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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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Location: New York City
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 Posted: 05/23/23 6:44 pm ::: |
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I've got to say that I am stunned by the relative silence--both here and on Sunday's game page--during and since New York's victory over Indiana. Yes, it's only one game. Yes, it was only Game Two of a 40-game regular season. Yes, Indiana isn't likely to be a championship contender this season. Still.... were so few Liberty fans excited by what we saw?
If some fans are sad that Rebecca Allen, Crystal Dangerfield, Micaela Onyenwere, and Didi Richards are gone... that we didn't get to see Sika Kone play for our team... so am I. But are some here still ambivalent about getting Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Courtney Vandersloot?
Nothing is guaranteed. Certainly not a WNBA championship for New York this season or any season. But I, for one, am VERY excited. And my favorite Liberty player, Marine Johannes, hasn't even been on the court yet. Can't wait for her first over-the-head pass to Stewie. 
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Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 05/23/23 9:53 pm ::: |
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| There was fairly lively conversation in the game thread. I don't know what exactly you're asking us for.
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Bob Lamm
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Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
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| Posted: 05/23/23 11:00 pm ::: |
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| While we're requesting things I'd like to know who ate/drank where and how good it was.
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Silky Johnson
Joined: 29 Sep 2014
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| Posted: 05/24/23 3:48 pm ::: |
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| Queenie wrote: |
| There was fairly lively conversation in the game thread. I don't know what exactly you're asking us for. |
This is a total ass-pull and I could be way off but, from my point of view, the Liberty game threads are the ones that have traditionally always had the most posts, regardless of whom the Liberty were playing, or what the score was, and the majority of the posts typically come from people who present to the message board as being Liberty fans. That has not been the case with either of the game threads involving the Liberty this season and my WAG is that @Bob Lamm wants to know why not?
Why they want to know that, I have no idea, and decline to speculate on, but that's what I think they're asking.
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ChiSky54
Joined: 19 Jun 2019
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| Posted: 05/24/23 4:29 pm ::: |
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Yeah, the Liberty thread typically outpaces all the other team threads by a mile, so it stands out that there have been so few comments.
I feel alone on the Sky thread because I seem to be the only STH that posts regularly, and I'm behind on the recent games.
I too am looking forward to seeing Johannes when she arrives. Guess the team is still building its chemistry and will work out balancing everyone's contributions.
How the heck did Dolson have a +26 while scoring one point?
Not sure why Piph is still around...
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Bob Lamm
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Silky Johnson
Joined: 29 Sep 2014
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| Posted: 05/24/23 6:59 pm ::: |
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| Bob Lamm wrote: |
| Dolson got her +26 by secretly paying Sandy Brondello so she could be on the court whenever Stewart was. |
Is that like that time Wilt Chamberlain and Guy Rodgers "combined" for 111 points?
Or, since this is a WBB board, the time that Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith "combined" for 62?
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 05/24/23 8:08 pm ::: |
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| Silky Johnson wrote: |
| Bob Lamm wrote: |
| Dolson got her +26 by secretly paying Sandy Brondello so she could be on the court whenever Stewart was. |
Is that like that time Wilt Chamberlain and Guy Rodgers "combined" for 111 points?
Or, since this is a WBB board, the time that Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith "combined" for 62? |
With all the great things about basketball in 2023, I feel lucky that I'm old enough to have watched so many of the intense battles on the court between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.
Long ago I went one afternoon to see the U.S. Open Tennis championships in Flushing. I was wandering around and suddenly realized that there, sitting all alone, was Wilt. (A huge tennis fan.) Didn't seem like anyone knew who he was. I was dying to speak with him, but decided I should leave him alone.
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 05/25/23 6:22 pm ::: |
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| Does anyone know if Marine Johannes has arrived from France? Would love to see her on the court for the Liberty on Saturday.
