WNBA -- 2023 Season

[Bigboote]

Really poor execution in overtime. Blown layup by Wheeler, a couple of bad shots by Mitchell, and never got the ball to Boston until the game was over in OT. Looks like a 3 team race (Indy/Seattle/Minnesota) for the potential Caitlin Clark/Paige Bueckers sweepstakes.

The execution was horrible, but I thought the coach was 50% better then the last game they blew. In that game it seemed that as soon as someone got hot, Sides pulled that player in favor of someone who hadn't done anything.

 

[baggerbob]

Yeah, it still perplexes me why she won't dish the ball more. It would be to her benefit as Boston does kick it back out if the shot isn't there.

Mitchell went to Ohio State, and she had the green light to shoot anytime, and it has continued in the WNBA.

 

[JellyBean]

Whoa. Last season, Phoenix had a legit reason to be chaotic and a little off their game. This season do they still get to have that same excuse? 1-4? Hats off to Dallas. They started off rough but manage to get things figured out and hold on for the win. Maddy Siegrist got some minutes and played very well out there.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Kalani with 17 points and 15 boards

 

[cancontent]

Whoa. Last season, Phoenix had a legit reason to be chaotic and a little off their game. This season do they still get to have that same excuse? 1-4? Hats off to Dallas. They started off rough but manage to get things figured out and hold on for the win. Maddy Siegrist got some minutes and played very well out there.

Yikes is more like it to me. A friend and I were talking about how underwhelming their free agency was during the off-season. Got the feeling they don't have the money to go after bigger names. And Skylar is still on maternity leave correct?

 

[Tangential]

 

[JellyBean]

Yikes is more like it to me. A friend and I were talking about how underwhelming their free agency was during the off-season. Got the feeling they don't have the money to go after bigger names. And Skylar is still on maternity leave correct?

Yup. Skylar is still on maternity leave. I do hope that whatever little issue her and the team went through last year, they put that behind them and move on. Watching the game tonight, it was rough for Phoenix.

 

[Blueballer]

What happened to Breanna Turner? The past couple of years I thought she made great strides. So far this season she hasn't contributed much of anything. Outside of Griner they just have no post game.

 

[bbsamjj]

Just read an interesting article on Indiana from HerHoopsStats, making the point that while the Fever are certainly better than last year, their ceiling might be sneaking in to the 8th seed in the playoffs. But given how good next year's draft class is, and the fact that Indiana isn't exactly a destination for free agents yet, the Fever's best strategy to become a very good team is to add talent through the draft.

The argument the writer makes is that the Fever should strive to be the 10th or 9th best team this year--showing signs of progress, but not enough that they diminish their chances of picking up a great player who can really take their team to the next level in 2024 (which I'd argue is Clark or Bueckers, given than their frontline is looking very solid for a while with Boston, Smith, Egbo). The WNBA does its draft odds on cumulative two year records, and given the Fever were 5-31 last year, they can still be more competitive (a result I'd argue they've already achieved despite the lack of wins) and keep their lottery odds in tack.

 

[Dillon77]

Following up on @bbsamjj : that article is Richard Cohen's third installment on the WNBA season in "herhoopstats." I've posted links on the first two and will continue to do so throughout the season. I highly recommend that all perusers of this WNBA thread open it up and read his insights. In addition to his thoughts on the Fever (which @cancontent and @hoopsnloops32 could find interesting ), he does a great job on:

• explaining the myriad of WNBA rules that have led to seemingly "WTF?" moves in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and may be coming in Chicago, as well.
• Money in ownership. Valuation. This also factored in the discussion on franchise stability.
• Clips of Marine Johannes passing. Always worth it.

Enjoy!

