2024 WNBA PLAYOFFS Discussion Thread (WNBA Finals: New York Liberty vs Minnesota Lynx; NYL WIN 3-2)

[ArksNetsSince99]

I can't believe we won this game.

We ?

Since when you rooting for communist Tsai family and Co ?

I kindly remind you that Liberty is a part of Brooklyn Nets Family , got nothing to do with Dolans and the Knicks

Don't gatekeep. I mean, yeah Dolan, but the league is growing and neither the league nor the Liberty need fanship purity tests.

When jumping teams as a main reason somebody names Tsais being bad and communists, then turn and root for Tsais owned women’s basketball team , yeah I have a little issues with it

It’s hypocrisy at its best

[MrDollarBills]

I can't believe we won this game.

We ?

Since when you rooting for communist Tsai family and Co ?

I kindly remind you that Liberty is a part of Brooklyn Nets Family , got nothing to do with Dolans and the Knicks

What do the Knicks have to do with a team I've been rooting for since I was a teenager? And I don't mean the Nets. Believe me I wish Tsai had nothing to do with the Liberty. At least Clara hasn't f*cked up the Liberty the way her husband f*cked up the Nets. But I'm sure the shoe will drop eventually, but for now I'm happy to finally have rooted for a championship basketball team. Sucks for you.

And why are you following me around dude? I haven't been apart of the Nets fandom for 2 years now, and frankly every time one of you from that forum stalks and harrasses me on here I'm glad i left because there are seriously bad people in the fandom, believe me i did not forget the vile comments that were being made about Jewish people during the Kyrie antisemitism incident. One of you from the Nets forum even threatened to shoot me. I want nothing to do with you, you are unhinged.

I haven't posted or even visited the board in 2 years. I couldn't even tell you who the f*cking starting 5 on the team even if you put a gun to my head. Yet you keep harassing me. F*ck off

[Rich Rane]

We ?

Since when you rooting for communist Tsai family and Co ?

I kindly remind you that Liberty is a part of Brooklyn Nets Family , got nothing to do with Dolans and the Knicks

Don't gatekeep. I mean, yeah Dolan, but the league is growing and neither the league nor the Liberty need fanship purity tests.

When jumping teams as a main reason somebody names Tsais being bad and communists, then turn and root for Tsais owned women’s basketball team , yeah I have a little issues with it

It’s hypocrisy at its best

Cool. As a Nets fan, I also don't give a flying . Liberty won a championship. Try enjoying it than asking to see someone's membership card.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Refs sucked but The Lynx scored 2 points in OT and Phee had an open shot to ice it with like 7 seconds left in regulation and missed the shot. Courtney Williams was terrible, the lynx had no answer to jonquel and there was no scoring off the bench... That is why the Lynx lost.

Again congratulations to The Liberty. Lynx took em the entire way and made them earn it, which they did.

Every game was a battle. The refs absolutely sucked but both teams laid out everything that they had.

Great series. Minnesota probably won't be denied again, that I can assure you.

oh, phee will be back. believe that.

[MrDollarBills]

We ?

Since when you rooting for communist Tsai family and Co ?

I kindly remind you that Liberty is a part of Brooklyn Nets Family , got nothing to do with Dolans and the Knicks

Don't gatekeep. I mean, yeah Dolan, but the league is growing and neither the league nor the Liberty need fanship purity tests.

When jumping teams as a main reason somebody names Tsais being bad and communists, then turn and root for Tsais owned women’s basketball team , yeah I have a little issues with it

It’s hypocrisy at its best

If my personal decisions to leave a team fanbase that I don't want to be apart of any more due to several reasons, including your own weird behavior, on top of several grievances that I had with the team since 2010, are personally hurting you, that is not my problem. It's yours.

[dockingsched]

Refs sucked but The Lynx scored 2 points in OT and Phee had an open shot to ice it with like 7 seconds left in regulation and missed the shot.

Gonna stop you right there cause Phee was absolutely mugged across the forearm on one of those late game drives with no call. IMO was even more egregious than the Stewie play.

