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Sun @ Sparks - 7/13/17
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Who will win this game?
Sun
35%
 35%  [ 7 ]
Sparks
65%
 65%  [ 13 ]
Total Votes : 20

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WfanFrJmp



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:14 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Whew, Connecticut is tough! Jasmine Jones is a beast! It was great to see Morgan on the floor. Stricklen seems to have found herself this season and Bentley has settled into her role. C. Williams is fitting well with the team and Jasmine Thomas has only gotten better with time. A. Thomas does a whole lot of everything! She's so strong and tough to stop in transition. It's very cool to see her make her way into the versatile forward discussion. Her free throw shooting form seems to have gotten progressively worse. Anyone know what's up with her shoulder?

I missed LA's last two games and for obvious reasons, refuse to go back and look at them! Confused Laughing I'm glad they got it done tonight! Nneka did her thing and Chelsea is an absolute warrior! CP was engaged and doing CP things. Riquna seems to be feeling comfortable! Lav's impact (and time on the floor)) has been limited so far this season, but she's still the microwave and definitely put in some good minutes tonight. I'm hoping we'll get a bit more from Essence as the season progresses. So happy for Beard who is now top 5 in steals! At nearly 1100, Catch put such a high ceiling on anyone overtaking her! Wow! I've been wondering about Sims and am guessing that she's not quite 100%. Since her injury, she hasn't moved with explosiveness and confidence just yet. I think the expectation was for her to be the starting PG, so I know that it's hard on her. I hope she feels integrated into what they are doing and as she gets "her footing", she'll be good to go! Bench time definitely has been limited so far but teams are bringing it such that no lead is safe and understandably, Coach seems to be focused on building chemistry and consistency with the starters.

Say what you will about the Lisa Borders era, but the change in game and playoff format has definitely had a positive impact on the intensity and importance of the games. I love it!




Last edited by WfanFrJmp on 07/14/17 12:26 am; edited 2 times in total
bballgrl



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:15 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

myrtle wrote:
A. Thomas is hilarious shooting FTs


She does really need to work on her FTs. It would enhance her game for sure. Dhe is from my home town(Harrisburg, Pa) and I am proud she made the Pro's, she just needs to work on her FTs.


myrtle



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 1:32 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

sigur3 wrote:
She should try shooting with her right hand.


maybe the rick berry underhand method. I mean pretty much anything! She wastes all that effort getting to the line then can't convert. It's amazing...in a bad way. Really how can anyone at this level be that bad? Even T. Young learned to improve her shooting. Perhaps Alyssa can learn from Tamara.



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Richyyy



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 2:11 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

myrtle wrote:
sigur3 wrote:
She should try shooting with her right hand.


maybe the rick berry underhand method. I mean pretty much anything! She wastes all that effort getting to the line then can't convert. It's amazing...in a bad way. Really how can anyone at this level be that bad? Even T. Young learned to improve her shooting. Perhaps Alyssa can learn from Tamara.

The worrying thing is that it's getting worse. Whereas the bizarre thing is that it's getting worse at a remarkably consistent rate. 75%, 69%, 63%, 57% in her four seasons in the league. If she sticks around another decade in the WNBA, she's eventually going to have to work out how to shoot -3% at the line.



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Randy



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 7:04 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Could be the hackAllysa play will become popular against the Sun.


toad455



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 7:07 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Can only imagine how much closer this game could have been if not for the refs. The Sun are definitely a tough team to beat.



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Randy



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 7:13 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Richyyy wrote:
myrtle wrote:
sigur3 wrote:
She should try shooting with her right hand.


maybe the rick berry underhand method. I mean pretty much anything! She wastes all that effort getting to the line then can't convert. It's amazing...in a bad way. Really how can anyone at this level be that bad? Even T. Young learned to improve her shooting. Perhaps Alyssa can learn from Tamara.

