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Message: [QUOTE="oldhusky, post: 5343302, member: 9844"] This Aces team might win it, but they have been far from impressive, are nowhere near as good as their championship years, and have kind of backed their way into the finals. The first two rounds were ugly wins, that on paper should have been easier. The path for Phoenix was far different, they beat the defending champion, then the team that was considered the title favorite. I am rooting for the Aces because Las Vegas is a part time seasonal residence for me, (despite their two stars being from South Carolina and Notre Dame), but this team is very hard to figure out. I'm guessing they are somewhere in between the team that started 14 and 14, and the one that then ran off 16 wins in a row. They used to have 4 star starters, a complimentary 5th, and another good three subs for a very strong first 8. Wilson and Young are the same, but Gray is aging and Plum was traded for another player in decline in Lyod. Stokes is also on the downside and rarely used now and the bench is mediocre at best. Despite that, I thought the top two would insure a start that was well above .500, so that was almost inconceivable to me, but equally surprising was the win streak, with Smith being the only significant change. In the playoffs they have been clearly better than the former but nowhere near the later. In terms of how they are playing now, I think Phoenix would be favored, but Vegas doing better head to head, is their best reason for optimism. Matchups can make a big difference. There are not many players that can slow down Wilson or Thomas. That might have been why the Aces had a harder time in the first two rounds than expected, Boston on Indiana might be the best in the league defending Wilson, and Malonga is so long and athletic that she had some success too. AT is such a physical unique player that it will be interesting to see how Vegas tries to defend her. If they can make it hard for her I think they win, but it's up for grabs, and neither approaches the super teams of the last few years. [/QUOTE]

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