WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2 | Page 17 | The Boneyard

WNBA 2023 Season, Part 2

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kristy Wallace went down with a knee injury. UGH She looked pretty distraught, and she knows from knee injuries. OTOH she walked (gingerly) to the locker room. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Fever/Wings was very entertaining. Dangerfirld was whistled for a tech late in the third or early in the fourth. (It was hilarious to see McCowan restraining her. McCowan basically tucked Crystal under her arm). She then went off and carried the Wings with 8 or 10 points in the fourth. The Fever ran away in OT.

Wallace was on the bench in apparently good spirits.
 
Glad the fever are having some success and building momentum going into next season. Definitely better than their record appears but they are finally closing out games a bit better and players are finding their roles more
 
Interesting game in Minny tonight:

Paige and Azzi in attendance. Azzi wearing a Dorka jersey.

Lynx get to .500 again and clinch a playoff berth.

Cheryl notches her 300th win.

Phee records 22/16/5/1/3

Dorka flirts with a triple-double and gets 10/12/8/1/2. Some beautiful passes.

Meanwhile, MoJeff puts up a career-high 32 and gets a big hug from Cheryl. 32/2/4/1 with only 1 TO on 13-22 shooting.
 
.-.
LA beat Washington (and that was without Nneka). Could Washington actually miss the playoffs? Tied w/ Atlanta at 17-20, LA 1 game back and Chicago 2 games back, 3 games left. LA and Chicago are duking it out for the last playoff spot, but the Mystics better plan on not losing if they want to be sure.
 
nwhoopfan said:
LA beat Washington (and that was without Nneka). Could Washington actually miss the playoffs? Tied w/ Atlanta at 17-20, LA 1 game back and Chicago 2 games back, 3 games left. LA and Chicago are duking it out for the last playoff spot, but the Mystics better plan on not losing if they want to be sure.
Expand ...
Mystics were already playing without Atkins and Austin last night (nasal fracture; aggravating hip injury); then Toliver went down with a knee injury after spending most of her season fighting to get back on the court. EDD admitted it was devastating emotionally.

Team hasn't been able to catch a break on the injury front his year. It's like one step forward, two steps back.

www.espn.com

Mystics' Kristi Toliver suffers non-contact knee injury

Mystics' Kristi Toliver suffered a non-contact right knee injury in Sunday night's loss and the team is "not expecting good news" following an MRI, head coach Eric Thibault said.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
bbsamjj said:
Dallas has now secured a playoff spot, and unless they completely fall apart in last four games (which includes home games against Indiana and Seattle), they should be settled into the #4 seed. CT is locked into the #3 seed. And unless Vegas loses their last two games (both against PHO), they should end up the #1 seed and NY the #2 seed.

But #5-#9 could change a ton in the final week:

5. Minnesota (18-19) (vs. PHO, @CHI, @IND)
6. Washington (17-19) (@LA, @PHO, vs ATL, vs NY)
7. Atlanta (17-20) (vs SEA, @DC, vs DAL)
8. Chicago (15-21) (vs NY, @IND, vs MN, @CT)
9. LA (15-21) (vs DC, @CT, @NY, @SEA)

FWIW, Minnesota has the tiebreaker against DC.
Atlanta has the tiebreaker against MN, and currently leads season series with DC 2-1.
Chicago has the tiebreaker against LA.

Other things to ponder, Washington plays NY, Atlanta plays Dallas, and Chicago plays CT in their final games. If those 3 playoff teams are locked into their seeds (likely), do they rest their starters?
Expand ...
After yesterday, Minnesota has clinched a playoff spot, and you now have:

4. Dallas (20-17) (NY, SEA, @ATL)
5. Minnesota (19-19) (@CHI, @IND)
6. Washington (17-20) (@PHO, vs ATL, vs NY)
7. Atlanta (17-20) (vs SEA, @DC, vs DAL)
8. LA (16-21) (@CT, @NY, @SEA)
9. Chicago (15-22) (@IND, vs MN, @CT)

Dallas and Minnesota split their season series, so not sure what happens if they end up with same record. Dallas still in drivers seat for 4 seed but they did themselves no favors with the home OT loss to Indiana (also, the Fever have now won more games this year (12) than the previous two years combined). Seattle and Indiana could certainly play spoiler this last week (So could PHO, but they are so banged up I have less faith).
 
SECbbfan24 said:
Glad the fever are having some success and building momentum going into next season. Definitely better than their record appears but they are finally closing out games a bit better and players are finding their roles more
Expand ...
Love seeing the Fever learn to close out for wins. Building momentum for next year is important!
 
.-.
visitingcock said:
Love seeing the Fever learn to close out for wins. Building momentum for next year is important!
Expand ...
I feel like they are one more scoring guard and a backup big away from being a threat to every team but the Aces and Liberty. Clark, Bueckers, and Brink would all be welcome additions to the team.