[MrDollarBills]

Refs sucked but The Lynx scored 2 points in OT and Phee had an open shot to ice it with like 7 seconds left in regulation and missed the shot. Courtney Williams was terrible, the lynx had no answer to jonquel and there was no scoring off the bench... That is why the Lynx lost.

Again congratulations to The Liberty. Lynx took em the entire way and made them earn it, which they did.

Every game was a battle. The refs absolutely sucked but both teams laid out everything that they had.

Great series. Minnesota probably won't be denied again, that I can assure you.

oh, phee will be back. believe that.

Right. That's why i am enjoying this one for the rest of my days she isn't going to be stopped next season.

Not to mention that kid in Indiana might have something to say too.

[Rich Rane]

After a night of sleep, I still am of the opinion Liberty won in spite of Brondello. Only bad thing of winning the championship is there's no chance she's getting fired.

[Ice Man]

I'm not even going to use the physicality as an excuse

I will. Sabrina had no space, ever. If that was legal defense, she was owned. If that was illegal defense, she got robbed. Either way, she didn't go 1-19 primarily because she just missed open shots. (As with Clark, say, against Bonner in Game 1 of that series.) Most of those shots had little chance of going in, because she so rarely had a decent look.

[sikma42]

I'm not even going to use the physicality as an excuse

I will. Sabrina had no space, ever. If that was legal defense, she was owned. If that was illegal defense, she got robbed. Either way, she didn't go 1-19 primarily because she just missed open shots. (As with Clark, say, against Bonner in Game 1 of that series.) Most of those shots had little chance of going in, because she so rarely had a decent look.

I think it was legal defense and she got shut down. I just remember her flipping around in desperation trying to draw fouls on defenders in legal guarding position.

If anything Phee was being grabbed and held off ball like it was a wrestling match.


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[MrDollarBills]

I'm not even going to use the physicality as an excuse

I will. Sabrina had no space, ever. If that was legal defense, she was owned. If that was illegal defense, she got robbed. Either way, she didn't go 1-19 primarily because she just missed open shots. (As with Clark, say, against Bonner in Game 1 of that series.) Most of those shots had little chance of going in, because she so rarely had a decent look.

I think it was legal defense and she got shut down. I just remember her flipping around in desperation trying to draw fouls on defenders in legal guarding position.

If anything Phee was being grabbed and held off ball like it was a wrestling match.


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The physicality went both ways to be honest. I don't think either team should use it as an excuse for poor performances, both Ionescu and Williams were horrible. Perimeter players were getting (wo)manhandled last night.

[sikma42]

I will. Sabrina had no space, ever. If that was legal defense, she was owned. If that was illegal defense, she got robbed. Either way, she didn't go 1-19 primarily because she just missed open shots. (As with Clark, say, against Bonner in Game 1 of that series.) Most of those shots had little chance of going in, because she so rarely had a decent look.

I think it was legal defense and she got shut down. I just remember her flipping around in desperation trying to draw fouls on defenders in legal guarding position.

If anything Phee was being grabbed and held off ball like it was a wrestling match.


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The physicality went both ways to be honest. I don't think either team should use it as an excuse for poor performances, both Ionescu and Williams were horrible. Perimeter players were getting (wo)manhandled last night.

Maybe, I'd have to rewatch. It looked like good defense to me going both ways on Sabrina and Courtney Williams. Just thought the lights were too big. But agree, def shouldnt be an excuse either way.

Just makes next year's storylines that much more interesting. One other thing, now I'm curious about Stewie's career. She won 4 titles at UConn but how did she perform in tough situations.. Same with her WNBA titles. Her performances have really made me question her game and mental fortitude. As someone living 5/10 mins from Barclays, I'm so close to becoming a fan. But this performance wasn't really inspiring tbh.

[MrDollarBills]

NYC is reporting that the Liberty's playoff run had an $18mil economic impact for the city.

[Green Chile]

I think it was legal defense and she got shut down. I just remember her flipping around in desperation trying to draw fouls on defenders in legal guarding position.

If anything Phee was being grabbed and held off ball like it was a wrestling match.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

The physicality went both ways to be honest. I don't think either team should use it as an excuse for poor performances, both Ionescu and Williams were horrible. Perimeter players were getting (wo)manhandled last night.

