The season finale vs Chicago is the only scheduled game this season not happening at CareFirst. So I'm naturally wondering, are the plans to play playoff games in Southeast or downtown at CapOne?
Any STH know if a decision was made? If they're playing one game downtown, that means the arena's in good enough shape for 3-4 more.
Earlier this season, as the triple doubles became a regular occurence, it felt like Most Improved Player was Jessica Shepard's for the taking. Lately though... it's hard to argue anything other than Shakira Austin.
As for the other contenders...
Mabrey runs hot & cold and her team's lost 10 straight. It also feels like her statistical climb has been more about having the greenest of green lights on a team that's not trying to win.
The Fire's Carleton, DiLeo & Leite (and Engstler) are all improved but they also feel like good stat/bad expansion team situations.
Dom Malonga is just plain good, and I feel like she's simply improving at the level expected of someone who'll be MVP in 3 seasons from now. I'm not diminishing her progress at all, but best player in the world feels like her destiny, she just isn't there.... yet.
Hiedeman has gotten better but the team is bad.. so so bad. Ditto for Rae Burrell. Lyss feels more about becoming uber efficient playing off the reigning MVP.
For me, it's gotta be Kira. She's gone from "really solid player" (May) to "damn, she's borderline unplayable" (June) to "Wow, she's finally putting it all together and we're winning!" (July) to "Yeahhhhh, she might be all-W at this point" (August).
She has a team with a bunch of issues within striking distance of the 5th seed. Her game has gone to a completely different level where she looks borderline unstoppable offensively while playing all-W level rim protection. That her team has overtaken an (arguably) more talented Wings team in the standings feels like it makes the case for Kira over Jess.
What say ye?!?
Most preseason predictions had the Mystics fighting with Seattle for worst record. If you think this is hyperbole go check out any season preview.
When Monumental Sports President Michael Winger fired his GM on the eve of the draft (and made Sydney Johnson the nominal Head Of Basketball operations) then subsequently made few signings in free agency the team started the season with the second youngest roster in WNBA history. They started sluggish in May and June, somewhat understandably. And a lot of people (including an abnormal number who thought Johnson was the GM) were complaining loudly about Johnson. I was one of those critics. His rotations were inconsistent, he overplayed Amoore, he didn’t play some other youngsters at all, and the late game play calling was spotty. There was a sense that he was just here on borrowed time until a better coach was chosen to run this team once it got serious about winning.
A funny thing has happened since then: Shakira Austin has been playing at an all W (and all defense) level. The rotation has slimmed down. Citron has become the PG in a devastating Death Lineup that includes Cotie McMahon. And suddenly a team most outsiders thought should tank (which never was the goal, thanks to that Chicago pick swap) suddenly is in 5th place and squarely in the playoffs. It has beaten every team in the league except Los Angeles.
Establishing an identity with a young team is incredibly difficult but this team leads the league in rebounds, paint points, free throw attempts and is 3rd in defense. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a young team to play defense at an elite level? They’re gonna send some team home early in the playoffs and Johnson is a big part of that.
I mean no disrespect to Reeves or Nakase, but the degree of difficulty with pulling off what Johnson is doing feels much higher. Much like his team (winners of 7 straight) he has improved as the season has progressed.
He should be WNBA coach of the year.
Settle this debate for me, because my daughter and I were trying to figure this out at the game the other night. I don't think Pax presents as anything other than a male panda/gender neutral mascot. It's clearly not an Ellie situation in which the character both presents as a specific gender and has an entire identity built around that gender.
Pax dresses in nothing but the team's jersey. Doesn't have any routines or gestures that would generally be identified as feminine. And having interacted with the person inside the suit multiple times up close (it even sat down beside us as a game last month) it appears pretty clear to me that guy's inside. If you ask AI, you generally get "Pax is male", but sometimes (again, depending on phrasing) you might get female. The team's website is of no help.
What's the consensus here?
When the Mystics matched Toronto's offer sheet for Shakira Austin (something that was always gonna happen, see Kira's own comments) most people assumed they were set at the big positions with Kiki already here. But the Mystics front office stunned some people (mostly people who don't understand that Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger is calling the shots here, not Sydney Johnson) by drafting Lauren Betts 4th overall.
Betts didn't make sense on paper, but for those who follow the team (and its connection with Monumental Sports' brother franchise the NBA's Wizards) this was a well understood blueprint for team building. This team's braintrust came from the OKC Thunder where "take the best available player and figure it out later" is the ethos. You can argue all day about whether or not this philosophy worked for the Wizards during their rebuild (I contend it did), but one thing's clear, it was the right call for the Mystics to pick Betts.
The Mystics are a somewhat surprising 14-12 entering the final stretch with wins over all 7 teams in front of them in standings but Dallas, whom they play twice in the coming weeks. They're doing that with defense (3rd ranked), rebounding (first) and FTAs (first). That this team has been able to cobble together a winning record despite a terrible PG rotation and inconsistent 3pt shooting while having the second youngest roster in league history is a testament to the front office's approach working. They're winning right now, and have all sorts of resources to ensure they're building a sustainable contender in the long term.
