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▲ 5 r/washingtonmystics

Where will the playoff games be played?

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.

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u/TheAveragebroShow — 18 hours ago
▲ 122 r/washingtonmystics+1 crossposts

[OC] The youngest teams in WNBA history, by Basketball Reference average age

Apologies for very basic formatting, graphic design is NOT my passion.

I made this because people say the Mystics are “the youngest team in the WNBA”, but it goes beyond that. My Mystics are the youngest team in WNBA history, ever.

u/Chartate101 — 1 day ago
▲ 216 r/washingtonmystics+1 crossposts

Shakira Austin HAS To Be The Most Improved Player, Right??!

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?!?

u/TheAveragebroShow — 1 day ago
▲ 14 r/washingtonmystics

CLUB 52 Sound off

How are we feeling about renewals?

I'm irritated that I'm paying so much and I can't even guarantee I'm getting all the emails. Had no IDEA about the meet up today.

Mystics really need to do a better job of taking care of their STH

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u/Justtojoke — 1 day ago
▲ 11 r/washingtonmystics

First round playoff

Who do y’all want in the first round of playoffs (from teams that would be realistic, like obvi not LA or Phoenix)?

Out of the top 8 teams, I’d love to get Dallas, New York, or Atlanta. But the mystics would have to go on a real win streak and one of the top 4 teams would have to lose a lot.

Realistically, it’s gonna be one of the top 4 teams. I kinda want Golden State instead of Vegas or Minnesota. Or even Indiana. What do y’all think??

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u/Apprehensive_Bus_134 — 3 days ago
▲ 6 r/washingtonmystics

Why isn't Shakira in the MVP conversation?

Value is the key word, isn't it?

A'ja Wilson is the world's best player but she doesn't have as much value on the upcoming women's FIBA team as she does on her own Aces team. Likewise, does she have as much value on her Aces team as Shakira has on this Mystics team? I think Aces still make playoffs without A'ja. I think Mystics finish bottom 5 without Shakira. Posting my full take below where I still have A'ja winning the MVP, but it's crazy to me that Shakira isn't even in the discussion.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WNBANonEchoChamber/s/SJBG1CSCnm

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u/Careful-Painting3214 — 3 days ago
▲ 12 r/washingtonmystics

Madison Booker Might be the Best Option

I don't know...Madison could super charge the offense! Move Sonia to the 2 and take A LOT of scoring pressure off her at the same time.

Then the team could trade for a vet PG.

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u/eli-bradley — 4 days ago
▲ 324 r/washingtonmystics+12 crossposts

The Cost of Winning in the WNBA

The WNBA's salary structure creates some absurd value gaps. A rookie on a scale contract and a max-salary veteran can produce nearly identical win shares while one earns five times the other.

I pulled every player's 2026 salary from Her Hoops Stats and win share totals from Basketball Reference (as of 8/11/26) and calculated win shares per $1M to see who's actually delivering on their current deals.

The results sort into four tiers, from elite value down to contracts that aren't returning much of anything. A few names in the top group won't surprise anyone. A few in the bottom group might.

Note: I put a minimum of 250 minutes played, so players like Napheesa Collier (MIN), Ezi Magbegor (SEA), Brionna Jones (ATL), and Satou Sabally (NYL) did not qualify yet.

u/HighLowWorkflow — 6 days ago
▲ 14 r/washingtonmystics

The Sky Have 10 Games Left and Are on A Losing Streak

They last lost to Seattle and have a game tonight against Seattle. It would be tremendously helpful if they lost to Seattle, Connecticut and Toronto because the rest of their schedule is a beast. Losing those games could catapult us in to the top 2!

Remaining 2026 Schedule

Date Opponent Location
Sun, 16 Aug @  Seattle Storm Climate Pledge Arena
Tue, 18 Aug vs  New York Liberty Wintrust Arena
Fri, 21 Aug vs  Golden State Valkyries Wintrust Arena
Sun, 23 Aug vs  Indiana Fever Wintrust Arena
Tue, 25 Aug @  Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena
Sat, 29 Aug @  New York Liberty Barclays Center
Thu, 17 Sep vs  Washington Mystics Wintrust Arena
Sat, 19 Sep @  Atlanta Dream State Farm Arena
Tue, 22 Sep vs  Toronto Tempo Wintrust Arena

NOTE: Their last game is on September 24th against the Mystics. I could not get that last row to appear.

The young ladies have a chance to stick it to them twice!

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u/eli-bradley — 4 days ago
▲ 50 r/washingtonmystics

Your roster is amazing

As a Toronto resident and Tempo fan, I still cant help but love Mystics. Your “Young Hoes” are absolutely so exciting to watch. The amount of great vibes and potential on this team is gobsmacking. I would happily trade everyone on Tempo for this roster.

Hope springs eternal for all of you!

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u/sssootssspritesss — 4 days ago
▲ 106 r/washingtonmystics+11 crossposts

The Three-Point Revolution

The evolution of three-point attempt rate (3PAr) helps explain how the WNBA has changed since its inaugural season in 1997. In the league’s first two seasons, less than 20% of field goal attempts were threes. The rate climbed to a then-record 26.6% in 2012 before jumping to 28.4% in 2018.

That 2018 season marked the beginning of the three-point revolution. From 1997-2017, the league’s average 3PAr was 22.9%. Since 2018, it has risen to 32.7%. This season, teams are attempting threes on 36.9% of their field goal attempts, which would eclipse last year’s record of 36.0%.

