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WNBA -- 2023 Season

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grass isn't always greener on the other side, Storm are a winning organization and the Liberty aren't.
 
Sparks look great tonight, though I think it’s more just how mediocre Phoenix looks. The bright spot is Griner is back and looks enthused/happier than I’ve seen her before. She also looked very good offensively, nice touch still and will be a force this season. DT is impressive at 40+ but she was a detriment to her team on both ends tonight. Just poor decision making, errant shots and bad body language. Jefferson had some buckets but didn’t seem to be in rhythm as PG. Turner is a solid defender/rebounder but gives nothing offensively which is somewhat shocking considering how good she was in college and she came from ND which was an offensive powerhouse all 4 years she played there. I think Phoenix is in for a rough year.

Sparks got some great play from role playing guards. Samuelson/Brown/Cooke made shots and helped blow open the game. Cooke especially had a great opening game, 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Both looked good too. The team had a vibe of solid chemistry which should suit them well.
 
bballnut90 said:
Sparks look great tonight, though I think it’s more just how mediocre Phoenix looks. The bright spot is Griner is back and looks enthused/happier than I’ve seen her before. She also looked very good offensively, nice touch still and will be a force this season. DT is impressive at 40+ but she was a detriment to her team on both ends tonight. Just poor decision making, errant shots and bad body language. Jefferson had some buckets but didn’t seem to be in rhythm as PG. Turner is a solid defender/rebounder but gives nothing offensively which is somewhat shocking considering how good she was in college and she came from ND which was an offensive powerhouse all 4 years she played there. I think Phoenix is in for a rough year.

Sparks got some great play from role playing guards. Samuelson/Brown/Cooke made shots and helped blow open the game. Cooke especially had a great opening game, 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Both looked good too. The team had a vibe of solid chemistry which should suit them well.
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Ya, I missed the game but agree. I didn't get why ppl were so high on Phoenix. I think they are far from a lock to make the playoffs. Diggins has an all WNBA season last year, Desheilds was a contributor and they barely made the playoffs. I was disappointed in their off-season and even think they could've picked up better off the waver wire . Happy for Zia Cook and the Sparks though
 
3 of the 4 games went how I envisioned them. I did not expect Chicago, who didn't have Harrison and got very little from Mabrey & C Williams (they got tons from E Williams) to win handily. Don't want to overreact from 1 game, but I expected much more from MN.

LA & Wash had exciting offensive frameworks and great chemistry. Cooke not only looked good, but more confident & comfortable than most rookies playing their 1st game. She will face better defenses in the future, but someone to keep an eye on in a crowded backcourt.

Once Hayes gets more acclimated, I don't think CT will have that much (if at all) of a dropoff losing JJ, Williams, & Thomas (who played neither last year nor night).

Today will be interesting to see how good LV and how bad SEA are out of the chute as well as the new look Wings and year 2 of the rebuild Dream.
 
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TheFarmFan said:
The Sparks have signed and waived the middle Samuelson more times than Taylor Swift signs (autographs) and waves (to fans) at her Eras tour. That said, as long as they sign her one more number of timea than they waive her, I'm here for it.

(And I love the idea of two sister acts on this team.)
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Well, she certainly had a positive impact on the Sparks last night: came off the bench to play third most amount of minutes (after Nneka O. and Jordin Canada), 13 pts (2-2 from three and 7-7 from the FT line). Moved on defense and what I liked was she moved the ball on offense. She would've had numerous "hockey" assists in that game. More importantly than what I thought, Coach Miller recognized her value and kept her in to keep the flow going. Solid game for the Middle Sister (middle kids are always used to dealing...take it from one).
 
GoldenGophs said:
I believe Shepard also didn’t play so not a completely Lynx team by any means in that preseason matchup. Either way, should be a fun game.
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The major miss for the Lynx last night was PG Lindsay Allen not playing due to a hamstring strain. I love Jess Shepard's versatility but something's off when your center and leading rebounder (8) is also your leading assister (7). (Well, unless you're running the Princeton offense ;) ). Reeves loves Banham, but she's not going to pick up the slack on the distribution end (neither is K-Mac, who is a shooter at this point in her career).

Shep, Phees and Dorkha look like they'll do fine together up front and Miller will figure it out. Things will be smoother when Allen comes back...she runs a smooth ship. But I've got wonder why there's no capable combo guard back-up for her.
 
nickp91 said:
Washington is legit I do believe the Mystics will be right there with NY/LV in the end
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Agree. And they'll only get stronger once Hines-Allen is there to provide minutes, rebound and hustle.
 
nickp91 said:
Washington is legit I do believe the Mystics will be right there with NY/LV in the end
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"Y'all can keep sleeping," said Natasha Cloud, who finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. "We're confident in what we have in this locker room. You can continue to talk about the superhero teams, but we know who we are and we know what we bring every single night. ... We're such an unselfish team that really enjoys being around each other. When you talk about the makeup of a championship team, it's exactly that."

The constant communication (appeared to be mostly nuanced strategy, not rah-rah cheerleading) on every dead ball initiated by Cloud and Sykes will prove to be beneficial.
 
Dillon77 said:
Agree. And they'll only get stronger once Hines-Allen is there to provide minutes, rebound and hustle.
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Also, based on 1 game out of 40, the decision (for which we and plenty of others disagreed) to keep Hawkins over Engstler didn't look incorrect.
 
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Bigboote said:
I thought ditching Dangerfield was a mistake when they did it, and I still do.
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100 percent agree. It was interesting in pre-season there was a lot of discussion about how coaching in the off season will help Banham on the court. I actually like Banham since her Minnesota days, and I thought she looked great in pre-season. She sort've reminds me of a Lexie Brown, a good player who for years had shown flashes but hadn't really been given a consistent role on a team. So I was optimistic but WNBA Twitter seemed to disagree with her making the team. Anyways she struggled last night and after the game, Coach Reeves is lamenting about their point guard situation, and says Rachel really isn't a point guard. I was a little surprised. Also, another thing it made me think is how professional athletes flip a switch from pre-season to regular season.

