RealGM

We're here, and the top two clubs held up their end of the bargain. Aces vs Liberty, all out war!!!

Game 1: Sunday, October 8th 3pm EST, LVA 99 - NYL 82

Game 2: Wednesday, October 11th 9pm EST LVA 104 - NYL 76

Game 3: Sunday, October 15th 3pm EST

Game 4: October 18th 8pm EST*

Game 5: October 20 9pm EST*

Tickets are still on sale starting as low as $54 for Game 3 in Brooklyn, fyi.

Some series notes:

Match up to watch: A'ja Wilson vs. Jonquel Jones. Can Wilson match Jones' physicality in the paint?

Defense: Sabrina Ionescu is the clear weak link defensively for NY. How will Becky Hammon exploit this?

We've been anticipating this all year. Nice when the people get what they want!

Been watching since I had the chance to watch the liberty at the garden for the last finals they played in. Not gonna lie the WNBA product has been really good, and some really high quality ball games being played in excited for these finals..

Avatar check!

I went with Betnijah Lainey. She's been doing a ton of dirty work these playoffs

The Lower Bowl at Barclay's for Game 3 is sold out.

Not watching (full games) but betting on them so i know a thing or two. Vegas are favored but not by much.... Leaning dogs but i still have until Sunday to decide on that. LOL. Help out a casual WNBA fan on my bets? LOL

durden_tyler wrote:Not watching (full games) but betting on them so i know a thing or two. Vegas are favored but not by much.... Leaning dogs but i still have until Sunday to decide on that. LOL. Help out a casual WNBA fan on my bets? LOL

I dunno the Liberty really handled the Aces in most of their matchups late in the season. They gave A'ja fits (though she kind of broke out in the last matchup). The Liberty's game plan against the Aces worker really well in the regular season, and the Aces struggled to figure out optimal lineups throughout the game.

I expect the Liberty to win the finals, but if the Aces were withholding some adjustments in the regular season this could be less predictable.

cupcakesnake wrote:

durden_tyler wrote:Not watching (full games) but betting on them so i know a thing or two. Vegas are favored but not by much.... Leaning dogs but i still have until Sunday to decide on that. LOL. Help out a casual WNBA fan on my bets? LOL

I dunno the Liberty really handled the Aces in most of their matchups late in the season. They gave A'ja fits (though she kind of broke out in the last matchup). The Liberty's game plan against the Aces worker really well in the regular season, and the Aces struggled to figure out optimal lineups throughout the game.

I expect the Liberty to win the finals, but if the Aces were withholding some adjustments in the regular season this could be less predictable.

I trust that Becky Hammon saw enough learning from Pop that she didn't give much if anything away in those matchups.
Smart coach would realize it's better to come into a potential Finals series with appropriate fear rather than overconfidence anyway.
I got the Aces to repeat, but I'd feel better about it if they had Candace Parker.

CIN-C-STAR wrote:

cupcakesnake wrote:

durden_tyler wrote:Not watching (full games) but betting on them so i know a thing or two. Vegas are favored but not by much.... Leaning dogs but i still have until Sunday to decide on that. LOL. Help out a casual WNBA fan on my bets? LOL

I dunno the Liberty really handled the Aces in most of their matchups late in the season. They gave A'ja fits (though she kind of broke out in the last matchup). The Liberty's game plan against the Aces worker really well in the regular season, and the Aces struggled to figure out optimal lineups throughout the game.

I expect the Liberty to win the finals, but if the Aces were withholding some adjustments in the regular season this could be less predictable.

I trust that Becky Hammon saw enough learning from Pop that she didn't give much if anything away in those matchups.
Smart coach would realize it's better to come into a potential Finals series with appropriate fear rather than overconfidence anyway.
I got the Aces to repeat, but I'd feel better about it if they had Candace Parker.

Yeah, Parker not being there is a huge hit to the Aces. The first game where she was playing, they kicked our asses. Not so much after that.

Cant wait, been looking forward to the super team clash all season.

I do not get the programming strategy of scheduling two games opposite the NFL.

I'm inferring they think their audience is not necessarily NFL fans (mostly male mainstream sports fans), and they probably have market research to base it on, hence counterprogramming.

