WNBA discussion thread?

[lvocd]

What a cool photo of Rae and Rickea!

 

[lvocd]

Wow! The Rose took that first quarter from the undefeated Lunar Owls and their coach with the Hitler Youth haircut.

 

[lvocd]

What a game for Rae Burrell!

 

[ShortyMac10]

Man kea better practice with Lisa while she down there

 

[glv98]

Man kea better practice with Lisa while she down there

No way to sugarcoat, RJ is just shooting miserably lately. Getting to her spots, making her moves, taking her preferred shots, just cannot knock them down. Even layups. Rickea's game is all about her confidence, and right now it's shot. Actually her whole team can't hit a shot. Stewie scores bc she shoots a ton but is about 15% on 3s. Phil Handy, who I thought would be great, seems clueless.

Great closing flourish for Rae! Always plays hard.

As far as Angel, I had to laugh at Lisa's nonstop self promotion about working w Angel. Not a coincidence that she was whining earlier in the week about being passed over for a couple of W coaching jobs in favor of folks with - gasp - actual coaching experience. Such a silly notion that being a great player automatically makes one a great coach.

What REALLY happened is that Angel was not one iota of a different player last night, just had a ton more opporrtunity and much of it was completely uncontested. AR played way more mins than usual, virtually the whole game due to her team being short handed. Also, most of her shots and rebounds were unguarded due to Phee's foul trouble from the opening minutes of the game. As always, Angel makes up for a ton with that fantastic motor and relentlessness, but she didn't gain skills or fix form off an afternoon w LL.

 

[ShortyMac10]

No way to sugarcoat, RJ is just shooting miserably lately. Getting to her spots, making her moves, taking her preferred shots, just cannot knock them down. Even layups. Rickea's game is all about her confidence, and right now it's shot. Actually her whole team can't hit a shot. Stewie scores bc she shoots a ton but is about 15% on 3s. Phil Handy, who I thought would be great, seems clueless.

Great closing flourish for Rae! Always plays hard.

As far as Angel, I had to laugh at Lisa's nonstop self promotion about working w Angel. Not a coincidence that she was whining earlier in the week about being passed over for a couple of W coaching jobs in favor of folks with - gasp - actual coaching experience. Such a silly notion that being a great player automatically makes one a great coach.

What REALLY happened is that Angel was not one iota of a different player last night, just had a ton more opporrtunity and much of it was completely uncontested. AR played way more mins than usual, virtually the whole game due to her team being short handed. Also, most of her shots and rebounds were unguarded due to Phee's foul trouble from the opening minutes of the game. As always, Angel makes up for a ton with that fantastic motor and relentlessness, but she didn't gain skills or fix form off an afternoon w LL.

she’ll be ok everybody has a shooting slump and stewie I think she’s ready for this to be over

I mean they gave Whalen a job with no experience wouldn’t mind having Lisa on someone’s staff or coach you never know

I know it takes more than a day to fix but her trainer and Lisa over time can help

 

[glv98]

she’ll be ok everybody has a shooting slump and stewie I think she’s ready for this to be over

I mean they gave Whalen a job with no experience wouldn’t mind having Lisa on someone’s staff or coach you never know

I know it takes more than a day to fix but her trainer and Lisa over time can help

If LL wants to coach she should def start as an assistant. I fear both her profile and her ego are a little large for that. I like her tho.

Not sure at 23 and w those whacked mechanics AR is ever going to get "fixed". But she'll def continue to mine every inch of what she does have. Good for her. It's inspiring when so much is done w so little.

Yes everyone has slumps but I've never seen Rickea have one this prolonged. She currently can't hit a layup reliably, nor can anyone else on that team. Would love to see her have a couple of get right games before this is over.

 

[ShortyMac10]

If LL wants to coach she should def start as an assistant. I fear both her profile and her ego are a little large for that. I like her tho.

Not sure at 23 and w those whacked mechanics AR is ever going to get "fixed". But she'll def continue to mine every inch of what she does have. Good for her. It's inspiring when so much is done w so little.

