WNBA starting 25th season tomorrow, Friday, May 14th, 2021

X-Files

X-Files

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"WNBA 25th anniversary season preview: Who to root for, if ...

The WNBA is back for its 25th season beginning Friday, and it can be tough to decide who to get behind. Those who live in one of the league's 12 franchise cities can pick their local team, but for the rest, it's good to know a group's perks, personalities, and sometimes downsides.

You like chaos? Consistency? The underdogs? The 'role players'? Here's who to root for based on characteristics like that and what you should know about their leaders.


If you like strong post play and trash talk ... Las Vegas Aces


There is no shortage of personalities in the WNBA, but if you had to put them into categories, Liz Cambage is at the top. She quite famously took a shot at the Mystics' bigs to "get in the weight room or get out of the post" in the 2019 semifinals. And when asked during Aces media day what her favorite colorway is for the new jerseys, she popped the black one she was wearing before calling out the Sparks for “trying to jack our black.”

Cambage returns to the Aces after opting out of the 2020 season and winning an Australian Women's National Basketball League title in December. She brings the smack talk and the post play alongside reigning MVP A'ja Wilson, who was left to do most of the scoring on her own in the WNBA Finals.

2020 record: 18-4. Defeated Storm on final day of regular season to clinch No. 1 seed, but lost to Storm in three games in Finals.

Key players: This lineup is wicked. Wilson will have Cambage back at center to work off of and Dearica Hamby, the two-time Sixth Woman of the Year, is back from a knee injury that sidelined her in the playoffs. No. 1 draft picks Jackie Young (2019) and Kelsey Plum (2017), who missed 2020 with an Achilles injury, both return. To add on to all of that, the Aces went and got point guard Chelsea Gray, a three-time All-Star and WNBA champion, in free agency.

Circle these games: The Aces open against the Storm on Saturday in an ABC prime-time showcase and play the Storm again on Tuesday. In early September, with playoff positioning on the line, Las Vegas will face budding rival Chicago. There's a lot going on in this rivalry, but to bring it full circle, Cambage and the Sky have gotten into it before.

BetMGM title odds: +375





https://ca.style.yahoo.com/wnba-25t...iew-who-to-root-for-title-odds-025134244.html
 
winkyduck

winkyduck

TYVM Morgan William!!!
Seattle acquired Katie Lou Samuelson.......so no we know what their chances of winning it all are
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
I'll watch all four WNBA games tomorrow night and two more Saturday afternoon.

That's six games involving all 12 WNBA teams.

Great time to take inventory of the league.

The WNBA League Pass at $16.95 is a real bargain for hoop junkies.

A lot of new faces in new places this season with Candace Parker now playing for the Chicago Sky and Tina Charles making her debut in a Washington Mystics jersey.

Quickest rematch of the season arrives on Sunday when the Liberty travel to Indianapolis to play the Fever after the two teams meet Friday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Eager to see Sabrina Ionescu return to action after undergoing ankle surgery last season.

She played in only three games during her rookie year before the disappointing injury.

I think the Liberty will win by at least four points in the season opener.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Don't downgrade the Atlanta Dream after head coach Nicki Collen bolted for Baylor.

Collen was an empty stall.

Longtime assistant Mike Petersen takes over for Collen as the interim head coach.

If you followed Dream basketball over the past three seasons, then you spotted Petersen doing most of the X's and O's work.


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John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Devastating injuries will sideline some key players for the entire 2021 season:

Las Vegas Aces - Angel McCoughtry (torn ACL...again)

Connecticut Sun - Alyssa Thomas (Achilles)

Washington Mystics - Alysha Clark (foot)

New York Liberty - Asia Durr (mental issues)
 
railbird

railbird

EOG Master
John Kelly said:
Devastating injuries will sideline some key players for the entire 2021 season:

Las Vegas Aces - Angel McCoughtry (torn ACL...again)

Connecticut Sun - Alyssa Thomas (Achilles)

Washington Mystics - Alysha Clark (foot)

New York Liberty - Asia Durr (mental issues)[/QUOTE

they need to start a white leauge, or a pro womens volleyball leauge. volleyball participation is 3X larger than basketball partcipation in highs school
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choslamshe

choslamshe

EOG Master
Can't wait for the season. Some notable player movement. Rooting for the Sky, does Diamond Deshields bounce back? Can Azura Stevens take another step forward? Can they trade Stefanie Dolson for her weight in shrimp? Team's backcourt is still stacked and they should still dominate pace.

I like the Fever's additions of Lavender and Danielle Robinson to a team that consistently struggles to put up points. McCowan was relegated to the bench last year and saw her minutes come at strange times during a game. A bunch of average players fill out this roster.

Chelsea Gray additional and Liz Cambage return make the Aces just ridiculous. Stacked from top to bottom. Liz, A'ja, and Dearica will do whatever they want against every other front court.

