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

[MrDollarBills]

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.

I just realized this because you put it so well:

A'ja, Phee and Stewie are the top 3 players, and Stewie had to beat both in consecutive rounds to win the title.

That in itself is a monumental feat.

[MrDollarBills]

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.

I forgot that Marine is technically still a member of the team. Goddamn it

Stewie, Sabrina, Jonquel, Leo, BLH are locks.

So basically it's between Sabally, Thornton, and Johannes.

Leo is legit one of the best wings in the league so I think that makes KT expendable.

We're going to need another guard, which probably comes via the draft. I doubt the Liberty protect Johannes. Honestly, I would love to see her start at SG for Golden State.

Sabally most likely secured her spot last night.

[MrDollarBills]

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.

I don't think it's outrageous to say that Phee and CC are better than Stewie and Sabrina. They are.

[hermes]

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.

yeah, the whole starting lineup pretty much had a career year at the same time. that isn't likely to happen again. it was a stars-aligning type season but we just couldn't get it done at the end

edit: and the chemistry won't jell that quickly either again (if there are significant changes). it was mostly a new team but during the first month of the season it looked like they had been playing together for three years

[The Corey's]

Wowzers

Free throws 25 to 8 in game 5 with the title in the line in favor of New York AFTER they complained about wanting FAIR officiating last game.

I don't know about you but id be pretty heated to lose a championship cause there was a 17 FT disadvantage.

Go look at the box score for Game 4 and the FT disparity. This goes both ways.

The officiating absolutely sucks and I notice that the disparity in the final two games of the series swung wildly in the home teams direction after each coach complained about officiating. I think that's a serious problem that the league needs to address ASAP.

I'm going to be objective here because I thought Stewie got bailed out. But I will say this:

1) While i agree with her frustration, Reeves came off as classless when she went from attacking the officials to attacking the Liberty personally. What does the Liberty trying to get chartered flights have to do with the final outcome? She lost me there.

2) The Lynx committed 5 TOs in OT and couldn't score.

I'm wondering if game 4 came on the heels of NY getting all the calls in game 3 and Minn bitching about it in the media and then getting caught on camera talking about make sure to sell your contact cause the ref is giving us everything?

Ya I didn't think so.

You want it both ways while the rest of us want a evenly called game with the championship on the line for both teams.

[The Corey's]

Go look at the box score for Game 4 and the FT disparity. This goes both ways.

The officiating absolutely sucks and I notice that the disparity in the final two games of the series swung wildly in the home teams direction after each coach complained about officiating. I think that's a serious problem that the league needs to address ASAP.

I'm going to be objective here because I thought Stewie got bailed out. But I will say this:

1) While i agree with her frustration, Reeves came off as classless when she went from attacking the officials to attacking the Liberty personally. What does the Liberty trying to get chartered flights have to do with the final outcome? She lost me there.

2) The Lynx committed 5 TOs in OT and couldn't score.

Lynx probably score more if Liberty aren't just being allowed to do whatever every play at the end honestly.

The bail out call on Stewie in Q4 was terrible but let's at least be honest here about how things played out.

And what about game 1? Ball clearly went off her foot. What about the bull jump ball violation?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening here.

[Slim Tubby]

When the League Commissioner shows up for Game 5 already dressed for the Liberty parade, that had to be a bad sign for the Lynx. The refs literally made up calls at the end of the game and ignored a player taking 4-5 steps to get NY into OT any way possible. It was shameful if you're really being honest about it.

To have a highly successful WNBA season in terms of increased quality of play, media coverage and attendance get minimized at the very end by corruptible officiating is embarrassing.

Sent from my N152DL using RealGM mobile app

[MrDollarBills]

Free throws 25 to 8 in game 5 with the title in the line in favor of New York AFTER they complained about wanting FAIR officiating last game.

I don't know about you but id be pretty heated to lose a championship cause there was a 17 FT disadvantage.

Go look at the box score for Game 4 and the FT disparity. This goes both ways.

The officiating absolutely sucks and I notice that the disparity in the final two games of the series swung wildly in the home teams direction after each coach complained about officiating. I think that's a serious problem that the league needs to address ASAP.

I'm going to be objective here because I thought Stewie got bailed out. But I will say this:

1) While i agree with her frustration, Reeves came off as classless when she went from attacking the officials to attacking the Liberty personally. What does the Liberty trying to get chartered flights have to do with the final outcome? She lost me there.

2) The Lynx committed 5 TOs in OT and couldn't score.

I'm wondering if game 4 came on the heels of NY getting all the calls in game 3 and Minn bitching about it in the media and then getting caught on camera talking about make sure to sell your contact cause the ref is giving us everything?

Ya I didn't think so.

You want it both ways while the rest of us want a evenly called game with the championship on the line for both teams.

