WNBA thread

[eebmg]

Brutal loss for Washington with 5 missed RT's in last 2 minutes 3 by Tina Charles and 2 by Zevalous. Sabrina looked good down the stretch with help all around.

Alos Tina called for an Offensive foul after she blindly wiped out Jaz Jones as she would have given the Mystics the lead. Otherwise Tina was Spectacular

And Danielle Robinson was awesome down the stretch to give IND a win over the Sun

 

[Geew1992]

Brutal loss for Washington with 5 missed RT's in last 2 minutes 3 by Tina Charles and 2 by Zevalous. Sabrina looked good down the stretch with help all around.

Alos Tina called for an Offensive foul after she blindly wiped out Jaz Jones as she would have given the Mystics the lead. Otherwise Tina was Spectacular

And Danielle Robinson was awesome down the stretch to give IND a win over the Sun

RTs or FTs?

 

[bbsamjj]

Got to hand it to the WNBA. Other than IND, any team can beat any other. Not too many clunker games anymore.

And right as you say that, Indiana pulls out a (shocking) win over the Sun, who couldn't hit much of anything this afternoon.

 

[bbsamjj]

Sabally actually started at center in this game (no minutes for Collier, barely any for Alarie), but was joined by Izzy Harrison for the majority of the game to help battle Chicago's height. And Thornton always will play a bruising style of ball. I think Sabally's ability to take bigs off the dribble while facing the basket is one of her key attributes. Too much "burst!" She had a fine all-round game.

BTW, the Wings shot 11-20 from three (55%): Allisha Gray was 2-3, Thornton 2-3 and Marina Mabrey 5-6. All three were also in double figure "+" figures. Mabrey led the Wings with 28 last night. With Ogunbowale, Gray, Sabally and Mabrey, there are numerous options.

As per Vickie Johnson's demand for accountability, it's not just Arike (your veiled reference isn't that hard to figure out ). She took Gray out of the lineup after her return from the 3x3 because she felt Allisha was still going one one one too much - residual effect of 3x3 play. Message received: Gray's back in and was great last night on very efficient scoring.

My only concern with Johnson is the constant line-up shuffling and "going by the gut" on minutes. While I admire her wanting her players to play hard 5-8 minutes shifts, players minutes can very wildly from game to game. Witness MoJeff playing all of 2+ minutes...after starting. If the players are on board, cool, but most like some sort of regular deployment of roles/minutes.

Still, she's got 'em at .500 and they're fun to watch.

I love watching the Wings play; they are feisty and will keep coming at you no matter what. Arike, Mabrey, and Gray can all go off for 20+ on any night; their issue is it's been tough to get them all going on the same night, which may be in part because of Vickie Johnson's constant lineup switches.

But the very young core of Arike, Mabrey, Gray, Sabally should be fun to watch for some time; and should they make the playoffs, I certainly don't want to face them in a one-game elimination.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Of course she isn’t but my point was if you take her off the team in entirety the Aces won’t be as good as they are right now.

Of course, she's an excellent player, I'm not disputing that. I think she can play even better than what I've seen of her recently.

 

[jonson]

Brutal loss for Washington with 5 missed RT's in last 2 minutes 3 by Tina Charles and 2 by Zevalous. Sabrina looked good down the stretch with help all around.

Alos Tina called for an Offensive foul after she blindly wiped out Jaz Jones as she would have given the Mystics the lead. Otherwise Tina was Spectacular

And Danielle Robinson was awesome down the stretch to give IND a win over the Sun

Sabrina seems to be looking more like herself the past few games; she's moving better and had some great assists down the stretch today. Maybe she's finally past the ankle problems.

 

[Dokey]

It's becoming more obvious that Seattle made a mistake in hiring Quinn. I like how Mercedes Russell has progressed, but she is limited offensively. She would be better coming off the bench. Ezi has the ability to shoot from deep, and help spread the floor. Right now at the end of games Seattle struggles, no room for Stewie or Loyd to drive.
Three of the 4 games they lost they had leads, and went the final minutes without scoring. Last night the same thing happened, but time ran out.

Quinn keeps starters on bench too long, though the bench contributed points in this one, but the team isn’t as fluid when starting five aren’t on the floor. KLS gets better and better every game, making contributions when she turns scoring over to Stewie, Jewel, and Sue, quick, good passes, rebounding more and more. Her oft criticized defense is looking pretty good. Her subs are mostly one dimensional. Look, Stewie may block a lot of shots but she gets scored on a lot and no one seems to notice. Russell looks strong.

