2023 WNBA Season Discussion

MrDollarBills · Post #161 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:29 am

Marine Johannes is so filthy.

MrDollarBills · Post #162 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:58 am

The Aces cannot match up with the Liberty.

MrDollarBills · Post #163 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:08 am

Ok the Liberty took their foot off of the gas but still. My point stands.

Post #164 » by **cupcakesnake** » Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:27 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:Marine Johannes is so filthy.

Yeah I missed this game because I had work but I did catch that cross over side step 3. Not sure I quite realized she had handles like that!

MrDollarBills wrote:The Aces cannot match up with the Liberty.

I think it's safe to say now: if Candace Parker doesn't come back healthy, the Liberty will be favored to win a playoff series against the Aces.

MrDollarBills · Post #165 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:37 pm

cupcakesnake wrote:
MrDollarBills wrote:Marine Johannes is so filthy.

Yeah I missed this game because I had work but I did catch that cross over side step 3. Not sure I quite realized she had handles like that!

MrDollarBills wrote:The Aces cannot match up with the Liberty.

I think it's safe to say now: if Candace Parker doesn't come back healthy, the Liberty will be favored to win a playoff series against the Aces.

Marine has that DOG in her

Read on Twitter

?t=932uTCPCOpDzmvEzjgoO4w&s=19

I lost it when she did that. Sabrina and Stewie are the dynamic duo, but Marine is an underrated aspect of our rotation. When she's on, someone is getting cooked.

Shout out to Betnijah Laney too. She was being a bully last night.

I agree. If Parker isn't back for the playoffs, The Liberty look like the favorites in a potential match up. The Aces cannot handle the physicality of Jones, Dolson, and Laney on top of Sabrina and Stewie being god level players.

considering what I went through with the Nets last season, i want to cry. These ladies warm my heart.

MrDollarBills · Post #166 » by **MrDollarBills** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:12 pm

Remember I had a small complaint because WNBA gear is non existent, especially for male fans of the league? So, get this. Sabrina Ionescu's first signature sneaker from Nike drops Friday.

https://www.nike.com/t/sabrina-1-ionic-basketball-shoes-2nTCcm

She insisted that Nike make the sneakers for both women and men. I love her for that, and I'll be buying a pair. I'm curious if they will have them in Black/Teal

MrDollarBills · Post #167 » by **MrDollarBills** » Fri Sep 1, 2023 2:03 am

Aces vs Mystics right now on Amazon Prime!!!!

MrDollarBills · Post #168 » by **MrDollarBills** » Sat Sep 2, 2023 1:15 pm

So the Liberty blew the Sun out without Sabrina (calf issue).

I'm starting to believe that we can win this whole thing.

Post #169 » by **cupcakesnake** » Mon Sep 4, 2023 12:44 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:So the Liberty blew the Sun out without Sabrina (calf issue).

I'm starting to believe that we can win this whole thing.

They've been the best team in the W for the whole second half of the season. The Liberty should be considered the favorites.

One little thing I always fixate on when watching the Liberty is Sabrina Ionescu's defense. For the first couple months of the season she was a total liability, and I figured she was going to face some serious picking on in her first deep playoff run. But she's very much improved and I haven't seen her get exploited in a while. Definitely something to revisit come playoffs, but if Sabrina can just be solid, there isn't a big weak link in the Liberty defense like there was supposed to be. I think that's huge, especially in an Aces matchup where Sabrina basically has to guard one of Gray/Plum/Young. Big part of the LIberty's recent domination of the Aces is that attacking Sabrina hasn't been efficient.

Post #170 » by **cupcakesnake** » Mon Sep 4, 2023 1:03 pm

The playoff seeds are locking into place.

Almost certainly:
1. Las Vegas Aces
2. New York Liberty
3. Conneticut Sun

The Aces final 2 games are both against the worst team in the league. Even if they wanted to tank for matchup reasons (what if the Mystics fall to 8?), it would be next to impossible.

