WNBA -- 2023 Season | Page 12 | The Boneyard

WNBA -- 2023 Season

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SECbbfan24 said:
Indiana does not play defense it appears
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They were pacing themselves for their 4th quarter stand of allowing only 5 pts ;):rolleyes: -- kinda helped that Stewie only played 2 ½ minutes. 9 of 10 Liberty combined for only 45 points. The 10th came to play in her home debut.
 
GCKSFN4L said:
There's a lot of selective defense on that team. It's frustrating and I would bench players who weren't willing to play both sides.
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Obviously its early but Indiana still has a lot of issues. I'd be highly concerned with some of that guard play. I do like Smith and Boston inside, thats a great duo.

Some players are out there jacking up bad shots and playing no defense. Wallace needs to cut down the turnovers but she at least had some redeeming qualities offensively today.

Would like to see a little more of Berger
 
The Fever made a valiant stand at home against a very good CT team, cutting it to just 3pts with a few min to go. Yesterday not sure any team could have hung with Stewart the way she was shooting.

That being said, VERY impressed with Boston thus far. She seems to have arrived pro-ready. Not that I ever doubted how great she was, but it was hard for her to thrive at SC, especially her senior year, when she was facing triple to quadruple teams. Staley was right on when she said you will really see how skilled Boston is when she can take on posts one-on-one.
 
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hoopsnloops32 said:
Collectively I don’t find the backcourt impressive at all for the Lynx. A lot of bad decision makers and not a lot of athleticism. It will be interesting if Lou can break into the rotation once she heals up.
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There were some bad decision making out there, that is for sure. But I think in time, those backcourt players will adjust and get better.
 
GCKSFN4L said:
There's a lot of selective defense on that team. It's frustrating and I would bench players who weren't willing to play both sides.
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Only saw the highlights reel, and she sure shot poorly, but you can't say Lexie Hull (6'1") wasn't bringing it on defense with this massive Stewie (6'5") block...:

 
TheFarmFan said:
Only saw the highlights reel, and she sure shot poorly, but you can't say Lexie Hull (6'1") wasn't bringing it on defense with this massive Stewie (6'5") block...:

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Haven't seen the Fever yet either, but Hull did win the Athletes Unlimited Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Tangential said:
I'm really excited to see the match-up at Mohegan this afternoon. It'll be intriguing to see if Tip steps up back home to help A Thomas, B Jones, & DB to challenge a deep and talented Mystics team high off an impressive outing vs NY
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Big rematch at the ESA (schedule-makers didn't do the Mystics any favors with their 1st 3 games -- at least they're a veteran team with an intact core).

Also, let's see whether the Minnesota backcourt or Aari McDonald (no D Robinson) can improve upon their game 1 performance.
 
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There was just a great halftime interview with Napheesa. Also some footage of the draftees getting ready for the draft show -- kind of humorous and entertaining.

Pheesa is playing aggressively, looks a lot like her old self. Dorka looks really comfortable. Having her and Jess Shepard out there at the same time, that's two good-rebounding and great-passing bigs. Miller's a great talent; she'll be a good one, is showing some flashes now and should be much steadier by the middle of the season.

But I don't think the Mystics can make much noise without upgrading their point guard. Allen is good, but certainly not in the top half in the W.
 
Bigboote said:
There was just a great halftime interview with Napheesa. Also some footage of the draftees getting ready for the draft show -- kind of humorous and entertaining.

Pheesa is playing aggressively, looks a lot like her old self. Dorka looks really comfortable. Having her and Jess Shepard out there at the same time, that's two good-rebounding and great-passing bigs. Miller's a great talent; she'll be a good one, is showing some flashes now and should be much steadier by the middle of the season.

But I don't think the Mystics can make much noise without upgrading their point guard. Allen is good, but certainly not in the top half in the W.
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Did you mean the Lynx rather than the Mystics?

The Mystics were expected by ESPN to be the league's 3rd-best team, but they are now 1-2 after two losses to the Connecticut Sun.
 
JoePgh said:
Did you mean the Lynx rather than the Mystics?

The Mystics were expected by ESPN to be the league's 3rd-best team, but they are now 1-2 after two losses to the Connecticut Sun.
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Yeah, confused my favotite team with the local team. Cloud is a way better PG than Allen. Mystics shoulda kept Engstler and cut a guard.

Epic collapse by the Lynx tonight.
 
I remember when it was a hot take to say Sherryl Reeve was overrated as a hc, funny how different now that she doesn't have 3 hof'ers carrying her.
 
socal613ws said:
I remember when it was a hot take to say Sherryl Reeve was overrated as a hc, funny how different now that she doesn't have 3 hof'ers carrying her.
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Who coaching in the WNBA isn’t overrated then? You need HOF talent to compete for (and to win) titles. Reeve making 6 finals in 7 years (and winning 4) is unprecedented.
 