Liberty get Ionescu back which will be exciting and will be really interesting to see if Natasha Howard, removed from the shadow of Breanna Stewart, is able to become a true star. Statistically she put up crazy numbers during some periods where Stewart was out. This NY team aside from these two are (to me) just the same average players up and down the roster.

Seattle will regress in my opinion. Candice Dupree has declined. Sue Bird will continue this trend. Jewel Lloyd is streaky. They will need Mabegor and/or Russell to take a HUGE step forwad this year if they want to compete.

Sparks might be one of the worst teams. Zahui B a nice pick up but is no Candace. Losing Gray hurts. Getting Toliver and Wheeler helps but Nneka seemed to take a small step back and Chiney in my opinion is one of the more overrated players. Thin roster...
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
choslamshe said:
Can't wait for the season. Some notable player movement. Rooting for the Sky, does Diamond Deshields bounce back? Can Azura Stevens take another step forward? Can they trade Stefanie Dolson for her weight in shrimp? Team's backcourt is still stacked and they should still dominate pace.

I like the Fever's additions of Lavender and Danielle Robinson to a team that consistently struggles to put up points. McCowan was relegated to the bench last year and saw her minutes come at strange times during a game. A bunch of average players fill out this roster.

Chelsea Gray additional and Liz Cambage return make the Aces just ridiculous. Stacked from top to bottom. Liz, A'ja, and Dearica will do whatever they want against every other front court.

Liberty get Ionescu back which will be exciting and will be really interesting to see if Natasha Howard, removed from the shadow of Breanna Stewart, is able to become a true star. Statistically she put up crazy numbers during some periods where Stewart was out. This NY team aside from these two are (to me) just the same average players up and down the roster.

Seattle will regress in my opinion. Candice Dupree has declined. Sue Bird will continue this trend. Jewel Lloyd is streaky. They will need Mabegor and/or Russell to take a HUGE step forwad this year if they want to compete.

Sparks might be one of the worst teams. Zahui B a nice pick up but is no Candace. Losing Gray hurts. Getting Toliver and Wheeler helps but Nneka seemed to take a small step back and Chiney in my opinion is one of the more overrated players. Thin roster...
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Thanks for sharing, CHO.

If the Chicago Sky don't challenge for the championship this season, I don't like their chances down the road.

It's now-or-never time for 35-year-old Candace Parker.

Chicago's aging and non-athletic backcourt of Courtney Vandersloot (age 32) and Allie Quigley (age 34) are not under contract for 2022.

You're right about the Las Vegas Aces and their stacked frontcourt.

Can you use the adjective "stacked" when discussing women's basketball?

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X-Files

X-Files

2
Dogs (closing lines, per SBR & Pinnacle) were 3-1 ATS.

Dallas +6 & +215 ML embarrassed LA in LA by more than 3 TDs, 94-71.

Unders were 2-1-1.

1Q unders 2-2.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Atlanta's horrible.

Four of my least favorite guards in the league: Chennedy Carter, Courtney Williams, Odyssey Sims and Aari McDonald.

All offense, no defense except for rookie Aari McDonald.

At least, McDonald is quick and pesky on the defensive end of the floor.

Carter, Williams and Sims don't know the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.

They're only as good as they shoot and they don't value the basketball.

The three ladies combined for nine turnovers and only eight assists in a season-opening 11-point loss to Connecticut.
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
choslamshe said:
Can't wait for the season. Some notable player movement. Rooting for the Sky, does Diamond Deshields bounce back? Can Azura Stevens take another step forward? Can they trade Stefanie Dolson for her weight in shrimp? Team's backcourt is still stacked and they should still dominate pace.

I like the Fever's additions of Lavender and Danielle Robinson to a team that consistently struggles to put up points. McCowan was relegated to the bench last year and saw her minutes come at strange times during a game. A bunch of average players fill out this roster.

Chelsea Gray additional and Liz Cambage return make the Aces just ridiculous. Stacked from top to bottom. Liz, A'ja, and Dearica will do whatever they want against every other front court.

Liberty get Ionescu back which will be exciting and will be really interesting to see if Natasha Howard, removed from the shadow of Breanna Stewart, is able to become a true star. Statistically she put up crazy numbers during some periods where Stewart was out. This NY team aside from these two are (to me) just the same average players up and down the roster.

Seattle will regress in my opinion. Candice Dupree has declined. Sue Bird will continue this trend. Jewel Lloyd is streaky. They will need Mabegor and/or Russell to take a HUGE step forwad this year if they want to compete.

Sparks might be one of the worst teams. Zahui B a nice pick up but is no Candace. Losing Gray hurts. Getting Toliver and Wheeler helps but Nneka seemed to take a small step back and Chiney in my opinion is one of the more overrated players. Thin roster...
Click to expand...


Go to the head of the class, CHO.
 
C

ComptrBob

EOG Master
fifty cint said:
Where did that guard from Oregon land?I think it was Oregon....a little help here
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You are probably thinking of Sabrina Ionescu.

Plays for the NY Liberty. Got hurt 3 games into last season. Averaging around 18 pts per game in 2 games so far this year.
 