WNBA Dissected 2023 Week 3: Moves explained, Marine exalted, money's exciting and more

From roster machinations to no-look passes, a jump around important and interesting topics in the WNBA this week

herhoopstats.substack.com

 

[Dillon77]

Just read an interesting article on Indiana from HerHoopsStats, making the point that while the Fever are certainly better than last year, their ceiling might be sneaking in to the 8th seed in the playoffs. But given how good next year's draft class is, and the fact that Indiana isn't exactly a destination for free agents yet, the Fever's best strategy to become a very good team is to add talent through the draft.

The argument the writer makes is that the Fever should strive to be the 10th or 9th best team this year--showing signs of progress, but not enough that they diminish their chances of picking up a great player who can really take their team to the next level in 2024 (which I'd argue is Clark or Bueckers, given than their frontline is looking very solid for a while with Boston, Smith, Egbo). The WNBA does its draft odds on cumulative two year records, and given the Fever were 5-31 last year, they can still be more competitive (a result I'd argue they've already achieved despite the lack of wins) and keep their lottery odds in tack.

That two-year factor is something I've got to keep reminding myself.

 

[Dillon77]

What happened to Breanna Turner? The past couple of years I thought she made great strides. So far this season she hasn't contributed much of anything. Outside of Griner they just have no post game.

She's not shooting, whether by design or just happenstance?

However, she would still manage to work a high-low with Ms. Griner or get a dish from Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Last year, she wore herself out playing center and power forward in Griner's absence. And she rebounded like heck. Now, she comes off the bench and sometimes doesn't even rebound much.
Is she fried? In Vanessa Nygaard's doghouse?

One thing I can tell you is she's not sluffin' it: that's not what Breezy Bri does. This daughter of two policemen works, works and works. There are no such things as trades during the WNBA season, but Bri might need a change of scenery next year, to once again be efficient at rebounding and do all the things that don't appear in the box score. I'm not used to seeing Turner not contribute in a positive manner (and I've watched her since she was a frosh at ND). Phoenix just looks to be wearing on everyone involved.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Team Stats--so far. Teams have played 5-8 games so far so I am using per game %

Team-----PPG
LVA------93.1
DAL------84.9
ATL------83.8
LAS------83.0
CHI-----81.3
IND-----80.8
PHX-----80.4
NYL-----80.0
CON----79.6
MIN----78.6
SEA----76.8
WAS---76.5

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team--------FG%
LVA----------48.5
PHX---------45.5
NYL---------44.9
IND---------42.8
CHI---------42.7
LAS---------42.3
MIN--------41.8
CON--------41.0
ATL---------40.8
DAL--------40.2
WAS-------39.3
SEA--------38.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team-------RPG%
DAL--------38.3
IND--------37.3
LVA--------36.9
ATL--------36.8
CON-------36.8
CHI--------36.4
NYL--------36.0
SEA--------36.0
MIN-------34.7
WAS-------34.5
LAS--------31.8
PHX-------30.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team-------APG
NYL--------23.7
LVA--------21.9
LAS--------21.0
CHI--------20.9
PHX-------20.8
CON------19.8
ATL--------19.2
WAS-------18.3
MIN--------18.3
IND---------17.2
DAL---------16.9
SEA---------14.0

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Following up on @bbsamjj : that article is Richard Cohen's third installment on the WNBA season. I've attached the first two and will continue to do so throughout the season. I highly recommend that all perusers of this WNBA thread open it up and read his insights. In addition to his thoughts on the Fever (which @cancontent and @hoopsnloops32 could find interesting ), he does a great job on:

• explaining the myriad of WNBA rules that have led to seemingly "WTF?" moves in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and may be coming in Chicago, as well.
• Money in ownership. Valuation. This also factored in the discussion on franchise stability.
• Clips of Marine Johannes passing. Always worth it.

Enjoy!

