2024 WNBA Discussion Thread

[glv98]

Idk why Miller is trying to run so much through her.

He's off being inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame tonight, incredible as it is they wouldn't have waited till he had an off night. Brown and Hamby are definitely running the show in his absence.

Jackson is so much smoother. Sooner they start feeding her the ball the better they will be.

And first play of second half goes to Rickea and guess what - she scored. Fans (not just us) have been screaming to play thru Rickea and Brink, Miller even joked about it the other day, said he had heard it. Great, act like it!

 

[LVsinceJV]

Horston with 12 on 6-9 shooting in a win against the Fever. 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 TO, 17 minutes. Fantastic!

 

[glv98]

Watching them line up a post game pic of Rickea, Rae, Diamond and Izzy.

Maybe this is how you tank in the W. It's like whoever's coaching the Sparks knows what they need to do, but they act like Kellie Harper in the preseason. Crazy combos, goofy subbing, letting players with no business on the floor run wild. Then in the end they play the right lineup and run the offense thru the right player and wow it's so much better, what do you know.

Of course the Sparks made a nice comeback in the second half when they benched Brown in favor of McDonald and started running offense for Rickea. She ended up w 10 pts on 4-5 shooting and 5 rebs, did have 3 t.o.s. The other rookies really struggled, Brink had her second straight struggle bus, had 7 pts and 6 rebs but 4 t.o.s and didn't shoot well. Angel stayed in foul trouble all night, 6 pts 6 rebs and 2 assists.

LVFLs for the Sky had rough nights as well. Diamond was 1-8 for just 2 pts. Izzy played just 12 mins and had 2 pts. She's really coming back slowly from that knee injury.

 

[glv98]

Horston with 12 on 6-9 shooting in a win against the Fever. 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Steals, 0 TO, 17 minutes. Fantastic!

Good to hear. She had only played 7 mins at halftime when I turned over to the Sparks game. Looks like the Storm really turned it on in the second half.

Man the Fever is awful and CC remains an inefficient, turnover prone big scorer. Something's got to give there.

 

[madtownvol]

He's off being inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame tonight, incredible as it is they wouldn't have waited till he had an off night. Brown and Hamby are definitely running the show in his absence.

Just more evidence of the Sparks being a poorly coached and undisciplined team. They're professionals not 2nd graders with a substitute teacher.

Looks like Rickea had a good 2nd half and that Rae, despite her great last game is back in purgatory......

I would blow this train wreck of a team up and reboot with a new coach, and build around the first round picks (Rae, RJ, Brink) with some good senior players that understand the concept of team.

 

[glv98]

Looks like Rickea had a good 2nd half and that Rae, despite her great last game is back in purgatory......

She literally could not get a touch the first half. You could tell they discussed that at halftime bc they ran a play for her the first possesion of the second half and she scored. Then they started going to her in the post bc she had a mismatch. Like I said earlier, they know what they have and what they need to do but are reluctant to do it consistently. It's so weird. Anyway, Rickea has been incredibly efficient probably bc she gets the ball so seldom she has to make the most of it.

Afraid Rae is back down the bench; played 6 mins, 1 pt and 2 t.o.s.

Also weird how long they left Brink on the bench in the second half. She wasn't in foul trouble. They are very experimental to put it mildly. Maybe this is 'quiet tanking'.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

She literally could not get a touch the first half. You could tell they discussed that at halftime bc they ran a play for her the first possesion of the second half and she scored. Then they started going to her in the post bc she had a mismatch. Like I said earlier, they know what they have and what they need to do but are reluctant to do it consistently. It's so weird. Anyway, Rickea has been incredibly efficient probably bc she gets the ball so seldom she has to make the most of it.

Afraid Rae is back down the bench; played 6 mins, 1 pt and 2 t.o.s.

Also weird how long they left Brink on the bench in the second half. She wasn't in foul trouble. They are very experimental to put it mildly. As I said earlier, maybe this is 'quiet tanking'.

I don’t think they’re tanking because i think they would just play the rookies more, and let them go through growing pains. They would sit players like Hamby and Nurse.

 

[glv98]

I don’t think they’re tanking because i think they would just play the rookies more, and let them go through growing pains. They would sit players like Hamby and Nurse.

If they played the rookies more and ran more offense thru them they'd be a much better team pretty quickly. Don't think that would help them tank. IMO they're tanking every time they put Lexie Brown on the floor.