On a side note, who do you all think will be the best 2 guard in next year's draft? It seems like slim pickings...Van Lith? Owusu? Donarski?
 
visitingcock said:
Love seeing the Fever learn to close out for wins. Building momentum for next year is important!
Expand ...

Which was the end goal from what I sensed this season. The future in Indiana doesn't seem so "bleak" as some have been suggesting. This may be a more attractive landing spot for draftees than some think.
 
cancontent said:
Which was the end goal from what I sensed this season. The future in Indiana doesn't seem so "bleak" as some have been suggesting. This may be a more attractive landing spot for draftees than some think.
Expand ...
I think Sides has done a great job with a young team. They’ve been competitive all season. And when they were losing close games consistently, she made sure they didn’t panic and get discouraged. Now they’ve won a couple of close games in the last week or so.

It doesn’t hurt that their two rookies pretty much came to the team pro-ready.
 
GamecockFam said:
I feel like they are one more scoring guard and a backup big away from being a threat to every team but the Aces and Liberty. Clark, Bueckers, and Brink would all be welcome additions to the team.

On a side note, who do you all think will be the best 2 guard in next year's draft? It seems like slim pickings...Van Lith? Owusu? Donarski?
Expand ...
Brink, imo, gives them way less than a Clark or a Bueckers, unless they wanted to do a super big lineup with Smith at the 3, Brink at 4, Boston at 5 (which is kind of what Dallas is doing with Sabally/Howard/McCowan).

Richard Cohen at Her Hoops Stats posited that outside of landing Clark/Bueckers, the Fever could be a landing spot for Skylar Diggins Smith (and Indiana native). They can afford her, and certainly use her; but she's already 33 and now coming back from her second pregnancy. If she is the right culture fit, and can take on the role as a veteran leader, she would certainly be a huge upgrade over Wheeler.
 
GamecockFam said:
I feel like they are one more scoring guard and a backup big away from being a threat to every team but the Aces and Liberty. Clark, Bueckers, and Brink would all be welcome additions to the team.

On a side note, who do you all think will be the best 2 guard in next year's draft? It seems like slim pickings...Van Lith? Owusu? Donarski?
Expand ...
Indiana needs another high quality guard. Smith and Boston are going to be one of the best post duos in the WNBA for years to come IMO. If they can get Clark or Paige, I think that changes a lot of things for them next year.
 
SECbbfan24 said:
Indiana needs another high quality guard. Smith and Boston are going to be one of the best post duos in the WNBA for years to come IMO. If they can get Clark or Paige, I think that changes a lot of things for them next year.
Expand ...
I’m probably gonna catch some heat for this but here it goes.

I agree about Boston/Smith. That’s a great post duo. My issue with the Fever is guard play. Wheeler and Mitchell aren’t it. I know the indiana camp wants to build around Mitchell but in my eyes she is part of their issue. She takes a lot of ill advised shots and doesn’t move the ball. I said when she was in college she would be a more complete player if she averages 15-18 and 5-7 assists per game. I honestly thing indiana looks better with the rookie Berger. Another guard would be great but they have to realize that they need to reel in the ones they have or it’s never going to change. That’s my 2 cents.
 
.-.
Berger usually comes on for Wheeler, not Mitchell I believe. I'd like to see what Mitchell looks like on a competitive team. Indiana has been awful since she joined them:

6-28
13-21
6-16
6-26
5-31
12-25 (so far in 2023)

Sure she has room for improvement, but records like that are not the fault of one player.

The past two years she has been excellent individually: 18.4ppg, 44%FG, 40.5% from 3pt, 3.7apg, 1.7rpg.
A core of Boston/Smith/Mitchell is pretty decent, especially when you consider how young Boston and Smith are.

But when your other starters are Wheeler at the 1 and Lexie Hull/Victoria Vivians at the 3, it's well below average [I like a lot of these players individually, but they are not the answer]. For Indiana to be really competitive they need a big talent upgrade at at least one of those positions.
 
HuskyFan1125 said:
I’m probably gonna catch some heat for this but here it goes.

I agree about Boston/Smith. That’s a great post duo. My issue with the Fever is guard play. Wheeler and Mitchell aren’t it. I know the indiana camp wants to build around Mitchell but in my eyes she is part of their issue. She takes a lot of ill advised shots and doesn’t move the ball. I said when she was in college she would be a more complete player if she averages 15-18 and 5-7 assists per game. I honestly thing indiana looks better with the rookie Berger. Another guard would be great but they have to realize that they need to reel in the ones they have or it’s never going to change. That’s my 2 cents.
Expand ...
Nah. The topic of guard play has been an observation made by several posters. Unless you were hoping for a sunburn, you won't be catching much heat for this.
 
GamecockFam said:
I feel like they are one more scoring guard and a backup big away from being a threat to every team but the Aces and Liberty. Clark, Bueckers, and Brink would all be welcome additions to the team.