From that game, I also wanted to say that I am pretty high on Chicago. Not necessarily that they will be a contender but I think they make the playoffs pretty easily. All their players are solid, even if they are not at the level of the players that left in the offseason. I'm happy for Alanna Smith because I think she's felt she could be a solid contributor for awhile but never got a great opportunity. Additionally, I've always been a fan of Mabrey. It's interesting to see her along side such athletic players like Cooper and Gardener. It's a testament to Mabrey's shot making and mental toughness, that she's able to compete at a high level despite not being very athletic.
 
jdote33 said:
100 percent agree. It was interesting in pre-season there was a lot of discussion about how coaching in the off season will help Banham on the court. I actually like Banham since her Minnesota days, and I thought she looked great in pre-season. She sort've reminds me of a Lexie Brown, a good player who for years had shown flashes but hadn't really been given a consistent role on a team. So I was optimistic but WNBA Twitter seemed to disagree with her making the team. Anyways she struggled last night and after the game, Coach Reeves is lamenting about their point guard situation, and says Rachel really isn't a point guard. I was a little surprised. Also, another thing it made me think is how professional athletes flip a switch from pre-season to regular season.

From that game, I also wanted to say that I am pretty high on Chicago. Not necessarily that they will be a contender but I think they make the playoffs pretty easily. All their players are solid, even if they are not at the level of the players that left in the offseason. I'm happy for Alanna Smith because I think she's felt she could be a solid contributor for awhile but never got a great opportunity. Additionally, I've always been a fan of Mabrey. It's interesting to see her along side such athletic players like Cooper and Gardener. It's a testament to Mabrey's shot making and mental toughness, that she's able to compete at a high level despite not being very athletic.
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I also concur regarding Dangerfield.

It's definitely great to see players like Karlie Samuelson and Alanna Smith (in addition to Caldwell as I mentioned last year) resurface after overcoming multiple cuts, but the player that has endured the lengthiest time (to my knowledge) on the scrap heap is Gardner. She has become one of the better perimeter defenders in the W, taking 10 years after graduating UCLA to make the association.
 
I know it's real early...but we are getting mostly lopsided games so far. Is the preseason too short? Dallas is just crushing Atlanta approaching halftime.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I know it's real early...but we are getting mostly lopsided games so far. Is the preseason too short? Dallas is just crushing Atlanta approaching halftime.
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Of course the preseason is too short, this happens every season in the WNBA. The season doesn’t really pick up until June.
 
Waquoit said:
She wasn't their best player in the post-season. I'm not sure this will hurt them as badly as I thought originally.
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But still, we lost an MVP in her prime and replaced her with a couple bench players and a past-her-prime vet. Lots of games ahead, but I think the window of opportunity the Sun have talked about for many years is closed.
 
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psconn said:
But still, we lost an MVP in her prime and replaced her with a couple bench players and a past-her-prime vet. Lots of games ahead, but I think the window of opportunity the Sun have talked about for many years is closed.
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Honestly, it closed the second Miller set sail for LA. He's a bit of an odd duck, but he consistently overcoached underrated teams deep into the post season.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I know it's real early...but we are getting mostly lopsided games so far. Is the preseason too short? Dallas is just crushing Atlanta approaching halftime.
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nwhoopfan said:
I know it's real early...but we are getting mostly lopsided games so far. Is the preseason too short? Dallas is just crushing Atlanta approaching halftime.
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Wound up being a good game
 
Geew1992 said:
Wound up being a good game
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Yeah I saw most of the 2nd half.

Sabally had a really nice game. And I think Howard is a big addition for the Wings. With some of the high profile free agent activity in the offseason, that acquisition kinda slid under the radar.
 
First look at the slightly new look Aces. A bit of a slow start but then they got going. They've got a lot of weapons. Clark playing some nice defense for them too.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Well, they've won when they had Bird + LJ and Bird + Stewie (as well as some good supporting players). Let's see how much winning they do this year with none of those players.
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yea and this year will be their bad year just like the year they got Stewie and they'll draft Clark or Bueckers.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Yeah I saw most of the 2nd half.

Sabally had a really nice game. And I think Howard is a big addition for the Wings. With some of the high profile free agent activity in the offseason, that acquisition kinda slid under the radar.
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Hope McCowan and Robinson are good
 
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Storm look like a mess. It's the Loyd show without much help and Loyd shoots for a low percentage when she's forced to take a lot of shots. Parker fitting in perfectly in Vegas and they look great midway through the 3rd.
 
bballnut90 said:
Storm look like a mess. It's the Loyd show without much help and Loyd shoots for a low percentage when she's forced to take a lot of shots. Parker fitting in perfectly in Vegas and they look great midway through the 3rd.
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Vegas will repeat barring injury. NY has too many egos for them to work.
 
socal613ws said:
yea and this year will be their bad year just like the year they got Stewie and they'll draft Clark or Bueckers.
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In two years maybe, don’t see either of them coming out next year. Maybe they can get Brink.
 
Aces blowing this game open, up 36 in the 4th. Really balanced numbers across their starting 5, but great games for Stokes and Clark off the bench. Stokes is the perfect filler for Wilson/Parker off the bench. Allows them to rest, rebounds everything, and the offense becomes more perimeter oriented while she's in there. Clark is also a great 2 way weapon off the bench. It's obviously very early and 1 game vs. a rebuilding Seattle team but the potential for this Vegas squad is sky high.
 
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