Hamby and Nurse need to play, but way less hero ball and way more organized offense which includes the rookies. They know the lineup, they've been using it in 4th qtrs - McDonald, Nurse, Rickea, Hamby, and Brink. If they worked that correctly they could be a decent team.

 

[AllVols3]

If they played the rookies more and ran more offense thru them they'd be a much better team pretty quickly. Don't think that would help them tank. IMO they're tanking every time they put Lexie Brown on the floor.

Hamby and Nurse need to play, but way less hero ball and way more organized offense which includes the rookies. They know the lineup, they've been using it in 4th qtrs - McDonald, Nurse, Rickea, Hamby, and Brink. If they worked that correctly they could be a decent team.

I think Rae Burell needs more minutes. She is way more athletic than some that are getting minutes. She can score and a good defender too.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

If they played the rookies more and ran more offense thru them they'd be a much better team pretty quickly. Don't think that would help them tank. IMO they're tanking every time they put Lexie Brown on the floor.

Hamby and Nurse need to play, but way less hero ball and way more organized offense which includes the rookies. They know the lineup, they've been using it in 4th qtrs - McDonald, Nurse, Rickea, Hamby, and Brink. If they worked that correctly they could be a decent team.

Hamby never passes the ball, she’s chasing stats. I don’t mind if they tank, I want them to get Kiki anyway so I think they will need to pick 2nd. but if they pick 1st they might take Paige since they need a Pg badly.

 

[AllVols3]

Just more evidence of the Sparks being a poorly coached and undisciplined team. They're professionals not 2nd graders with a substitute teacher.

Looks like Rickea had a good 2nd half and that Rae, despite her great last game is back in purgatory......

I would blow this train wreck of a team up and reboot with a new coach, and build around the first round picks (Rae, RJ, Brink) with some good senior players that understand the concept of team.

They need guards. Pg and Sg are a must . They're guard play is terrible and I'm being nice.

 

[knoxvol52]

Only gripe I have about CC is she needs to cut down on turnovers bad.

It's not only turnovers it's careless turnovers.

 

[VolBall09]

Only gripe I have about CC is she needs to cut down on turnovers bad.

It's not only turnovers it's careless turnovers.

Yes, she is still adjusting to the speed of the defense in the W. Some of passes she got away with in college just won’t work at this level. You have to move the ball side to side and expose the defense. Those straight line-drive passes are a pick-off because the defense closes gaps so much faster at this level.

 

[madtownvol]

If they played the rookies more and ran more offense thru them they'd be a much better team pretty quickly. Don't think that would help them tank. IMO they're tanking every time they put Lexie Brown on the floor.

Hamby and Nurse need to play, but way less hero ball and way more organized offense which includes the rookies. They know the lineup, they've been using it in 4th qtrs - McDonald, Nurse, Rickea, Hamby, and Brink. If they worked that correctly they could be a decent team.

There is a fine line between tanking and being a bad team......

The Sparks seem to have the PR side of things down quite well, shame about the coaching.....

 

[lvocd]

I honestly don't think any front office would suggest tanking the season this early into it. Last quarter of an abysmal season? Maybe. But tanking early would likely create a much higher likelihood of permanently losing fans. They cannot intentionally look awful. Fans would see that and bolt. At least I would.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

 

[chuckiepoo]

Great shot! Nice find, Boo.

 

[knoxvol52]

Caitlin vs Chi-Town Barbie today on ESPN at Noon.

 

[Volfaninfl2]

This newest article about the rookies says Rickea has the best shooting efficiency on her team, 53.3%, and should get more touches, like we have been saying. In the last game, their guards shot a combined 7 of 27, (this stat mentioned in Brink’s portion of the article). Wonder if they’ll figure it out. So many times they ignore the open player, often Rickea.

WNBA rookie tracker: How Caitlin Clark's season ended, and what's next

Following a historic regular season from the entire rookie class, Caitlin Clark left her mark with a strong pair of.playoff performances.

www.espn.com

 

[knoxvol52]

Rough game for Chi-Town Barbie and Caitlin both. Shooting was off for both.

Even though Indiana box score had all 5 starters in double figures, a balanced scoring attack is way better than a one player show.

 

[knoxvol52]

BTW the calling Caitlin a bitch and knocking her flat with a hard bump, should've been a flagrant foul and immediately ejection from game.

Antics like that uncalled for.

