WNBA -- 2023 Season

[Dillon77]

Stewie for the win

ESPN, on early morning SportsCenter, reported that's Stewie's first game winner with less than 10 seconds remaining ever (I presume in pro's). Williams played pretty good defense on that (I watched the last quarter), but Stewie is just Stewie. Sloot and Stewie executed a perfect pick and roll just before that, during which Marina Mabrey was shaking her head about; probably having seen it in Europe in the semi-finals.

Chicago seems to ride Mabrey, Copper and Williams hot streaks at differing points in the game. Next step, IMHO, is to mesh a bit better and work together to get the best (better) approach in crunch time, both on offense and defense. Wade's a good coach, I'm sure he'll get them there.

 

[JellyBean]

The Lynx don't look terrible, but their guard play may be. They are the worst team in the league, at 0-6. Coach Reeve, over her Lynx career, is 2 games under .500 without Maya on the roster and 128 games over .500 with Maya. They need more talent, especially at the guard spot.

I appreciate the positive spin. We got the talent. We just don't have that shot making talent. Or that good shot selection decision makers out there. That is just a whole team problem. Talent helps, you are right about that. Seimone Augustus ain't walking through that door. Or Maya Moore. Or a Lindsay Whalen. Or Taj McWilliams-Franklin. We had a squad! Coach Reeve and her staff will have to figure something out or maybe they have

 

[Geew1992]

ESPN, on early morning SportsCenter, reported that's Stewie's first game winner with less than 10 seconds remaining ever (I presume in pro's). Williams played pretty good defense on that (I watched the last quarter), but Stewie is just Stewie. Sloot and Stewie executed a perfect pick and roll just before that, during which Marina Mabrey was shaking her head about; probably having seen it in Europe in the semi-finals.

Chicago seems to ride Mabrey, Copper and Williams hot streaks at differing points in the game. Next step, IMHO, is to mesh a bit better and work together to get the best (better) approach in crunch time, both on offense and defense. Wade's a good coach, I'm sure he'll get them there.

I don’t remember Stewie ever with a game winner in college.

 

[Dillon77]

I don’t remember Stewie ever with a game winner in college.

Probably because by the fourth quarter they were up by 30 most nights!

 

[BRS24]

Update:

Connecticut Sun Sign Liz Dixon - Connecticut Sun

Uncasville, CT (June 3, 2023) – The Connecticut Sun has signed forward, Liz Dixon to a rest of season contract, the team announced today. The 6-5 forward comes to Connecticut after finishing a successful collegiate career at the University of Louisville. Throughout four seasons with the...

sun.wnba.com

 

[bbsamjj]

ESPN, on early morning SportsCenter, reported that's Stewie's first game winner with less than 10 seconds remaining ever (I presume in pro's). Williams played pretty good defense on that (I watched the last quarter), but Stewie is just Stewie. Sloot and Stewie executed a perfect pick and roll just before that, during which Marina Mabrey was shaking her head about; probably having seen it in Europe in the semi-finals.

Chicago seems to ride Mabrey, Copper and Williams hot streaks at differing points in the game. Next step, IMHO, is to mesh a bit better and work together to get the best (better) approach in crunch time, both on offense and defense. Wade's a good coach, I'm sure he'll get them there.

Alanna Smith has been a huge surprise this year, and was on fire last night. Easily an early top candidate for most improved. Was glad Copper could play in second half but she definitely didn't seem the same after Laney stepped on her ankle. Elizabeth Williams played great defense on Stewart on that last shot, but Stewart is Stewart.

This Sky team is gritty--two of their 3 losses are by a combined 3 points where you had late game winners by two of the best shot makers in the WNBA (EDD and Stewart). Hopefully they can get healthy soon too.

 

[Tangential]

The player for whom I was most impressed relative to my expectations, was Lexie Brown. Her shot was so pure in the 1st half that it was barely moving the net and she had a few really nice pick and roll dimes (threaded needle on the bounce and the lob numerous times) and would have had even more but Chiney (who played well) and Dearica (who made some nice passes of her own) missed a few bunnies. She also looked better defensively than I have seen throughout her career. Canada looked great on D, but is still inconsistent on O.

