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nwhoopfan said:
Okay BY, seriously nobody is gonna mention Kelsey Plum's game last night?

She went OFF. That looked like the KP I watched wearing purple and gold on Montlake. 32 pts., 11-16 shooting, unstoppable from the moment she entered the game. Just missed setting a WNBA record for most points in a game by a bench player. When she came in LV was behind. With her on the floor all of the second quarter, they had the lead at the half. She quickly replaced Williams in Q3 and soon it turned into a blowout.
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Plum has been slowed by injuries, but I remember watching the Vegas/DC semifinal series in 2019, and I thought she was best player on the court for Vegas that series. (In the 2019 playoffs, she averaged 15ppg, 8apg, while shooting 50% from both the field and 3pt).

It does seem that for some players (including Vegas's other #1 pick in the backcourt, Jackie Young) Year 3 is when things really start cooking. (See also: Mabrey, Marina).
 
nwhoopfan said:
Okay BY, seriously nobody is gonna mention Kelsey Plum's game last night?

She went OFF. That looked like the KP I watched wearing purple and gold on Montlake. 32 pts., 11-16 shooting, unstoppable from the moment she entered the game. Just missed setting a WNBA record for most points in a game by a bench player. When she came in LV was behind. With her on the floor all of the second quarter, they had the lead at the half. She quickly replaced Williams in Q3 and soon it turned into a blowout.
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I guess she should have blocked A'ja Wilson on twitter a long time ago if it produced that kind of results ;)
 
bbsamjj said:
Plum has been slowed by injuries, but I remember watching the Vegas/DC semifinal series in 2019, and I thought she was best player on the court for Vegas that series. (In the 2019 playoffs, she averaged 15ppg, 8apg, while shooting 50% from both the field and 3pt).

It does seem that for some players (including Vegas's other #1 pick in the backcourt, Jackie Young) Year 3 is when things really start cooking. (See also: Mabrey, Marina).
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Marina and Jackie were pretty good last year tbh. But with McCoughtry out in Vegas, Young has a bigger role. And Mabrey thrived with a bigger role when Gray was out for the 3x3 tourney.
 
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Orangutan said:
Marina and Jackie were pretty good last year tbh. But with McCoughtry out in Vegas, Young has a bigger role. And Mabtey thrived with a bigger role when Gray was out for the 3x3 tourney.
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What’s interesting to me is that, of the five 2019 ND draftees, Jessica Shepard has been least impactful. Granted, she’s been injured a bit, but even in the games she’s played I’d say that’s true. She was fantastic at ND in her years there; I would never have thought Mabrey and Turner would end up better pros (and they look to be at this point in their careers).
 
GoChips20 said:
What’s interesting to me is that, of the five 2019 ND draftees, Jessica Shepard has been least impactful. Granted, she’s been injured a bit, but even in the games she’s played I’d say that’s true. She was fantastic at ND in her years there; I would never have thought Mabrey and Turner would end up better pros (and they look to be at this point in their careers).
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She tore her ACL after only a few games her rookie year, didn't play last year and after a few games this year has been injured. I'd she it's kinda hard to have any impact when you aren't playing.
 
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GoChips20 said:
What’s interesting to me is that, of the five 2019 ND draftees, Jessica Shepard has been least impactful. Granted, she’s been injured a bit, but even in the games she’s played I’d say that’s true. She was fantastic at ND in her years there; I would never have thought Mabrey and Turner would end up better pros (and they look to be at this point in their careers).
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I'd concentrate on that "injured a bit": she went down with a major injury in her pro career just as it was starting. She had that ACL injury a mere 5 or 6 games into her rookie year in June 2019. She lost the rest of that season, as well as the 2020 season in Florida. She was able to come back and play -- I believe -- in Israel. So, she made it back to the WNBA nearly two years after her injury. Not really a stretch for me to see how it was going to take some time to get back. Then, she gets a groin injury, which will be a nag (at the least) for this season.

