WNBA -- 2023 Season

[Notyetready]

I'm really worried about Shepard. She's been out over a month with a "non-covid illness".

Did anyone who saw the game see her on the bench? That would at least indicate that she's not flat on her back and might be working on returning.

Watching home tv games, I am pretty sure I spotted her sitting in the row behind the bench in street clothes. At the time I thought-- well, it's not contagious. The longer it goes, the worse it seems unless it's some form of mono, in which case it's just takes time for recovery.

 

[JellyBean]

Was thinking how you were reacting to the game when watching it. They didn't want to make it easy for Lynx fans last night!

An emotional roller coaster. I am going from high-fives to panic back to high-fives. Dorka was just on a whole different level yesterday. We gotta figure out a way for Dorka's family to stay in Minneapolis a little longer.

 

[JellyBean]

I've seen Shep on the bench the last couple of games ..... definitely there Thursday night. She looks fine.

Awesome. I am hoping that whatever she is dealing with or recovering from she is able to continue her professional career. Shep is a joy to watch on the court.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Did anybody know the Aces picked up Ashley Joens? I never heard anything about it. She was suited up but didn't play tonight.

Seattle made it interesting, cut a 24 point deficit down to 7, but then stalled out. Rough night for Loyd. Held the Aces under 80 for only the third time this season, but couldn't score nearly enough themselves. Young, Wilson and Plum all scored 20 or more. Wilson with another double-double, she's getting really close to that all time record.

Gabby played, I think it was her season debut. Started. Sent Nurse to the bench.

It was Gabby's 3rd game, but 1st start. She's made some nice plays, but is shooting poorly: 14%/0%/100%.

 

[MilfordHusky]

NY had another late-game swoon, as their lead was cut from 17 to 3, but they appear to have righted the ship and lead by 11 late. Washington is playing without EDD, Atkins, and Austin.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Washington cut the deficit to 6 again, but could get no closer. The MVP (Stewie) had 24 and 10, just about her averages. Jonquel had a big game, with 27 and 11.

 

[darrell]

Washington cut the deficit to 6 again, but could get no closer. The MVP (Stewie) had 24 and 10, just about her averages. Jonquel had a big game, with 27 and 11.

It’s asking a lot, but if this Jonquel (or one as efficient) can show up for the rest of the year, the Liberty are pretty hard to beat.

 

[baggerbob]

It’s asking a lot, but if this Jonquel (or one as efficient) can show up for the rest of the year, the Liberty are pretty hard to beat.

Right now the only players that should play off the bench are Johannes and Thornton. Sabally and Willoughby should be glued to the bench.
Hopefully Willoughby is gone next year, just doesn't belong in the league.
They need Dolson back soon to help up front.

 

[JellyBean]

NY had another late-game swoon, as their lead was cut from 17 to 3, but they appear to have righted the ship and lead by 11 late. Washington is playing without EDD, Atkins, and Austin.

After the lead got down to 3 points, I thought New York was going to blow the game. But they held on, and Jonquel had her best game this season for New York. If Jonquel can play like this, like we all know she can, that "Super Team" conversation is going to come back, especially if they start locking other teams down defensively.

 

[bbsamjj]

It was very important for NY to get Jonquel going. But the biggest issues remain for NY defense and turnovers.

In general, offense is not a problem: the team is second in the league in PPG, 1st in assists, 2nd in FG percentage, 1st in 3pt FG made and 3pt percentage.

But they are only 9th in the league in FT attempts per game [partly because they take so many threes, but Vegas takes just about as many and is 5th in the league]. And they are 10th in the league in turnovers.

All of their defensive stats are middling. As good as Stewart, Laney, Thornton (And some time JJ) are, the perimeter defense can be porous, and teams are scheming to force NY to switch Laney off the perimeter.

 

[azfan]

It was very important for NY to get Jonquel going. But the biggest issues remain for NY defense and turnovers.

In general, offense is not a problem: the team is second in the league in PPG, 1st in assists, 2nd in FG percentage, 1st in 3pt FG made and 3pt percentage.

But they are only 9th in the league in FT attempts per game [partly because they take so many threes, but Vegas takes just about as many and is 5th in the league]. And they are 10th in the league in turnovers.

All of their defensive stats are middling. As good as Stewart, Laney, Thornton (And some time JJ) are, the perimeter defense can be porous, and teams are scheming to force NY to switch Laney off the perimeter.

Agreed. For that reason a healthy Washington and Connecticut are more of a threat to the Aces than the Liberty

 

[nwhoopfan]

Are the Mystics ever going to get healthy this season? Meanwhile they've sunk completely into the middle of the pack. They are sitting at #6 currently, with Minnesota not far behind. As is they would face either New York or Connecticut in the playoffs. Being a threat to Las Vegas is moot if they don't even get out of the first round of the playoffs.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Monster game for A'ja. 35 pts/14 reb 14-17 shooting. Lynx kept it close for a while, til just before halftime. Then it turned into a blowout.

 

[baggerbob]

Monster game for A'ja. 35 pts/14 reb 14-17 shooting. Lynx kept it close for a while, til just before halftime. Then it turned into a blowout.

