WNBA Finals

[Skins87]

Refs made sure this series was going to be 1-1

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pretty quiet 2nd half for Copper as well. Only 5 pts combined in 3rd and 4th quarter + OT.

 

[bballnut90]

Pretty quiet 2nd half for Copper as well. Only 5 pts combined in 3rd and 4th quarter + OT.

2nd half turned into too much of a 2 man game between Quigley and Vandersloot. Copper and Parker weren't involved nearly enough.

 

[nwhoopfan]

2nd half turned into too much of a 2 man game between Quigley and Vandersloot. Copper and Parker weren't involved nearly enough.

I have no idea why Quigley was shooting so much, she couldn't hit anything.

Sloot had 14 assists, she was finding somebody other than Quigley on some made buckets.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Pretty sure Taurasi has 1 assist and 9 TOs in the 2 games so far. She has to be better than that at some point in the series, right?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Somebody needs to send out a search party for DeShields. 2 points combined in Game 1 and 2.

edit--not a good playoffs in general, only one double figure scoring game so far

 

[Blueballer]

Pretty sure Taurasi has 1 assist and 9 TOs in the 2 games so far. She has to be better than that at some point in the series, right?

Better at what ? Creating stats? All she cares about is winning. If she keeps getting 4 point plays at critical times in the game everything else is secondary. Diggins got the assists tonight. the next game it might be DT. But they were real physical with DT and she doesn't care if she gets pounded as long at Griner and Skylar take up the slack. Good to see Cunningham back and pitch in. They needed that extra player.

 

[Rooster C.]

Evans is a disaster out there. Isn't there a better option to give Vandersloot a rest now and then?

 

[donalddoowop]

Chicago STILL has had their changes. Parker blows a bunny. She's been M.I.A. almost the entire 2nd half and OT.

Uh...yeah, that was a foul on DT on the steal. No call of course.

Parker made some unwise decisions and too many turnovers in key situations.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Better at what ? Creating stats? All she cares about is winning. If she keeps getting 4 point plays at critical times in the game everything else is secondary. Diggins got the assists tonight. the next game it might be DT. But they were real physical with DT and she doesn't care if she gets pounded as long at Griner and Skylar take up the slack. Good to see Cunningham back and pitch in. They needed that extra player.

Not buying it. Taurasi #5 all time in assists (regular season, maybe she's even higher for playoff games?). I'm sure she doesn't care about compiling stats, but 1:9 A:TO is horrible, she knows it, she can't be happy about it.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Evans is a disaster out there. Isn't there a better option to give Vandersloot a rest now and then?

Wade sat her out for 1 of the games against the Sun. Went w/ Lexie Brown instead. I guess that wasn't any better? Sloot needs to play 40 minutes from here on out. It would only be 2 more games if they can close them out in Chicago.

 

[eebmg]

Pretty sure Taurasi has 1 assist and 9 TOs in the 2 games so far. She has to be better than that at some point in the series, right?

But she still made some dagger 3's at the end. She can have a terrible game for 90% of the game and then all of a sudden, go off. That mental toughness is what sets her apart.

 

[Plebe]

Pretty sure Taurasi has 1 assist and 9 TOs in the 2 games so far. She has to be better than that at some point in the series, right?

8 points in overtime. Outscored the Sky in OT all by herself. Nitpick her stats all you like. Clutch isn't a stat and outweighs all else.

 

[Dillon77]

Pretty quiet 2nd half for Copper as well. Only 5 pts combined in 3rd and 4th quarter + OT.

Good to see Cunningham back and pitch in. They needed that extra player.

I thought Brondello made a subtle but important substitution: she put Cunningham back in the game in OT to cover Copper (taking over for Peddy, who was in at the end of the 4th).
Sophie's a bigger body, has that attack-dog mentality and put a blanket on Copper, which kept her from relatively easy drives over smaller guards or offensive rebounds. Good sub. If Sophie is good to go the rest of the playoffs, that helps Phoenix a lot.

 

[oldude]

DT has done it so many times throughout her career, you would think by now we would all get used to it. But I continue to be amazed at how DT can almost be a non-factor until the end of the game and then start hitting one bomb after another to put an opponent away.

GOAT!!!

 

[bballnut90]

I have no idea why Quigley was shooting so much, she couldn't hit anything.

Sloot had 14 assists, she was finding somebody other than Quigley on some made buckets.

The first 25 minutes Chicago had 16 FG from other players and 7 were assisted by Sloot.

In the last 20 minutes (including OT), Chicago only had 5 FG outside of Quigley/Sloot, and 3 were assisted by Sloot.

 

[Rb335]

I have no idea why Quigley was shooting so much, she couldn't hit anything.

Sloot had 14 assists, she was finding somebody other than Quigley on some made buckets.