By contrast, Mabrey and Turner were able to play in two WNBA seasons and overseas (at least one of those winters) to work on their games. Mabrey played all of the guard positions while in Europe (which you can see on full display) and Turner had a superb season in the Aussie League (same year that Kia Nurse did).

Knock on wood, I'm hoping Jess gets a chance to come back and show her stuff.
 
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Orangutan said:
Marina and Jackie were pretty good last year tbh. But with McCoughtry out in Vegas, Young has a bigger role. And Mabtey thrived with a bigger role when Gray was out for the 3x3 tourney.
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I agree, but it seems like they've both really taken it to another level this year.
 
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baggerbob said:
Anyone know why Charles is inactive for the game against Atlanta?
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WashMystics star Tina Charles will miss a game this Thursday to attend the premiere of “Game Changer” — a film she directed and produced — at NYC’s Tribeca Film Festival. The 2012 @WNBA MVP currently leads the league with 24.0 PPG.
 
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KY Card Fan said:
Hines-Allen knee injury. MRI today. Hoping for the best.
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DC just can't catch a break. Plaisance did her best Tina Charles impression last night though and Atkins was on FIRE, and they snuck out a win over Atlanta.
 
Good comeback win for Lynx over Dallas. Naphessa was her steady self and getting into All WNBA form but the most pleasant surprise was McBride looked confident and proficient. And Fowles is back to her All Star self.
 
eebmg said:
Good comeback win for Lynx over Dallas. Naphessa was her steady self and getting into All WNBA form but the most pleasant surprise was McBride looked confident and proficient. And Fowles is back to her All Star self.
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K-Mac was in "buckets" form: 6-10 overall, 3-6 from three and 7-7 from the line, which is always a good sign when she's getting to the line.

What the Lynx (also) did really well was play defense: they held Dallas to 73 points, well under the Wings' average. And Dallas had come off an extended, successful road trip. Kudos to Lynx and Coach Reeve for pulling in the wagons and getting it right.
 
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eebmg said:
Good comeback win for Lynx over Dallas. Naphessa was her steady self and getting into All WNBA form but the most pleasant surprise was McBride looked confident and proficient. And Fowles is back to her All Star self.
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Dallas has Arike, and Indiana has the Mitchell's, they are coach killer's, who have grown up taking any shot they want. Arike was lucky she won something, because she played with so many good unselfish players at Notre Dame and won a Championship.
 
bbsamjj said:
DC just can't catch a break. Plaisance did her best Tina Charles impression last night though and Atkins was on FIRE, and they snuck out a win over Atlanta.
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Is there an active player in the league more improved from college to pros than Atkins? She’s been a terrific player in the league.
 
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baggerbob said:
Dallas has Arike, and Indiana has the Mitchell's, they are coach killer's, who have grown up taking any shot they want. Arike was lucky she won something, because she played with so many good unselfish players at Notre Dame and won a Championship.
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Sigh. :confused: I just came in from a perfectly beautiful Friday afternoon to see this unsubstantiated slam. Not that it's anything new, but I thought it was worth bringing up some facts from Arike's collegaite carrer that demonstrate tat Arike, far from being a drag on her teammates, was a key cog of that ND team and that the team had a very successful run during her four years there.

- 15-16. 33-2 (94% winning pct.). Lost to Stanford in NCAA 90-84. Didn't start. Avg. 11.4 ppg (43% overall, 39% from 3)
(This was the game where Karlie Samuelsson slammed the door on an Irish comeback.)
- 16-17. 33-4 (94%) Lost to Stanford in Elite 8, 76-75. Started all year. Avg. 15.9 ppg. Shot 45% overall and from 3.
(Arike took and missed/got blocked last shot in Stanford game. Terrific game.)
- 17-18. 35-3 (92%) Beat UConn & MSU en route to NCAA Title. Started all year. Avg. 20.8 on 44% overall, 38% from 3.
(This was the year ND basically rode 6 players from 1/4 mark of the season. Season she hit the two last-second shots)
- 18-19. 35-4 (90%) Beat UConn in NCAA semi &lost to Baylor in title game. Started all year. Avg. 21.8 ppg on 45% &36%.
(AO missed front end of 2 FTs in 82-81 loss. 3-pt. % was probably down because Marina Mabrey, if you recall, missed first 6 or 7 games and Arike was playing PG, shooting guard and filling Mabrey's long-range threat.)