Betts was the best player available at four, and the team smartly picked her over need (particularly at PG) because rebuilding teams shouldn't draft for need. Betts, despite only playing 16mpg and averaging 7ppg, is integral to that success. She gives them three starting caliber bigs including a 2x all star, and a shoulda been all star. She can play in 2 big combos with either of them since Kiki/Kira are both shooting 3's now and are good at the very thing (defensive rebounding) Betts isn't. That's a competitive advantage few teams can boast and given their control of Chicago's assets over the next 2 drafts, they have the luxury of addressing their other roster needs in 27' and 28'.
If you watch games, you'll see Betts is finally settling in after a shaky start. She's playing a lot more now that the rotation is being shortened (at the expense of Dugalic, an impressive prospect in her own right). She's getting to her postup actions quicker, protecting the rim without fouling, and (as always) making her FTs. It's natural for fans to look at the 3 players picked in front of her and ask if this is the best environment for her to develop. The early results say it is (look at Kiki, Kira and Sonia for proof) and for the Mystics, there's zero incentive to trade anyone anytime soon with Kira under contract for two more seasons and Kiki still two years away from free agency herself. This team is waaay under the cap, has a load of draft assets and a bright future because this front office knows what it's doing.
This whole thing works, and Betts is a big reason why.
This team has been bad since that 2016-17 campaign that saw Peak John Wall, home court in the first round and Game 7 vs Boston. Since then, things have gone sideways, from Wall's injuries, to Beal's supermax, to the complete and utter lack of meaningful games during the Dawkins/Winger rebuild.
Now, have a decade (shudder!) of low-to-no expectations, we finally are going into the season with a team chock full of talent and suddenly, we're supposed to win games again.
As a fan, this feels a bit foreign, TBH. I haven't come into a season with the team playing high leverage games in forever. I honestly don't even know if I remember what it feels like, but I'm sure it involves a lot of anxiety and second guessing the coach. Oddly, that's how I feel watching the Mystics (not a perfect analog, granted) this season, so maybe that's how it feels.
Anyone else both excited and slightly anxious about playing games that matter again or is it just me?
They shouldn't trade the pick, and if you're a body language expert, you can simply watch this video of Michael Winger after the lottery and it'll tell you why.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOofQiOx_Tk
In short, this guy understands the value of that pick to the fanbase. He knows that even if you get an equally talented player at #2, the good fan sentiment that's surrounding this team would take a dip. That trade would be scrutinized to no end.
And yeah, most times when the #1 pick was traded away, it's resulted in a bad result for someone. That won't be happening here. Winger said this pick wasn't a reward for the organization, it was one for the fans.
Winger gets it. That pick is staying in DC and it's gonna be used on AJ Dybantsa.
End of story.
Two NBA teams having a uniform mid-off.
A lot of NBA teams have great uniforms. A lot of NBA teams do not. Here are the teams most badly in need of a rebrand, in alphabetical order.
Brooklyn Nets - We get it, you leaned all the way into black and white because Jay-Z thought it was a good idea. You also leaned all the way into one of the most bland uniform templates possible. Add a pop of color and this might work. And enough of the wordmark/numbers same color as the jersey nonsense. This isn't the NCAA.
Cleveland Cavaliers - Some great ideas but amateurish execution. Just adding some neck/arm trim would immediately elevate these from looking like practice uniforms. The wordmark is top tier and the inline numbers are a nice touch. This could be a great uni with a little more work.
Dallas Mavericks - It's wild to think that this basic template has been in place since 2021. It's past time. Fix this, you lucked into Cooper Flagg. Enough. Lean more into the green, navy blues are so 1998.
Houston Rockets - How this team keeps rebranding every 5 years and somehow ends up with a less inspiring result each time escapes me. Ketchup and mustard are a great color combo. Go back to this.
Memphis Grizzlies - A solid template that's simply outlived its shelf life, and like Houston, feels more and more bland with each iteration.
Minnesota Timberwolves - The Washington Wizards template this team copied resulted in an uninspiring uniform that minimized green and resulted in a morass of uninspiring blues. Where's the lime green? Where are the trees? You have the NBA's most engaging superstar, don't stick him in this lame outfit.
New Orleans - Fixing the wordmark size a few years ago was a huge upgrade, but for one of the country's most dynamic cities wearing such a meh uniform outfit is inexcusable. Why not lean all the way into Mardi Gras colors?
OKC Thunder - It's waaaay past time. You have great colors, do more with the yellow.
Toronto Raptors - The whole chevron design just feels uninspiring, especially given where this team started. You can add purple to black and red as an accent color. And please, no more OVO nonsense.
Washington Wizards - This is my team and I think the basic design is great. The colors just don't match, but this team's City Edition showed a color scheme (gold/copper & black) that's unique in the NBA and might be great inspiration for a new approach.
