WNBA Thread - Post Olympics | Page 8 | The Boneyard

WNBA Thread - Post Olympics

Seattle is broken. The Commissioner's Cup was their Championship this year, they've stunk ever since.

Getting absolutely torched today. Have given up 63 at the half, trailing by 22. Getting destroyed by Parker and Sloot.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Seattle is broken. The Commissioner's Cup was their Championship this year, they've stunk ever since.

Getting absolutely torched today. Have given up 63 at the half, trailing by 22. Getting destroyed by Parker and Sloot.
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Becoming more evident that Quinn should not have been given an extension, until after the season. They did the same thing the last time promoted, an assistant who was a women to the head coaching job.
Then after 2 years had to let her go.
 
baggerbob said:
Becoming more evident that Quinn should not have been given an extension, until after the season.
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Yeah, I thought it was the wrong moving naming her HC in the first place, and they compounded it by extending her so quickly. She basically had no experience. When did HC become an entry level position?
 
Canada just about the only bright spot for Seattle, probably having her best game of the season.
 
Well that figures. Canada has been playing better lately, having a really good game today, just went down w/ an injury.
 
Karlie made her Storm debut, and immediately got a bucket and an assist.

W/ KLS and Talbot struggling so much the last 2 games, I think Burke made a case for getting some PT.

Most of the starters for both teams are gonna sit out the 4th quarter, this is a foregone conclusion.

Sky sweep the season series. They could meet again in the playoffs.
 
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107-75 final. Holy cow. I think on the back half of the season we really seeing just how much losing Howard, Clark and Whitcomb damaged this team.
 
Talbot and KLS combined for 2 points in 27 minutes. Burke had 7 points in 13 minutes. Both of those 2 have looked good at times this year, but both totally inconsistent, and it's just not working currently.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Yeah, I thought it was the wrong moving naming her HC in the first place, and they compounded it by extending her so quickly. She basically had no experience. When did HC become an entry level position?
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The guy who led them last year should have been promoted, instead he is the assistant.
 
Stevens had a pair of really solid games against the Storm.
 
baggerbob said:
The guy who led them last year should have been promoted, instead he is the assistant.
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I can't help but think that was all about optics, and 0% a good basketball decision. Sometimes basing your decisions on PR doesn't work out very well.
 
I haven't really expressed any thoughts on Quinn as the Storm head coach because I didn't really know what to think. The Storm are clearly not as good a team this year as in past years so I didn't want to hold that against her. This year's team relies more than ever on the big 3 playing at the top of their game and when they haven't we've seen what happens. I thought after Dan Hughes retired that the best move would have been to name Gary K as head coach for a couple of years while allowing Noelle to learn as an assistant. The Storm's ownership chose a different direction and here we are.

Today has made me question Quinn as a head coach. Since the Olympic break and before today's game the Storm's record was 3-4, with two of the losses without Stewart and Bird. The losses have been by 2, 4, 6 and 4 points. The losses were the result of Stewart and Bird not playing or the big 3 not shooting the ball well. The losses seemed to be more about poor offense (shooting) than poor defense. Still, the losses were close games and the belief was that the extended post-Olympic road trip contributed to those losses.

So how does Noelle Quinn respond? She changes the starting lineup. Why? Who knows, though the belief from the broadcast team was that it was about defense. So what happens? The Sky score 63 points in the first half and the team loses by 32 points. Jordin Canada scores 17 points (yippee!) but also commits 2 backbreaking turnovers in the first half that lead to Sky layups. Did I mention that the Storm lost by 32 points today?

The bottom line for this team is that the big 3 need to play better. Today's stunt by Quinn would lose a lot of locker rooms but she's fortunate that the Storm have experienced players who've won championships and can hopefully bounce back from this slide and a coaching misstep.
 
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Do not even try to blame this on Canada. Yeah she had 2 bad TOs, but the whole team was taking turns throwing the ball to nobody in the first half. Copper torched the Storm last game, and Canada slowed her down. KLS has done absolutely zippo the last 2 games, so playing Canada more than her certainly didn't hurt them any. This has been a team wide utter collapse.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Do not even try to blame this on Canada. Yeah she had 2 bad TOs, but the whole team was taking turns throwing the ball to nobody in the first half. Copper torched the Storm last game, and Canada slowed her down. KLS has done absolutely zippo the last 2 games, so playing Canada more than her certainly didn't hurt them any. This has been a team wide utter collapse.If you're going to reply to me then reply to me.
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If you're going to reply to my post then reply to my post.

I did not blame this loss on Canada and no intelligent reading of my post would suggest that I did. I don't think much of Canada as a player and I doubt that will change. I simply pointed out that her insertion in to the starting lineup accomplished "zippo" to use your phrase. The team lost by 32 points after losing by 2, 4, 6 and 4 points. Bravo on that move.

Ultimately the Storm will win or lose based on the play of the big 3 but changing the starting lineup and losing by 32 points raises questions about the decision-making of the head coach. Now what does she do? Go back to the rotation that produced a 18-9 record? Whatever impact Quinn's move today will have on the production of Talbot and Samuelson going forward is to be determined. Clearly, today's move backfired and time will tell whether her team still has confidence in her.
 
Last edited:
UConnCat said:
If you're going to reply to my post then reply to my post.

I did not blame this loss on Canada and no intelligent reading of my post would suggest that I did. I don't think much of Canada as a player and I doubt that will change. I simply pointed out that her insertion in to the starting lineup accomplished "zippo" to use your phrase. The team lost by 32 points after losing by 2, 4, 6 and 4 points. Bravo on that move.

