WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2 | Page 14 | The Boneyard

WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

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bballnut90 said:
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.
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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.
 
SECbbfan24 said:
What was Taurasi out for?
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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.
 
bballnut90 said:
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.
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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
 
wingsfan055 said:
To get the #1 draft pick.
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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.
 
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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
 
bballnut90 said:
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.
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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.
 
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wingsfan055 said:
To get the #1 draft pick.
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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 said:
Coming down to the wire.

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So true. I'm kind of new to paying this close attention to the W. Is it typical that a lot of teams hover around .500?

I also ran the numbers for Seattle, Phoenix, and Indiana. All three theoretically still have a chance but it is very improbable. All three teams have the possibility to win 16 games. It would also mean that LA or Washington would have to go on a massive losing streak too. I don't see that happening. Once the team in the #8 seed spot has 17 wins, or of any of those teams lose 1-2 (I didn't do the tiebreaker research) of their remaining games, then they're officially eliminated.
 
I don't think it's that odd.

You have the two top teams (Vegas and NYL) and three bottom teams (Indiana, Seattle, Phoenix.) Then you have a team in CT that's pretty wedded into 3rd place, and a team like Chicago that looks like it will likely end up in 9th. So your middle of the league pack (Teams 4-8) makes sense they'd be close together, and all around .500. DC/LA have dealt with a ton of injuries this season but are starting to get healthy again; Dallas and Atlanta have flirted with the 4th seed but are too inconsistent. And Minnesota started off dreadful but has made its way back to the path (largely by also getting healthier, L.Allen notwithstanding).

With a league so stacked with talent, would make sense you'd have a ton of teams in the middle.
 
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bbsamjj said:
I don't think it's that odd.

You have the two top teams (Vegas and NYL) and three bottom teams (Indiana, Seattle, Phoenix.) Then you have a team in CT that's pretty wedded into 3rd place, and a team like Chicago that looks like it will likely end up in 9th. So your middle of the league pack (Teams 4-8) makes sense they'd be close together, and all around .500. DC/LA have dealt with a ton of injuries this season but are starting to get healthy again; Dallas and Atlanta have flirted with the 4th seed but are too inconsistent. And Minnesota started off dreadful but has made its way back to the path (largely by also getting healthier, L.Allen notwithstanding).

With a league so stacked with talent, would make sense you'd have a ton of teams in the middle.
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Also the bad teams aren't as bad as they used to be either. There are usually 2-3 teams that was basically an easy win for the rest of league and this year is not the case. The bottom teams being competitive has lead to a bigger log jam in the middle than usual.
 
GCKSFN4L said:
Also the bad teams aren't as bad as they used to be either. There are usually 2-3 teams that was basically an easy win for the rest of league and this year is not the case. The bottom teams being competitive has lead to a bigger log jam in the middle than usual.
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Phoenix Mercury 1-15 on the road. So Connecticut, Las Vegas, Minnesota, and Atlanta can anticipate wins when they host the hapless Phoenix team over the remainder of the season.

The Atorm and Fever two really bad teams have also handily beaten the Mercury at Footprint Arena.

The old saw about on any given night does not apply to the Mercury.
 
Aces still struggling. Looks like Plum did her part but didn't get much help. I guess EDD isn't done for the year after all.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Aces still struggling. Looks like Plum did her part but didn't get much help. I guess EDD isn't done for the year after all.
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Yeah, the Aces were held to 30 points under their average. Meanwhile, Stewie goes for 38 and NY routs Minnesota by 35. Phee is held to 10.
 
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The Fever eeked one out against the Dream. Boston left the game during the 3rd quarter with what looked to be a right hand or wrist injury. She was back on the bench with her hand wrapped up in an elastic bandage in the fourth, but never reentered the game. If I remember correctly, she had a little bit of a sore wrist during her senior year, so I wonder if something exacerbated the issue. I have a feeling she may miss a game or two but not be out for the season. Wallace and Berger stepped up in her place and both had career nights!
 
GamecockFam said:
The Fever eeked one out against the Dream. Boston left the game during the 3rd quarter with what looked to be a right hand or wrist injury. She was back on the bench with her hand wrapped up in an elastic bandage in the fourth, but never reentered the game. If I remember correctly, she had a little bit of a sore wrist during her senior year, so I wonder if something exacerbated the issue. I have a feeling she may miss a game or two but not be out for the season. Wallace and Berger stepped up in her place and both had career nights!
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3 straight wins. Working their way out of the lotto #1. ( maybe)
 
Dallas/Phoenix had quite the finish. Arike hits 2 free throws with 7 seconds left to go up 4. Howard (Dallas) intentionally fouls Phoenix for seemingly no reason with 3.7 seconds left. The announcer (legendary Ann Meyers) somehow tries to justify this as a smart move since it avoided a potential 4 point play? Well, Phoenix hits the first FT, intentionally misses the second, gets the rebound and a great look for 3 from Jefferson but the shot wedgied as time expires which gave a bizarre reaction from everyone lol. Tough finish for Jefferson but she played great tonight (20 points, 5 assists).
 
GamecockFam said:
The Fever eeked one out against the Dream. Boston left the game during the 3rd quarter with what looked to be a right hand or wrist injury. She was back on the bench with her hand wrapped up in an elastic bandage in the fourth, but never reentered the game. If I remember correctly, she had a little bit of a sore wrist during her senior year, so I wonder if something exacerbated the issue. I have a feeling she may miss a game or two but not be out for the season. Wallace and Berger stepped up in her place and both had career nights!
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They said it was her thumb
 
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