RebKell's Junkie Boards

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

YES!!!!! Now I wish we’d gone to this game lol.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[pilight]

The rapidly fading Sun are now in 8th place with the Aces coming on strong.

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I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[Silky Johnson]

Not a good day for the home team(s).

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Professional Hater. The Baron of #HateHard

My team no longer exists, so I'll have to settle for hating yours.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

It’s one game yeah. But two things I’ll say is we finally won a game playing the “ugly” Liberty way. And two, what was CTs FG% with Stokes on the floor, 30 tops? Subbing Kiah helped us win this game.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[myrtle]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Would have thought JJ would be in shape by now. Looked like she was turning a corner when CT hit the 10-game mark. AT makes this team go but if JJ was at her best they could dominate the boards even more than they generally do.

Libs gave up 5 offensive rebounds in the first. 3 the rest of the way.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[toad455]

Boyd's stat line is pretty impressive: 5pts, 8rebs, 8 assists & 2 steals.

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LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[ClayK]

So what has happened to Jonquel Jones?

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[Michelle89]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

JJ missed all of camp for personal reasons and has been reported to be out of shape. Coupled with Chiney playing well.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[WNBA 09]

Nurse only played 14 minutes. This is a problem right ?

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3-Time WNBA Champion-3-Time National Champion-4-Time Olympic Champion....And Yes DT "We Got Confeti" lol

[Lib Fan]

Good to get a win
and beat The Sun the same way they beat us at home
a buzzer beater,

Other than a lay up does any aim for a bank shot?
Just wondering ...but glad it went in

Bec Allen must have set a WNBA record for least amout
of time in a game ...1 second according to the box score

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Lets Go Liberty
Brooklyn 2021
Bring Back Maddie!

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Yep. Bec was inserted to have an extra 3-ball shooter with 1.8 left. Another good move even though it didn’t directly impact the outcome.

On buzzer beaters when you don’t have time to get fully set I’d say most shooters are trying to make sure the ball stays straight over whether they are worried about power. That’s why you see buzzer beaters occasionally banked in. Cappie did the same in 2014.

Unless you’re EDD. Then you swish it even if you have less than a second to get it off.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[myrtle]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Many of her numbers are down. FG%, Points, Rebounds per minute. The rebounding is a stunning example of whatever is not right with her. She looked like she had the potential to be an all-time great rebounder last year. This year it’s one rebound per four minutes. Still not bad, but nothing like last year.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[Bob Lamm]

Many of us wondered if Boyd could fully recover from her injury. I also wondered whether, even if healthy, Boyd would ever be better than the occasionally exciting but inconsistent player we'd seen since she joined the Liberty.

Sure is looking like I was wrong.

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Remember Roe v. Wade. Work for and support legal abortion all over the world and full reproductive rights for everyone.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

And...she’s not there yet. More of a transition is needed to go from sub to 28-30 minutes each night running a team. But two things are for certain. Her facilitation has become better. And she retained her speed. The latter of which I was also worried about. I read a lot about Achilles injuries after she’d gotten hurt. Info was mixed on the likelihood of recovery. On one hand I had read that youth should help increase the chance of full recovery. OTOH not many WNBA players have recovered immediately from an Achilles retaining their physical attributes. Also, given that her game is predicated on speed, you can bet I was very concerned.

So relieved that the speed is intact and pleased to see that she clearly worked on the cerebral side. I remember last year Boyd saying that watching from the sidelines had helped her see things on the court different. I thought it might have been overly optimistic talk. It wasn’t.

She’s bringing it, no question. A little more work in the gym on an improving shot and I think she will have a profound impact next year. Hopefully with a more talented group around her as well. I can say without exaggeration when I see assists at this rate with developing intangibles and all those physical attributes...I see future all-star. As of now her assist rate tops several all-star caliber players.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[NYSports56]

Wow! It was an amazingly entertaining finish to an excellent game, with everybody stepping up and making big plays. Zellous avenges the buzzer beater by Sticklen against her with one of her own! Great narrative.

With about 5 minutes left, I was thinking two things. One was that this might be one of those special games where the Liberty keep it close and interesting for the whole 4th quarter. The other was that, after limited minutes off the bench in the first half, Kiah Stokes hadn't played at all in the second half. Whether because of injury or coach's decision, it seemed clear that Kiah was sitting next to Rebecca Allen at the end of the bench.

Then the Sun rattled off 5 straight points, capped off by an Ogwumike layup where she went right around Kia Vaughn. Katie Smith called a Liberty time out, and it seemed like things might be getting out of hand yet again.

