2023 WNBA Season Discussion

[dontcalltimeout]

WAS vs CHI is pretty good, the Sky were down big early and came storming back. Elena Delle Donne (who easily has one of the best names in pro sports) has been killing Chicago but i expect a tight 4th.

Game was fun. Thought CHI was going to get blown out but they buckled down. EDD killed us with that essentially game-winning three.

This Chicago team definitely feels like they're still figuring out the system. There were several possessions on offense where the players were looking confused.

One thing that comes across in person that doesn't as much on TV is the importance of the quality of screens. This team depends a lot on off-ball actions and when the players are not setting real screens, the actions don't fulfill the function of getting people gaps in the defense. In particular it felt like Elizabeth Williams was looking to slip the screen to often and didn't have the timing right to really make contact with defenders. That might be a chemistry thing that will improve.

Rebekah Gardner left with an injury that looked pretty bad (she wasn't putting weight on the leg) but I haven't seen much info about it. If she's out, it will really hurt the team's depth.

[MrDollarBills]

WAS vs CHI is pretty good, the Sky were down big early and came storming back. Elena Delle Donne (who easily has one of the best names in pro sports) has been killing Chicago but i expect a tight 4th.

Game was fun. Thought CHI was going to get blown out but they buckled down. EDD killed us with that essentially game-winning three.

This Chicago team definitely feels like they're still figuring out the system. There were several possessions on offense where the players were looking confused.

One thing that comes across in person that doesn't as much on TV is the importance of the quality of screens. This team depends a lot on off-ball actions and when the players are not setting real screens, the actions don't fulfill the function of getting people gaps in the defense. In particular it felt like Elizabeth Williams was looking to slip the screen to often and didn't have the timing right to really make contact with defenders. That might be a chemistry thing that will improve.

Rebekah Gardner left with an injury that looked pretty bad (she wasn't putting weight on the leg) but I haven't seen much info about it. If she's out, it will really hurt the team's depth.

Gardner didn't play last night, I've heard nothing about when they expect her back.

Chicago's small ball line up was giving the Mystics problems in the 2nd half, and then they beat Dallas last night despite a 51 point onslaught from Arike and Satou. Chicago is going to give teams fits all season if they can get healthy sooner than later.

[cupcakesnake]

Legit have no idea how you guard the Aces. They burn you whenever you put defensive attention anywhere. Sparks decided to turn off Kelsey Plum/A'Ja action so Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray immediately go to work in the space given to them.

I was sick watching the highlights of that game. There's literally no way to stop them defensively. I'm kinda nervous now.

Liberty vs Aces is a game that has to be on prime time national television. It just has to be. I hate to look ahead, but this is honestly a historical sports event in the making, just like LSU vs Iowa was. The talent on both sides is at such a high level that we need to get as many eyes on the game as possible to help the league to keep growing.

I think the Liberty are going to take some time to figure out the most optimal version of themselves. Their talent (especially Stewie, the patron Goddess of Basketball) is going to keep them near the top of the standings. The version of the Liberty that gets Jonquel and Ionescu clicking and optimized is going to take some time to cook.

The Aces don't have this problem. They're adding easy-to-fit talent to a championship core. They aren't skipping a beat from last year. They're just adding another 6'4" versatile defender and high BBIQ to what they already do. #1 on offense and defense throughout their first 4 games. +29 net rating (2nd place Liberty are +7). Now the Aces haven't really played anyone yet so that number is going to come back down to earth... but they don't play anyone for a while! Super soft opening schedule is going to have them looking head and shoulder ahead of the league, but that might not make them better than the Liberty when it matters.

[adjacent2bench]

Jackie Young finally playing like the #1 overall pick. Aces are just an unfairly stacked team. #1 overall picks everywhere.

Excited about my Liberty. Another unfairly stacked team Marine Johannes is gonna make it on too so many highlight reel platforms playing with all these studs. Just watch.

[dontcalltimeout]

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[Chris Porter's Hair]

Legit have no idea how you guard the Aces. They burn you whenever you put defensive attention anywhere. Sparks decided to turn off Kelsey Plum/A'Ja action so Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray immediately go to work in the space given to them.