 

[Volfaninfl2]

In today’s Fever/Sky game, saw Sky’s Carter blindside Clark and slam her hip and body into Clark, away from the ball, and a foul was called. Saw Reese congratulate Carter on the blindside hit, when Carter came back to the bench.

Then later, Reese looked back and saw Clark standing there, and backed up and slammed into Clark, all away from the ball, and then pushed Clark down with her arm, no foul called.

Refs stop mouthing, and ‘chirping’, they need to also stop physical attacks that have nothing to do with playing the game.

As for me, I cheer or not for the players in the WNBA, not the team, partly because there is no team near me. When Candace played for the Sky, I cheered for them, but now, with Carter, Reese, and Cardoso on their team, they look like they’re trying to build a team of nasty players, and I will cheer for anyone against them.

 

[Voltopia]

In today’s Fever/Sky game, saw Sky’s Carter blindside Clark and slam her hip and body into Clark, away from the ball, and a foul was called. Saw Reese congratulate Carter on the blindside hit, when Carter came back to the bench.

Then later, Reese looked back and saw Clark standing there, and backed up and slammed into Clark, all away from the ball, and then pushed Clark down with her arm, no foul called.

Refs stop mouthing, and ‘chirping’, they need to also stop physical attacks that have nothing to do with playing the game.

As for me, I cheer or not for the players in the WNBA, not the team, partly because there is no team near me. When Candace played for the Sky, I cheered for them, but now, with Carter, Reese, and Cardoso on their team, they look like they’re trying to build a team of nasty players, and I will cheer for anyone against them.

Reese didn't just congratulate Carter, she stood up and cheered the hit on when it happened. I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you.

That is, of course, sarcasm, and I am not shocked. Not at the attempt to hurt Clark, nor at Reese standing up and cheering it on. She continues to show people exactly who she really is.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Reese didn't just congratulate Carter, she stood up and cheered the hit on when it happened. I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I tell you.

That is, of course, sarcasm, and I am not shocked. Not at the attempt to hurt Clark, nor at Reese standing up and cheering it on. She continues to show people exactly who she really is.

That’s probably because Clark pushed Carter with both hands in her back earlier, now Carter didn’t flop but she could have, so she had to let her know she’s not the one.

 

[glv98]

In today’s Fever/Sky game, saw Sky’s Carter blindside Clark and slam her hip and body into Clark, away from the ball, and a foul was called. Saw Reese congratulate Carter on the blindside hit, when Carter came back to the bench.

Then later, Reese looked back and saw Clark standing there, and backed up and slammed into Clark, all away from the ball, and then pushed Clark down with her arm, no foul called.

Refs stop mouthing, and ‘chirping’, they need to also stop physical attacks that have nothing to do with playing the game.

As for me, I cheer or not for the players in the WNBA, not the team, partly because there is no team near me. When Candace played for the Sky, I cheered for them, but now, with Carter, Reese, and Cardoso on their team, they look like they’re trying to build a team of nasty players, and I will cheer for anyone against them.

How about Cardoso? For those who say true centers are things of the past, not so fast. There is nothing in basketball like being bigger than everyone else, especially when combined with some mobility and offensive skills. Her scoring and Reese rebounding is going to be quite a combo. Together they make one monster post player.

The Carter hit was just stupid and along with Mabry's missed free throw, cost them the one point game by giving CC unneccessary free throws. This is why Carter, in spite of Spoon's laughable claim that she's the 'most talented player in the league', has had a hard time staying in the W. Lots and lots of bad decisions.

OTOH, Clarks flops and falls are SO theatrical that I think the refs are both sick of them and unsure how flagrant the hit actually was. She's the player who flopped Wolf.

On the Reese hit, I didn't see her look back and don't think she knew or cared who was back there, would have given that arm to anyone and hoped to get away with it. Again, Clark went down like she had been blugdeoned so it's hard to tell how much of a real hit it was. But of course Angel cheered on the Carter hit, it's her schtick. Twitter will proclaim it's girls being spicey or passionate (meaning as bad as the worst of the men) for the good of the game. Or some such crap. It's all part of the show she and Clark are caught up in.

Which makes me very glad Rickea is far away in LA doing the resquite 'look at our rookie supermodels' publicity but not caught up in all the W posturing and controversies. She and Cam actually have it best of all the rookies, they can just concentrate on learning and growing. Hopefully the Sparks can concentrate on running the offense thru them. Starting tomorrow at 6 against Phoenix.