The worrying thing is that it's getting worse. Whereas the bizarre thing is that it's getting worse at a remarkably consistent rate. 75%, 69%, 63%, 57% in her four seasons in the league. If she sticks around another decade in the WNBA, she's eventually going to have to work out how to shoot -3% at the line.


I suspect that coaches trying to improve her form have actually made it worse. Sometimes it's better to do something mediocre with bad form than to try to improve the mechanics and end up making it worse. She was a career 77% FT shooter in college and almost 80% as a Senior.


myrtle



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 10:33 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Randy wrote:
Richyyy wrote:
myrtle wrote:
sigur3 wrote:
She should try shooting with her right hand.


maybe the rick berry underhand method. I mean pretty much anything! She wastes all that effort getting to the line then can't convert. It's amazing...in a bad way. Really how can anyone at this level be that bad? Even T. Young learned to improve her shooting. Perhaps Alyssa can learn from Tamara.

The worrying thing is that it's getting worse. Whereas the bizarre thing is that it's getting worse at a remarkably consistent rate. 75%, 69%, 63%, 57% in her four seasons in the league. If she sticks around another decade in the WNBA, she's eventually going to have to work out how to shoot -3% at the line.


I suspect that coaches trying to improve her form have actually made it worse. Sometimes it's better to do something mediocre with bad form than to try to improve the mechanics and end up making it worse. She was a career 77% FT shooter in college and almost 80% as a Senior.


That might fly if her form actually looked good, but she shoves it at the basket while falling forward. I don't think anybody, anywhere would be helping her attain that form.



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:04 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

There are highly qualified shooting coaches and basketball skills trainers all over the country. She needs to do her research and hire one to help her with her shooting form.



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dtsnms



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:09 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

She needs to get her shoulder fixed.


boom*NNEKA*nneka



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:24 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Did Chelsea get injured yesterday? I couldn't watch the game because the channel out here was showing the stupid Lakers summer league game. And then this morning, I saw something on Twitter that seemed to suggest Nneka ran into her or something, and felt bad about it. Any help would be appreciated!
Tally24



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:46 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

boom*NNEKA*nneka wrote:
Did Chelsea get injured yesterday? I couldn't watch the game because the channel out here was showing the stupid Lakers summer league game. And then this morning, I saw something on Twitter that seemed to suggest Nneka ran into her or something, and felt bad about it. Any help would be appreciated!


Caught a bow from Nneka during a defensive fast break scramble, blood hit the floor, but Gray came back in and eventually iced the game for LA. Without her return I would venture that the game would have been much closer.
boom*NNEKA*nneka



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 12:53 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Tally24 wrote:
boom*NNEKA*nneka wrote:
Did Chelsea get injured yesterday? I couldn't watch the game because the channel out here was showing the stupid Lakers summer league game. And then this morning, I saw something on Twitter that seemed to suggest Nneka ran into her or something, and felt bad about it. Any help would be appreciated!


Caught a bow from Nneka during a defensive fast break scramble, blood hit the floor, but Gray came back in and eventually iced the game for LA. Without her return I would venture that the game would have been much closer.
.

Got it. Thank you!! I'm sure it wasn't pretty to watch, but glad that it doesn't seem like something that would keep her out.
Ay Mate



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 1:07 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

boom*NNEKA*nneka wrote:
Tally24 wrote:
boom*NNEKA*nneka wrote:
Did Chelsea get injured yesterday? I couldn't watch the game because the channel out here was showing the stupid Lakers summer league game. And then this morning, I saw something on Twitter that seemed to suggest Nneka ran into her or something, and felt bad about it. Any help would be appreciated!


Caught a bow from Nneka during a defensive fast break scramble, blood hit the floor, but Gray came back in and eventually iced the game for LA. Without her return I would venture that the game would have been much closer.
.

Got it. Thank you!! I'm sure it wasn't pretty to watch, but glad that it doesn't seem like something that would keep her out.