Yes everyone has slumps but I've never seen Rickea have one this prolonged. She currently can't hit a layup reliably, nor can anyone else on that team. Would love to see her have a couple of get right games before this is over.

USC should definitely lock in

N na it’ll get fixed give it some time wasn’t ever gonna get fixed in college because kim made it clear she’s don’t help for that next step and that assistant said why should she should when gets put back and rebounds so she’s just a lil behind

Rj had a few good games might just be physically exhausted gone have to learn to push thru and still get buckets

 

[lvocd]

Yeah, you can almost feel the waves of anxiety through the tv screen every time she's missing. I can imagine her thinking, "I'm blowing this opportunity! I'm looking like I don't belong! Stewie is going to give up on me!" every time she misses, and it drags her further down every minute. Ugh.

I really, REALLY hope she can somehow snap out of this and finish strong so she doesn't take any self-doubts into future competition. She DOES belong. She has proved that already.

Rae is definitely proving she belongs. I'm so happy for our sweet LVFL.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

No way to sugarcoat, RJ is just shooting miserably lately. Getting to her spots, making her moves, taking her preferred shots, just cannot knock them down. Even layups. Rickea's game is all about her confidence, and right now it's shot. Actually her whole team can't hit a shot. Stewie scores bc she shoots a ton but is about 15% on 3s. Phil Handy, who I thought would be great, seems clueless.

Great closing flourish for Rae! Always plays hard.

As far as Angel, I had to laugh at Lisa's nonstop self promotion about working w Angel. Not a coincidence that she was whining earlier in the week about being passed over for a couple of W coaching jobs in favor of folks with - gasp - actual coaching experience. Such a silly notion that being a great player automatically makes one a great coach.

What REALLY happened is that Angel was not one iota of a different player last night, just had a ton more opporrtunity and much of it was completely uncontested. AR played way more mins than usual, virtually the whole game due to her team being short handed. Also, most of her shots and rebounds were unguarded due to Phee's foul trouble from the opening minutes of the game. As always, Angel makes up for a ton with that fantastic motor and relentlessness, but she didn't gain skills or fix form off an afternoon w LL.

First off what’s your problem with a legend like Lisa Leslie? She’s work with Reese like 2 times, what do u expect to see that quickly, I think u need a full offseason to see a big improvement. I’ll say I did see one thing she did differently but I agree some things need to be worked on, once I see the change I’ll speak on it. Ive never heard you discount anyone else’s stats or a good game besides Reese, why is that?

 

[glv98]

First off what’s your problem with a legend like Lisa Leslie? She’s work with Reese like 2 times, what do u expect to see that quickly, I think u need a full offseason to see a big improvement. I’ll say I did see one thing she did differently but I agree some things need to be worked on, once I see the change I’ll speak on it. Ive never heard you discount anyone else’s stats or a good game besides Reese, why is that?

Did you listen to the broadcast at all? Their literal talking point of the game was Lisa's Miracle Worker session w AR. Must have given her credit 45 times for instant results and LL was glad to soak it in. I like LL but I thought it was all a bit self-serving.

To their credit tho, the announcers also said a couple of times that Phee wasn't able to contest anything on either end. That's not to discount AR's big game, just to put it in proper context. I give her full props, she took full advantage of the opportunities out there.

 

[glv98]

Yeah, you can almost feel the waves of anxiety through the tv screen every time she's missing. I can imagine her thinking, "I'm blowing this opportunity! I'm looking like I don't belong! Stewie is going to give up on me!" every time she misses, and it drags her further down every minute. Ugh.

I really, REALLY hope she can somehow snap out of this and finish strong so she doesn't take any self-doubts into future competition. She DOES belong. She has proved that already.

Rae is definitely proving she belongs. I'm so happy for our sweet LVFL.

I said the same you can feel the confidence draining w ea miss. Definitely won't do when she meets up w Lynne Roberts, who btw will be her 6th coach n 7 yrs. Not only will have to hit shots, wiill have to hit 3s consistently.

Don't think its fatigue; they'd been off two weeks and she is in great shape (so is Rae, that's why that pic of both is so awesome). Gets another chance Monday night.

