RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Michelle89]

[Bob Lamm]

I just watched (virtually) an excellent one-hour discussion of OWN YOUR PRIDE sponsored by the New York Liberty. Former Liberty executive Kristin Bernert moderated. The panel included Angela Taylor (a former WNBA executive and now a diversity and inclusion advocate), Sami Whitcomb, and Jazmine Jones.

You should be able to find it by going to YouTube, hitting in "New York Liberty," and scrolling down. But hopefully this link will work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E86UAknTOhY

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

[Randy]

In the unlikely event anyone else was wondering what ever happened to Taylor, I found this:

https://www.idahostatesman.com/living/treasure/article168466472.html

She is doing culinary tourism helping people enjoy the foods of Idaho.


“The most profound experiences I’ve had have revolved around music, food, history. (That) really gives you a good idea of the character of that neighborhood,” Taylor says. “I thought that if I could incorporate culture, art, history and food into an experience here in Boise that it would be the same profound experience whether you were a visitor in Boise or a local.”

[Bob Lamm]

[Stormeo]

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

[root_thing]

A large component of success in sports is confidence. I just wonder how much getting blown out every night is destroying the confidence of these players. 6 of their 8 losses have been by 20 points or more. They hang their hat on 3-point shooting, but that’s been mediocre to bad for six straight games:

Phoenix 31.3%
Las Vegas 32.1%
Las Vegas 26.3%
Los Angeles 32.3%
Chicago 29.2%
Chicago 16.0%

Hopkins admits that the Liberty struggle guarding big post players, but he likes to say “They have to guard us on the other end!” as if the two factors are equal and offset. So, if Onyenwere is getting destroyed by Jonquel Jones, A’ja Wilson, or Candace Parker on defense, is she supposed to match their output on offense? And this is after expending extra energy trying to defend those bigger players. How much pressure are you putting on your undersized post defenders? Is it any wonder that Onyenwere seems to have lost her confidence and her performance has tanked? And lets not forget that the size disadvantage also affects the perimenter defenders who have to sag back to help. As a result, they find themselves scrambling to close out after the ball is kicked back to outside shooters. All that extra running around requires that they too expend more energy. Hopkins said after the first Chicago loss that both teams were tired but that the Sky were able to dig deeper and push themselves. Well, maybe the Liberty have to dig deeper all the time just to play their normal game. So, when it comes time to push even more, they’ve got nothing left.

Hopkins is also nonchalantly casting players into unfamiliar roles. Last year, it was Stokes shooting 3s. Kiah hasn’t been around much this season, but we’ve seen Gray and Richards shooting 3s. We’ve seen Jaz Jones at point guard for two seasons now. Laney is forced to play point with Ionescu out. Sabrina herself was never the primary point guard in college, meaning New York has NO true point guard on the roster. In a bit of a reversal, we see Allen mostly defending against smaller players – usually the point guard. She’s actually doing a pretty good job on defense. However, Hopkins revealed after the LA game that he’s been telling Bec that he expects her to put up 10 3pt attempts per game. Now, Allen has always been a 3 and D player. However, it’s one thing to shoot them when the opportunity arises naturally, but it’s another to enter each game knowing that you’re expected to put up a lot of shots. After shooting a solid 45.6%/38.9% in the Spanish League and a stellar 49.4%/53.2% in Eurocup, Allen is now struggling at 32.1%/30.1% for New York. Yes, WNBA defenders are tougher, but from what I’ve seen Bec is getting a lot of wide-open shots. Maybe Allen is feeling the pressure of knowing her coach expects her to produce in a big way. In his mind, Hopkins thinks he is showing confidence in Bec by telling her to shoot even if she is missing. However, is she reacting to the orders as “encouragement” or as heavy expectations?