Reeve literally complained after Game 3 and then Minnesota got a huge FT disparity at home in Game 4.

You can either keep crying, touting baseless conspiracy theories or you can accept that the officiating in the last two games sucked and it went both ways. You can't just ignore reality because it suits your narrative.

[MrDollarBills]

Lynx probably score more if Liberty aren't just being allowed to do whatever every play at the end honestly.

The bail out call on Stewie in Q4 was terrible but let's at least be honest here about how things played out.

And what about game 1? Ball clearly went off her foot. What about the bull jump ball violation?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening here.

The Lynx won game 1.

What's happening here is you trying to make a conspiracy out of this while ignoring everything else.

We can sit and dissect every game and you'll find bad calls going both ways. To try to act like the refs handed the Liberty everything in a 5 game series that had every game come down to the wire is laughable.

[MrDollarBills]

Friday’s Liberty-Lynx WNBA Finals Game 4 averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.67 million viewers on ESPN, marking the largest WNBA Finals audience in 24 years — since Liberty-Comets Game 2 on NBC in 2000 (2.12M) — and sixth-largest overall.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2024/10/wnba-finals-game-4-most-watched-since-2000-lynx-liberty/

[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.

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.

With Phee and Reeve, I'm not worried about not being able to recreate that chemistry.

I'm not sure I agree about needing a legit big.

They probably should have won a title. Even aside from the foul, they win with a healthy Alanna, imo.

Either way, they went through Griner, Bri Jones, and then JJ without a "legit big".

They have the youngest playoff proven star in the league, the best coach, and a lot of other great pieces (and a knack for finding them).

I think they are a legit contender for the duration of Phee's prime.

[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.

With Phee and Reeve, I'm not worried about not being able to recreate that chemistry.

I'm not sure I agree about needing a legit big.

They probably should have won a title. Even aside from the foul, they win with a healthy Alanna, imo.

Either way, they went through Griner, Bri Jones, and then JJ without a "legit big".

They have the youngest playoff proven star in the league, the best coach, and a lot of other great pieces (and a knack for finding them).

I think they are a legit contender for the duration of Phee's prime.

My problem with that is that it was probably asking Alanna to defend players 4-6 inches taller and 20-30lbs heavier that took its toll on her in the first place. We did beat those teams but we got dominated on the boards and down low all playoffs long. Lynx drafted Maia Hirsch 2 years ago from France. Shes only 20 and is a legit 6'5" athletic defensive big. I'd love to see her come over next year and try to add some size and athleticism down low off the bench. Hell I'd even toss out a flyer on Griner if Taurasi retires. Shes 34 but could add something the Lynx definitely lack and would probably welcome reduced playing time on a legit contender.

My point is that there's still work to be done and the Lynx roster is far from perfect.

[MrDollarBills]

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.

With Phee and Reeve, I'm not worried about not being able to recreate that chemistry.

I'm not sure I agree about needing a legit big.

They probably should have won a title. Even aside from the foul, they win with a healthy Alanna, imo.

Either way, they went through Griner, Bri Jones, and then JJ without a "legit big".

They have the youngest playoff proven star in the league, the best coach, and a lot of other great pieces (and a knack for finding them).

I think they are a legit contender for the duration of Phee's prime.

My problem with that is that it was probably asking Alanna to defend players 4-6 inches taller and 20-30lbs heavier that took its toll on her in the first place. We did beat those teams but we got dominated on the boards and down low all playoffs long. Lynx drafted Maia Hirsch 2 years ago from France. Shes only 20 and is a legit 6'5" athletic defensive big. I'd love to see her come over next year and try to add some size and athleticism down low off the bench. Hell I'd even toss out a flyer on Griner if Taurasi retires. Shes 34 but could add something the Lynx definitely lack and would probably welcome reduced playing time on a legit contender.

My point is that there's still work to be done and the Lynx roster is far from perfect.

Minnesota absolutely needs a big in my opinion. Watching Phee have to guard Jonquel was crazy, not gonna kid ya

[Green Chile]

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.

With Phee and Reeve, I'm not worried about not being able to recreate that chemistry.

I'm not sure I agree about needing a legit big.

They probably should have won a title. Even aside from the foul, they win with a healthy Alanna, imo.

Either way, they went through Griner, Bri Jones, and then JJ without a "legit big".

They have the youngest playoff proven star in the league, the best coach, and a lot of other great pieces (and a knack for finding them).

I think they are a legit contender for the duration of Phee's prime.