Shooters need to continue to have confidence. I thought a couple of her shots will ill advised, but she did hit 3 long balls in the 4th QTR/OT. Two of them at really timely moments. After Phoenix took its first 1 point lead, she hit one to put the sky back up by two. And another after Phoenix went up by 6 in OT. She hit a big 3 to stop the game from getting away. Had she stopped shooting who knows what would have happened.

She may not have hit a high percentage all game, but I’d rather her shoot good shots given her shooting history compared to CP throwing up 3 point shots down the stretch.

 

[topogigio]

Parker made some unwise decisions and too many turnovers in key situations.

One of the many reasons Parker was left off the Olympic team a while back.

 

[bballnut90]

Shooters need to continue to have confidence. I thought a couple of her shots will ill advised, but she did hit 3 long balls in the 4th QTR/OT. Two of them at really timely moments. After Phoenix took its first 1 point lead, she hit one to put the sky back up by two. And another after Phoenix went up by 6 in OT. She hit a big 3 to stop the game from getting away. Had she stopped shooting who knows what would have happened.

She may not have hit a high percentage all game, but I’d rather her shoot good shots given her shooting history compared to CP throwing up 3 point shots down the stretch.

Shooters need to shoot but she shouldn't be taking 20 shots, which is a season high for a significant amount for Quigley. More shots should be created for Copper, or they should've set up iso situations for Parker to attack the basket from 15 feet. Both were extremely effective in the first half and then just disappeared once it turned into a 2 man game. Sloot was great but in the 2nd more ball movement and action was sorely needed.

 

[JellyBean]

Chicago had this game but let it slip through their fingers. Sloot, like others have stated, was/is the pulse of the team. She was out there balling her you-know-what off! I sent out a tweet during the game basically saying, keep the ball in Courtney's hand because the decision making by the Sky seemed to be in sync when she had the ball. Not as many sloppy plays or turnovers. But Chicago has to figure out a way to finish this series off because they gonna let Phoenix hang around and win the whole thing.

 

[UConnCat]

Sky's the limit: Diggins-Smith helps deliver Game 2 win as Mercury even WNBA Finals

Skylar Diggins-Smith had struggled with her shot. But with Game 2 on the line, the Mercury put the ball in her hands and the guard delivered.

www.espn.com

Skylar would probably say, 'I've missed too many shots,' but I thought with her ability to facilitate and just give us some easy baskets ... we needed that," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. "It's not very often you look and Diana has zero [assists], but that's why they complement each other.

"Dee is a 3-point shooter, a scorer, she's a great passer as well, but [Chicago] put a lot of pressure on her. So we put her in being more of a screener, and put the ball more in Sky's hand. And she made some pretty good decisions."

 

[Plebe]

Sky's the limit: Diggins-Smith helps deliver Game 2 win as Mercury even WNBA Finals

Skylar Diggins-Smith had struggled with her shot. But with Game 2 on the line, the Mercury put the ball in her hands and the guard delivered.

www.espn.com

Skylar would probably say, 'I've missed too many shots,' but I thought with her ability to facilitate and just give us some easy baskets ... we needed that," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. "It's not very often you look and Diana has zero [assists], but that's why they complement each other.

"Dee is a 3-point shooter, a scorer, she's a great passer as well, but [Chicago] put a lot of pressure on her. So we put her in being more of a screener, and put the ball more in Sky's hand. And she made some pretty good decisions."

I've quite honestly been very impressed with Skylar in these playoffs, for the very reasons Brondello cites. She's been a great facilitator even when not scoring much. Skylar didn't have an easy transition to the pro game, but she's stuck with it, worked extremely hard, and finally finds herself in the WNBA finals.

 

[UConnCat]

I thought Brondello made a subtle but important substitution: she put Cunningham back in the game in OT to cover Copper (taking over for Peddy, who was in at the end of the 4th).
Sophie's a bigger body, has that attack-dog mentality and put a blanket on Copper, which kept her from relatively easy drives over smaller guards or offensive rebounds. Good sub. If Sophie is good to go the rest of the playoffs, that helps Phoenix a lot.

Good point and Cunningham's availability does help Phoenix. Still, I can not see Phoenix winning one of the next 2 games. Chicago just looks like a much better team with too many weapons. Phoenix was very fortunate to win last night after the Sky were in control for most of the game.

The good news for Phoenix is that they've played much better on the road than at home this season. Skylar is due for one of those hot-shooting games and maybe playing close to her hometown will help. Also, Phoenix needs to figure out how to get a little more production from the PF spot in the half-court. Chicago's length is bothering Turner and Vaughn is really struggling to make the mid-range shots she's made consistently throughout her career.

It just feels like an uphill battle for Phoenix.

 

[noirwestern]

Watching the game last night and the effect a fresh set of Mizzou legs had on it makes me think if Nurse hadn't been steamrolled this would be a 2-0 series in favor of Phoenix. Don't get me wrong, I like Cunningham but she's no Kia.

 

[JellyBean]

Game Time!! Curious how the refs call this game and how Chicago responds.