RebKell's Junkie Boards

[LibFan25]

@UBCoachJack: Watching the #NYLIBERTY and I see they are down 2 guards. I was wondering why not give a New Yorker a chance? Cierra Dillard finished 3rd in scoring, took a team to the Sweet 16, went head to head with the best and shined and she is available! 🤷🏽‍♀️

[toad455]

Liberty need a PG. Stella Johnson will be available shortly. If not, whoever they decided to bring in will likely have to wait two weeks before they get to play. Jones was okay at PG too, but she's too erratic handling the ball and miss out on passing to several open players today.

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

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Bob Lamm]

[toad455]

I agree that instead of signing Holmes that a PG or a combo guard should've been signed instead. Tiffany Bias? Te'a Copper was available at the time?

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

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Bob Lamm]

[toad455]

[root_thing]

Holmes replaced Allen. There's no reason why management couldn't bring in a PG after Durr opted-out. It's not an either/or -- NY can have both. If they made a move right away, that 12th player would have been available 9 or 10 days ago.

I posted at the time that since the roster no longer included all the expected wing-type shooters (Durr, Allen, Johannes, and Walker at the beginning), the Liberty on paper were better suited to play conventional basketball. Now, they've also lost Ionescu, Nurse might be playing injured, and Walker is back but looking out of sync. Nonetheless, the team continues to play spread the floor basketball mostly with players who don't have a history of consistently making 3's. In fact, right now they can't make any kind of jump-shot. Mostly their field goals are off drives by the perimeter players. It's no surprise that the Liberty had so much trouble today whenever Griner was in the game. Until they can actually hit some jumpers, NY will not score much against any team with good rim protection. It will be interesting to see how long the coaches stick with this style of play. NY leads the league in 3-pt attempts by a wide margin and they're last in percentage made by a wide margin. Does Walt truly believe the outside shooting will come around for this group of players? How long does Hopkins bang his head against the wall before he gives up? Like most Liberty fans, back in May I said I'd give Hopkins two years to make his system work. Some of you guys even said three years. So, no bailing out or calling for Walt's head. We all have to hang in there and watch...although something to lessen the pain might help. I don't drink. For me it's ice cream, pie, and cookies.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

I'm definitely not bailing or calling for Walt's head. But I'm thinking that if the Liberty win the WNBA championship in 2022 it won't be because Kiah Stokes has averaged 16 points a game, mostly on three-pointers.

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

[PUmatty]

When the Colts had Peyton Manning at QB, they never carried a decent back-up QB. Instead they had players like Jim Sorgi and Curtis Painter. Why? It wasn't worth the investment. If Manning ever went down, the team was toast regardless of who the back-up was.

It's kind of the same in NY this year. The team was never going anywhere, and the little ways they might go was always dependent on Ionescu. Why invest a roster spot on the chance she goes down? if she goes down, the season is shot regardless of who the back-up is.

The likelihood her missing most of the season was very small. Just because it ended up happening doesn't make it a bad decision to not plan for it ahead of time.

A second back-up PG is making no difference in the ultimate way the season plays out for NY.

[root_thing]

Post-game press conference 8/2: Hopkins, Clarendon, Nurse.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WGP7r2K2OdE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

_________________
You can always do something else.

[root_thing]

What Sabrina Ionescu's injury means for her rookie season and the New York Liberty

[root_thing]

[Shades]

[root_thing]

[toad455]

I fully expect Clarendon to be the back-up next season with Durr & Johannes back.

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

Twitter: @TBRBWAY

[Bob Lamm]

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

[J-Spoon]

I know I said we didn't need another player but it never crossed my mind that Ionescu will be out for the season after game three

While I think we do need another PG now

I am intrigued by the thought of Jaz Jones developing as a PG

She has good handle and tenacity, with Clarendon on the court and Sabrina's help from the bench I could see Jones make big strides in her PG game through out the season and since we have no other options atm why not?

If Jaz was able to develop into the kind of combo guard that could function as a 3rd option PG it would help her career a lot, make it more likely she is one of the rookies to hang around in 21 and 22 and could actually help the Liberty in the future as well.

[myrtle]

Since Nurse played PG in college and at times for NY, I assume she would be the logical second PG.

It's hard enough for a rookie to play her own position at the next level without trying to play a new one. Putting Jones in that position is probably not the way to put her in her best position to succeed.

_________________
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

[Stormeo]

[root_thing]

Nurse admitted at the press conference that she's playing injured. Probably not a good idea for her to take on the extra ballhandling duties. Being a tad slower also makes it hard for Kia to keep up with quick PGs on defense. As for Jones, her handle is one thing but it's pretty clear she doesn't have the vision. Maybe not the passing ability either. It's a huge jump from high school PG to the WNBA. Any way you slice it, there was a reason why Sabrina and Clarendon were bringing the ball upcourt like 85%-90% of the time. Sticking someone at point guard doesn't make them a point guard.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[J-Spoon]

I understand what people are saying but

does that mean learning a new role can't be done in the pros?

Many player have to make an adjustment from being a number one option to being more of a role player.

There are many examples of players developing range that they didn't have or use earlier in their careers.

There are players who had no choice but to develop better defense to stay as a viable pro

I realize it is not the same exact thing, and I am not saying she needs to become a full-time PG but I don't see why a player who has played guard all her life couldn't expand her game into being a distributor. Clearly through out her career she has passed the ball, hit teammates when they have been in a position to score, I am sure she has been involved in plays both on the receiving end and the passing end, she isn't a PG but she has been a player who has had the ball in her hand a decent amount through her career. It might not be easy but why not try to evolve her game and develop the ability to run an offense.

If the Liberty had a lot of other options or were hell bent on getting a lot of wins I could understand not going that route, but we are in as good of a position to experiment as a team could be. Jones doesn't strike me as not being up to the challenge the worst that could happen is it doesn't work. Jones would still have all the elements she had to her game before trying (tenacity, defense, handle, scoring) and I don't think not developing as a PG would be held against her or even slow the development of her other skills. OTOH if she did develop into being more of a combo guard it would open up a lot of options for her and the team.

[Bob Lamm]

The worst that can happen is that it wrecks the pro career of Jaz Jones and simultaneously inhibits the development of other rookies because they're on the court without a point guard.

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

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

[root_thing]

In the interest of fairness, I went back and reviewed Jones’s assists. She did look a lot better against Phoenix. Jaz made a really nice pass to Odom on a cut where it seemed like they made eye-contact when Leaonna was near the sideline. That was a legitimate point guard play. Jones also twice spotted her old Louisville buddy Kylee Shook standing alone under the basket. That was good for a couple of easy assists. The final one was on a break where Jones pushed the ball up court, then kicked it back to Nurse for a trailing 3-pointer. Overall, not bad when viewed in isolation. However, Phoenix was also sitting back, playing somewhat loosely on defense. I seem to remember Brondello mentioning that they switched to zone because the Liberty couldn’t hit any outside shots. It’s easier for the ballhandler to spot teammates when she’s not under pressure. We also have to consider Jones’s performance against Atlanta where she barely looked at her teammates and simply went one-on-one at almost every opportunity.

For now, Jones at point guard seems like a moot point. I don’t see help coming any time soon unless the long-awaited Stella Johnson speculation finally works out. Hopkins looks determined to continue his positionless experiment. Everyone on the roster shoots 3s and anyone can play point guard. I will at least say Jones is a better point guard candidate than Kaela Davis. Jaz’s game in college was juking and blowing past people. She is used to dribbling the basketball a lot. Davis was more of a jump shooter, fond of hoisting 3s. Handling the ball never seemed like her thing.

_________________
You can always do something else.