It was a hard elbow to the face/head so I'm sure they are evaluating her for possible concussion symptoms. If they are, and she has symptoms, she might be out for a few games.


willtalk



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 3:11 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

WfanFrJmp wrote:
. ------------------- I've been wondering about Sims and am guessing that she's not quite 100%. Since her injury, she hasn't moved with explosiveness and confidence just yet. I think the expectation was for her to be the starting PG, so I know that it's hard on her. I hope she feels integrated into what they are doing and as she gets "her footing", she'll be good to go! -------------------------------------------------------------


I think it is more about integration than being 100 % physically. If you look at her + - percentage compared to the teams average it is rather negative. It isn't just about her ability to be explosive and provide scoring. The offensive flow seems to diminish when she is in the game. I mean with Williams it's purely about being offensively selective and hitting her shots while with Sims it's also about an expected role of maintaining offensive flow. Because of her past roles as a volume shooter, that is something she has never been consistently required of her until she got into the WNBA. She sort of has to recreate herself.


WfanFrJmp



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 4:38 pm    ::: ! Reply Reply with quote

willtalk wrote:
WfanFrJmp wrote:
. ------------------- I've been wondering about Sims and am guessing that she's not quite 100%. Since her injury, she hasn't moved with explosiveness and confidence just yet. I think the expectation was for her to be the starting PG, so I know that it's hard on her. I hope she feels integrated into what they are doing and as she gets "her footing", she'll be good to go! -------------------------------------------------------------


I think it is more about integration than being 100 % physically. If you look at her + - percentage compared to the teams average it is rather negative. It isn't just about her ability to be explosive and provide scoring. The offensive flow seems to diminish when she is in the game. I mean with Williams it's purely about being offensively selective and hitting her shots while with Sims it's also about an expected role of maintaining offensive flow. Because of her past roles as a volume shooter, that is something she has never been consistently required of her until she got into the WNBA. She sort of has to recreate herself.


Yes, I definitely hear what you are saying and generally agree. 100% agreed about the difference in expectations for her and Williams. The only thing that gives me pause about how she may be feeling is because she was so aggressive and pretty fluid running the offense and breaking down defenses before her injury. She was there for the entire training camp and was so excited for the change and looking forward to helping her new team. I know it is a small sample size, but her time on the floor has been dramatically cut and she's not quite looking herself....she seems tentative.... I have to admit that I only really saw her during her last 2 years in college but it seems that she became a volume shooter to compensate once BG graduated and I'm not 100% sure what was happening in Dallas.... Note, that she is one of the only young guards who made onto the short list for the Olympic team and shucks, she almost helped lead those youngins to victory over the Olympic squad during their pre-tourney tune up.

Sims has soo much ability and I just want to see her integrated, confident and effective. As she adjusts, I'm looking forward to her and Gray giving folks nightmares! lol


bballgrl



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 6:47 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

toad455 wrote:
Can only imagine how much closer this game could have been if not for the refs. The Sun are definitely a tough team to beat.


Yep, without the help of the refs the Sun probably won that game. Don't think the schedule wasn't set up for the Sun to play LA a day after playing the Storm and LA hadn't played for about 5 days.


willtalk



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PostPosted: 07/14/17 11:48 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Wfanjump--I also would generally agree with your last post. I do agree that her effectiveness has diminished quite a bit since her injury so it must have had some impact. My point was that she should still be getting more playing time even if she were not as effective offensively based purely on the fact that they would still need someone to run the point sans any real offensive output. I suspect that when she isn't contributing offensively scoring wise she isn't real comfortable just doing the other things a point does. it's more of a mind set thing than an actual physical handycap. We can put a lot of the blame on Mulkey for focusing the offense around her during her last season. It sort of reminds me of high school players who go to college and then have to not only make physical adjustments but also have to change their mind sets to playing in a more team concept system. Cals Clarendon is the perfect example of a high school player who played her first two years in college as an absolute ball hog until the light came on during her junior season. It took two years as a two guard for her to actually transition her mindset into a really good PG at the next level.

For all practical purposes we might even consider Sims as a rookie this year since she is expected to transition her game into what the LA coach wants.