 

[eebmg]

Cheryl Reeves has decided that giving Napheesa token rest in no longer needed. Never tires. After 44/45 minutes in an OT game and 40 minutes the last game, has played all 20 minutes of the 1st half. Even when the Lynx has a 15 pt lead.

 

[donalddoowop]

Cheryl Reeves has decided that giving Napheesa token rest in no longer needed. Never tires. After 44/45 minutes in an OT game and 40 minutes the last game, has played all 20 minutes of the 1st half. Even when the Lynx has a 15 pt lead.

Even when they had a 25 point lead.

 

[eebmg]

Even when they had a 25 point lead.

Finally took her out at the 33:34 mark with a 29 pt lead

Interesting that they said one player Diana was excited to play with in the Olympics was Naphessa.

Maybe DT could learn some calmness from Pheesa. In the past, she used to gain fuel from her "ref venting". Not sure it is a + now and it propagates to alot of the Mercury players (except BG who probably could benefit from being mad a bit more)

 

[wolfe613]

Finally took her out at the 33:34 mark with a 29 pt lead

Interesting that they said one player Diana was excited to play with in the Olympics was Naphessa.

Maybe DT could learn some calmness from Pheesa. In the past, she used to gain fuel from her "ref venting". Not sure it is a + now and it propagates to alot of the Mercury players (except BG who probably could benefit from being mad a bit more)

her attitude towards refs is getting out of hand and just becoming a child. There's no reason to bully refs they're just doing their job and trying to do their best.

 

[Dillon77]

Cheryl Reeves has decided that giving Napheesa token rest in no longer needed. Never tires. After 44/45 minutes in an OT game and 40 minutes the last game, has played all 20 minutes of the 1st half. Even when the Lynx has a 15 pt lead.

Yup, she probably could've taken the pedal off the metal a tad earlier (this one was done early), but I'm thinking Reeves wants to finish strong before the Olympic break. Grab a win on the road...go for it.

Also, she probably wanted to get Fowles off the floor (given her age). And Shepard, even though she worked up to half the game, is still probably being watched due to the groin strain. And, Achonwa is still out.

'Phee was lights out last night: 6-7 from the field and 7-7 from the line and a 29 +/-

Switching players, K-Mac is stringing together a number of solid games: shot 4-6 from three and 9-13 overall for 24 last night. "Phee, who of course led the Lynx in assists, too, did a good job of keeping the ball moving to open shooters. Would've had even more hockey assists.

 

[eebmg]

Yup, she probably could've taken the pedal off the metal a tad earlier (this one was done early), but I'm thinking Reeves wants to finish strong before the Olympic break. Grab a win on the road...go for it.

Also, she probably wanted to get Fowles off the floor (given her age). And Shepard, even though she worked up to half the game, is still probably being watched due to the groin strain. And, Achonwa is still out.

'Phee was lights out last night: 6-7 from the field and 7-7 from the line and a 29 +/-

Switching players, K-Mac is stringing together a number of solid games: shot 4-6 from three and 9-13 overall for 24 last night. "Phee, who of course led the Lynx in assists, too, did a good job of keeping the ball moving to open shooters. Would've had even more hockey assists.

But hair trigger shooters like K-Mac scare me. They can go off their game so quickly. I really love her emotions and how much she cares and wants to win so I hope she keeps it up in the playoffs

 

[Dillon77]

But hair trigger shooters like K-Mac scare me. They can go off their game so quickly. I really love her emotions and how much she cares and wants to win so I hope she keeps it up in the playoffs

Like most scary outside shooters (that's used in "good" sense), K-Mac can turn into "Buckets." And, yes, there are times when the averages have to come back to reality. I compared her to two other long-range bombers since 2017. Here's how she stacks up.

Diana Taurasi:
Regular FG/3-Pt. FG %:

• 2017: 40%/38.4%;
• 2018: 44.6%/38.3%
• 2019: N/A
• 2020: 40.9%; 36.5%
• 2021 (so far): 35.8%, 32.6%

Allie Quigley:

• 2017: 50.5%/43%
• 2018: 46.6%; 42%
• 2019: 49.3%; 44.2%
• 2020: 44.8%; 34.6%
• 2021: 42.7%; 39.2%

Kayla McBride:

• 2017: 38.1%, 31.0%
• 2018: 44.9%; 39.3%
• 2019: 42.5%; 42.8%
• 2020: 42.5%; 34.2%
• 2021: 42.3%; 38.9%

Interesting exercise. For me, it reinforced that K-Mac has always been a well-rounded guard, who shoots well inside 3-pt. range, using her pull-up baseline jumpers and floaters in the lane. If you want consistency in the regular season, call Quigley and if you want a timely shooter of these three, see DT.