WNBA Dissected 2023 Week 3: Moves explained, Marine exalted, money's exciting and more

From roster machinations to no-look passes, a jump around important and interesting topics in the WNBA this week

herhoopstats.substack.com

This was a good article. I do still think tanking for the 2024 draft class is a risk, as he speculates teams 6-12 might do, because the biggest names in that draft have all talked about returning for a fifth year already, which you didn't hear from previous top draft picks their junior years. Angel Reese is very clearly returning for year 5, Caitlyn has teased the idea as well, and Paige has talked about considering staying for year 6 (though I find that unlikely). If I had to put money on it now I'd say 2 of the 3 stay in school with there being a better chance all 3 stay than all 3 go. If that's the case, the 2024 draft class is good but really big dominant. Brink, Edwards, Cardosa could potentially be your top 3 which is great but when you look at the teams struggling (outside of Phoenix) they all needs stronger guards, not bigs, to make the next step.

The 2025 draft could be elite guard packed with Clark, Bueckers, Miles, Fudd, and Citron all potentially coming out that year.

Anyways all speculation but I imagine these are the decisions teams are trying to plan for and the mystery of 5th years must make it even more challenging.

 

[bbsamjj]

Team Stats--so far. Teams have played 5-8 games so far so I am using per game %

Team-----PPG
LVA------93.1
DAL------84.9
ATL------83.8
LAS------83.0
CHI-----81.3
IND-----80.8
PHX-----80.4
NYL-----80.0
CON----79.6
MIN----78.6
SEA----76.8
WAS---76.5

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team--------FG%
LVA----------48.5
PHX---------45.5
NYL---------44.9
IND---------42.8
CHI---------42.7
LAS---------42.3
MIN--------41.8
CON--------41.0
ATL---------40.8
DAL--------40.2
WAS-------39.3
SEA--------38.2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team-------RPG%
DAL--------38.3
IND--------37.3
LVA--------36.9
ATL--------36.8
CON-------36.8
CHI--------36.4
NYL--------36.0
SEA--------36.0
MIN-------34.7
WAS-------34.5
LAS--------31.8
PHX-------30.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Team-------APG
NYL--------23.7
LVA--------21.9
LAS--------21.0
CHI--------20.9
PHX-------20.8
CON------19.8
ATL--------19.2
WAS-------18.3
MIN--------18.3
IND---------17.2
DAL---------16.9
SEA---------14.0

Interesting that NYL is so low in PPG while they are 3rd in FG% and 1st in assists (Which you would assume would imply they have a pretty good offense).

The commentators for the last game I watched said their issue is pace--they play at the slowest pace in the league, which is kind of wild.

 

[toad455]

Five potential first time All-stars

Five potential first-time WNBA All-Stars

Voting for the 2023 WNBA All-Star game in Las Vegas began on Wednesday. Though the 2023 season is only three weeks old.

www.beyondwomenssports.com

 

[ochoopsfan]

 

[ochoopsfan]

 

[Bigboote]

Wow, the Sun put the hurt on the Aces. Bonner dropped a career-high 41 points on them.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oh my. They should probably just forfeit any games with Loyd unavailable.

 

[cancontent]

Wow, the Sun put the hurt on the Aces. Bonner dropped a career-high 41 points on them.

Hammon wasn't happy with her starters to put it mildly. Benching them early in the third quarter, ouch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Looks like the Aces conceded this one, quite a bit more minutes than normal for the bench. Is it time to send out a search party for Parker? She hasn't come even close to getting on track for them so far.

edit--oops, now I see the comment above about starters getting benched

 

[Geew1992]

Going to the Liberty vs Dream game tonite.

 

[Tangential]

Going to the Liberty vs Dream game tonite.

Have fun and don't go to the concession stands/restroom when Johannès is on the floor. You will definitely be seeing the best C Parker in the W. Any word on who the Dream are considering as a short/medium-term replacement at point guard with Aari & D Rob shelved? Henny? Somebody more experienced?

 

[Geew1992]

Have fun and don't go to the concession stands/restroom when Johannès is on the floor. You will definitely be seeing the best C Parker in the W. Any word on who the Dream are considering as a short/medium-term replacement at point guard with Aari & D Rob shelved? Henny? Somebody more experienced?

They signed Taylor Mikesell