Last night, Lexie topped that game by a good margin. The hesitation move before the drive to the bucket that knotted the score late in regulation, and draining the dagger contested 3 late in OT from well behind the line, were things of beauty.

Nneka is looking like herself, and even after players like Stevens return, Karlie has earned not only a roster spot, but to be part of the rotation for her increasing number of ways that she positively influences a game as their only true "3."

With Alanna's performance and Haley (part of the unanswered combination to my trivia question) looking more comfortable, Cardinal stock is on a major uptrend.

 

[Tangential]

Both of the first 2 games tonight were 1-pointers. Then Vegas won by a small margin for them (5).

Very true, but so far nobody from the bottom 8 has defeated a team from the top 4. If Dallas had a healthy DeShields & Big T and Chicago had a healthy Harrison, Gardner, Bertsch (LA with Stevens & J Thomas???), they could be right there.

 

[Dillon77]

Very true, but so far nobody from the bottom 8 has defeated a team from the top 4. If Dallas had a healthy DeShields & Big T and Chicago had a healthy Harrison, Gardner, Bertsch (LA with Stevens & J Thomas???), they could be right there.

Points all well taken, but Bertsch's injury has led to time and chances for Smith. If and when Bertsch returns, Chicago can throw two forwards at the situation, depending on what's needed. I think Chicago's still "gellin'," made more difficult by the injuries, to say the least.

 

[From France]

Lynx won though frankly tanking

That makes the Mystics loss even worse

 

[JellyBean]

My Lynx got their first win of the year!! Dorka getting minutes and being very skilled in those minutes. Ball screens, rebounding, throwing some nice dimes. Great win, Minnesota!!

 

[Bigboote]

The Lynx really had me on the edge of my seat. The Mystics made a great comeback last night and almost did it again tonight.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Is Loyd gonna lead the league in scoring playing for the worst team? It could happen. I think she was at 26 ppg before tonight, and she dropped 37 on the Sparks in a losing effort. Storm are the only team without a win thus far.

 

[Dillon77]

My Lynx got their first win of the year!! Dorka getting minutes and being very skilled in those minutes. Ball screens, rebounding, throwing some nice dimes. Great win, Minnesota!!

Only saw the last quarter of this one, but I can certainly agree with @Bigboote -- had me on edge of seat!
Lynx got solid contributions from their front line - Dorka, 'Phee and Jess Shepard (particularly late) -- but the key for them was Kayla McBride had a game. K-Mac, too, played in the European Championships and missed a few games for personal reasons and hadn't really had a K-Mac game until now. When she does, it opens things up for everyone else.

On the Mystics side, Della Donne and Cloud were slightly off in shooting percentage, but whew, what a game.
Also noticed Myisha Hines-Allen played a bit. When she revs up, she'll help the team even more.

Here's a summary on the game with box score easily found:

Minnesota Lynx vs. Washington Mystics - WNBA Game Summary - June 3, 2023 | WNBA

Check the game summary of the Minnesota Lynx vs. Washington Mystics WNBA basketball game on June 3, 2023.

www.wnba.com

 

[Tangential]

Is Loyd gonna lead the league in scoring playing for the worst team? It could happen. I think she was at 26 ppg before tonight, and she dropped 37 on the Sparks in a losing effort. Storm are the only team without a win thus far.

Yes.

We have been mentioning Stewie, A'ja, AT, & Jackie for coming out of the gate with all-around super strong starts for obvious reasons. 3 others worth noting are: BG (team is struggling), Nneka, & Satou Sabally (most surprising on the list & although I generally hate to bring up awards this early in the season, if she maintains anywhere close to her current production, she walks away with MIP). 21.4 ppg, 10 rpg, 4 apg, 1.8 spg, .4 bpg, 47/38/92 fg/3/ft %

Satou Sabally WNBA Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

Statistics, history, awards and achievements for WNBA player Satou Sabally

www.basketball-reference.com

 

[FanFromMaine]

Lexie Brown is doing great this year. Starting all 5 games and 2nd in scoring on the team.

Anyone know what happened to allow this improvement?

 

[Tangential]

Lexie Brown is doing great this year. Starting all 5 games and 2nd in scoring on the team.

Anyone know what happened to allow this improvement?

