RebKell's Junkie Boards

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[Richyyy]

Bentley is still there, apparently: https://twitter.com/BrendonKleen14/status/1288609504326688768?s=20

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[toad455]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

This brings back memories of the last two years. Willoughby sure looked like a rookie tonight.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[Bob Lamm]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[Bob Lamm]

[root_thing]

Is there such thing as a motionless offense or a read and don't react offense? That's what we had tonight. I don't know if that's the players' fault or the coaches, but for once Carolyn Peck was right. The offense was very static. Most of what Sabrina got was from individual effort as were most of the points by other people. There was no functioning offensive system.

NY lost control of the game during the 2nd Quarter when they went small and Dallas went big. The Wings could take advantage inside, but NY had no success countering with speed. At some point, Hopkins may want to actually match-up defensively instead of just pretending that his positionless, size-impervious philosophy always works. He did make more use of Holmes later and it seemed to help. He may want to do that earlier next time.

Looking at team stats, what the Liberty do well right now is rebound (2nd rpg, 4th pct) and avoid fouls (1st). They're bottom 4 in everything else, usually bottom 2. The obvious thing they need to clean-up first is turnovers. They're last at 20 ppg. A lot of those turnovers are unforced -- usually the result of aggressive, low percentage passes. That's one area where Sabrina in particular needs to dial back.

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You can always do something else.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

@Bob My reference to comparing other teams is with Dallas their average age is less than NY. While they do have a returning coach, like NY they have two returning starters and only Allisha Gray is a significant returnee. The team is just as young and just as new. The Liberty starting lineup even looked lost much of the time. This is with 4 vets + Sabrina. Atlanta has one returning starter, a few returning bench players and the rest of the team is new. Like NY they have a rookie PG. They dropped 100 points on the same team we struggled to score against.

Now I’ll freely admit that I think the organization is thinking bigger picture. Meaning that the offense will probably be harder to learn but once they do, they’ll have their identity and foundation. And I’m fully open to that. However, certain basic things are not happening so far. Certain things don’t make sense and I’m wondering where the adjustments are. Like why is Kiah getting the ball in a medium post position and kicking it back out without making an offensive move vs. 1-on-1 coverage? It’s happened multiple times in two games. Why can’t they even execute a dribble hand-off without sweating a turnover? I get being patient. But I also think that for the positive talk they’ve given they should be a little ahead of where they are now.

@Root Once they went small and to predominantly the bench players, it set them back in a way where they couldn’t recover. Even when the starters returned, defensively they were exposed badly.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[root_thing]

Part of the problem is that practice can be deceptively easy. Teams run drills which means defensive resistance is either air or a coach barely offering any challenge. When players actually face-off against teammates, it's often 3x3 or 4x4 because they want to have people available for substitution and to continue practice. That provides unrealistic open space for maneuvering that you don't have playing 5x5. It's easier to pass and easier to drive because you face fewer help defenders. Then in a real game, those hand-offs and passes that were so easy in practice suddenly become tougher. In particular, that seemed to be Dallas' strategy yesterday. They were aggressively challenging the hand-offs and in general playing vigorous ball-denial. Not having male practice players is probably hampering Hopkins as he tries to teach and test his concepts.

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You can always do something else.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Seriously though agreed. But it kinda boggles the mind that if there’s ball denial you don’t see more back cuts or flare cuts on the back side. There’s easy ways to beat it yet it feels like a root canal watching it be executed. The kind where you ask for more medicine to numb the pain and the dentist gives it to you after 15 minutes of agony.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[root_thing]

[root_thing]

Post Game Press Conference: Hopkins, Ionescu, Zahui B.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0YKcsFFgVzo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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You can always do something else.

[ClayK]

Actually, I think New York is without much talent ...

*Ionescu and Nurse are clearly WNBA-level players

*Clarendon has played 200 games in the league and in that time, has shown she is a solid backup who's a little overexposed as a starter.

*Stokes and Zahui B are both borderline at best, suited for 10 minutes off the bench for a good team.

*The other rookies are all unproven and though a couple may turn out to be WNBA-starter level, it's equally likely, if not more likely, that none will.

This is a bad team.

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Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā

[toad455]

We just have too many rookies. Instead of signing Holmes, we should have signed someone like Tamera Young or Shavonte Zellous.

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LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Bob Lamm]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

On both sides of the floor, the Wings seemed quicker than the Liberty. Whether that’s natural athleticism or hesitation/overthinking by New York players, I’m not totally sure.
But Dallas defense last night is how I envisioned New York playing D when Walt spoke preseason.

Also, Dallas is only younger by decimal points. And they are coached by an experienced, championship winning and caliber coach who maybe knows a thing or two about in game adjustments. 3 rookies compared to 7. Our bench consists of all rookies- 3 late first rounders and 3 second rounders.

Kia Nurse averaged 13ppg last season, was an All Star. She scored 2, that’s essentially the difference in the scoreline. Not saying it’s as simple as Kia making shots, just pointing out that if she gets back to that level, we are at least in the game- same with Seattle and the 16 point loss, whom Minnesota lost to by 24.

PS happy birthday to the youngest head coach in the league, Walt Hopkins Jr!

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

Also, as much as I hate to see my teams struggle and lose (Sacramento Kings fan here, my life for the past 14 years), I’m trying to keep in mind with this super inexperienced player/staff team that the coaches/GM ideas of a successful season is very different from the players ideas and from fans ideas.

Walt and Kolb spoke very much about a process, and growth for this year. I’m sure they want to win just as bad, but I think they will be satisfied if the team starts learning the system better as the season progresses, and both individually and collaboratively players have growth.

Seeing players just stand around on offense wasn’t fun to watch last night, but I know the concept is there because for part of the Seattle game we had beautiful passing and cutting and general movement.

[root_thing]

[root_thing]

Based on the press conference, Hopkins felt the Wings were more aggressive and physical. They just wanted it more. So let's see what the Liberty learn from that. We've seen some big turnarounds already after two games. Indiana went from scoring 76 points in their first game to 106 in the second. Atlanta did the opposite, dropping from 105 points to 70. You just get the feeling this season is going to be a wild ride.

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You can always do something else.

[ClayK]

[Shades]

ATL dropped 105 pts on Dallas, which should have given you more hope for a good game than this.

I guess Dallas is a great team to play if you want to showcase your prominent rookie. When does Indiana play Dallas?

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Nnekalonians 1:14 - Thou shalt not accept that which is not earned

[Stormeo]

Ionescu's 33 points is a season-high for a player - though it's still quite early, let's see how long it takes for anyone else to eclipse that (or maybe she will herself).

And through the first two games, of which every team has played, Ionescu has 13 total rebounds. Fun Fact! She currently has more rebounds than each of these starting post players: Stevens, Swords, Dantas, E. Williams, Meesseman, B. Jones, Ogwumike, Howard, Turner.