Hoops

2019 WNBA Season

Congrats to the Washington Mystics - 2019 WNBA champs with a 3-2 series win over the Connecticut Sun

Emma Meesseman named Finals MVP, and fully deserved it. So clutch.


Now Ariel Atkins needs to get her butt down here ASAP so she can start tearing this league up.

Bec Allen again on fire.
She just had a 20 point 2nd quarter to drag NY back into the game v Minnesota.

Career high for Bec Allen today with 21 points in 17 minutes off the bench, along with 4 assists & 4 blocks (a couple of big ones among them)

Luuuc, you think opals will be?

Mitchell / Ebzery
Talbot / Nicholson / Wallace
Allen / Ohea
George / Smith / Magbegor
Cambage / Tolo

Reserves
PG-Lavey or Mangakahia
SG-Whitcomb* or Seekamp
SF-Blicavs
PF-Griffin* or Aokuso
C-Bunton

Maybe Cole they fail to qualify 3x3.

35 minutes for Sami - 5 triples and 8 assists. No Stewie, no Bird, no Loyd, and they still get a road win. Howard playing like an MVP.

Talbot is having a pretty good month. Just needs to slightly dial back on some of the shots/moves she attempts but being a starter is agreeing with her.

A good season for Blicavs could push out one of smith or magbegor, same with Aokuso.


Whitcomb and Talbot having pretty good battle atm.

Luuuc, you think opals will be?

Mitchell / Ebzery
Talbot / Nicholson / Wallace
Allen / Ohea
George / Smith / Magbegor
Cambage / Tolo

Reserves
PG-Lavey or Mangakahia
SG-Whitcomb* or Seekamp
SF-Blicavs
PF-Griffin* or Aokuso
C-Bunton

Maybe Cole they fail to qualify 3x3.

They’ve both appeared in the pages of SLAM before—dating back to when they were teenagers. Since then, they’ve gone from prodigies to two of the most dominant forces in women’s basketball. Now, they’re about to become just the third and fourth women to grace the cover of SLAM. Cambage and Wilson are not taking the moment for granted.

Meanwhile Leilani with 18 points (incl. 4/4 3PT), 11 assists & 5 boards tonight. And some people here think she's past being able to play for the Opals??
Not so good from an aussie perspective is Smith not even seeing the court until garbage time. It's been a steep learning curve for her this season.

Liz Cambage today revived the tradition of Australia's best player trying to pull out the hair of an LA Sparks centre. Liz needs to improve her technique though because (1) no hair was successfully removed, and (2) she was busted and copped a flagrant foul for the attempt.

Nice Bec Allen video interview:
(the full length one is about halfway down the page)

‘There’s Not Enough Teams’: Rebecca Allen On State Of WNBA & New York Liberty

Griffin is injured and Whitcomb is needed more.
Cole, Garrick and kunek are aiming for 3x3 in Tokyo hence why they are not on the list.

Very sad to see picked in Opals in front of Kelsey Griffin

True luuuuc, a couple of early avoidable fouls.

Needs to stop reaching for every hint of a potential block or steal she can see, too. Got away with it a lot in college but her opponents are much bigger, faster and better now.

Smith needs a ball handling coach when she gets home. Needs to spend alot of time with burnette or someone.
Without significant improvement in that area of her game, she'll struggle in the wnba.

Not related to the 2019 season but a fun throwback

Waves2Lynx - there's also:
- Alana Beard (LA) played a season for the Capitals
- Natasha Cloud (Washington) - Fire
- Carolyn Swords (Vegas) - Flames

How does wiese keep making the team?

The 2019 WNBA season is upon us, and it’s an Australian who has created the biggest storyline of the off-season. Flipping the league on its head was Liz Cambage who was granted a trade away from the Dallas Wings, heading to Las Vegas and instantly turning the Aces into a championship contender.

Aussies In The WNBA: 2019 Season Preview

Leilani Mitchell was the final cut from Phoenix today to finalise their roster.
Her & Talbot were purely victims of the salary cap, and I'd be very surprised if Leilani wasn't snapped up quickly off the waiver wire.

I don't think the door is closed on Seekamp's WNBA career.

George and Seekamp are not wnba level so no surprise.

Phoenix have traded Steph Talbot to Minnesota for a 2nd round draft pick.
Dallas have cut Cayla George & Nicole Seekamp

The other rookie played good too. Cunningham.

Handy first pre-season game for Alanna Smith this morning. Shots weren't dropping but the rest of her numbers look good:
25 min, 5 pts (1/6 2P, 1/4 3P), 7 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk, 1 t/o.

I'd say a no show since she hasn't been in camp for 2 days in Dallas.

With the 2019 season just around the corner, does anyone know what team Liz would be playing for?
Initially all the noise was about LA, but that door looked closed. Could a return to Dallas be on the cards, or a no-show at all?

Even if she said she was going to LA and had signed a contract with LA and had tickets to LA booked and had her suitcases were packed and she was in a taxi to the airport there is still no guarantee that she would actually go to LA

Rhymes with los angeles ...on the weekly...

Who knows where Cambage is going...

Ahead of the WNBA draft, some cherry-picked thoughts from media conference calls:

Q. I'd like to hear from Bill and from Derek about what their thoughts are on Alanna Smith from Stanford, and also Ezi Magbegor, who's been playing in the WNBL all year in Australia.

BILL LAIMBEER:
Smith, shooter. I pick No. 1, so she's not on our radar. I don't anticipate her going that far down to be in the mix of looking at her. As for the Australian kid, same thing. I don't have any [other] picks. All I have is the No. 1 overall pick, so I really haven't paid that much attention to her.