Probable:
4. Dallas Wings
5. Minnesota Lynx

Lynx are back 1.5 games but have 2 easy(?) games to finish the season, while the Wings have to play New York and Atlanta (plus Seattle). It wouldn't be crazy if these teams both ended up 21-19... I'm not sure who gets the tiebreaker as they split the season series. The Lynx could also fall into the next category if they somehow mess these last games up and Dream and/or Mystics win out.

Much more chaotic:

6. Atlanta Dream (Storm, Mystics, Wings)
7. Washington Mystics (Mercury, Dream, Liberty)
8. LA Sparks (Sun, Liberty, Storm)
Chicago Sky (Fever, Lynx, Sun)

Honestly, anything could happen here with only 2 games separating Atlanta and Chicago. The Dream play the Mystics on Friday and that will be huge for determining seeding. The Dream have just been bad for the whole second half of the season after looking like the likely 4-seed for so long. The Mystics are finally getting healthy which is terrible news for whoever gets them in the first round. I think a healthy Mystics team with that defense is probably a scarier matchup than anyone outside the top 3, so it's crazy that a top 3 seed might have to play them while the 4 seed might get the Lynx.

Ito · Post #171 » by **Ito** » Wed Sep 6, 2023 11:34 am

Liberty gon win the chip

Post #172 » by **cupcakesnake** » Wed Sep 6, 2023 5:44 pm

If the Dream lose to Seattle tonight, I'm calling it: The Atlanta Dream are missing the playoffs.

In actuality a lot of the bottom half of the playoff race hinges on New York, since they play the 9th ranked Spark and the now 6th ranked Mystics. If New York goes all out to try to catch the Aces (who play the Mercury twice to close the season), or if they rest either of those games... it could shake things up 5-9.

Post #173 » by **Chris Porter's Hair** » Wed Sep 6, 2023 10:30 pm

It really looks like this is going to land where we all (and Vegas) thought it would: NY has hit their stride, and the Aces and the Liberty seem to be in a league of their own. Should be a hell of series.

MrDollarBills · Post #174 » by **MrDollarBills** » Fri Sep 8, 2023 2:04 am

The Liberty have two superstars in Stewie and Sabrina, X Factors in Jones, Lainey, Johannes, Thornton, and bedrock players in Sloot and Dolson.

I feel confident.

MrDollarBills · Post #175 » by **MrDollarBills** » Sat Sep 9, 2023 6:17 pm

Betnijah Laney signed an extension today. Glad to see that they're signaling that they're keeping this group together.

Post #176 » by **cupcakesnake** » Sun Sep 10, 2023 1:26 pm

Happy last day of the season, everyone!

As far as I can tell the seeds are practically locked into place.
- Liberty could take the 1 seed by beating Washington, but only if the Aces lose to the Sparks.
- Minnesota could leapfrog Atlanta if they win today and Atlanta loses (and take the 5 seed and the right to play Dallas instead of Conn)
- There aren't any meaningful tiebreakers here, since the higher seed won the season series in all of these (except for New York vs. Las Vegas).

Post #177 » by **bisme37** » Sun Sep 10, 2023 7:06 pm

Read on Twitter

MrDollarBills · Post #178 » by **MrDollarBills** » Mon Sep 11, 2023 8:07 pm

bisme37 wrote:

Read on Twitter

I wasn't even mad at this. Britt Sykes is from Newark, NJ :nod:

she's got that dog in her, best believe.

Natasha Cloud was wrong for that hand wave to the crowd though. Can't wait for Friday

zike_42 · Post #179 » by **zike_42** » Tue Sep 12, 2023 1:28 am

You couldn't ask for a better warm-up game for the NYL vs WAS series. I hope it's scrappy as all hell.

MrDollarBills · Post #180 » by **MrDollarBills** » Tue Sep 12, 2023 6:31 pm

zike_42 wrote:You couldn't ask for a better warm-up game for the NYL vs WAS series. I hope it's scrappy as all hell.

I expect the series to be physical and chippy. Sykes and Cloud are no joke.