Rae having another nice game tonight.

LOL Griner prancing and flexing after blocking the shot of a player 6 or 8 inches shorter than her. Ugh.

Second night in a row Rhyne Howard is unconscious. Has hit about 6 3s in the first half, two of them banked in from in front.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Did you listen to the broadcast at all? Their literal talking point of the game was Lisa's Miracle Worker session w AR. Must have given her credit 45 times for instant results and LL was glad to soak it in. I like LL but I thought it was all a bit self-serving.

To their credit tho, the announcers also said a couple of times that Phee wasn't able to contest anything on either end. That's not to discount AR's big game, just to put it in proper context. I give her full props, she took full advantage of the opportunities out there.

I didn’t listen to the broadcast, I was watching with a group broadcast so I didn’t hear anything they said. I’ve watched Reese over the last 9 years so I know when I see things being done differently. I did notice 1 thing she changed but she still needs to work on the mechanical issues, which will take a while to coach out of her. When I watch I’m just looking at her and what she’s doing i kimd of have tunnel vision. The mechanics on her jump shot while shooting left handed is better than it’s ever been, to me that’s improvement. Good thing she’s the 7th pick in the draft and the umderdog because [layers like Jacy Sheldon was picked top 5 and I never hear anything about what she needs to do to improve or discount her stats and games.

 

[Terrells Bay88]

If LL wants to coach she should def start as an assistant. I fear both her profile and her ego are a little large for that. I like her tho.

Not sure at 23 and w those whacked mechanics AR is ever going to get "fixed". But she'll def continue to mine every inch of what she does have. Good for her. It's inspiring when so much is done w so little.

Yes everyone has slumps but I've never seen Rickea have one this prolonged. She currently can't hit a layup reliably, nor can anyone else on that team. Would love to see her have a couple of get right games before this is over.

What do you mean by so much is done with so little?

 

[glv98]

What do you mean by so much is done with so little?

Impressive results with limited physical ability. That's why she went where she went in the draft.

I did notice 1 thing she changed but she still needs to work on the mechanical issues, which will take a while to coach out of her.

LL said one thing they worked on that translated was shooting lay ups fm higher on the backboad. She's still shooting fm way too low in general tho, fm over her left shoulder.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Impressive results with limited physical ability. That's why she went where she went in the draft.

LL said one thing they worked on that translated was shooting lay ups fm higher on the backboad. She's still shooting fm way too low in general tho, fm over her left shoulder.

The only thing I noticed that was changed was that she would try to create space before laying the ball up, the release hasn’t changed because it’s still low and she still releases the ball at the start of her jump instead of at the peak, that’s why when she gets bumped the ball flies out of her hands, I’m not even a coach and I wish I could tell her this because nobody still tells her.

 

[glv98]

I’m not even a coach and I wish I could tell her this because nobody still tells her.

1000% she knows this. If we know it, one of the many highly paid trainers who work w her w tons of analytics and video studies also know it. Not changing it doesn't mean they don't know, it means it's hard to change or develop new muscles memory at this stage, esp when struggling w some physical limitations. Hasn't she had a bunch of broken arms or something?

 

[DarkPhoenix]

1000% she knows this. If we know it, one of the many highly paid trainers who work w her w tons of analytics and video studies also know it. Not changing it doesn't mean they don't know, it means it's hard to change or develop new muscles memory at this stage, esp when struggling w some physical limitations. Hasn't she had a bunch of broken arms or something?

She doesn’t know it, when you’ve played a certain way your entire life and have been successful, u don’t think there’s a problem, it’s habits formed from when she was a guard, if she was still a guard it would be fine but not in the post. I have an example of myself when I use to shoot and push with my thumb on my off hand and never knew it was an issue until a coach told me, worked on it and fixed it. Whenever I hear Reese talk about it, she says she needs to be more efficient and finish through contact, it’s not a strength thing, it’s all in the mechanics.