WfanFrJmp



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PostPosted: 07/15/17 5:32 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

willtalk wrote:
Wfanjump--I also would generally agree with your last post. I do agree that her effectiveness has diminished quite a bit since her injury so it must have had some impact. My point was that she should still be getting more playing time even if she were not as effective offensively based purely on the fact that they would still need someone to run the point sans any real offensive output. I suspect that when she isn't contributing offensively scoring wise she isn't real comfortable just doing the other things a point does. it's more of a mind set thing than an actual physical handycap.
We can put a lot of the blame on Mulkey for focusing the offense around her during her last season. It sort of reminds me of high school players who go to college and then have to not only make physical adjustments but also have to change their mind sets to playing in a more team concept system. Cals Clarendon is the perfect example of a high school player who played her first two years in college as an absolute ball hog until the light came on during her junior season. It took two years as a two guard for her to actually transition her mindset into a really good PG at the next level.

For all practical purposes we might even consider Sims as a rookie this year since she is expected to transition her game into what the LA coach wants.


Great points on Sims: her offense being key to what she does and adjusting her mindset on some level. Perhaps that is indeed a large part of it. Sims' on court personality is typically quite big and aggressive....and we've seen it in spurts. I have to admit that I focused in on her a bit this last game to try to gauge her. Oh wow, I just realized that LA's last game was on her 25th birthday. Hey, she's a fighter and I'm hoping she is able to make the mid-season shift like Gray did as coach began to trust her more. Shucks, even in the last game of the finals, he was still yelling at her! lol!


I only saw Clarendon during her last year in college but I'm loving the transition she's made in the league. She looked like she wasn't going to make it during her stint in Indy but I remember listening to her and Birdy on LaChina's podcast "Above the Rim" a few years ago and they were talking about what players do to get better...going over seas, etc. I loved Clarendon's response and approach, particularly because she was so young. At the time, she'd decided not to go overseas because she recognized that she really needed to work on her game and unlearn bad habits to excel in the league. Players definitely can and often do get better going overseas but I get her point about the challenge of having time to make and break habits when you are expected to and getting paid top dollar to get out there and perform.


jap



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PostPosted: 07/15/17 5:24 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Nice views on Odyssey's issues on court. I never saw her as starting over Chelsea as I felt Chelsea had too much natural PG ability to lose the starting role to anyone else. I always saw Odyssey as being a complementary piece, playing mostly as a SG when Chelsea was sharing the floor and as the backup PG when Chelsea rode the pine. However, she is going to have to make the mental transition that Kristi did and compartmentalise the PG & SG roles in her mind and swap between each as is appropriate for game conditions. Chelsea was a quick study last season, but then she only had to focus on grooming herself for the PG role. How quickly Odyssey can grow into her dual roles should be interesting for this season's championship prospects.

Riquna is going through her own transition. She began this season attempting frequent long twos and treys . . . and missing a ton. She then began taking more conscious advantage of the superlative front court play before her to get better open looks and started shooting just under 40% from downtown for a stretch. Now, like Kristi before her, she is relearning the need to take shorter shots and drawing fouls down low to earn free practice shots at the charity stripe, thereby helping her to shoot herself into rhythm. If she continues to do this, her 3P% will go up. How quickly she can get herself going in this regard also has possible big time consequences for the Sparks' championship hopes this season. If they can combine healthy perimeter shooting with that dynamic front court, they will be a nightmare for any team in this league.



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Last edited by jap on 07/19/17 5:45 am; edited 1 time in total
WfanFrJmp



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PostPosted: 07/16/17 7:37 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

jap wrote:
Nice views on Odyssey's issues on court. I never saw her as starting over Chelsea as I felt Chelsea had too much natural PG ability to lose the starting role to anyone else. I always saw Odyssey as being a complementary piece, playing mostly as a SG when Chelsea was sharing the floor and as the backup PG when Chelsea rode the pine. However, she is going to have to make the mental transition that Kristi did and compartmentalise the PG & SG roles in her mind and swap between each as is appropriate for game conditions. Chelsea was a quick study last season, but then she only had to focus on grooming herself for the PG role. How quickly Odyssey can grow into her dual roles should be interesting for this season's championship prospects.

