RebKell's Junkie Boards

[ChiSky54]

Howard's decline is a headscratcher - is she injured? I remember that she had issues during the wubble season because she didn't have access to training facilities. But why would that be a factor now? In Chicago, I kept looking at her trying to figure out who she was. Something had changed, and it wasn't only her hair.

I didn't watch this game, but you know first of all that you are in trouble when Indiana beats you these days! (The Sky struggled with them in recent years, which was annoying.). From the box score, Danielle is making 3s now! Dolson fouled out. Indy rebounded their behinds off! NY didn't play Han - WHY?

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There is nothing new under the sun.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

From a speed and quickness standpoint, Howard looks healthy to me. But I could be mistaken. She looked great in the open practice. Hitting 3s, hitting floaters.

In regular season play, she’s rushed some jumpers, taken some contested ones. And also missed plenty in the paint. It’s inexplicable. I think a little of it is getting comfortable in a somewhat different offense. But she missed plenty of paint shots that she would make in any offense. Then you have 16% 3 point shooter Danielle Robinson making 25 footers. I don’t know what to say, but without a consistent group of 3 leading your scoring, with Dolson not being starting caliber, and with little post support off the bench, I think the Liberty have problems ahead even when Howard’s offense normalizes. Asking Sabrina to score 30 points just to keep us in games that feature rebounding issues, defense issues and up and down offense just isn’t going to work. Kolb told us these off-season moves were made to take the Liberty to the next level. I don’t see it. It’s also why when I thought Sabally would play this year at some point I was pretty excited. Had we plugged her in off the bench, she’d be at least a factor offensively and defensively.

And clearly they have no intention of using Han, who in theory should help a team’s offense in a lot of ways. If NY was already -24 on the glass and Howard couldn’t really score last night and Dolson’s defense was already substandard last night for the most part, how could Han’s presence do anything to make the struggling parts worse? At least when she’s in there she’s very difficult to guard and can get you the easy baskets that we struggled to get last night. And if we can’t use her when it matters, why haven’t we acquired someone we actually can use, if the goal is to take this season to another level?

Oh and guess which team is last in the WNBA in opponent free throw attempts per game? Yup, you guessed it. New coach, new system, new construction, same old stuff. Though so far, I thought the last two games were for the most part officiated equally. It’s just that this was a discussion point for Brondello. And it’s another thing I think they’re going to struggle to fix.

And Cubaj is now 1-7 off the bench for the season. 0.67 points per game is our post contribution off the bench this year. Contrast that with Engstler’s play off the bench for Indiana. It may not seem like much, but it’s a contribution that features offense, defense and rebounding.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[root_thing]

[Bob Lamm]

[ChiSky54]

i have seen occasions when the coach pulled all the starters when they weren't getting the job done and put in the bench players.

It has always puzzled me that many teams play "Insanity" - continuing to do the same thing and hoping for a different result. Yeah, shooters allegedly have to shoot themselves out of a slump and such, but you're paying all the players - why not put them all in at some point and not just in "garbage time"? You put them in, give more experience, correct mistakes and keep them motivated.

Yeah, the bench is often full of great cheerleaders, but that's not why they got drafted/signed to the team. They are PLAYERS - let them play!

Having the additional information that r_t provided, it's all the more puzzling why Han was glued to the bench...

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There is nothing new under the sun.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Noteworthy also, as said on the broadcast, was the revelation that Sandy intended to move/play Onyenwere at the 4 spot. What if you had Han on the floor as a sub for Dolson when Engstler was guarding Dolson? Force Indiana to make a decision by dictating matchups instead of having them dictated to you by playing Onyenwere at the 4 spot. That’s a last year move. Something we were supposed to be beyond. Either you’re going to be a physical, grinding team or you’re going to be a finesse team. I don’t think transitioning from one to the other is so easy. While Han is finesse-oriented, it would force Indiana to make matchup accommodations. We have a 6’10” player with a good array of offensive skill. There’s a major opportunity to dictate things that force other teams to make hard decisions. It’s just so frustrating. I think it beats using Onyenwere at the 4 spot where she still clearly cannot rebound.

And yes, on a night honoring the Asian community, having Han not play at all is pretty egregious. From a basketball standpoint, Han might have struggled with Egbo’s physicality also, it’s possible. But it would have gotten Egbo off of Howard and forced Smith to guard her more often. And Egbo was having her way even with the starters anyway. It also would have forced Egbo to guard Han away from the basket, a less than desirable place for Egbo to have to try to defend.

Eventually you just run out of answers. Moving forward I guess we just have to assume that we’re going to roll with the three posts. And I’d imagine Bec will be the stretch 4 when she returns.

