My observations from another week of basketball and retirement…
Baseball Challenges- Watching the baseball system for challenging plays, I love the idea that if you challenge a call and the call is overturned, you don’t lose your challenge. I saw a college game this year where a team challenged calls early and each call was overturned but they still then lost their ability to challenge.
The other component is on ball/strikes how fast the challenge is completed. I would like to see in basketball where they have a set time, say 60-90 seconds looking at tape, if they can’t come to a conclusion then the original call stands.
Alternate Possession- A Lakers vs Houston game went into OT this week. Within a three minute period, there were three jump balls. In each case the Laker jumping, reached over and grabbed the Houston jumpers arm to prevent them from tipping. The Laker player then used their other hand to win the tip. It really was a very skillful play but totally illegal.
It points out the difficulty for refs to execute a jump ball properly. Alternate possession rule makes sense on every level.
Chicago Sky Criticism- There are things that the Chicago franchise can be criticized for.
1) They have traded away draft picks which became Sonia Citron and Olivia Miles.
2) They drafted two players (Kamillia Cardosa and Angel Reese that were both good but neither could shoot threes.
There are things Chicago has done that are good and should be recognized.
1) Trading away Angel Reese.
2) Acquiring Rickea Jackson and Jacy Sheldon this off-season. Chicago now has on their roster from the 2024 draft, the #3, #4, #5 draft picks.
I am tired of listening to commentators say that the Angel Reese trade was a bad trade. To me it was logical and needed if the Sky are to head in the right direction because…
1) Reese was a 16% three point shooter, first year in WNBA was 19%, and second year 18%. This failure to improve her percentage shows a lack of growth as a player. The Sky management would never answer the question but I would like to hear what Reese’s workout efforts were.
2) Does everyone need to be able to shoot threes? No. But you can’t have both Cardosa and Reese unable to spread the floor. The Reese trade will give Cardosa a chance to grow.
Thumbs Down for Dallas- When Azzi Fudd was asked about whether she was still in a relationship with Buecker, and if so if she had reached out to others who are in relationships and on the same team, a Dallas administrator stepped into say she would not answer that. With increase in pay, the WNBA players need to realize they may be under more scrutiny.
Questions about why she was drafted are legitimate. Questions about how the relationship may impact the team are legitimate.
WNBA Teams That May Make Jump- New York Liberty are an all-star team but last year the pieces didn’t quite fit. Chris DeMarco, the new coach, comes from being an assistant for the Golden State Warriors. It will be interesting to see if he figures out how to get Sabrina Ionescu back on track after a season of poor three point shooting.
Whether Atlanta’s style can win, we don’t know. The pieces fit together. You put Angel Reese on a team that is going to take a huge number of threes and miss a huge number of three, it may equal lots of rebounds.
Las Vegas can’t really take a jump because they were on the top, but adding Kennedy Carter (the player who blindsided Caitlin Clark two years ago) into a stable culture may allow her to get under control.
Dallas has a new coach, who was very successful on the college level. Early reviews from their training camp express that he has brought strong organization to their practices and to their play. There is little doubt that this will help Buecker and the Wings.
Fever Questions- It would not surprise me to see the Fever win the WNBA and Clark win the MVP. I am not predicting it but it would not surprise me. Two years ago was a year of adjustment for Clark to the WNBA and her teammates adjustment to her. Last year Clark did not get to continue her growth and the team did not get a chance to continue to adjust to Clark. Last year figured to be a year of learning to compete at a championship level, is that what this year will be.
The five questions that I have about the Fever…
1) Will Clark keep turnover numbers down?
2) Will Clark shoot a better three point percentage?
3) Can the Fever rebound at a championship level?
4) Will Raven Johnson, Lexie Hull, or Sophie Cunningham be able to guard opposing teams elite perimeter scorers?
5) Will the #4 position be a weakness all year?
Mike Brown- The Knicks coach is taking a lot of heat from fans and the media. In the NBA, you can only take 2 timeouts into the last 3 minutes of a game. Thus, they have “use it or lose it” time outs. In one game, he was late, and took the time out with something like 2:50 left. So at the 3:00 mark he lost time out #3, then at 2:50 he lost timeout #2- he left the team with only 1 timeout left. .
Later when his team got a rebound with under 6 seconds to go, he did not take a time out and advance the ball to half-court.
One Year Contracts- Sophie Cunningham was unhappy to only get a one year contract. Cunningham is not the only player who ended up with one year contracts. Stars like Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Mitchell are among stars on one year contacts.
Teams like Phoenix and Minnesota were teams who were not active going after free agents this years. They will have plenty of cap space next year.
Whereas this year most free agents went back to their original teams, look for 2027 to be wilder in terms of player movement.
Aliyah Boston was signed by the Fever to a four-year contract so she will not be one of the free agents in 2027.
NBA- Enforce Rule or Take a Pass- McDaniels violated basketball’s unwritten rules by choosing to shoot an undefended layups instead of just dribbling out the clock. Jokic did not like it and ran the length of the court to tell him that. A skirmish broke out. No punched were thrown but players left their benches to be involved in the shoving match. By NBA rule, there would appear to be players who should be suspended. Suspending players for an NBA play-off game is not good PR for the NBA. If indeed players left, will they suspend them?
Caitlin Clark Effect- Indiana Fever will play 39 of 44 games in NBA arenas, and will be on national TV all 44 games.
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