RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Richyyy]

Jones has also done plenty of good work in the past on teams where she isn't necessarily the focus of the offense. She was 4th on her own team in field goal attempts per game just last season (and finished 7th in MVP voting).

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

[zune69]

[Bob Lamm]

Deleted.

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

[myrtle]

they put together a whole new team. It's not instant like pudding. Once they get used to playing together, they'll be fine...more than fine.

[Queenie]

now I want pudding, myrtle

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Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

[Lib Fan]

[Bob Lamm]

Today's pudding against Chicago went sour.

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

[Bob Lamm]

There were some lovely things about tonight's win vs. Atlanta, mostly Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina. At the same time, the game underscored for me two serious challenges that Sandy Brondello is facing:

1. She has to find a way of consistently involving all five of our outstanding starters in the team's offense. I believe that both Sabrina and Laney have been deferring a bit to the three bigger names they're on the court with. That's understandable... but ultimately troubling. I was delighted tonight that Sabrina did less of that and seemed ready at times to take over the offense.

Meanwhile, Betnijah Laney was on the court for 26 1/2 minutes and had only four field goal attempts. The offense shouldn't be: "Hey, let's try to pass the ball around as much as possible and if Laney happens to end up all alone in the corner, how wonderful!" The offense should include a focus on giving the ball to Laney in many situations that are good for her.

2. It's obvious that New York currently has a post problem. This will hopefully lessen as Jones heads toward 100% in recovery from her troubles. But tonight Jones and Dolson were on the court for a total of 28 minutes and each had four fouls. Add in Nyara Sabally and it's 40 minutes and 11 personal fouls!

Dolson is a foul machine who almost always looks shocked and betrayed by the refs, even though the vast majority of videos show that Dolson DID commit a personal foul. She does some valuable things on the court but they don't outweigh her endless fouls. Sabally has had some lovely flashes but it's a lot to expect a rookie to be the team's #2 post player. Is Han ready to offer more on the court than Dolson or Sabally? So far I haven't seen that, but assessing Han's very limited minutes just isn't fair. More telling, though, is that Sandy Brondello's seen a lot of Han in practice and hasn't trusted Han with meaningful game minutes yet.

I've focused on the negative. Our team has an outstanding roster and I continue to view them as a serious contender for 2023 championship rings. I don't see the Liberty as a real "top team" yet, just a very good team. But surely it takes a while to blend all these talented players with limited or no experience on the court with each other. They're currently 5-2. I'll guess that 20-25 games from now we'll have a good idea about how good our team really is.

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

[bbsamjj]

The Liberty have so many offensive options that I think what Brondello cares most about is "shot profile"--are they taking the best shots the offense can and should produce?

Given the options they have on the court, I'd argue the only person who should really have the green light to create and take whatever shots she wants is Stewart--since she can take and make from anywhere. Everyone else should be taking shots in the flow of the offense as much as possible.

That's the biggest change for Ionescu and Laney, who have been asked to carry a ton of the offensive load the past two seasons. I don't think Laney taking just 4 shots in 26min is necessarily bad on a night when Ionescu was having a career night. If you think of her and Thornton as "sharing" a spot on the floor (which is not perfect analogy since they will play together); last night they combined for 15pts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, while shooting 5-9 from FG, 1-2 from 3pt, and 4-5 from FT line. That's a pretty efficient "5th option" on offense.

[Bob Lamm]

[Bob Lamm]

Some random thoughts on the Dallas game:

--Dallas impressed me. They look like a rising team. I don't think anyone else will be excited about facing Dallas in the playoffs.

--If the Liberty can score over 100 points, they shouldn't lose many games.

--Jonquel Jones looks far from the player she is, but I believe her 27 minutes tonight were a season high.

--Continues to look to me like Nyara Sabally is becoming the #2 post player on the team.

--I'm guessing that Sandy Brondello had a talk with Sabrina Ionescu during the week and said something like: "Stop deferring! Yes, you've gone from being the #1 name on the franchise to playing on the floor with bigger-names who've won championships. But this team needs you to be a star!" I love the way Sabrina has looked in the last two games.

--I was unhappy that Betnijah Laney got only four shots on Friday night. Today only five. She's been helping the team a lot, especially defensively, but I still want Brondello to get Laney into the offense more.

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

[lynxmania]

Epiphanny Prince signed to a Hardship Contract

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"stormeo don't miss"

[jmvcity]

T-Spoon no longer Pelicans asst coach.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37860262/sources-teresa-weatherspoon-no-longer-pelicans-staff

[johnjohnW]

[Luuuc]

She's warming up nicely for some Liberty action

https://twitter.com/fibasiacupwomen/status/1674004815490465792

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

[Silky Johnson]

Anybody notice who's name isn't on here? #Compiler

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Professional Hater. The Baron of #HateHard

My team no longer exists, so I'll have to settle for hating yours.

[ChiSky54]

This is off topic, but I noticed Bob Lamm hasn't posted here since mid-June! I hope he's okay.

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There is nothing new under the sun.

[jmvcity]

Anyone know the status of Han Xu? If it’s due to overseas commitments, why hasn’t she been suspended?

[Richyyy]

[jmvcity]

Libs just signed both Laney and Thornton to multi-year extensions through 2025. Well-deserved.
Sabrina also signed a two-year extension last May.
Who else is locked for next year?

[bryan_february_]

I don't like Laney taking a paycut, but clearly she loves the team and the city. I'm happy she's found a home in the league.

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Indiana Fever

[Queenie]

[Rock Hard]