Overall, Walt is trying to get his team to play a system not commonly used in the WNBA while also trying to remold many of his players into something they haven’t been. It’s a bit like reinventing the wheel and playing Dr. Frankenstein at the same time. In the academic world, the arts, and in the sciences, it is admirable to experiment and push boundaries. Brave failures are acceptable. I’m not convinced that’s true with sports. Hopkins keeps saying he is focused on improvement, not wins. Does that give him a perpetual excuse to keep failing? His players appear to be on board for now, but how many more soul-crushing defeats can they take? Yes, the team is missing Howard, and Ionescu isn’t 100%. However, Hopkins himself didn’t sound like he knew when and if Sabrina would be fully healthy again this season. That being the case, can Howard alone negate a 20 point loss margin by herself? IMHO, this roster construction, system of play, and approach to player development is inherently flawed. It feels like the Liberty start every game with a 10-point handicap. I’m just afraid that Hopkins and Kolb are two smart young guys who have outsmarted themselves.

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You can always do something else.

[myrtle]

[Lib Fan]

Last night was one of the worst games I have seen The Liberty play!
Noticed how many on the Liberty are Ball Hogs

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Lets Go Liberty
Brooklyn 2021
Bring Back Maddie!

[Lib Fan]

[Richyyy]

[root_thing]

I think it's about time that more people on this board read Constructiondive.com.

[undersized_post]

So what is up with Ionescu? Numbers have been way down since the season began. (Yeah, I know she gets assists.)

If her ankle isn't 100% like everyone says, maybe rest up and get healthy?

[Stormeo]

[Bob Lamm]

Dear Walt,

i don't know if you read our RebKell discussions like wonderful former LFO did. Just in case, here is a plea from a fan. Could you permanently ban Jaz Jones from shooting layups? A season and a half of this has been simply unbearable.

Jaz is really terrific at getting around and past defenders for terrific layup opportunities. But seriously, Walt, Jaz shooting a layup--even an open layup--is simply a different type of turnover.

Thanks, Walt, for considering my views.

Bob

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

[root_thing]

Maybe the better suggestion is that they teach players how to shoot layups since a lot of them struggle around the rim. It starts with learning how to protect the ball with your body. Then you don't have to rush your shot or fling it up there wildly. After that, they need to learn a little about physics. When you go flying toward the rim, momentum is imparted from your body to the ball. You can practically flip the ball straight up into the air and momentum will carry it to the backboard. Consequently, you don't need to bang the ball off the glass. You kiss it off the glass. That's why it's called a layup.

Since Howard missed her second game, the Liberty have been entitled to a hardship player because they have two long-term injuries (Howard and Willoughby). Management has chosen not to take advantage of this provision. Consequently, they played with 9 players at least three times, and yesterday they only had 8. Since New York cut Clarendon, they haven't had a true point guard and yesterday they were down to one post player. Who cares about roster balance? Kylee Shook logged 38 minutes. I don't think any Liberty fan ever expected to see Shook play almost an entire game. It will indeed be interesting to see what happens with Stokes today. After barely being here all season, she needed a personal day. Is Kiah planning to sit out again? At this point, I'm ready to move on. Hopefully, she voluntarily misses the rest of the season and we're able to give someone else a look. I know the team is over the salary cap, and if I understand Richyyy correctly, that means they are essentially in salary cap debt. They have to offset that overage as well as create room for the player they're adding. I hope Stokes's salary is big enough so that they can do that.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[Bob Lamm]

[pilight]

Stokes waived

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

[bluedevilaztecfan5]

[root_thing]

Stokes's salary is guaranteed, which means they get no salary cap relief unless she is claimed. The Liberty's 4th and 5th most expensive players are no longer on the roster. And we're supposed to believe when Kolb was with the league office, he was the guy who taught new GMs how to manage the salary cap.

_________________
You can always do something else.

[PUmatty]

I'm old enough to remember when people thought Stokes was better than Jewell Loyd.

[root_thing]

[WNBA 09]

So is she pregnant or was this a performance move ?

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

[root_thing]

[Bob Lamm]

I'm assuming this will mean that Reshanda Gray is back on the team. If so, I'm really happy for her.

It's sad about Kiah Stokes. She showed so much promise as a rookie, but never was good again defensively and never developed any offensive game. The effort by Kolb and Hopkins to turn Kiah into a three-point threat was a disaster.

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