O

ouch

EOG Dedicated
Ionescu had a monster game last night for the LIberty against Minnesota.

26 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds in what was only her 6th WNBA game.

She's going to be a great player if she isn't one already.
 
sharky99

sharky99

EOG Dedicated
John Kelly said:
Devastating injuries will sideline some key players for the entire 2021 season:

Las Vegas Aces - Angel McCoughtry (torn ACL...again)

Connecticut Sun - Alyssa Thomas (Achilles)

Washington Mystics - Alysha Clark (foot)

New York Liberty - Asia Durr (mental issues)
Click to expand...


There's a lot of the last one going on society right now, some WNBA winners may help the cause, enjoy the season!
 
X-Files

X-Files

2
The early 2 dogs were ATS & SU winners today.

Do they make it a triple play, menage a' trois, in the late game? Or does the fav get it?
 
John Kelly

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
ouch said:
Ionescu had a monster game last night for the LIberty against Minnesota.

26 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds in what was only her 6th WNBA game.

She's going to be a great player if she isn't one already.
Click to expand...


I love Sabrina's game.

She works on her weaknesses and her greatest strength may be her competitive fire.

After all, she modeled her game after Kobe.

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X-Files

X-Files

2
"YTD: 9-5

Massive card tonight. The schedule is so strange. Why have one game on Wednesday, five on Thursday and then one again on Friday? Doesnt make any sense at all.

Storm @ Fever

Storm won by 17 to the under the other night, they are -15.5 again with 165.5 as a total right now. This is the end of the 5 game road trip so they may be looking forward to going home for a bit of a rest but really cannot back/trust the Fever in any game right now. No new injuries out of the last game at all so expect the same again. Still cant believe Sue Bird hasn't had a rest yet. Maybe they want to play her all games knowing she will get 5 weeks rest when the Olympics are on. We all know the top 1-2 seeds are so important because since they changed the playoff format, teams that finished 1 or 2 have won the title.

Dream @ Mystics

So the Dream punished the Mystics the other night in Atlanta, can they do it again? No Tina Charles tonght, she is out for "personal reasons" and Cloud is a GTD and Kiara Leslie is questionable. Thibault might have a very small roster to deal with Atlanta for this game. That meeting the other night saw amazing shooting from the Dream (50%) and can they replicate that again against the Mystics missing clearly their best player so far of the season. Line is Dream -3.5 and 165.5 right now. Have to say I lean the Dream here given the players the Mystic are missing. Dream appear to have everyone on deck and Carter is a GTD.

Sun @ Sky

Sun could not get anything going offensively against the Storm the other night due to Jonquel not being there and now they face the Sky off their best performance of 2021. Sky look great with Candace and Quigley off the bench is good as well. Hard to see what the Sun can do without Jonquel or Alyssa Thomas. Without those two girls they struggle badly. Bonner also has a back injury which she apparently played through the other night. No new injuries at all and I think the line will be Sky -6 and 161.

Liberty @ Aces

Collapsed last night, Liberty looked great early on and then Aces took over and Laney had a James Harden turnover night. She was careless and thats disappointing and I expect her to step up after that poor game. Sabrina is a GTD again and the Aces are the same as the other night. The line is -15.5 and total is 172.5 right now. Not sure of that line because that is crazy high and the Aces get 8 days off after this match so they might take an early lead and then switch off allowing for a nice backdoor cover. I do like the under in this game as the Liberty are playing their 3rd game in 5 nights and thats a lot after two fairly high scoring games. Will see if Sabrina plays.

Lynx @ Wings

No idea what Reeve thought about her teams performance against the Sky the other day but she should have been mortified. They were terrible and play a very good Wings team. Lean the Wings in this match up as I think the line will be close to a PK and total of 168. Lynx decimated with injuries and going with a very small roster with 8 active players. The Wings are deep in all positions and I really like this team a lot. Sometimes though I wish Arike would just stop shooting and pass the ball around to other players who are hot. They played poorly against the Aces and still got the over so I expect a better bounce back game tonight against the Lynx who's travel woes continue as they are 0-3 on the road so far this season. No injuries for the Wings since their last game.

BOL everyone, enjoy the big card"

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Aussie's thursday - WNBA | Covers

YTD: 9-5 Massive card tonight. The schedule is so strange. Why have one game on Wednesday, five on Thursday and then one | Learn more at Covers Forum
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Massive brutality on thursday!! (24-13 max!!) - WNBA | Covers

Wednesday 1-1 +96.5 units all +47.25 units POSTED Well, helluva lot of games. Helluva a lot of injuries and helluva alo | Learn more at Covers Forum
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X-Files

X-Files

2
John Kelly said:
WNBA: 620 Atlanta Dream +4 (-110) widely available

Chennedy Carter returns for the Dream but now Tiffany Hayes is out.

Atlanta is looking to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Lynx.

Here's hoping the game ends on a buzzer-beating shot.
Click to expand...

Winner.
 
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