version of the Storm. Wonder if she'll come back to Storm/the league next year.
 
baggerbob said:
If Washington gets EDD and Austin back for the playoffs, and makes it they will be a dangerous team.
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Things would really get interesting if they had to face Vegas or NY in the first-round.

In the past, Washington has always been the one team that could absolutely give Vegas a run for their money (and beat NY in their first matchup this year).
 
.-.
With the season being 40 games instead of the 34 games it was for a long time, single-season records are clearly in jeopardy. Career records are also vulnerable, though to a lesser degree.

Maybe the most stunning fact I read in this thread: Maya Moore retired at age 29.
 
After missing almost the entirety of the previous game, Bonner was back for the Sun but only scored 3 points. Connecticut lost both games. Who is the real MVP of that team? I kid, I kid, but I think it does highlight that A. Thomas ain't doing it by herself, and without much help from Bonner they are now officially on a losing streak.

Dallas really needed that win after stumbling a bit themselves lately.


And Atlanta lost to LA. I'm telling ya, NOBODY wants to be in the #4 spot.
 
the Sun REALLY miss Bri Jones. The Wings have two huge centers, and the Sun are trying to keep them away from the basket with Bonner at around 140 and Nelson-Ododa at 160. Bonner, with a bad back, is giving up close to 100 lb to McCowan and Brown, both of whom had nice games tonight.
 
With 11-12 games left, depending on the team, it is going to be interesting to see what happens in the playoff race and for the lottery teams.
 
baggerbob said:
If Washington gets EDD and Austin back for the playoffs, and makes it they will be a dangerous team.
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I love EDD and Austin is one of my favorite players of this new generation of players to watch. Washington could be dangerous in the playoffs. Just depends on how healthy EDD and Austin are with 11-12 games left and during the playoffs.
 
nwhoopfan said:
After missing almost the entirety of the previous game, Bonner was back for the Sun but only scored 3 points. Connecticut lost both games. Who is the real MVP of that team? I kid, I kid, but I think it does highlight that A. Thomas ain't doing it by herself, and without much help from Bonner they are now officially on a losing streak.

Dallas really needed that win after stumbling a bit themselves lately.


And Atlanta lost to LA. I'm telling ya, NOBODY wants to be in the #4 spot.
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Home court advantage at this time of year should never be underestimated particularly the coast to coast travel.
 
.-.
Hawkins playing for Washington today, didn't miss any games after having to leave early in the previous game. Not only that, but looks like Shakira Austin has come in off the bench and back in action today.
 
Looks like she slowing down a bit in the 3rd quarter. Sloot also has 11 assists. Still almost 15 minutes to go, both could end up with really big stat lines.

Indiana was hanging tough for a while but now getting blown out.
 
Stewie with what I think is her 3rd 40 point game of the season. That's gotta be another record. Seems like records are falling left and right this year.
 
Also Ionescu joined Taurasi and Plum as the only players to hit 100 3's in a season. She's far from done, another record (single season made 3s) that is destined to fall.
 
.-.
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