As for K-Mac, I think the key has always been to get the confidence going early and she groove into the long-range stroke. Marina Mabrey has a similar groove of the ND bombers.

 

[bbsamjj]

The Lynx are looking scary good right now (though the Mercury are...not). 4 game winning streak, won 9 of last 12.

Fowles is having a turn back the clock type of year.
Collier is Collier.
And if KMac is getting into a groove, they have a sharpshooter you can't leave open.

The Clarendon/Dangerfield PG combo seems to be working (combined they are averaging 19ppg and 8.5apg). And Dantas/Carleton are serviceable in the 5th starter spot.

They've had a few defensive clunkers in the mix, but that's a very good basketball team.

 

[Shades]

Tina Charles is the MVP. No way around that

MVPs don’t come from losing teams, so that’ll have to change.

 

[donalddoowop]

Yup, she probably could've taken the pedal off the metal a tad earlier (this one was done early), but I'm thinking Reeves wants to finish strong before the Olympic break. Grab a win on the road...go for it.

Also, she probably wanted to get Fowles off the floor (given her age). And Shepard, even though she worked up to half the game, is still probably being watched due to the groin strain. And, Achonwa is still out.

'Phee was lights out last night: 6-7 from the field and 7-7 from the line and a 29 +/-

Switching players, K-Mac is stringing together a number of solid games: shot 4-6 from three and 9-13 overall for 24 last night. "Phee, who of course led the Lynx in assists, too, did a good job of keeping the ball moving to open shooters. Would've had even more hockey assists.

How good is Achonwa and what position does she play? Will her return make the Lynx a better team and what are her strong points?

 

[baggerbob]

Unable to listen to Carolyn Peck, had to turn off the aces, and dream game. She should call the game and not interject her opinion. Liz does get fouled, but she also has a bad habit of cleaning out the area with her forearm, and has done that for years, and she could be called for that most times down the floor.

 

[eebmg]

Unable to listen to Carolyn Peck, had to turn off the aces, and dream game. She should call the game and not interject her opinion. Liz does get fouled, but she also has a bad habit of cleaning out the area with her forearm, and has done that for years, and she could be called for that most times down the floor.

Totally agree. Peck is bad enough but Cambage preening is unwatchable.

 

[baggerbob]

Totally agree. Peck is bad enough but Cambage preening is unwatchable.

She has been told by Lauren Jackson to quit complaining to the Refs, and play basketball.Liz will never be as good as Lauren was.

 

[bbsamjj]

Cambage is without a doubt a character, and a player you love to hate if she's not on your team. That's IMO good for the league. You need villians.

 

[Bigboote]

How good is Achonwa and what position does she play? Will her return make the Lynx a better team and what are her strong points?

The first is up for debate, I'll give my opinion in the next paragraph. She's a 5/4-type player, more 5 than 4. The Lynx will be better with her, but then they only have 8 players.

She's definitely a good player, but she was only playing about 10-15 minutes a game before she got hurt, averaging maybe 5 and 3. I'm a bit baffled at the Lynx giving her a max (or close to it) contract when I'm not even sure the plan was to play her much more than 1/3 as much as Collier who's still on a rookie contract. Her good points are that she's strong and smart, has good fundamentals, she's a good passer and doesn't mess up. She'll get some close-in points, putbacks, and does have a midrange shot. She's not especially quick and doesn't have much range beyond about 15 feet.

She has been on the Canadian National Team since she was something like 17.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The Aces can score, that's for sure. Put up 118, in regulation. After their dynamic duo off the bench didn't do much the last game, they bounced back big time. Combined 41 points, Hamby tied for a team high 10 rebounds, Plum led them w/ 8 assists.

So...you'd probably take 8 assists/0 turnovers, 23 pts, 60%+ shooting overall and behind the arc from your backup PG most days, right?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Battle of the Samuelsons. Who will score first? Goose eggs for both in the 1st quarter.

Never mind, Katie Lou on the board in Q2.

 

[nwhoopfan]

No Loyd for the Storm, Prince started. Anybody know what that's about?