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Minnesota's collapse was somewhat surprising but Atlanta's cold start shooting didn't help. When Atlanta made a better effort getting the ball inside and converting during the second half, the tone of the game changed and it seemed to put the Lynx on their heels.

Powers did a good job coming off the bench. I think that could be a good role for her versus being a starter. Losing Collier to foul trouble sucked, but the fact she's hitting 3s with ease is nice to see. Her battling with Hillmon was fun to watch inside. Juhasz doesn't look out of place at all and I'm happy for her. The Lynx is a good fit for her style of play.
 
socal613ws said:
I remember when it was a hot take to say Sherryl Reeve was overrated as a hc, funny how different now that she doesn't have 3 hof'ers carrying her.
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How many Championships did Van Chancellor win without Cynthia Cooper?

He had 3 Naismith HOF players (Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson) and a FIBA HOF player (Janeth Arcain) when he won his 4 WNBA championships.

When Cooper retired he still had the other 3 and never made it back to the WNBA Finals, let alone win another ring.
 
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The Lynx is a badly constructed team and I do not see much competence in their execution of the 5 out offense.

If you're going to tank, you might as well take your chances with Dorka who has some defense. Sheperd is shorter with little verticality.

Meanwhile the perimeter shooters and defenders can't seem to step up like management advertised. Powers has game but Bonham makes really bad decisions. Collier is Collier but they advertise her as the be all, do all. That's expecting too mich.

I watched their first couple of games but now I just hunt for Dorka minutes.
 
Didn't watch the Lynx-Mercury game, but it looks like McBride's absence didn't help matters either. Not saying that her scoring would have been the difference, but she provides offence that the team needs. Carleton is struggling coming back from Europe and seems to be nursing a back injury. If she can get to the form she had while playing in Spain, that could help. Juhasz deserved more than 7 minutes in this game based on how I read the box score. What would have been the harm?

Watched Vegas vs LA as best I could last night (drifted off a bit in the third :confused:). A game of halves if you ask me. LA came out strong in the first quarter and maintained their lead at half time. Vegas woke up and took the lead in the third and maintained it. Wilson was frustrated in this game, including drawing a technical but still came through with 19 points. Young was amazing shooting 12-18 ending up with 30 points. Considering they were able to keep it somewhat close without Nneke and Azura Stevens, LA looks to be more competitive than I thought they would be this season.
 
cancontent said:
Didn't watch the Lynx-Mercury game, but it looks like McBride's absence didn't help matters either. Not saying that her scoring would have been the difference, but she provides offence that the team needs. Carleton is struggling coming back from Europe and seems to be nursing a back injury. If she can get to the form she had while playing in Spain, that could help. Juhasz deserved more than 7 minutes in this game based on how I read the box score. What would have been the harm?

Watched Vegas vs LA as best I could last night (drifted off a bit in the third :confused:). A game of halves if you ask me. LA came out strong in the first quarter and maintained their lead at half time. Vegas woke up and took the lead in the third and maintained it. Wilson was frustrated in this game, including drawing a technical but still came through with 19 points. Young was amazing shooting 12-18 ending up with 30 points. Considering they were able to keep it somewhat close without Nneke and Azura Stevens, LA looks to be more competitive than I thought they would be this season.
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I'll flip the order:

- Vegas vs. LA. Young went off last night with 30, but it was the way she did it that showed her development as a player. She was never reliant on her long-distance shot in college or her early years. Last night, she shot 4-7 from three. BTW, she also had 4 steals, which is an underrated part of her game.

- Minnesota vs. Phoenix. Mercury won the game in first half, shooting 11-17 from 3-pt. land and running off to a 17-lead. DT went nuts, going for 15 in the first half.
Lynx just seem discombobulated, with no two or three players ever having good games at the same time. Collier was off last night and K-Mac wasn't even there. Powers had a good game off the bench, but Banham's performance still raises more questions than answers.

BTW, Lynx did cut it to seven twice, but faltered each time. If they can get all their key players on the court and relatively in sync, I could see some gelling (which isn't saying much at this point.)

And I think Dorka is going to do fine in this league, but it strikes me that it's Milic who took her minutes last night, not Shepard. As for being "vertically challenged," Shep is 6'4" tall but most people are going look small against 6'9" Brittany Griner and Bri Turner, who has the arms of a 6'6" person. Until this game, Shepard was doing her usual steady rebounding (top ten in league last year) and she shot well last night. Minnesota's not tanking three games into the season....
 
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