Minnesota is a bad team. Against the 6 teams with winning records the are 1-10, they beat Washington 80-78.
The bottom of the league 9-3. 4 wins against LA.
They have 10 games remaining against the top 6. And only 7 against the bottom 5.

 

[JellyBean]

Minnesota is a bad team. Against the 6 teams with winning records the are 1-10, they beat Washington 80-78.
The bottom of the league 9-3. 4 wins against LA.
They have 10 games remaining against the top 6. And only 7 against the bottom 5.

Bad, like Seattle bad? We (Lynx) are just lucky that there are teams in the WNBA that are worse off than us right now. The Lynx has just enough talent to beat teams with similar talent levels; Storm, Sparks, Mercury, & Fever, but not enough talent to beat Las Vegas, New York, and Connecticut, which I am not expecting a win against them. Teams like Atlanta and Chicago, talent wise we are roughly even but for whatever reason, they just have our number.

We got five games coming up; Washington, New York (twice), and Connecticut (twice). We will see what happens. I am expecting 1-4 result.

 

[baggerbob]

Bad, like Seattle bad? We (Lynx) are just lucky that there are teams in the WNBA that are worse off than us right now. The Lynx has just enough talent to beat teams with similar talent levels; Storm, Sparks, Mercury, & Fever, but not enough talent to beat Las Vegas, New York, and Connecticut, which I am not expecting a win against them. Teams like Atlanta and Chicago, talent wise we are roughly even but for whatever reason, they just have our number.

We got five games coming up; Washington, New York (twice), and Connecticut (twice). We will see what happens. I am expecting 1-4 result.

Seattle has a few players, but a coach who should have been fired the first year she was head coach.
She never should have been promoted, the man who coached them in the bubble should have gotten the job.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Did Loyd wear herself out scoring all those points in the All Star Game? She can't hit anything in the 2 games since then.

W/ Phoenix showing signs of life, now the Storm are looking like run away favorites to finish last. They are about to set a franchise record...with their 9th straight loss.

 

[JellyBean]

Seattle has a few players, but a coach who should have been fired the first year she was head coach.
She never should have been promoted, the man who coached them in the bubble should have gotten the job.

First off, I should not have said "Bad like Seattle Bad" When you lose two future Hall of Fame players and leave another future Hall of Famer (Loyd) without much help, you will struggle. Did Coach Kloppenburg even want the coaching job? I know he was on the coaching staff when Coach Hughes came back for a few games and then stepped down, which Coach Quinn took over, with Coach Hughes blessings. Coach Kloppy was still on staff then. Not sure what happened after that. I know he was with Indiana last year.

 

[baggerbob]

First off, I should not have said "Bad like Seattle Bad" When you lose two future Hall of Fame players and leave another future Hall of Famer (Loyd) without much help, you will struggle. Did Coach Kloppenburg even want the coaching job? I know he was on the coaching staff when Coach Hughes came back for a few games and then stepped down, which Coach Quinn took over, with Coach Hughes blessings. Coach Kloppy was still on staff then. Not sure what happened after that. I know he was with Indiana last year.

Quinn was the assistant, and Kloppenburg was the acting head coach during the championship year.
Don't know whether he was offered the job or not. But that was Quinn's first year as a coach, and that shouldn't have qualified her for the job.
They should have done a job search to find someone who had experience as a head coach.

 

[azfan]

Quinn was the assistant, and Kloppenburg was the acting head coach during the championship year.
Don't know whether he was offered the job or not. But that was Quinn's first year as a coach, and that shouldn't have qualified her for the job.
They should have done a job search to find someone who had experience as a head coach.

Yep. A real job search.

Seattle and Phoenix are case studies in what happens when management and ownership fail in this mission critical activity.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Phoenix's revival didn't last long. Got thumped by a Washington team still missing 2 starters, but they did have Cloud back today.

And New York thumped Indiana, with Stewie and Ionescu both having a subpar game. Boston got 3 FGA attempts? Hmm....

 

[azfan]

Phoenix's revival didn't last long. Got thumped by a Washington team still missing 2 starters, but they did have Cloud back today.

And New York thumped Indiana, with Stewie and Ionescu both having a subpar game. Boston got 3 FGA attempts? Hmm....

Boston picked up three fouls over 90 seconds span late in the first quarter including a flagrant one.

 

[MilfordHusky]

NYL led by 27 after Q1. They put up a record 44 points on 15-18 shooting, including 6 treys. Game over after 10 minutes.

 

[bbsamjj]

Kind of hard to judge Quinn this season when she was left with Loyd and pretty much nothing else. This was obviously a rebuilding year for Seattle and I at least appreciate that they are giving their rookies plenty of time to get reps in.

You can judge the job she did last year, but I think Vegas was just...better.

 

[bbsamjj]

Phoenix's revival didn't last long. Got thumped by a Washington team still missing 2 starters, but they did have Cloud back today.

And New York thumped Indiana, with Stewie and Ionescu both having a subpar game. Boston got 3 FGA attempts? Hmm....

Stewie and Ionescu didn't need to do more than they did when JJ was feeling it early [if she starts getting double doubles on the regular, the league is in trouble] and Laney had her best offensive game of the season. Laney has proven she can hit the wide open 3s at a decent clip, but I like that both she and her teammates found most of her looks near the rim, where she is often too strong for smaller defenders.