My problem with that is that it was probably asking Alanna to defend players 4-6 inches taller and 20-30lbs heavier that took its toll on her in the first place. We did beat those teams but we got dominated on the boards and down low all playoffs long. Lynx drafted Maia Hirsch 2 years ago from France. Shes only 20 and is a legit 6'5" athletic defensive big. I'd love to see her come over next year and try to add some size and athleticism down low off the bench. Hell I'd even toss out a flyer on Griner if Taurasi retires. Shes 34 but could add something the Lynx definitely lack and would probably welcome reduced playing time on a legit contender.

My point is that there's still work to be done and the Lynx roster is far from perfect.

I don't necessarily disagree.
If they can find a total stud, sure.

It might be my Alanna bias, but it better be a real stud.

Yeah, they get out rebounded, but she pulls bigs out of the paint, allowing more room for Phee to work. She's sound defensively.

For this team, and to work alongside Phee, it would take a special player to be an upgrade over Alanna, IMO.
And I don't know who that player is, that they could get.

I'll respectfully disagree about Griner. She's fantastic in what she does. But for this team, Alanna is better, IMO.

Not a perfect roster, but 1 of 100 things goes differently and they would have just won a Championship.

[The Corey's]

Go look at the box score for Game 4 and the FT disparity. This goes both ways.

The officiating absolutely sucks and I notice that the disparity in the final two games of the series swung wildly in the home teams direction after each coach complained about officiating. I think that's a serious problem that the league needs to address ASAP.

I'm going to be objective here because I thought Stewie got bailed out. But I will say this:

1) While i agree with her frustration, Reeves came off as classless when she went from attacking the officials to attacking the Liberty personally. What does the Liberty trying to get chartered flights have to do with the final outcome? She lost me there.

2) The Lynx committed 5 TOs in OT and couldn't score.

I'm wondering if game 4 came on the heels of NY getting all the calls in game 3 and Minn bitching about it in the media and then getting caught on camera talking about make sure to sell your contact cause the ref is giving us everything?

Ya I didn't think so.

You want it both ways while the rest of us want a evenly called game with the championship on the line for both teams.

Reeve literally complained after Game 3 and then Minnesota got a huge FT disparity at home in Game 4.

You can either keep crying, touting baseless conspiracy theories or you can accept that the officiating in the last two games sucked and it went both ways. You can't just ignore reality because it suits your narrative.

Friend. I'm a casual viewer and completely unbiased.

You are not.

That **** was disgusting and it's rightfully tainted.

[The Corey's]

The bail out call on Stewie in Q4 was terrible but let's at least be honest here about how things played out.

And what about game 1? Ball clearly went off her foot. What about the bull jump ball violation?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening here.

The Lynx won game 1.

What's happening here is you trying to make a conspiracy out of this while ignoring everything else.

We can sit and dissect every game and you'll find bad calls going both ways. To try to act like the refs handed the Liberty everything in a 5 game series that had every game come down to the wire is laughable.

Meanwhile, across 4 replies you haven't made one attempt to explain why the coach of the Liberty was telling her players to take the contact on any possession in which they are touched.

[Green Chile]

Are we taking crazy pills here?

If the league wanted to rig things for the Liberty, where have they been the other 27 years?

[Sealab2024]

As a Lynx fan I honestly want this conversation to stop. Do the refs need to be better, yes. But it's over. The liberty won, they are the champions. This is getting picked up by the same fake CC fanboy group who really just want to get rid of women's basketball for whatever reason.

For those Lynx fans who thought it shenanigans Coach Reeve stood up and openly called bulls**t. You have been heard and that's all you can hope for. My guess is this will lead to changes in how games are reffereed which is again, all you can hope for.

But IT IS over.

The Liberty are the 2024WNBA champions and it's not like they're a bad team. They were easily the best team with the most talent all year long and they should be celebrated as such.

Up here in Minnesota we will force you to beat us all the way into the ground if you wanna claim a victory, but once you do we stand up like civilized, honorable competitors and tip our cap to the victor in the spirit of good competition.

So again; congratulations to the NY Liberty. You earned those rings and deserve them more than anyone else.

[MrDollarBills]

And what about game 1? Ball clearly went off her foot. What about the bull jump ball violation?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's happening here.

The Lynx won game 1.

What's happening here is you trying to make a conspiracy out of this while ignoring everything else.

We can sit and dissect every game and you'll find bad calls going both ways. To try to act like the refs handed the Liberty everything in a 5 game series that had every game come down to the wire is laughable.

Meanwhile, across 4 replies you haven't made one attempt to explain why the coach of the Liberty was telling her players to take the contact on any possession in which they are touched.

Because it's a smart f*cking strategy based on how bad and dumb the officials are.

You can keep crying though. Nothing will change. The Liberty are the champions of the world.

I feel like you're only posting about this because it's a hot topic and you probably didn't watch any of the other games in the series. The W seems to attract people with agendas that reek of negativity nowadays

[MrDollarBills]

Anyway,



3.3 million viewers watched Game 5. That's what matters.