WNBA Playoffs Thread

[Carnac]

I’m back as promised. Just ate the last fork full of some nasty crow. I’ll follow it up with a small slice of humble pie. How was I supposed to know the Sky would not score in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the game? Give the Sun credit. They didn’t quit when they were down 10 in the 4th quarter. I have the Aces winning the championship.

For what it’s worth, I did have the Bills over the Rams.

 

[eebmg]

I’m back as promised. Just ate the last fork full of some nasty crow. I’ll follow it up with a small slice of humble pie. How was I supposed to know the Sky would not score in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the game? Give the Sun credit. They didn’t quit when they were down 10 in the 4th quarter. I have the Aces winning the championship.

For what it’s worth, I did have the Bills over the Rams.

Pretty good night when both the Rams and Sky get embarrassed.

 

[bballnut90]

Brutal game for the Sky for everyone besides KFC/Meesseman. Sloot with some mindnumbingly bad decisions down the stretch, Quigley couldn't throw it into the ocean and Parker showed no interest in challenging Jonquel Jones all night. Props to the Sun for showing some real grit and toughness down the stretch while the Sky folded. The WNBA landscape changes quite a bit in 2023 with lots of potential player movement on Sky/Lynx/Sparks/Storm/Mercury.

Finals could be interesting but I think Vegas wins handily if they show up and Gray stays hot. She has been unreal in they playoffs (24 ppg, 7.7 apg, 63% FG, 60% 3pt) and Wilson is playing great too.

Happy to see a new franchise take home the crown though. As of right now the only franchises to not win a title are Atlanta, Connecticut, Vegas, and New York.

 

[Billineckz]

Brutal game for the Sky for everyone besides KFC/Meesseman. Sloot with some mindnumbingly bad decisions down the stretch, Quigley couldn't throw it into the ocean and Parker showed no interest in challenging Jonquel Jones all night. Props to the Sun for showing some real grit and toughness down the stretch while the Sky folded. The WNBA landscape changes quite a bit in 2023 with lots of potential player movement on Sky/Lynx/Sparks/Storm/Mercury.

Finals could be interesting but I think Vegas wins handily if they show up and Gray stays hot. She has been unreal in they playoffs (24 ppg, 7.7 apg, 63% FG, 60% 3pt) and Wilson is playing great too.

Happy to see a new franchise take home the crown though. As of right now the only franchises to not win a title are Atlanta, Connecticut, Vegas, and New York.

It's 50/50 - series will go a dramatic 5. Connecticut is tough. Vegas has that Chelsey Gray.

 

[eebmg]

Brutal game for the Sky for everyone besides KFC/Meesseman. Sloot with some mindnumbingly bad decisions down the stretch, Quigley couldn't throw it into the ocean and Parker showed no interest in challenging Jonquel Jones all night. Props to the Sun for showing some real grit and toughness down the stretch while the Sky folded. The WNBA landscape changes quite a bit in 2023 with lots of potential player movement on Sky/Lynx/Sparks/Storm/Mercury.

Finals could be interesting but I think Vegas wins handily if they show up and Gray stays hot. She has been unreal in they playoffs (24 ppg, 7.7 apg, 63% FG, 60% 3pt) and Wilson is playing great too.

Happy to see a new franchise take home the crown though. As of right now the only franchises to not win a title are Atlanta, Connecticut, Vegas, and New York.

As much as any BY'r likes to dump on Candice when given the chance , I think she at least played pretty tough defense on Jonquel most of the night until the 4th QI think she stuffed her 3 times and she did try to block shots but was a step slow in the 4th Q

The blame in my mind is mainly on Quigley Vandersloot while the CT guards Heifemann / Williams were excellent.

Still, I can't see CT beating the Aces but at least our Huskies can get a few games in at Mohegan

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I saw the game. Chicago collapsed. They weren’t playing to win, playing not to lose. I am not the biggest fan of the Sun but they Did what they had to do.

 

[Magy Cannon]

I saw the game. Chicago collapsed. They weren’t playing to win, playing not to lose. I am not the biggest fan of the Sun but they Did what they had to do.