However, an anticipated Finals matchup between two "super teams" seems like a great opportunity to hype the league and bring in new fans, which they won't if those new fans are all watching the NFL. So they're basically writing off the whole male sports audience (with a few exceptions, such as myself and some of you all).

I'd at least try to give game 1 the clearest slot with the least sports competition and hype the hell out of it to try to get as many new people checking it out as possible, so they might get hooked on the series and perhaps the league in general.

ellobo wrote:I do not get the programming strategy of scheduling two games opposite the NFL.

I'm inferring they think their audience is not necessarily NFL fans (mostly male mainstream sports fans), and they probably have market research to base it on, hence counterprogramming.

However, an anticipated Finals matchup between two "super teams" seems like a great opportunity to hype the league and bring in new fans, which they won't if those new fans are all watching the NFL. So they're basically writing off the whole male sports audience (with a few exceptions, such as myself and some of you all).

I'd at least try give game 1 the clearest slot with the least sports competition and hype the hell out of it to try to get as many new people checking it out as possible, so they might get hooked on the series and perhaps the league in general.

Yeah for me it's the week or so off between rounds, too, from a competitive juices standpoint.

Part of it may be when arenas area available as well, and tv scheduling deals.

And lastly, like you said, perhaps the audiences don't overlap. There's certainly more interest in NFL from WNBA family than vice versa just from casual observation but hopefully I'm wrong and it changes to interest in both over time.

One thing about football diehards, whether the North American or European variety, is that any other sport is a distant second.

So it's less an attempt of biting into that market and more a chance to see what the existing market is alongside a juggernaut.

With no CP, I have the New York Stewies winning this.

But as others have said, watch out for Becky. I bet she tries some wild stuff in this series.

n/m

ellobo wrote:I do not get the programming strategy of scheduling two games opposite the NFL.

I'm inferring they think their audience is not necessarily NFL fans (mostly male mainstream sports fans), and they probably have market research to base it on, hence counterprogramming.

However, an anticipated Finals matchup between two "super teams" seems like a great opportunity to hype the league and bring in new fans, which they won't if those new fans are all watching the NFL. So they're basically writing off the whole male sports audience (with a few exceptions, such as myself and some of you all).

I'd at least try to give game 1 the clearest slot with the least sports competition and hype the hell out of it to try to get as many new people checking it out as possible, so they might get hooked on the series and perhaps the league in general.

Interesting point honestly.

Hmm...just thinking about it, there's going to be competition regardless at this time of year with NFL, NCAA, and MLB all over the place, and the league needs to finish before the NBA starts. I think it's unavoidable.

Also, this is just my opinion but i doubt your average NFL viewer watches women's hoops. It's a niche audience that is growing with both women and men. A guy like me is going to switch from the NFL to watch the Liberty/Aces because i love the product. I don't think the league expects to capture that audience otherwise.

G R E Y wrote:

ellobo wrote:I do not get the programming strategy of scheduling two games opposite the NFL.

I'm inferring they think their audience is not necessarily NFL fans (mostly male mainstream sports fans), and they probably have market research to base it on, hence counterprogramming.

However, an anticipated Finals matchup between two "super teams" seems like a great opportunity to hype the league and bring in new fans, which they won't if those new fans are all watching the NFL. So they're basically writing off the whole male sports audience (with a few exceptions, such as myself and some of you all).

I'd at least try give game 1 the clearest slot with the least sports competition and hype the hell out of it to try to get as many new people checking it out as possible, so they might get hooked on the series and perhaps the league in general.

Yeah for me it's the week or so off between rounds, too, from a competitive juices standpoint.

Part of it may be when arenas area available as well, and tv scheduling deals.

And lastly, like you said, perhaps the audiences don't overlap. There's certainly more interest in NFL from WNBA family than vice versa just from casual observation but hopefully I'm wrong and it changes to interest in both over time.

One thing about football diehards, whether the North American or European variety, is that any other sport is a distant second.

So it's less an attempt of biting into that market and more a chance to see what the existing market is alongside a juggernaut.

Yeah, look just knowing how many dudes who watch football are, they're not going to let anything disturb their NFL Sunday. This isn't about attracting them, it's catering to the fans who are already locked in.

I mean, this pretty much seals my allegiance:

Here. We. Go!!!!