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Richyyy
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
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| Posted: 05/25/23 6:34 pm ::: |
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| Bob Lamm wrote: |
| Does anyone know if Marine Johannes has arrived from France? Would love to see her on the court for the Liberty on Saturday. |
Arriving Sunday, first available Tuesday, according to tweets from the usual suspects. |
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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Bob Lamm
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| Posted: 05/27/23 2:10 pm ::: |
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Only one game, I know. But today vs. Connecticut Nyara Sabally suddenly seemed ahead of Xan Hu in the rotation. Then, in the 4th quarter, Jonquel Jones went to the bench with her 5th foul and Sandy Brondello put in Sabally rather than Dolson!!! Is Sabally now our #2 post player? Wow!
And she looked good.
I well remember how Jonathan Kolb was scorched for drafting Sabally in the first round. Perhaps Kolb will have the last laugh.
Now looks this way:
Starters: Stewart, Laney, Jones, Vandersloot, Ionescu
Rotation off the bench: Johannes, Thornton, Dolson and Sabally
Sitting: Han and Willoughby
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Bob Lamm
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| Posted: 05/27/23 6:02 pm ::: |
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| Just noticed that the Croatian point guard Ivana Dojkic is now playing for the Seattle Storm. Didn't the Liberty have rights to her some years ago? That's my recollection. Looks like we'll see her in Tuesday night's game.
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Richyyy
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| Posted: 05/27/23 6:58 pm ::: |
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| I think there were rumours of Dojkic signing with New York, but she never actually did. So never any WNBA rights to her until Seattle signed her this year. |
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 05/27/23 7:24 pm ::: |
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| Richyyy wrote: |
| I think there were rumours of Dojkic signing with New York, but she never actually did. So never any WNBA rights to her until Seattle signed her this year. |
Thanks for the correction.
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Bob Lamm
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| Posted: 05/29/23 7:53 pm ::: |
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In her comments on the game against Connecticut, Queenie wrote of Kayla Thornton: "She's so tough and she's amazing and I love her."
The Thornton Fan Club, which I'm definitely in, is getting much bigger. In this new piece in THE NEXT, Jackie Powell focuses on Thornton as being the crucial player in turning the Connecticut game in New York's favor:
https://www.thenexthoops.com/wnba/new-york-liberty/new-york-liberty-defense-breanna-stewart-kayla-thornton-connecticut-sun/
And here's a stat from the article. Thus far this season New York has a net rating of +20.34 when Kayla Thornton is on the floor. In the 53 minutes without her the Liberty have a net rating of -11.58.
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NYSports56
Joined: 03 Jul 2018
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| Posted: 05/30/23 1:39 pm ::: |
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| Bob Lamm wrote: |
In her comments on the game against Connecticut, Queenie wrote of Kayla Thornton: "She's so tough and she's amazing and I love her."
The Thornton Fan Club, which I'm definitely in, is getting much bigger. In this new piece in THE NEXT, Jackie Powell focuses on Thornton as being the crucial player in turning the Connecticut game in New York's favor:
https://www.thenexthoops.com/wnba/new-york-liberty/new-york-liberty-defense-breanna-stewart-kayla-thornton-connecticut-sun/
And here's a stat from the article. Thus far this season New York has a net rating of +20.34 when Kayla Thornton is on the floor. In the 53 minutes without her the Liberty have a net rating of -11.58. |
That +- is astonishing. It is going to be awesome to root for Kayla this year! If she can continue to have this kind of impact on the court, the scales might tip in the favor of the Liberty with respect to which team I think is the front-runner.
Loved the article--got me even more psyched for tonight! Johannes is playing, right? (edit--probably not--quote from Sandy: "She's just had a long flight coming off of a long season, so we'll just build her up slowly. She'll be on the bench tomorrow, but I don't know if we'll need her, I imagine.")
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pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 05/30/23 2:00 pm ::: |
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| +- is a garbage stat. Unless, of course, you think Brianna Turner was one of the top five players in the league last season and Queen Egbo should have been ROY.
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NYSports56
Joined: 03 Jul 2018
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| Posted: 05/30/23 2:09 pm ::: |
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| pilight wrote: |
| +- is a garbage stat. Unless, of course, you think Brianna Turner was one of the top five players in the league last season and Queen Egbo should have been ROY. |
Good things obviously happened when they were on the court, for whatever reason. I certainly don't overvalue +-, but those are noticeable numbers, and they support what we're seeing with our own eyes.