Maybe, I'd have to rewatch. It looked like good defense to me going both ways on Sabrina and Courtney Williams. Just thought the lights were too big. But agree, def shouldnt be an excuse either way.

Just makes next year's storylines that much more interesting. One other thing, now I'm curious about Stewie's career. She won 4 titles at UConn but how did she perform in tough situations.. Same with her WNBA titles. Her performances have really made me question her game and mental fortitude. As someone living 5/10 mins from Barclays, I'm so close to becoming a fan. But this performance wasn't really inspiring tbh.

I haven't watched her entire career, so I don't know.

But she's a 4 time NCAA champ (and Tourney MVP), and a 3-time WNBA Champ. I can't imagine a case that she lacks mental fortitude.

For this series, her 3-point shot often wasn't falling (and her 3-pt shooting is down this year), but she was still awesome for most of the series. She dropped a 30-10 in Game 3 on the road. Only the 3rd 30-10 in Finals history. She has 2 of the 3 in history.
Again, really hard to find a case for lacking mental fortitude.

Even this series, when her shot wasn't falling, she made a big impact on games. There were times it felt like she needed to get it into the paint more. But she also plays with a 6'6" player that every body was screaming needed to get into the paint more.

I don't know what the answer was this series, but if Stewie lacks mental fortitude, then there are very few athletes in the history of any sport that have it.

[MrDollarBills]

The physicality went both ways to be honest. I don't think either team should use it as an excuse for poor performances, both Ionescu and Williams were horrible. Perimeter players were getting (wo)manhandled last night.

Maybe, I'd have to rewatch. It looked like good defense to me going both ways on Sabrina and Courtney Williams. Just thought the lights were too big. But agree, def shouldnt be an excuse either way.

Just makes next year's storylines that much more interesting. One other thing, now I'm curious about Stewie's career. She won 4 titles at UConn but how did she perform in tough situations.. Same with her WNBA titles. Her performances have really made me question her game and mental fortitude. As someone living 5/10 mins from Barclays, I'm so close to becoming a fan. But this performance wasn't really inspiring tbh.

I haven't watched her entire career, so I don't know.

But she's a 4 time NCAA champ (and Tourney MVP), and a 3-time WNBA Champ. I can't imagine a case that she lacks mental fortitude.

For this series, her 3-point shot often wasn't falling (and her 3-pt shooting is down this year), but she was still awesome for most of the series. She dropped a 30-10 in Game 3 on the road. Only the 3rd 30-10 in Finals history. She has 2 of the 3 in history.
Again, really hard to find a case for lacking mental fortitude.

Even this series, when her shot wasn't falling, she made a big impact on games. There were times it felt like she needed to get it into the paint more. But she also plays with a 6'6" player that every body was screaming needed to get into the paint more.

I don't know what the answer was this series, but if Stewie lacks mental fortitude, then there are very few athletes in the history of any sport that have it.

I can honestly say that Stewie is not as offensively dominant as she was in her previous seasons, but we don't win anything without her elite defense all season long. She was the dirty work player and some nights had to carry the offense.

[Green Chile]

Maybe, I'd have to rewatch. It looked like good defense to me going both ways on Sabrina and Courtney Williams. Just thought the lights were too big. But agree, def shouldnt be an excuse either way.

Just makes next year's storylines that much more interesting. One other thing, now I'm curious about Stewie's career. She won 4 titles at UConn but how did she perform in tough situations.. Same with her WNBA titles. Her performances have really made me question her game and mental fortitude. As someone living 5/10 mins from Barclays, I'm so close to becoming a fan. But this performance wasn't really inspiring tbh.

I haven't watched her entire career, so I don't know.

But she's a 4 time NCAA champ (and Tourney MVP), and a 3-time WNBA Champ. I can't imagine a case that she lacks mental fortitude.

For this series, her 3-point shot often wasn't falling (and her 3-pt shooting is down this year), but she was still awesome for most of the series. She dropped a 30-10 in Game 3 on the road. Only the 3rd 30-10 in Finals history. She has 2 of the 3 in history.
Again, really hard to find a case for lacking mental fortitude.