This, plus, Chicago started celebrating too soon.

 

[cancontent]

I’m back as promised. Just ate the last fork full of some nasty crow. I’ll follow it up with a small slice of humble pie. How was I supposed to know the Sky would not score in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the game? Give the Sun credit. They didn’t quit when they were down 10 in the 4th quarter. I have the Aces winning the championship.

For what it’s worth, I did have the Bills over the Rams.

And Bills Mafia thank you

 

[eebmg]

And Bills Mafia thank you

The only football in NY.

 

[ucbart]

Two observations:

1. If Diana had fouled Bonner the way Princess Parker did with 6.3 seconds left in that game and then stomped off the court like that, every blue checkmark and fan on twitter would've lost their minds. But, crickets from those two crowds. Shocking.

2. Kahleah Copper is exactly what everyone feels Sophie Cunningham is, but she get far less hate for her antics.

 

[eebmg]

The Sun has risen, The Sky has fallen.

 

[bballnut90]

As much as any BY'r likes to dump on Candice when given the chance , I think she at least played pretty tough defense on Jonquel most of the night until the 4th QI think she stuffed her 3 times and she did try to block shots but was a step slow in the 4th Q

The blame in my mind is mainly on Quigley Vandersloot while the CT guards Heifemann / Williams were excellent.

Still, I can't see CT beating the Aces but at least our Huskies can get a few games in at Mohegan

Parker defended quite well last night but offensively showed zero desire to take it to Jonquel Jones. In no world should Quigley be taking 12 shots and only hit 1 while Candace only takes 7 shots.

 

[cancontent]

Haven't seen the game as the start of NFL was my focus last night. Was following the box score and the game went back and forth as I expected, with the exception of the Sky's 4th quarter implosion.

Can't wait to watch it tonight after reading all these posts to see how it actually played out.

 

[Waquoit]

Tremendous choke by the Sky last night. Very enjoyable!

 

[Rb335]

Parker defended quite well last night but offensively showed zero desire to take it to Jonquel Jones. In no world should Quigley be taking 12 shots and only hit 1 while Candace only takes 7 shots.

This has been my gripe with Parker for a while now. And let me say I am by no means a fan of hers. She has the talent to be the best player in the league. She started her career with a lot of passion and desire, and was the best player in the league. But as she’s gotten older, she is very hot and cold, with what appears to be effort. It’s not as though she has a bad shooting game, she has nights where she doesn’t assert herself at all. But yet she still gets mentioned as in the MVP race. Very curious to see if she gives it another go next year. I think she really wanted to win this year and retire in style. That’s why she was so vague about it.

Next season will be interesting, as a lot of older players appear to either be moving on or about to. Lots of roster spots should open up for the next generation.

 

[psconn]

 

[Dillon77]

I was doing quite a bit of screen surfing last night, between U.S.A. Open tennis semifinals, Yankee game, Buffalo-La football and, of course, the Sky-Sun game.

Based on the third quarter, one would assume the "choke" was being applied to the Sun, given how they were outscored 18-8 and, in fact, I ventured off to another screen. Like Swiatek in the third set, the Sun kept plugging and once they had traction, it was a done deal. As Chris Evert has remarked, keep plugging and if you can get back to form, tennis can turn around in a hurry. Ditto for hoops

Strangest stat line for me was seeing Allie Quigley shoot 1-12 from the floor, yet have 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Appreciate the effort in other areas, but in "must" games, you need players to do what they do best. And Allie wasn't putting the ball in the net.

 

[Waquoit]

Based on the third quarter, one would assume the "choke" was being applied to the Sun, given how they were outscored 18-8

Why would one base a game on the 3rd quarter?

 

[GoChips20]

Does anyone else feel the Aces and Sun match up terribly with one another? No idea how the Aces are going to manage that frontcourt rotation with A’ja as the only real serviceable post and no clue how the Sun is going to handle Aces on the perimeter.

 

[cancontent]

Why would one base a game on the 3rd quarter?

Don't think that was the point of Dillon's reply.