DEREK FISHER:
Yes, Alanna Smith is a really talented player. She's really versatile, which I think will be great for her transition into the WNBA, regardless of where she's drafted. She has a skill set that I think will fit in on any roster basically.
And Ezi Magbegor, who's a little bit younger and still developing as a player, but at 6-3, 6-4, she plays big. She has long arms and plays the game with a high activity level that I think also will work well for her as she transitions.


Q. Cheryl, you played Ezi Magbegor at the World Cup as part of USA Basketball. What did you make of her World Cup performances, and how did it affect her draft stock?

CHERYL REEVE: She's a player that's definitely younger. She didn't earn minutes in terms of the quality part of the game, if you will. It was more when her team was up by a lot. So that's hard to tell in terms of what is she capable of doing. I think Alanna Smith was really, really good, and that was a player that was playing in front of her. It's a young player that certainly has some upside. If she was not injured over in the Australian league, it probably would have helped her a little bit more in terms of raising her stock. But I think that people have a handle for her, and I think she'd be a value pick outside of the first round, and I think that's probably where you'll see her go.


Q. This is a question for Coach Fisher and maybe Coach Laimbeer if you want to weigh in. There is a lot of chatter that Liz Cambage wants to go to Los Angeles but also that Las Vegas wanted to trade for her. Obviously we don't know how that all stands right now, but from both of your standpoints, has the uncertainty about where she might play or if she's going to play this season impacted what you guys do with your draft?

DEREK FISHER:
I'll go first since I'm the younger and way less experienced guy here, and then Bill can follow up. For me, it's easy because of [this being] my first year and being the head coach only and not really having the responsibilities in terms of roster, draft, trade conversations, et cetera. Bill will be talking more to Penny [Toler], and Penny will be talking more to [the] Dallas [Wings], et cetera. So for me, I'm more focused on the players we do have and preparing our season in that regard. In terms of planning for Liz playing or not, yes, because if she's in Dallas, you have to plan accordingly to play against her. In terms of her possibly being on our roster at some point, I can't really comment on -- it's more of, like I said, Bill may have more insight because of his role there in Las Vegas and being involved in those conversations.

BILL LAIMBEER:
This is interesting. Lots of rumors. We got thrown in the rumor mix about Liz. The media likes to pump up big stories. There are a million rumors that are out there, from tampering to all kinds of stuff. It's a weird scenario going on right now that I don't think anybody really has a handle on what the final outcome is going to be.


Q. I was going to ask about a couple of Bay Area players, Cal's Kristine Anigwe and Stanford's Alanna Smith. LaChina, I know you spent some time with Cal. What were your impressions of Kristine? And Kara, if you don't mind talking about Alanna Smith.

KARA LAWSON: Smith is a perfect fit for the pro style game. She's somebody that has good height. She's somebody that can really shoot it. A lot of times we talk about post players shooting it, and it's a small part of their game. She's made over 80 threes this year. That's incredible. Shooting it at a 40 percent clip. She can rebound at a high level. She can block shots. She can handle the ball. So I think she's very well-suited for the next level.
I would be surprised if she didn't go in the first round because of what she brings. She brings great toughness. I think she's going to fit because she's comfortable in any spot on the floor. She's comfortable on the perimeter. When I say any spot, I mean placement of spot, not necessarily any position with the ball in her hands, and she can hurt you with the ball in her hands in different positions. The other thing I think that she does well is she can blend with different types of players. That should make her attractive to any style because she can fit with most teams' styles in this league. I like her a lot. I think she made a good jump this year having to be a go-to player and really thriving in that role.

think they need to reverse Magbegor and Smith, Smith should be 4 Magbegor 11

certainly dont think its because Syracuse was knocked out of the tournament . Ezi didnt even play in it, shes still first round pick

WNBA.com have made a page to link all of the latest mock drafts

What They’re Saying: 2019 WNBA Draft


Because Syracuse have been knocked out of the tournament, Mangakahia now has 3 days to decide whether or not to nominate for this year's draft.

Frolings worst season. Don't think so...

Alicia Froling got a mention in the latest High Post Hoops mock draft:
WNBA Mock Draft Big Board 5.0: Filling out rounds two and three

Sorry, forgot about Talbot.

Mitchell, Seekamp, Whitcomb, Allen, Griffin, George so far.
Cambage maybe...

In good form. Gonna be good to watch.

Will Griffin be signing anywhere this year now she is healthy?

Seekamp was close to a second / third round pick in a previous draft after college. So well done.

McCarty and Seekamp running the show for Dallas.
Diggins out this Season?

such a solid player other than that awful 'jump shot' it's a pity that never got fixed during college

Not sure Seekamp will suite the wnba, hopefully I'm proven wrong.

Nicole Seekamp has just signed with the Dallas Wings. Good to see the Aussie connection there still strong with Cayla George and Assistant Coach, Erin Phillips.

No news on Liz's trade demands, or whether she might remain in Dallas.

Maya Moore just announced that she will be sitting out the 2019 WNBA season

I will not be playing professional basketball this year.

My focus in 2019 will not be on professional basketball, but will instead be on the people in my family, as well as on investing my time in some ministry dreams that have been stirring in my heart for many years.

I think Ezi could play straight away if the right team got her (a team that already has plenty of firepower and could just leave her with clean-up duties offensively)
It's rare for a 3rd round pick to end up on a team though. On average about 21 of the 36 players drafted will play that year.

Oh wow, Smith at #5 in Mechelle Voepel's latest mock draft.
Magbegor at #8, Mangakahia at #32

WNBA mock draft 2019: Predicting all three rounds