Even this series, when her shot wasn't falling, she made a big impact on games. There were times it felt like she needed to get it into the paint more. But she also plays with a 6'6" player that every body was screaming needed to get into the paint more.

I don't know what the answer was this series, but if Stewie lacks mental fortitude, then there are very few athletes in the history of any sport that have it.

I can honestly say that Stewie is not as offensively dominant as she was in her previous seasons, but we don't win anything without her elite defense all season long. She was the dirty work player and some nights had to carry the offense.

She was so great defensively.

History may not remember, but even a couple big plays guarding Heideman down the stretch were huge.

The rest of the Lynx had gone cold, but Heideman had gotten a couple buckets. Blocking a 5'8" player may not sound impressive, but she closed out from 10 feet away. And then she turned Heideman over on the 3 point line in OT.

Whoever writes the book on how the Liberty won their first title, I'm sure they'll include all the little things Stewie did when her shot wasn't falling.

[Green Chile]

Speaking of when they write the book, not only did she help bring the LIberty their first title.

But in doing so, she took out A'ja. And she may very well go down as the last person that beat Phee in the Playoffs.

[Sealab2024]

Speaking of when they write the book, not only did she help bring the LIberty their first title.

But in doing so, she took out A'ja. And she may very well go down as the last person that beat Phee in the Playoffs.

Lynx overachieved this year. They're still a legit big and a bench scorer away from being in the conversation as a lock to contend. Chemistry had a ton to do with how well they did and that can be a very flimsy thing. It'll be interesting to see how the off season works out. They weren't really a destination in the last few years as they were kind of treading water in the wake of the dynasty years, but this run definitely puts them in the conversation for just about any FA out there. And Reeve is as good an executive as she is a coach.

[sikma42]

I haven't watched her entire career, so I don't know.

But she's a 4 time NCAA champ (and Tourney MVP), and a 3-time WNBA Champ. I can't imagine a case that she lacks mental fortitude.

For this series, her 3-point shot often wasn't falling (and her 3-pt shooting is down this year), but she was still awesome for most of the series. She dropped a 30-10 in Game 3 on the road. Only the 3rd 30-10 in Finals history. She has 2 of the 3 in history.
Again, really hard to find a case for lacking mental fortitude.

Even this series, when her shot wasn't falling, she made a big impact on games. There were times it felt like she needed to get it into the paint more. But she also plays with a 6'6" player that every body was screaming needed to get into the paint more.

I don't know what the answer was this series, but if Stewie lacks mental fortitude, then there are very few athletes in the history of any sport that have it.

I can honestly say that Stewie is not as offensively dominant as she was in her previous seasons, but we don't win anything without her elite defense all season long. She was the dirty work player and some nights had to carry the offense.

She was so great defensively.

History may not remember, but even a couple big plays guarding Heideman down the stretch were huge.

The rest of the Lynx had gone cold, but Heideman had gotten a couple buckets. Blocking a 5'8" player may not sound impressive, but she closed out from 10 feet away. And then she turned Heideman over on the 3 point line in OT.

Whoever writes the book on how the Liberty won their first title, I'm sure they'll include all the little things Stewie did when her shot wasn't falling.

I think there is a difference between your shot not falling and having issues with pressure. These weren't just missed shots, they were layups that didn't hit the rim, air balls, several missed clutch free throws. At times Phee was just bottling her up and even blocking her jumpers. That's why I asked about additional context because Stewie even acknowledged not playing well last year. This was another performance that raised some eyebrows.

Her resume is impressive and she is fun to watch. But this collapse was noteworthy. And if we are talking defense, Phee was by far the best defensive player in the series. It's just one of those rare situations where you win a title but you look worse. Similar with Sab, before this series I thought you could make an argument for her over CC. Now, imo CC just clears her.

[Green Chile]

MDB, it's close to the time of the excruciating part of picking 6 to protect in the expansion draft.

It's going to come down to picking between Sabally and Johannes, right?

Sorry. Enjoy the parade. There's plenty of time for the gut-wrenching decisions that follow.