Her career hit a personal (individual stats) low mark in 2021, which ironically culminated in a championship ring with Chicago. However, she was waived by MN, waived & released by the Sky, and basically only played garbage time with Dana & Ruthy that year.

Prior to the 2022 season, she was traded to LA. A less talented team provided her more opportunity. She has also honed her skills significantly by playing with Athletes Unlimited, which she is one of their biggest advocates. She has put in so much work the last 2 years. This year, with no Sykes, Carter, and Toliver (& no KLS from an outside shooting perspective), there is even more reliance on her ability to pick up the scoring slack and available PT as a guard. The new head coach (Miller) has done a terrific job instilling confidence and designing plays for her that enable her to maximize her ability. The confidence from hitting 3s (and the defensive attention of closely guarding her beyond the arc) has opened up her dribble drive game (check out her incredible move down low vs. BG as well as the hesitation move to tie that game late).

I don't think she is a viable candidate for MIP (so far) because her rpg, apg, spg, & bpg have not had appreciable increases similar to Satou.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Her career hit a personal low mark in 2021, which ironically culminated in a championship ring with Chicago. However, she was waived by MN, waived & released by the Sky, and basically only played garbage time with Dana & Ruthy that year.

Prior to the 2022 season, she was traded to LA. A less talented team provided her more opportunity. She has also honed her skills significantly by playing with Athletes Unlimited, which she is one of their biggest advocates. She has put in so much work the last 2 years. This year, with no Sykes, Carter, and Toliver (& no KLS from an outside shooting perspective), there is even more reliance on her ability to pick up the scoring slack and available PT as a guard. The new head coach (Miller) has done a terrific job instilling confidence and designing plays for her that enable her to maximize her ability. The confidence from hitting 3s (and the defensive attention of closely guarding her beyond the arc) has opened up her dribble drive game (check out her incredible move down low vs. BG as well as the hesitation move to tie that game late).

I don't think she is a viable candidate for MIP (so far) because her rpg, apg, spg, & bpg have not had appreciable increases similar to Satou.

Lexie Brown 2022 vs 2023

BY YEAR	TEAM	GP	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	PF	FP	DD2	TD3	+/-
2023	LAS	5	30.0	14.4	5.4	10.6	50.9	2.6	6.2	41.9	1.0	1.0	100	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.4	1.0	1.2	0.2	1.0	24.8	0	0	-1.2
2022	LAS	34	25.0	7.1	2.7	6.2	44.1	1.6	3.9	39.8	0.1	0.2	66.7	0.2	2.1	2.3	2.1	0.8	1.0	0.2	1.3	15.5	0	0	-3.6

Satou Sabally 2022 vs 2023

BY YEAR	TEAM	GP	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	PF	FP	DD2	TD3	+/-
2023	DAL	5	33.5	21.4	7.2	15.4	46.8	2.2	5.8	37.9	4.8	5.2	92.3	2.6	7.4	10.0	4.0	2.6	1.8	0.4	3.8	42.0	3	0	5.4
2022	DAL	11	21.7	11.3	3.7	9.4	39.8	0.9	3.9	23.3	2.9	3.2	91.4	0.8	4.0	4.8	2.1	2.3	0.5	0.2	3.2	20.4	2	0	-0.2

 

[Bigboote]

The Mystics' bench was collectively a -50 last night, each one of them -10 or worse. This is the team that waived Emily Engstler.

 

[Tangential]

The Mystics' bench was collectively a -50 last night, each one of them -10 or worse. This is the team that waived Emily Engstler.

Was there ever any insight as to why Indiana waived her so early? Because that made no sense either, even though I think she would have been a much better fit in Washington.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It's great seeing Johannes back on the floor. NY is so star studded she's well down the list of their most important players, but she just has so much flair. I think she's probably their most entertaining player to watch. Don't take your eyes off her, you never know what she'll do.

 

[Geew1992]

I believe Crystal had to be helped off the court

 

[nwhoopfan]

Monumental collapse by NY. Blew a 19 point lead. Chicago destroyed them in the 2nd half. Huge game for Copper, C. Williams was really good too.

 

[nwhoopfan]

JJ was completely M.I.A. in the 2nd half...again. Stewie had 6 straight late in Q4, but otherwise she also pretty much took the 2nd half off.