Katie pulls Vaughn and puts in Stokes, which left me scratching my head. Ignore Kiah for most of the game, and then put her in at crunch time? Down by 5 points? I really don't understand Katie's substitution patterns sometimes.

The move did make sense though, given how Vaughn had just been beaten on defense. And it paid off big-time: Ogwumike had 19 points and 9 rebounds when Stokes entered the game with less than 4 minutes left. She didn't score or pull down a rebound the rest of the way.

None of this would matter if the Liberty hadn't hit their shots. Straight of the timeout, the ball went low to Tina, and the defense collapsed around her as usual. Tina found a wide open Bria Hartley at the top of the arc. Bria, who had not had a good game before this point, nailed the shot and suddenly, instead of a game that was getting out of hand, it was a 2 point game. This is the kind of open shot that the Liberty need to make down the stretch in order to win, and it felt huge to see it go down.

There were all sorts of heroics after that. Prince missed a shot, but followed it, went to the ground, and kept possession thanks to her hustle. Later, she hit the game tying 3 point shot with 25 seconds left. That was another great play off of a timeout by Katie. Boyd freed herself on the on the baseline with the help of a pick from Stokes, and then found Prince for a wide open corner three. Hartley contributed again late by drawing a charge. And oh yeah, Tina Charles scored too.

With the score tied, the Sun did a pretty good job of trying to get the final shot, leaving only 1.8 seconds for the shot. Once again, Katie draws up a play that works, and for the 3rd time in the final 4 minutes, the Liberty hit a wide open three pointer, this time by Zellous.

The Liberty finally made an opponent pay for collapsing on Tina down the stretch. Everybody here knows how important perimeter shooting is, so I won't belabor the point: this is exactly what the team needs to compete.

Boyd to Nurse is the Liberty's version of Montana to Rice. Kia is so good at getting behind the defense in transition.

I've got to say, Katie coached a great game down the stretch. I probably wouldn't be saying that if our players hadn't made those shots they've been missing all season.

Just when it seemed like another nail was about to be driven in the 2018 Liberty's coffin, Hartley saved it by drilling a 3--must be the new hair! NYL, keep on voting for the other team, and Bria, keep wearing your hair that way! That 3 pointer was the Liberty's 4th and 17! BELIEVE IN THE HAIRDO!

[NYSports56]

[myrtle]

Boyd is reminding me of one that Lib fans have loved to hate: Debbie Black.

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For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman

[ClayK]

It's great to see Boyd make the jump ... the talent has been there since I first saw her as a high school freshman, and she's really using that talent to best advantage now.

Here's hoping she stays healthy the rest of her career, and continues to improve.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Boyd's assist rate per minute is 0.26. Slooty's is 0.25. And there's no questioning which of those two teams is scoring at a higher rate. Which makes her numbers that much more impressive. Boyd's outside shooting numbers are also better even if her FG% is still hovering high 30's, another good sign. The sample size is small however, and the fact remains that she isn't guarded tightly outside of 15 feet and is not guarded at the 3 point line at all, which can negatively affect the spacing of the offense more so than with Hartley in the game. We saw that rear its head in the sense that both of Boyd's fourth quarter turnovers were forced passes partially due to a lack of spacing.

But overall her step up has me excited. I really enjoy watching her play with Nurse because the threat of a length-of-court pass is always there. And since they're both young players you'd figure on a lasting chemistry developing between them over time.

The Libs are mostly a veteran team. This season has been rough. Not only is the team 6-14, but they're 1-7 in games I've actually attended, having missed the Atlanta and Dallas wins at WCC, though the Dallas game was a situation totally beyond my control. It's a lot easier to at least root for the development of young players like Boyd and Zahui who are showing improvement, along with a promising rookie in Nurse. Much easier than in '09 when we were losing and didn't even have a first round pick.

For the rest of 2018, the number one goal is seeing the team demonstrate the same pride and will they showed yesterday. If they do that consistently, they will at least compete more often than not. Maybe it will even result in some consistent winning. The secondary goal is seeing player development simultaneously. I can watch effort, hard work and teamwork all day, even if the wins aren't always there, because outworking and out-executing your opponent should at least result in competitive play over the blowouts that have become increasingly familiar. In the process, player development would be great too. The reason I'm still very engaged in their performance is because I believe in their resilience. They've shown it each of the last 3 years. I think they can find it within themselves to show it again now.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[mavcarter]

So in the two games these teams have played they’ve been decided by buzzer beaters.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

One of which was the only four point play at the buzzer in league history. The other being a bank shot. Maybe I’ll actually make my way up to CT for the next one but that’s a ways off yet.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.