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 05/30/23 10:30 pm ::: |
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This was obscured in tonight's win over Seattle because Nyara Sabally had to leave the game with an injury (minor, I hope) and never returned. But here's how Sandy Brondello's substitution patterns for the last two games look to me. It's not just that Sabally has buried Han Xu in the rotation. In my view, Brondello already values Sabally on the court more than Stefanie Dolson.
We'll see how this plays out.
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jmvcity
Joined: 21 Jun 2013
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| Posted: 05/31/23 3:10 pm ::: |
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| Anyone have the current theme nights & giveaways calendar for the Libs home games?
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 06/02/23 7:15 pm ::: |
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SO much for Liberty fans to ponder after tonight's win in Chicago. It was a one-point victory, felt like we won by about 1/10 of a point, but in the standings it's a W.
Our team has an 11-player roster with FOUR post players: Jonquel Jones, Stefanie Dolson, Nyara Sabally, and Han Xu. Tonight Sandy Brondello went for the vast majority of the 4th quarter with NONE of them on the floor. I believe Jones played for 2-3 minutes in the middle of the quarter. The others stayed on the bench. In the end, Jones, Dolson, and Sabally cumlatively played only 33 minutes and Han never played.
Brondello began and went for most of that quarter with Stewart, Laney, Vandersloot, Ionescu, and Thornton. For the last 2 1/2 minutes, with the game on the line, Brondello benched Sabrina (who shot 1-7 tonight). Even as a huge fan of Marine Johannes, I was shocked that she was on the court for the last two minutes. She hadn't had an especially great game and it was her first-ever game with this greatly revised roster. But there she was. (She missed a crucial foul shot but helped defensively--probably why Brondello sent her in.)
I'm glad New York won. But I hope Brondello and the staff spend a lot of time tomorrow pondering this. For much of the 4th quarter, Breanna Stewart was on the court but invisible, till she (inevitably!) made the game-winning shot. I don't care what the defense is doing and I know Stewie was tired. (She played 37 minutes!) But we can't have Stewart invisible for the decisive stretch of such a close game.
My final thought. This team has four huge names on the roster: Stewart, Jones, Vandersloot, and Ionescu. But over five games two players have (not surprisingly) demonstrated how crucial they will be if this team actually becomes a "superteam": Betnijah Laney and Kayla Thornton. SO great that with all his offseason moves Jonathan Kolb finished with a roster that has both of them on it. Laney was especially great tonight when the Liberty desperately needed her to be.
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zune69
Joined: 27 May 2010
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| Posted: 06/03/23 2:12 pm ::: |
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Trading J. Jones for the right price wouldn't be a bad idea...You're not going to get much effort/production from her as the 3rd option...She seems content with just being another player on the court (Passive & non-aggressive)...Now if she's not 100%. Sit her until she's fully healed/healthy
Trade I would consider:
Jones & Willoughby for Magbagor & Gabby (Sign & Trade)...NY could offer Gabby a 2 yr /265k (132.500)
Something to consider......Jones, Laney & Stewart are all FA after the season...Jones/Laney signing with another team isn't all that far-fetched.
G- Sloot
G- Ionescu/Johannes
C- Magbagor/Dolson/Xu
F- Stewart/Thornton/Sabally
F- Laney/Gabby
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Bob Lamm
Joined: 11 Apr 2010
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| Posted: 06/03/23 2:34 pm ::: |
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| zune69 wrote: |
| Trading J. Jones for the right price wouldn't be a bad idea...You're not going to get much effort/production from her as the 3rd option...She seems content with just being another player on the court (Passive & non-aggressive)...Now if she's not 100%. Sit her until she's fully healed/healthy |
Given all that has been made public about discussions between Stewart, Vandersloot, and Jones about playing together in New York, I highly doubt that Jonathan Kolb would want to risk upsetting Stewart and Vandersloot by trading Jones. (After FIVE games of which New York has won four!!!)
It's not an "if" to say that Jones isn't 100%. Sit her completely "until she's fully healed"? So far Jones has played an average of 18 minutes per game. I fully trust that Sandy Brondello and the Liberty trainers have had lots of discussion with Jones on how best to handle this--and have concluded playing her for limited minutes is best right now.
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