To state the obvious, Arike didn't seem to hinder the overall Irish team:
  • Well over 90% winning pct. Coach killers usually lose a bunch of games. Didn't happen often -- in fact, I went out of my way to show that Arike giveth and sometimes taketh away. You ride a person that wants the last shot.
  • Marike, like Jewell Loyd, gave Coach McGraw that "I'll take the shot" persona. Last I checked, UConn had it's share of these players, too.
  • The only element of Arike's game that consistently drove McGraw Bench devotees crazy is when she got frustrated offensively, she'd drag back to her place in the 2-3 zone. And when she did it consistently, McGraw took her out. Lesson learned, but not for long: McGraw needed her the last two years.

As for the pro game, Brian Agler and the Dallas Wings parted ways, but that seemed to be for a variety of reasons related to a very young Wings team. Coach Johnson is stressing that the team needs to continually play more for each other. Interestingly, the player she cited initially for this point was Allisha Gray (and pointed to the 3x3 tournament as perhaps a reason).

Johnson seems to have her hands on the steering wheel. Let's see how Dallas progresses before Ms. Johnson comes or goes. In either case, I'm sure Arike's unselfsih Dallas teammates can bail her out. ;)
 
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GoChips20 said:
Is there an active player in the league more improved from college to pros than Atkins? She’s been a terrific player in the league.
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Alternatively, is there a player who was used more poorly in college than Atkins?

She went from a below-average college coach to arguably the best coach in the WNBA.
 
baggerbob said:
Dallas has Arike, and Indiana has the Mitchell's, they are coach killer's, who have grown up taking any shot they want. Arike was lucky she won something, because she played with so many good unselfish players at Notre Dame and won a Championship.
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The Mitchells are so far from being the problem in Indiana that's not even funny. They are the only thing that gives that team even a modicum of hope. That and the one good game in 3 that McCowan plays before underwhelming again.

As for Arike, it's pretty funny to say that Arike was "lucky" to win something when she was unambiguously the focal point of that National Championship team.
 
Orangutan said:
The Mitchells are so far from being the problem in Indiana that's not even funny. They are the only thing that gives that team even a modicum of hope. That and the one good game in 3 that McCowan plays before underwhelming again.

As for Arike, it's pretty funny to say that Arike was "lucky" to win something when she was unambiguously the focal point of that National Championship team.
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Both could be All Star caliber guards in the right system. Instead they’re rotting away their careers in Indy. Very sad to see. Arike is arike. She was the scoring champ last year for a reason. I’m really liking her passing and willingness to give up the ball this year, but I also don’t mind her shooting more either.
 
There will never be many good things to say about Arike from some participants here even if she improves her shooting percentage and wins a championship. I have as much of a reason to dislike the girl as some on this board by virtue of one of the clutch shots that cost what will likely be the closest MSU gets to a NC in men's or women's basketball but I don't. She's Russell Westbrook of the women's game. She will win you a lot of games and cost you others. Not everyone likes Westbrook, and I get it, but few can deny he's one of the greats in the NBA. The same goes with Arike.
 
MSSportsGuy said:
There will never be many good things to say about Arike from some participants here even if she improves her shooting percentage and wins a championship. I have as much of a reason to dislike the girl as some on this board by virtue of one of the clutch shots that cost what will likely be the closest MSU gets to a NC in men's or women's basketball but I don't. She's Russell Westbrook of the women's game. She will win you a lot of games and cost you others. Not everyone likes Westbrook, and I get it, but few can deny he's one of the greats in the NBA. The same goes with Arike.
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Yes Arike is a very talented player, but they are ways she could be so much better. With a good coach she will figure it out. In a system like Seattle or Minnesota she would thrive.
 
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