RebKell's Junkie Boards

[root_thing]

[Bob Lamm]

I was quite surprised to read (sorry--I can't find the comment where I read this--but many thanks to that person) that Kia Nurse is now 10th in scoring in the WNBA.

What's even more striking is to look at the shot attempts of those 10 players. Nurse is averaging only 10.6 shots per game. That's the lowest number for the current top 10 scorers. Six of the nine players averaging more points than Nurse are averaging at least 15 shots per game (led by Charles at 18.3 and Bonner at 17.2).

https://stats.wnba.com/leaders/?Season=2019&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

Also interesting that Nurse is third among the top 10 scorers in free-throw attempts per game (5.0), behind only Bonner and Howard.

Nurse just seems to find lots of ways to score: short jumpers, three-pointers, layups off steals and fast breaks, and foul shots. She rarely seems dazzling offensively, but the end result--10th in the league in scoring--is pretty damn good.

[toad455]

Looks like we'll be without Zahui B, Hartley, Stokes and Johannes for 6 games. I'm really interested to see who Smith brings in. Allen is probably going to be out for most of those games. Nurse getting hurt was scary as it would have left us with just 4 guards and no one at SF. So I'm really hoping Smith is looking at a SF(Ashley Walker, Anriel Howard, Karlie Samuelson?). We should expect Han Xu to see 15-20 minutes per game now with Gray starting. I'm really hoping we can go at least 2-4 during this stretch and would love it if we can go 3-3, but I wouldn't expect anything better. Going 3-3 would put us at 6-9 and hopefully into 8th. Should be an interesting next 6 games.

_________________
LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[root_thing]

It was announced yesterday that Samuelson is on the final roster for Great Britain. Walker has been an undersized PF most of her career -- although she does have that Cal connection that seems to help with the Liberty. Howard would be my preference, but I still think we'll probably see a familiar face like Kelly Faris.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

[Bob Lamm]

Unless Allen can return soon (I'm skeptical), the Liberty will play this six-game stretch with nine players from the current roster and perhaps one short-term hardship player. Of these nine, only six have regularly been out there for significant minutes: starters Charles, Nurse, Boyd, and Durr plus subs Wright and Gray.

In the nine games, Bias has played six games for a total of 45 minutes. Han has been in four games for a total of 30 minutes. Raincock-Ekunwe has been in three games for a total of 30 minutes. For various reasons, but especially because of these six games ahead with a depleted roster, I've felt all along that Smith should have given more playing time to those three players.

Note also that Charles played 37 minutes last night. How many minutes per game is Smith expecting from Charles over these six games?

[root_thing]

More concerning to me is the fact that Charles isn't playing well. She is shooting 37.1 % while also having the highest usage in the league. Tina takes 18.6 shots per game, more than anyone else in the WNBA. She is also top 10 in turnovers. Charles misses 11.7 shots per game. That's more shots than any of her teammates take in total (Nurse 11.2, Durr 10.6, Hartley 9.0, Zahui 8.6). Tina's defense has also looked spotty.

Obviously, we expect (hope?) she snaps out of it. But if Charles doesn't play better, then you're giving a heavy workload and a large proportion of your shots to a subpar performer. That's clearly not a winning formula.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

[root_thing]

As I've noted before, most people who play on Team USA as well as in the WNBA and overseas eventually have to take a season off to rejuvenate. The time may have come for Charles. She probably should have taken this season off.

Next year sets up to be problematic for the Liberty. With the Olympics looming, New York stands to lose up to 8 players off their current roster for extended national team duty: Zahui, Stokes, Hartley, Johannes, Han, Nurse, Raincock, and Allen. For a long stretch of time, the Liberty could be Charles, Durr, Boyd and a bunch of kids from the Brooklyn Tech girls team. Maybe next year is when Tina should sit out. Just make it a full-fledged tank year.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Lib Fan]

[toad455]

The league always schedules a break in the schedule for the Olympics. Han probably sits. Johannes, too. Raincock is the one getting cut for Stokes. I doubt Sweden qualifies. I don't see Nurse sitting out. So likely we'll only lose Han & Johannes and maybe Stokes.

_________________
LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Bob Lamm]

[toad455]

[root_thing]

Obviously there is a break, but some teams still call their players ahead of time to build chemistry. The USA is so good that they can wait until the last minute. Other countries don't feel that way. They want their team to spend as much time together as possible. Brondello coaches in the WNBA, so she will probably let the Australians stay until the break. That gets Allen off the hook. However, I can see Hartley being summoned by France before the break. Canada has a history of calling their players during the WNBA season, but they don't seem to make it mandatory. Nonetheless, Nurse is their star player. She has talked about how much it means to her to play for Canada. Would Kia feel obligated to show up earlier to improve her country's chances of getting a medal? I can see Nurse striking a compromise to leave the Liberty a week or two early. If so, New York is still looking at five players missing time: Nurse, Hartley, Stokes, Han, and Johannes.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

Hey New Yorkers I have a question for those who have attended games at Westchester:

Have there been 2019 Liberty player jerseys for sale at the games?

I’m super sad because my online order for Asia Durr’s jersey was canceled due to being ‘out of stock’ despite the fact I ordered it on opening day.

[dab44lb]

https://liberty.wnba.com/news/liberty-assistant-coach-charmin-smith-returns-to-university-of-california-berkeley-for-head-coaching-position/?fbclid=IwAR1GZ2-p9sI9vvzqjx9K4kJ5wfG--OGkZZdKqRani__LlT_nYwQU6vrT1ck

C. Smith Out Spoon and Faris in.

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Name, Number, Position.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat upon him was Death, and Hell followed with him

[Shades]

[root_thing]

That's Barbara Farris with two "r". When I saw Faris, I thought Kelly was coming on board as a replacement player.

I was just thinking about this when I heard Gottlieb took the Cavaliers job. Did leaving Cal make more or less sense if Charmin knew Lindsay was moving on? I guess the answer is that she probably didn't know.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[toad455]

No word on our replacement player? Looks like we'll have only nine available for tomorrow.

_________________
LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Happycappie25]

[toad455]

[LibFan25]

[Shades]

What’s NYL’s Euro Basket roster?

Boyd/Bias
Durr/Wright
Nurse
Charles/Raincock-Ekunwe
Gray/Han Xu

Need anything in particular?

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

[toad455]

Han should get a lot of minutes. Though Gray likely starts. Raincock will be the flex 3/4 tomorrow.

_________________
LET'S GO LIBERTY!!!!!!

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Shades]

One thing you can be sure. One of those nine players will have a WNBA career-best game against the Lynx. The Lynx are always making somebody look good.

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