On a side note, who do you all think will be the best 2 guard in next year's draft? It seems like slim pickings...Van Lith? Owusu? Donarski?
Expand ...
I don’t see Van Lith being any more effective than Dana Evans in the league — both are undersized shooting guards who can take over games but are often inefficient. Evans has been a contributor this year but that has more to do with the Sky’s injury absences IMO. That said, Kim is 3-for-3 transforming SGs into successful PGs and Hailey Van Lith is probably more acclaimed a player than any of Chloe Jackson, Te’a Cooper, or Alexis Morris ever were.

I really don’t know what to make of Owusu at this point. Her first two years at Maryland she looked like a surefire future lottery pick but the whole VT experience was puzzling beyond belief and has left a lot of people with questions about her. She’s going to struggle to get exposure this year playing on a likely losing team but if she’s productive she could work her way back into the draft conversation.

Donarski is an elite defender but I think she’s a less polished and efficient version of Berger, at least currently. I think she’ll be a great fit at UNC tho and could be a major contributor this year.

I personally think Rickea Jackson, a natural 3 in the W, would be an excellent fit for Indiana. I actually think Jackson is a far better prospect than Reese as of today.
 
Last edited:
UConnCat said:
More things Dallas.

Expand ...

I was totally blown away how many looks Mitchell had from three with nobody within ten feet of her in that game. At least be close enough to wave a hand near her face.
 
.-.
GamecockFam said:
I feel like they are one more scoring guard and a backup big away from being a threat to every team but the Aces and Liberty. Clark, Bueckers, and Brink would all be welcome additions to the team.

On a side note, who do you all think will be the best 2 guard in next year's draft? It seems like slim pickings...Van Lith? Owusu? Donarski?
Expand ...
I guess it depends on what position that you want to assign to certain players, but I will throw in an early vote for Isobel Borlase. Jacy Sheldon would probably be the next highest consensus ranked shooting guard height player though.
 
GoChips20 said:
I don’t see Van Lith being any more effective than Dana Evans in the league — both are undersized shooting guards who can take over games but are often inefficient. Evans has been a contributor this year but that has more to do with the Sky’s injury absences IMO. That said, Kim is 3-for-3 transforming SGs into successful PGs and Hailey Van Lith is probably more acclaimed a player than any of Chloe Jackson, Te’a Cooper, or Alexis Morris ever were.

I really don’t know what to make of Owusu at this point. Her first two years at Maryland she looked like a surefire future lottery pick but the whole VT experience was puzzling beyond belief and has left a lot of people with questions about her. She’s going to struggle to get exposure this year playing on a likely losing team but if she’s productive she could work her way back into the draft conversation.

Donarski is an elite defender but I think she’s a less polished and efficient version of Berger, at least currently. I think she’ll be a great fit at UNC tho and could be a major contributor this year.

I personally think Rickea Jackson, a natural 3 in the W, would be an excellent fit for Indiana. I actually think Jackson is a far better prospect than Reese as of today.
Expand ...
Rickea Jackson could fit in nicely in Indiana, particularly if Clark/Bueckers aren't available (either because they're staying another year or they've already been drafted).
 
cancontent said:
Nah. The topic of guard play has been an observation made by several posters. Unless you were hoping for a sunburn, you won't be catching much heat for this.
Expand ...
Yes, it was a semi-regular topic during the entire season: coffee, yogurt, what to do with that Fever backcourt. And Wings, while we're at it.

@HusfyFan1125 ...your two cents and some 50 spf will get you into this conversation, for sure. ;):cool:

Mitchell is Mitchell and sometimes it's not a bad thing to have a person that can create her own shot, particularly given the other options here. The trouble is, as many of us have written, is the ball is not distributed to other options often and adroitly enough. For me, that's a Wheeler issue, who is a a tweener shoot-first/dribble too much point guard. Dunn signer her to a two-year contract (bidding against herself) before the draft brought Berger. Coach Sides knew her from Atlanta (as she did Wallace, but that's another story) and is using her. Yes, personally, I'd ease Berger into that role steadily, but Dunn is equally prone to good and "what?" moves (see Egbo, Queen).

As noted on this board, too, Lexie Hull and Wallace would make good back-up wings. They're just not going to give enough consistent firepower to pull defenses out from Boston and Smith. I swear I've seen Wheeler look into the corner and not deliver passes waay too many times when she sees them. Can't have that. Will watch that whole backcourt scenario off season.
 
UConnCat said:
More things Dallas.

Expand ...

I get what the person is saying with this clip but the whole game, the Wings players were sprinting back on defense for most of the game. Just a few clips showing key players not sprinting back does not paint the whole picture.
 
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,285
Messages
4,561,325
Members
10,455
Latest member
UConnGabby


Top Bottom