I was at that game. While the offense was good, the defense was just chilling. Some sponsor gives away a meal to everyone in a row for every steal the Aces get. They had 6 steals after the first quarter, and 10 at halftime. Luckily there was extended garbage time and they only ended up with 16 steals; otherwise that restaurant might have gone out of business. The steals were a lot of why Vegas outscored them on fast break points 25-3. They also ended up with 8 blocks, some of them absolutely brutal. They held LA to 65 points. Just so much length... it felt everything got knocked down, deflected, stolen, blocked except when LA just took wild but (understandably) uncontested shots. LA had a lot of missing players, but it was really something to see.

It is early in the season, of course, and a lot can happen. But Vegas leads the league in points per game, opponents points per game, rebounds per game, blocks per game, steals per game, FG%, 3's made, and 3 point percentage. NY leads in assists per game; Vegas is 2nd. They're 4-0, winning by 41, 9, 28, and 21. The Vegas odds have noticed; as much as I thought they were kinda crazy to start, they may have gotten even weirder.

LV and NY Meet in the Finals
Yes -145
No +120

Winning the Championship: LV/NY vs. the field
LV/NY -650
Field +425

[MrDollarBills]

Jewell Lloyd is a monster. I love watching her play

Fun game so far between my Libs and the Storm. Stewie has a wicked black eye

[MrDollarBills]

Sloppy, careless offense, piss poor defense by the Liberty. Brondello needs to get them refocused, i don't like the energy. You can't walk into Seattle playing like it's a foregone conclusion that this is a W

[zike_42]

Ezi is going to be such a good player for a long time for Seattle (and Australia). 10 rebounds at the half already.

[MrDollarBills]

Stewie and Sabrina are a problem!!!!

[MrDollarBills]

Can we give Holly Rowe some love? She's an amazing reporter.

[New_Hawks_Era]

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Make that 5 away from the record

[DOT]

I've watched 2 Sun games, but their inability to close seems like it might be a problem

First game I thought it was just like, oh it's the Liberty, they're doing the anime "you've done well so far, but up until now I've only been using about 5% of my power" thing, but from what I can tell, the Fever aren't that good, so nearly blowing a lead against them is a bad sign

[MrDollarBills]

Arike, Howard and Satou dropped a combined 89 pts on Minnesota last night. Do not sleep on Dallas.

[MrDollarBills]

I've watched 2 Sun games, but their inability to close seems like it might be a problem

First game I thought it was just like, oh it's the Liberty, they're doing the anime "you've done well so far, but up until now I've only been using about 5% of my power" thing, but from what I can tell, the Fever aren't that good, so nearly blowing a lead against them is a bad sign

Yeah it's something that needs to be cleaned up, but 4-1 is still 4-1. The Liberty did the same thing to Seattle last night.

[MrDollarBills]

The weekend is here, and the game of the night has to be the Big 3 in Dallas going against Elena Delle Donne and the Mystics, 7pm EST. I know Elena is going to bring the heat tonight. Satou is in the building

My Liberty take on the scrappy Sky at 6pm EST. Chicago is probably going to get stomped because they are really short handed right now, and it sucks. But whatever, Stewie and Ionescu are filthy and Marine Johannes is back. I need Ms. Jonquel to get her ass in gear pronto. The best basketball team in NYC.

The defending champion Aces take on The Atlanta Dream. Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray will bring it, but honestly the Aces look unstoppable. Their backcourt is elite, their frontcourt is legendary. The W is in trouble 8pm EST.

[zike_42]

Is Jonquel Jones injured or doing a Kawhi (load management)? Because she's only playing 18 mins a game and just looks slow.

[MrDollarBills]

Is Jonquel Jones injured or doing a Kawhi (load management)? Because she's only playing 18 mins a game and just looks slow.

I believe that she's on a minutes restriction. She's definitely not 100%, honestly Stephanie Dolson has been the better option at C, but it's best to let JJ work though it now

[MrDollarBills]

Mystics are in a tight one vs The Lynx right now, that 2nd half of a B2B makes this very interesting.

[cupcakesnake]

This Aces start is getting pretty silly.

+21 net rating (next best team is +4). Best offense and defense by significant margins. SRS of 15.7(!)
They're upcoming schedule finally gets less cupcake-y (2 games against the Sun and then they play the Sky) so maybe these numbers come back down to earth but wow this is how you skip the championship hangover.