Game 7: A'ja Wilson's in the MVP conversation, Seimone Augustus got revenge, and more
Also, let's stan Crystal Dangerfield.
Hello, it’s me, Matt.
Every team in the WNBA has completed seven games, meaning we are about one-third of the way through the 2020 season. WTF.
If you’ve been merely skimming games this year, I had a great chat on Saturday with Athlete Ally Gina Paradiso, Justine Brown, a manager on Tennessee’s women’s basketball team when Candace Parker played, and Alex Bazzell, a WNBA/NBA skills trainer. You can watch our conversation here.
Now for the usual reminders — you can subscribe to Here’s Basketball for seven dollars per month to receive WNBA fantasy and daily fantasy tips six times per week using this link:
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Also also, the Las Vegas Aces are my forever enemies after sending this official injury report:
If you missed my haircut debacle from a few months ago, that was definitely something.
Ok, I’ll shut up now.
Here’s Basketball.
This week, the players of the WNBA are honoring Michelle Cusseaux before games as part of the Say Her Name campaign. Cusseaux was killed by police in 2014 during a mental-health facility pickup. The officer who shot her was merely demoted.
Last week, players honored Sandra Bland. The week before that, players honored Breonna Taylor, and continue to do so, wearing her name on the back of their jerseys.
Seimone Augustus got her revenge against the Lynx
Augustus has been very open with her disappointment in the Minnesota Lynx, the franchise she played for during her entire 14-year journey until now. Free agency negotiations went miserably over the winter, and Augustus opted to instead play for the Lynx’s biggest rival, the L.A. Sparks.
Sunday’s matchup was Augustus’s first game against her former team, and she came out aggressive-as-hell on offense. She finished the game with 13 points on nine shots, and three rebounds. The Sparks won, 97-81.
A’ja Wilson, welcome to the MVP race
It’s still early in the season, but Wilson had a helluva second week, posting 19 points in a win against Dallas, 20 in a win over Washington, 26 in a win over L.A., and 31 in a win over New York. Sheesh.
On the season, Wilson’s averaging 21 points on 49 percent shooting with 10 rebounds and two assists. Breanna Stewart miiight have her by a hair (19 points and eight rebounds on 46 percent shooting, with better defense), but it’s definitely close between those two. Without Liz Cambage, the paint is all Wilson’s.
Crystal Dangerfield is way too good to have been a 2nd round pick
Dangerfield only stands 5-foot-5, but the UConn guard’s talents were always obvious. She has speed, she can shoot, and she reads the floor well. It was unreal to watch every team pass her up in the first round of April’s draft.
On Sunday, Dangerfield kept the Lynx in a closer game than the final score suggests. She finished with 29 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-7 from range. She also had four assists.
I mean, look at the shots she was finishing:
The Lynx lost, but seeing Dangerfield play as well as she did is exciting as hell. Second round picks don’t often make that big of an impact.
ESPN released an E:60 on Sue Bird
The 15-minute documentary showed Bird open about how she found her voice, and included interviews with her UConn head coach, Geno Auriemma, girlfriend, Megan Rapinoe, and former teammate, Diana Taurasi.
Tiffany Mitchell made Ariel Atkins TAKE A SEAT
Sheesh. This tweet. Sorry, Ariel.
Now, for the bad.
Diana Taurasi got hurt, but it hopefully it isn’t as bad as we think
Taurasi has debatably been the best point guard in the league over the first two weeks of the season, which is something we weren’t sure we’d ever see again after she had back surgery in 2019 and missed almost the entire season. That made it even more crushing to see her hold her side after tossing a behind-the-back pass in the third quarter of the Mercury-Storm game on Saturday.
Taurasi had an MRI on her lower back/oblique, and it revealed no structural damage, according to the Mercury. The team said it was "reassuring that this injury is not related to Taurasi's 2019 back surgery."
She’s out for Monday’s game against the Wings, and we’re waiting to see what her timeline to return might be.
A shot clock error might’ve screwed the Liberty over
First off, shouts to the Liberty, a team I said should be aired less on national TV that then immediately proceeded to beat the reigning champion Mystics, and lose by just two points to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. They might’ve even won had the shot clock started at the right time.
With .5 seconds left to play, down two points, a perfectly designed out-of-bounds play had Liberty forward Leaonna Odom catch the ball unguarded at the rim. But before she even touched the ball, the clock sounded. It was an accident. Unreal.
It’s up for debate if she would’ve had enough time to come down with the ball and go back up again in .5 seconds, but now we’ll never know. By rule, the Liberty had to redo the play, which was broken up by the Aces, who held on to win, 78-76. Damn.
Ok, maybe the Mystics are missing all of their star players who aren’t playing this year
The Mystics were the WNBA’s biggest Week 1 surprise, winning three of their first four games, including a blowout over the Storm without Elena Delle Donne, Kristi Toliver, Tina Charles, Natasha Cloud or LaToya Sanders. But since then, they’ve come back to Earth, and then dropped some. They lost a respectable game to the Aces by six points earlier week, but then gave the Liberty their only win of the season so far in an 8-point loss, and followed that with a 7-point loss to the Fever.
Washington looks all out of sorts, and Aerial Powers missed Sunday’s game to a hip injury that she’s expected to miss even more time with. We miiight’ve been too quick to crown the Mystics after their hot start. They’re playoff-caliber if Powers can come backs soon, but maybe that Storm game was a fluke.
Additional notes:
Sue Bird, Epiphany Prince, Natalie Achonwa, Victoria Vivians, Stefanie Dolson, Shenise Johnson and Bria Hartley all sat out again for the same reasons as before. Hartley is questionable to play on Monday. Bird and Prince are both out on Monday.
Sylvia Fowles sat out on Sunday with the calf injury that sidelined her for Game 5
Aerial Powers sat out on Sunday with a hip injury
Stephanie Muvunga did not play on Sunday because of a broken nose that she’ll need surgery for. She’ll be out for “at least a week,” according to the Fever
Kylee Shook did not play on Sunday with a foot injury
Nneka Ogwumike returned from her hamstring injury
Ty Harris cleared protocol and should return on Monday
Standings after Week 2
Seattle Storm, 6-1
Minnesota Lynx, 5-2
Chicago Sky, 5-2
Las Vegas Aces, 5-2
Los Angeles Sparks, 4-3
Phoenix Mercury, 4-3
Dallas Wings, 3-4
Washington Mystics, 3-4
Indiana Fever, 3-4
Atlanta Dream, 2-5
Connecticut Sun, 1-6
New York Liberty, 1-6
Matt’s power rankings:
Storm
Aces
Lynx
Sparks
Sky
Mercury
Mystics
Wings
Fever
Dream
Sun
Liberty
Matt’s MVP rankings:
Breanna Stewart
A’ja Wilson
Sylvia Fowles
Candace Parker
Courtney Vandersloot
Matt’s Rookie of the Year rankings:
Chennedy Carter
Satou Sabally
Julie Allemand
Ezi Magbegor
Crystal Dangerfield
(Yeah, it’s finally time to drop Sabrina Ionescu off the list.)
Ok, that’s all from me.
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