 

[Terrells Bay88]

 

[glv98]

This confirms what I suspected when the Sparks traded away the #2 pick - the GMs know something about the upcoming draft that has them running the opposite direction . Everyone already knew it was a weak draft after the first pick or so but I've never seen anything like this. Esp for what is now a midish player like AA on a one yr contract. Also interesting that the Mystics are stacking picks for next yr when that draft also isn't deep. Its in two yrs that its loaded to the gills. They could be looking to do some pick swaps for established players soon.

I suspect the Sky are setting up a bigtime tank for the 27 mega draft. Replacing Chen Carter w a backcourt of a past prime Sloot, Kia Nurse, and Atkins does not exactly scream win now. Bout to be a very frustrating season for Angel and Kamilla.

 

[th2421]

This confirms what I suspected when the Sparks traded away the #2 pick - the GMs know something about the upcoming draft that has them running the opposite direction . Everyone already knew it was a weak draft after the first pick or so but I've never seen anything like this. Esp for what is now a midish player like AA on a one yr contract. Also interesting that the Mystics are stacking picks for next yr when that draft also isn't deep. Its in two yrs that its loaded to the gills. They could be looking to do some pick swaps for established players soon.

I suspect the Sky are setting up a bigtime tank for the 27 mega draft. Replacing Chen Carter w a backcourt of a past prime Sloot, Kia Nurse, and Atkins does not exactly scream win now. Bout to be a very frustrating season for Angel and Kamilla.

The Mystics are getting swap rights for the Sky's 2027 first-round pick and the Sky's 2027 second-round pick, both part of that super draft in two years (not next year's draft). Seems like the Sky gave away a lot for potentially only one year of Atkins, who I think is better than a midish player (she is an Olympian and WNBA champ after all), and she's only 28, so really still in her prime.

Maybe at #3 the Sky felt they couldn't get Bueckers or Miles so it was better to go a different direction than the draft to get a guard to pair with Angel and Kamilla for the next few years.

 

[glv98]

The Mystics are getting swap rights for the Sky's 2027 first-round pick and the Sky's 2027 second-round pick, both part of that super draft in two years (not next year's draft). Seems like the Sky gave away a lot for potentially only one year of Atkins, who I think is better than a midish player (she is an Olympian and WNBA champ after all), and she's only 28, so really still in her prime.

Maybe at #3 the Sky felt they couldn't get Bueckers or Miles so it was better to go a different direction than the draft to get a guard to pair with Angel and Kamilla for the next few years.

Yes I think it’s about the 27 mega draft.

Agree to disagree, IMO AAs best yrs are behind her and were when she was surrounded by a championship roster. Hasn’t done a lot last couple of yrs

 

[glv98]

BTW all this just underlines what a sad story Chennedy Carter is. Her saga been going on since high school; has been asked to leave every single team she's ever played for. The Sky would rather have Kia Nurse in their backcourt than her. Think about that. CC is so physically talented, can literally no one reach her psychologicaly?

 

[lvocd]

BTW all this just underlines what a sad story Chennedy Carter is. Her saga been going on since high school; has been asked to leave every single team she's ever played for. The Sky would rather have Kia Nurse in their backcourt than her. Think about that. CC is so physically talented, can literally no one reach her psychologicaly?

Same thing with Liz Cambage. Franchises want so much to be the place where they finally pull it together mentally, but it never works out. Sadly, sometimes people are their own worst enemies and never learn how to peacefully co-exist in a group.

Because he played college football at Chattanooga, I always think of that NFL player Terrell Owens. He was immensely talented and one of the best pure athletes I'd ever seen. But his ego, and whatever mixture of mental illnesses he had going on, combined to make him locker room poison, and he bounced from team to team to team until, finally, he was out of the league. The man is STILL in amazing condition in his 50s.

Anyway, I hate it for Carter that she hasn't been able to get to a healthier head space, 'cause she is a helluva basketball player.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

BTW all this just underlines what a sad story Chennedy Carter is. Her saga been going on since high school; has been asked to leave every single team she's ever played for. The Sky would rather have Kia Nurse in their backcourt than her. Think about that. CC is so physically talented, can literally no one reach her psychologicaly?

Aerial Atkins is who is replacing Carter, Atkins is a better overall player.