Take the full paragraph you are referring to:

"Based on the third quarter, one would assume the "choke" was being applied to the Sun, given how they were outscored 18-8 and, in fact, I ventured off to another screen. Like Swiatek in the third set, the Sun kept plugging and once they had traction, it was a done deal. As Chris Evert has remarked, keep plugging and if you can get back to form, tennis can turn around in a hurry. Ditto for hoops."

The way I took it was the reference to the third quarter 18-8 Sky run was to contrast the 22-5 (I believe) Connecticut had in the fourth quarter. Connecticut chipped away and the Chicago experienced their own "choking" in the 4th.

 

[Carnac]

Pretty good night when both the Rams and Sky get embarrassed.

Yeah. Neither team saw THAT ONE coming.....especially playing at home in front of a packed house.

 

[bballnut90]

This has been my gripe with Parker for a while now. And let me say I am by no means a fan of hers. She has the talent to be the best player in the league. She started her career with a lot of passion and desire, and was the best player in the league. But as she’s gotten older, she is very hot and cold, with what appears to be effort. It’s not as though she has a bad shooting game, she has nights where she doesn’t assert herself at all. But yet she still gets mentioned as in the MVP race. Very curious to see if she gives it another go next year. I think she really wanted to win this year and retire in style. That’s why she was so vague about it.

Next season will be interesting, as a lot of older players appear to either be moving on or about to. Lots of roster spots should open up for the next generation.

In her defense, she's 36 years old....she doesn't have the same abilities offensively she did when she was in her 20s. To expect her to be the best player in the league with players like Jones/Stewart/Wilson much younger and more spry, is a stretch. When she was at her peak (2008-2015), she was often injured or unavailable to play, or her supporting cast wasn't ready yet to contribute to a championship lineup. It's rarer to see post players last so long in the league compared to guards who play less physical basketball. Give it 10 years and I don't expect to see Wilson muscling her way in the post and finishing through contact in the manner she does now. Her game will develop and likely become more perimeter oriented and less contact oriented like we've seen from Tina Charles and Candace Parker.

The last 4 years Parker's game has transitioned to become more of a facilitator and a contributing scorer but she isn't going to drop 18-20 night in night out. She's still among the best players in the league and her role as sort of a glue/do a bit of everything player is a major reason why her LA and Chicago teams have been so good, but realistically she hasn't been a MVP favorite in years.

I agree I think she wanted to win this year and retire in style. Has to sting losing like this without putting forth her best effort. Curious to see where she ends up. I doubt either her or DT retire after this year though, I'm guessing they'll take a victory lap ala Bird/Fowles this year to soak in at least one more season.

 

[cancontent]

In her defense, she's 36 years old....she doesn't have the same abilities offensively she did when she was in her 20s. To expect her to be the best player in the league with players like Jones/Stewart/Wilson much younger and more spry, is a stretch. When she was at her peak (2008-2015), she was often injured or unavailable to play, or her supporting cast wasn't ready yet to contribute to a championship lineup. It's rarer to see post players last so long in the league compared to guards who play less physical basketball. Give it 10 years and I don't expect to see Wilson muscling her way in the post and finishing through contact in the manner she does now. Her game will develop and likely become more perimeter oriented and less contact oriented like we've seen from Tina Charles and Candace Parker.

The last 4 years Parker's game has transitioned to become more of a facilitator and a contributing scorer but she isn't going to drop 18-20 night in night out. She's still among the best players in the league and her role as sort of a glue/do a bit of everything player is a major reason why her LA and Chicago teams have been so good, but realistically she hasn't been a MVP favorite in years.

I agree I think she wanted to win this year and retire in style. Has to sting losing like this without putting forth her best effort. Curious to see where she ends up. I doubt either her or DT retire after this year though, I'm guessing they'll take a victory lap ala Bird/Fowles this year to soak in at least one more season.

Great points.

This one section makes me better appreciate what Fowles has done her entire career. True post players are getting rarer and rarer based on the style of play now.

 

[Geew1992]

It must be a Connecticut thing

 

[Geew1992]

Yeah. Neither team saw THAT ONE coming.....especially playing at home in front of a packed house.

And hanging the super bowl banner