Riquna is going through her own transition. She began this season attempting frequent long twos and treys . . . and missing a ton. She then began taking conscious advantage of the superlative front court play before her to get better open looks and started shooting just under 40% from downtown for a stretch. Now, like Kristi before her, she is relearning the need to take shorter shots and drawing fouls down low to earn free practice shots at the charity stripe, thereby helping her to shoot herself into rhythm. If she continues to do this, her 3P% will go up. How quickly she can get herself going in this regard also has possible big time consequences for the Sparks' championship hopes this season. If they can combine healthy perimeter shooting with that dynamic front court, they will be a nightmare for any team in this league.


Great points!!


willtalk



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PostPosted: 07/16/17 10:15 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

jap wrote:
Nice views on Odyssey's issues on court. I never saw her as starting over Chelsea as I felt Chelsea had too much natural PG ability to lose the starting role to anyone else. I always saw Odyssey as being a complementary piece, playing mostly as a SG when Chelsea was sharing the floor and as the backup PG when Chelsea rode the pine.


I re-read my post and it occurred to me that my statements might have been misunderstood since I was not clear enough about what I meant about Sims being needed to play the point. I was not implying that she would replace Chelsea only that she wasn't even getting the minutes a back up should get. It seems that Chelsea has been playing an awful lot of minutes recently and that might eventually wear her down. It seems like Nanika, Parker and Chelsea have all been playing 30 + minutes every game. If that continues to the end of the season it does not bode well for them being fresh for the playoffs.


jap



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PostPosted: 07/16/17 11:36 am    ::: Reply Reply with quote

willtalk wrote:
jap wrote:
Nice views on Odyssey's issues on court. I never saw her as starting over Chelsea as I felt Chelsea had too much natural PG ability to lose the starting role to anyone else. I always saw Odyssey as being a complementary piece, playing mostly as a SG when Chelsea was sharing the floor and as the backup PG when Chelsea rode the pine.


I re-read my post and it occurred to me that my statements might have been misunderstood since I was not clear enough about what I meant about Sims being needed to play the point. I was not implying that she would replace Chelsea only that she wasn't even getting the minutes a back up should get. It seems that Chelsea has been playing an awful lot of minutes recently and that might eventually wear her down. It seems like Nneka, Parker and Chelsea have all been playing 30 + minutes every game. If that continues to the end of the season it does not bode well for them being fresh for the playoffs.


My comments about Chelsea vs Odyssey had absolutely nothing to do with your post. I remember when the Sparks acquired Odyssey some posters here automatically assumed that she was going to be the PG starter, although I never understood why they should have thought that. I believe I made a comment back then about Chelsea being the default starter, but it is those comments I had in mind in my last post.

As far as minutes played by starters, Brian Agler seems to prefer to go only 7-8 players deep for most games, unless it is a blowout. Actually, I believe 35 year old Alana has been playing the most minutes thus far and playing them like she is only 25 years old at that. Cool



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Last edited by jap on 07/18/17 2:55 am; edited 1 time in total
WfanFrJmp



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PostPosted: 07/16/17 2:15 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

Just adding to our discussion: Coach Agler on All-Star Break, Alana Beard and Team Rotation -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txCB-aByFc0

I hear you on the minutes CP, Nneka and Beard are playing. I know they are wanting some good, meaningful minutes from some other folks. I'm pretty sure O is included in that "one or two more spots".


Richyyy



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PostPosted: 07/16/17 3:01 pm    ::: Reply Reply with quote

It's really all on Agler to deepen the rotation and lower the workload for the stars. Yes, players have to perform off the bench, but he's the one who actually has to use them. Parker's had several games recently where she's barely deserved to be on the court, and the reserves still haven't got out there.



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