A very similar player statistically, Bernadett Hatar, was on the way to being given an opportunity by Indiana until she got injured last year. Also not a dominant rebounder or defender. But she was a very difficult matchup offensively and caused defenses to adjust. And Han is a far more skilled offensive player than Hatar.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[Bob Lamm]

It seems almost impossible to come up with a reason not to give Han some time on the court last night.

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

[Lib Fan]

[myrtle]

[root_thing]

As far as handling physicality goes, Han practices against 6-7 banger Li Yueru on the Chinese national team. She also played against WNBA players (Fowles, Cambage, Charles) and former WNBA players in the Chinese league -- not to mention actually being here in 2019. Why would Han be less prepared for the WNBA than kids fresh out of college?

If you go back and read the Phoenix threads from last year, the major complaint was that Sandy kept using Nurse and Walker even when they were playing terribly. The fans much preferred Cunningham. But Sophie had to wait until the second half of the season to finally get more playing time. So, maybe we're seeing the same thing here. Han will just have to wait until everyone else looks undeniably horrible to get a chance.

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You can always do something else.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

I just think she’s not physically strong compared to certain players based on her hands, shoulders and her lower base. She doesn’t really move people and she’s vulnerable to being displaced. 193 pounds in a 6’10” player is different than say 6’4” 190.

But that said, Dolson’s lack of lateral movement is a weakness too. And she’s deemed able to play anyway. And if you’re already getting manhandled, Han being out there doesn’t make you any more vulnerable than you were already, and it might jump start your offense.

If this is how it’s going to be, I’d rather be in the lottery.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[Bob Lamm]

[root_thing]

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

I saw her get displaced by a 6’3” male practice player who scored a layup on her in the post if that means anything. Other than that it’s been three years so it’s hard to remember specifics. Bonner is a bad comparison because Bonner is a freakish athlete. Bonner also has spent a vast majority of her career being an on-ball perimeter defender, not defending the post. If Han defended like Bonner she’d be a starter.

I can’t read the mind of a coach I don’t know, but watching Han function in a complex motion offense in China, if it’s an execution thing then it’s probably a communication thing. It may not be a size/strength thing. I can only go by what I can physically assess. I think Han has borderline elite offensive skills and a very high basketball IQ. She is well below the WNBA average for strength and rebounding. Whether that’s a primary factor in Sandy’s decision-making, who knows?

For me, either way, there’s matchups where Han can and should be playing. She did require a few corrections in the open scrimmage, but her execution did look pretty good overall. It’s possible those corrections are an influence in Sandy’s thinking.

But if so, why are we wasting a roster spot on a player who the coach doesn’t believe in? Whether it’s execution or physical reasons. We aren’t deep enough in the post for this sort of thing. Our top players aren’t good enough for us to be a top-heavy team.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Watching the Chicago game in Han’s minutes. I think you have a pretty good point about execution. I’d say Han left her defender twice to double team when she wasn’t supposed to. It seems pretty obvious. So if that’s the reason, the principle is still the same. This isn’t a position we can afford to waste a roster spot with.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[myrtle]

Han doesn't necessarily have to hold position against shorter chunker/more muscled players. She should be able to use her height to reach over them for rebounds, and to to shoot over them on offense. At any rate, the point most recently is that Howard was sucking so bad, why not give her some minutes.

[Luuuc]

I love some early season postulation.

One clear thing in my many years of fandom is that I've always been more of the mindset of ... "If none of this is working then throw that other player in there just to see what happens. You'll never know if this is their lucky night if you don't put them in the game" ... than the vast majority of coaches. Especially when you have a player that offers a significant point of difference.
And Brondello is definitely more conservative than most coaches.
Sticking with her trusted vets is very much on-brand for her. I suspect the reasoning is as simple as that.

Not using Han doesn't strike me as a glaring error or anything, but it's at least a pretty obvious question that Brondello should be asked after that game.

(and FWIW, if it's a 20 point blowout then maybe as a coach I'll compromise my normal principles to give a player token minutes on AAPI night or whatever other theme night, but I think it's stretch to include that in the rationale for playing Han in a game of OT closeness. It's a slippery slope to introduce non-basketball reasons for determining the playing rotation even if well-intentioned.)

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Thanks for calling. I wait all night for calls like these.

[Richyyy]

Ionescu's 4th-year option exercised, but no one else on the Liberty as yet. Deadline's tomorrow.

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

[Bob Lamm]

[root_thing]

[Bob Lamm]

[Richyyy]

[root_thing]

According to Jackie Powell, Didi reaggravated her hamstring injury. She's out against Dallas on Sunday. Bec Allen will be activated but she won't play. I guess she's available in case of an emergency.

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You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

[Luuuc]