The increase has been especially dramatic among expansion teams. Golden State set the record last season at 45.8% and is currently second all-time at 45.1%. The Fire currently rank fifth all-time at 42.4%. The Liberty have seven of the top 12 seasons all-time, one from each of the last seven seasons. This year’s team is on pace to set another franchise record.

The volume has increased without a major decline in efficiency. League-wide three-point percentage (3P%) was 33.7% from 1997-2017 and is 34.3% since 2018.

Even posts have caught the three-point bug. Centers (according to positions listed on Basketball Reference) went from attempting threes on just 6.0% of their field goal attempts from 1997-2017 to 15.1% since 2018, a 2.5x increase, while their 3P% improved from 32.0% to 33.7%.

The graphs and tables sort every qualifying post player (minimum of eight games) from 2017 and 2026 into five shooting profiles using identical thresholds: 22.6% 3PAr for volume and 34.3% 3P% for efficiency. Only five posts were high-volume and efficient in 2017 compared to 13 in 2026. Meanwhile, the number of posts who attempted zero threes fell from 17 to six.

The change extends beyond the overall numbers. Five posts who played in both seasons completely changed their shot profiles by significantly increasing their own three-point volume.

Until three-point efficiency starts to fall, posts will keep stretching the floor.

u/HighLowWorkflow — 6 days ago
▲ 57 r/washingtonmystics

It's time to hand Soni the keys (pt 1)

I was looking at clips from from the play by play of last game when a series of offensive possessions caught my eye.

Soni's bringing the ball up with JY0 guarding her. Betts is moving up as if to set a high ball screen, but before she even gets close, Soni picks up the pace and blows past Jackie. She meets A'ja at the rim, then spins around and nails a fadeaway jumper.

The small hesi after getting past JY0 isn't too relevant to how this play pans out, but it's a good sign of Sonia's growing poise as a ball handler.

The next trip down the court, Soni takes a hard dribble before the screen again, which baits a big reaction out of JY0. But Soni's just probing . . . until she isn't.

Establishing the threat of the pull up 10 footer is a good investment.

JY0's clearly got tired legs, so Jewell picks up Soni on the next possession. Jewell does a good job turning her hips and keeping up when Soni starts to go around the logo, so Soni calmly changes directions into a Kiki screen. Another brief hesitation before a hard dribble into the paint, but A'ja is in her space this time. No problem: she floats a pass over the top to Kiki which draws a foul.

Notice that Sonia seems very aware of A'ja's length when making this pass.

Soni caps off this four possession stretch of offense with a pick 6.

The defensive play isn't too related to the rest of this post, but it's good to remember that she does this too.

In this short series of possessions, Soni's offensive growth is on full display. She's doesn't have a ball-on-a-string dribble or a superhuman first step, but a tight enough handle and quick enough burst coupled with mature beyond her years pace control let her create advantages in the pick and roll.

You can see her basketball IQ really shine in these possessions. A good take gets a good defender to adapt, but Soni is already trying to bait the adaptation on the next take. A pull up jumper punishes a hesitant A'ja, so Sonia is looking to float a pass over when A'ja respects the midrange on the next trip down the court.

All of this combined with her growing finishing ability in the 3-10 ft area has convinced me: it's time to hand Soni the keys to the offense.

Playing with pace

Soni's ability to create advantages in the pick and roll is based on her excellent pace control. It's a breath of fresh air to watch a cool, calm, and collected Soni manipulate the defense with hesitation and deceleration when our other ball handlers are constantly rushing their pace or are permanently set to go at full speed.

Watch how Soni turns on the jets while behind Betts to get Jewell moving, then hesitates, then accelerates to the rim, only to decelerate for the open layup finish as Jewell flies by.

Who cares if Betts barely sets screens if you can play like this around her.

Apparently Reddit caps videos to 5 per post, so here's a link to part two on my profile.

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u/ODSOTR — 5 days ago
▲ 36 r/washingtonmystics

Mystics will win 9 of their final 11 games

With 11 games left, our 7-game winning streak is over, but dropping those two road games to the Aces was actually the best thing that could have happened to this roster. We weren't going to win out. Those losses uncovered the exact adjustments we need to make to absolute tear through this final stretch and head into the playoffs white-hot.

If we want to hit that 9-2 finish, it comes down to three quick fixes:

  • Integrate, Don't Just Insert Laney-Hamilton: Forcing her into heavy minutes right away disrupted the rhythm that won us 7 straight. She brings championship defense, but her minutes shouldn't come at the expense of what was already clicking.
  • Protect Cotie McMahon's Minutes: Our free-throw generation plummeted against Vegas because Cotie’s minutes were slashed to 21 and 15. Even in just 15 minutes, she still forced 6 free throws. We need her downhill aggression on the floor to punish defenses.
  • Cut the Self-Inflicted Turnovers: Vegas didn't overwhelm us with pressure; we gave possessions away with careless, lazy passes. That’s a discipline problem, not a talent problem, and it's the easiest thing to fix before the playoffs.

We don't need to reinvent our offense. We just need to get back to what makes us dangerous.

I've posted in more detail here for anyone interested ... https://www.reddit.com/r/WNBANonEchoChamber/s/4e2CzQDtWz

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u/Careful-Painting3214 — 6 days ago