The W

[alady]

Better late than never, but just in time for the finals.

How bout them Lynx!

[Tweet]

We watched that game last night and it was real real good. Hope the rest of the series is like that and Stewie hits a wide open layup next time

[alady]

They need to get Jonquel some more touches.

[doso]

Oct 11, 2024 10:22:47 GMT -6 Tweet said:

We watched that game last night and it was real real good. Hope the rest of the series is like that and Stewie hits a wide open layup next time

Or a potentially game-winning free throw. :/

I would’ve been at the game last night if not for the Stevie Wonder concert, but we’ll be there for Game 2 on Sunday. Atmosphere at Barclays is always great for Liberty games, but it seemed to be at a new level last night. Lynx have given them fits all season; should be a great series.

[doso]

Also the three point shot has not been falling for Stewie all season. Would love for her to stop taking those.

[teekoh]

Last night was bonkers. All credit to Courtney Williams and the Sky North. The Liberty not figuring out how to get a bucket for like 10+ minutes at the end of the game was shocking.

[doso]

Game 2 was nowhere near as dramatic as Game 1, but nevertheless an incredible atmosphere. Great to see Barclays completely sold out for a WNBA game (part of the 200 level are usually curtained off). There was a t-shirt giveaway, so I got there early before big boy sizes ran out. It was a nice opportunity to see some individual pre-game warm-up from Phee, McBuckets and Hiedeman from our corner seats on the Lynx side. Mrs. DoSo arrived at the arena about a half hour before tip-off but it took her a good 45 minutes to get in - crazy lines outside Barclays and tons of fans arriving with bags that needed to be searched.

I definitely think it helped the Liberty’s cause when Collier got into foul trouble. She ended up sitting for a few minutes and the Lynx offense seemed kind of lost without her on the floor. And I’m guessing she had to alter her defensive aggressiveness when she came back. It certainly wasn’t the stocks clinic she put on in Game 1. Really appreciated being in person to see Courtney Williams run point.

Feels like Laney-Hamilton doesn’t normally take many threes, but she was on fire yesterday (4 for 6). Jones is great, but she seems to struggle more than other bigs when it comes to ball security. Importantly, she managed to stay out of foul trouble, as did the rest of the team. Quiet game from Leo after her Game 1 three-point heroics. Stewie’s range was huge; seemed like she was tipping (or flat out grabbing) the ball from the Lynx passing lanes.

Can’t wait for Games 3 and 4 and I’m certainly not expecting New York to win both. If they can get a split, I’ll be super fucking pumped to go to Game 5 on Sunday.

[alady]

Lynx defense didn't get Laney-Hamilton figured out for a while; great to see her getting more minutes.

Scrappy ball from both teams! I appreciated that the refs weren't calling every little thing.

Glad the Liberty got their home win but I do think it's Lynx in 4.

[doso]

Now that I've had a week to decompress/calm down, a few thoughts on the end of the WNBA season and the New York Liberty winning the championship.

1) It was a total thrill to be at Game 5 which was a nail biter almost end-to-end. Incredible vibes, consistent with all the other games I had the pleasure to attend this season. Great to witness the Liberty finally win it all behind an exceptional team effort on a night when Ionescu and Stewart were not having their best game. Honestly, both teams must have been completely fucking gassed after Game 4 on Friday, traveling Saturday, then playing an OT Game 5 on Sunday. Lynx are a great team, they gave the Liberty all they could handle, and they'll probably contend for the title again next season.

2) Poor form for Cheryl Reeves to say the championship was stolen from the Lynx.

3) Couldn't attend the parade on Thursday, but watched the broadcast while working. We did grab a pair of free tickets to the championship celebration at Barclays that evening, which was just fine. Doors didn't open until 15 minutes before the advertised start time, which made for quite the mob scene outside of Barclays. But it was nice to see the team one last time and the team store was the least crowded I've ever seen it; I appreciated that I could easily grab championship merch and avoid the shipping fees.

4) Feeling a bit of post-WNBA-season depression. NFL was still fun today, and I expected the start of the MNBA would fill the void, but for some reason, it hasn't. I just don't have the same interest level in the games. Maybe because they're longer? Maybe because there are so many more games and many more players and I'm not as familiar with them? Maybe I'll watch more NCAAW hoops this season.

5) Crazy amount of coaching turnover in the WNBA! I think half the head coaches have been fired and it seems likely Stephanie White will be filling one of those vacancies (probably Indiana, maybe Chicago), which will, of course, create another open spot in Connecticut. I think at least one GM got shitcanned, too, but I don't remember who it was off the top of my head.

[clouddead]

Indiana’s GM was fired

[alady]

Current head coach firings:

Curt Williams, LA Sparks
TSpoon, Chicago Sky
Tanisha Wright, Atlanta Dream
Latricia Trammell, Dallas Wings
Eric Thibault, Washington Mystics
Christie Sides, Indiana Fever

Current GM firings:
Natalie Williams, Las Vegas Aces
Mike Thibault, Washington Mystics
Idk if I would say Lin Dunn was fired so much as sunsetted, she's 77

[doctorace]

The Sky should give Dawn Staley all of the monies.

[alady]

As much as I would love for there to be a GOAT here, I truly don't know who will be willing to put up with our front office's fuckery

[doso]

Connecticut Sun and Steph White have “agreed to part ways”/consciously uncoupled.

[alady]

Poor Marina back in a rebuild.

[teekoh]

If the Sky are smart they’ll target Steph White. That would be a coup.

Related: Who do the Sun think is going to be better?!

[doctorace]

Stephanie White is pulling a Jackson 5 and goin back to Indiana.

[alady]

OMG how awkward would that be! Pretty sure Steph is going to the Fever though.

[teekoh]

Seems likely, but for some reason I’m having a hard time picturing it.

[doso]

She and her partner, Lisa Salters, live in Nashville, and they were dealing with a family situation over the past few weeks. If it’s something that has the potential to be an ongoing situation, then I could see how having a job that’s several hundred miles closer to home would be beneficial.

Plus it’s an opportunity to coach a potential (likely?) MVP candidate and a team that seems to be on an upward trajectory.

[doso]

defector.com/what-happened-to-all-the-wnba-coaches?giftLink=fcf8c0ca3e7fefacfeb3c2ec61f693dc

Gift link. Disclaimer: I haven’t read the article yet but Maitreyi’s writing is consistently good.

[doso]

White is officially the Fever’s new HC.

[clouddead]

We’ve got a coach: aces.wnba.com/tyler_marsh/

[teekoh]

He must be crazy.

[alady]

Coming from the Aces he'll be familiar with a messy front office.

[alady]

W-adjacent: just got tickets to see Paige Buckets (and Kaitlyn Chen and Sarah Strong and hopefully Azzi Fudd??) at DePaul in January. Woooooooooo

[rango420]

Thats a good call but Looks like tickets are off sale on Ticketmaster? Maybe they are aiming for UC or something?

[alady]

You gotta call the ticketing number. There are a few lower level seats left but mostly behind the backboards.

[doso]

TSpoon will coach one of the 3x3 teams in Miami for the inaugural Unrivaled season.

[rango420]

You might wonder, how could the sky fuck up something random