Ultimately the Storm will win or lose based on the play of the big 3 but changing the starting lineup and losing by 32 points raises questions about the decision-making of the head coach. Now what does she do? Go back to the rotation that produced a 18-9 record? Whatever impact Quinn's move today will have on the production of Talbot and Samuelson going forward is to be determined. Clearly, today's stunt backfired and time will tell whether her team still has confidence in her.
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Starting 3 guards was a bad decision, but they have lost a number of games this year, at the end of games when they lcouldn't score.
Her end game coaching has been terrible. Management is to blame for all of the problems, allowing PR to make your head coaching decision is their fault.
 
No matter how bad the coaching is, if you have the best player on the planet and the best point guard of all time, and another really good player in Loyd, those players need to make winning plays at the end of close games. They haven't been doing that. Obviously moot today. Ran into a buzzsaw, Chicago couldn't miss and Seattle couldn't play up to their level. Whatever starting lineup they trotted out wouldn't have made any difference.

It was mostly Parker and Sloot running wild in the decisive first half, so whoever was primarily guarding them didn't do much of a job.
 
I do wonder if Kloppenburg had any desire to be head coach on a permanent basis. He is actually older than Hughes and would be 69 before the start of next season.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
No matter how bad the coaching is, if you have the best player on the planet and the best point guard of all time, and another really good player in Loyd, those players need to make winning plays at the end of close games. They haven't been doing that. Obviously moot today. Ran into a buzzsaw, Chicago couldn't miss and Seattle couldn't play up to their level. Whatever starting lineup they trotted out wouldn't have made any difference.

It was mostly Parker and Sloot running wild in the decisive first half, so whoever was primarily guarding them didn't do much of a job.
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The one change that has to be made is Russell, great person, but not really good at anything. You can't win a Championship with someone starting who is average or below in scoring, rebounding and defense.
She isn't going to improve enough to win championships. She is a good back up for. 10-15 minutes.
 
awhom111 said:
I do wonder if Kloppenburg had any desire to be head coach on a permanent basis. He is actually older than Hughes and would be 69 before the start of next season.
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Fair question, which is why I suggested giving Klopp the job for a year or two with Quinn as the coach-in-waiting. He did a great job in the bubble last year. Then again, perhaps he didn't want the job even for a year or two. We're left speculating what went in to naming Quinn the head coach.
 
baggerbob said:
The one change that has to be made is Russell, great person, but not really good at anything. You can't win a Championship with someone starting who is average or below in scoring, rebounding and defense.
She isn't going to improve enough to win championships. She is a good back up for. 10-15 minutes.
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I often don't see what you see. Russell has been abused recently by Big Syl and Parker, but generally she's a decent defender. She's currently leading the team in FG% by a wide margin, 2nd in rebounding and tied w/ KLS for 4th in scoring. I am absolutely not convinced that switching Russell and Magbegor would make much difference. If Russell is a questionable starter for the Storm, you have to admit KLS is as well. The 3 spot is every bit or more worrisome than the 5.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I often don't see what you see. Russell has been abused recently by Big Syl and Parker, but generally she's a decent defender. She's currently leading the team in FG% by a wide margin, 2nd in rebounding and tied w/ KLS for 4th in scoring. I am absolutely not convinced that switching Russell and Magbegor would make much difference. If Russell is a questionable starter for the Storm, you have to admit KLS is as well. The 3 spot is every bit or more worrisome than the 5.
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I won't disagree on the 3 spot, but I suggested before they should have picked up a center, and let Stewie play the 3. With Russell at center, even though she shoots well, she is unable to get many shots, no real offensive game.
Looking at team stats going back to Stewie's 1st year. From highest to lowest for Field goal percentage.
2017-.47.3
2020-.47.0
2018-.46.8
2016-.45.7
2021-.44.8
2018-.42.0
The 2 worst years are this year and 2018, both years Russell was starting center.
If Russell is playing center, would rather have Stewie, and Ezi playing with her like Connecticut does, and Las Vegas has their big lineup. If Lou ever refinds her shooting stroke, the she can be in the mix.
 
baggerbob said:
I won't disagree on the 3 spot, but I suggested before they should have picked up a center, and let Stewie play the 3. With Russell at center, even though she shoots well, she is unable to get many shots, no real offensive game.
Looking at team stats going back to Stewie's 1st year. From highest to lowest for Field goal percentage.
2017-.47.3
2020-.47.0
2018-.46.8
2016-.45.7
2021-.44.8
2018-.42.0
The 2 worst years are this year and 2018, both years Russell was starting center.
If Russell is playing center, would rather have Stewie, and Ezi playing with her like Connecticut does, and Las Vegas has their big lineup. If Lou ever refinds her shooting stroke, the she can be in the mix.
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The numbers seem to be backing you up, but you have to take both of those low marks w/ a big grain of salt. One of the seasons was with Stewie and Bird out injured, and the other year was after losing 2 starters in Clark and Howard and the top reserve in Whitcomb. In other words, probably a lot of reasons the team FG% was low those seasons, Russell being the starting center might not be the real reason.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
The numbers seem to be backing you up, but you have to take both of those low marks w/ a big grain of salt. One of the seasons was with Stewie and Bird out injured, and the other year was after losing 2 starters in Clark and Howard and the top reserve in Whitcomb. In other words, probably a lot of reasons the team FG% was low those seasons, Russell being the starting center might not be the real reason.
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They need to have someone else besides Stewie to be a double figure scorer in the frontcourt. Whether it is Lou or Ezi, one of them has to play and give Seattle a 4th option.
 
JJ has to be front runner for MVP. First half has been almost flawless. 21 pts (7-8 2-3 from 3) (5-6 FT) 6 RB 2 BS
 
Revenge game for Lauren Cox? She has 14 on 6-7 shooting against the Fever, I'm guessing that's a career high for her. Late in Q4, Sparks leading. The playoff chase w/ 4 teams vying for the last 2 spots is mildly interesting.
 
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