[girlbye3]

I also think the first handful of games Kate played in they were still assessing her vs others. Because Kate would play one game, Park the next. Latson played in a couple when KP was out. Now I feel like they are at the point where they know Kate is above those players (hence the two games in a row where she played and others didn’t). My guess is they either use her 12 games and then do it or after this 3 game road trip. There is no way they play her this much and build chemistry not to upgrade her. Also KP’s comments hold a lot of weight imo.

ya i would genuinely be shocked if they didn't upgrade her at some point, especially if they continue to play her and not play half their bench

[girlbye3]

LA getting all these DNPs for the Valkyries, still dont understand why they cut Kate for her. 🤔

I am kind of surprised LA's not played at all the last couple of games, but tbh, if Kate was on the Valkyries, she'd probably be the one with all the DNPs too 😕 They picked LA over Kate because the team desperately needed size after Rupert's pregnancy announcement and they already had a surplus of wings/guards.

Honestly, I said this a couple of days ago, but the Sparks is the right place for her at the moment. She has the potential to get a lot more playing time...if she were on the Valkyries, she'd be shoved to the very end of the bench.

[girlbye3]

Not sure what the front office is waiting for lmao

wondering same. But this is the same FO that traded Rickea 🙄 I think they’ll use all of her games before they sign her. I watched the video and roberts says she doesn’t know if Ziegler will ever play because it depends on injuries so I think if they didn’t see kate as part of the team long term she just wouldn’t be playing. It seems silly to me to have someone be 7-8th player off the bench and then suddenly have her stop playing and expect the team to do without her for the rest of the season when they’ve built chemistry so it’s obviously just a matter of time. The trade window opened today so maybe they want to wait and see what happens with some of their DNPs although I doubt anyone is trading bench players

So true. Though I agree, I don’t think they’re going to be able to trade away any of their bench (but I guess we’ll wait and see!)

[girlbye3]

The other dev pool player had nice things to say about kate, talked about how they help each other with extra workouts and how kate’s stepped up as a leader despite being a DP (kate is being interviewed in the background so we’ll wait on that one)

love that!

[girlbye3]

Coach Roberts was interviewed after practice today saying that she intends to play Kate more and that her plan has been to play kate 15 minutes but things go awry and so she has to change the sub plan for whatever reason but that they plan to try and increase kate's minutes. She was asked about upgrading kate and she said 'that's a front office decision' but smiled slightly so I think she's trying to stay neutral officially but I think her slight smile said a lot

Not sure what the front office is waiting for lmao

[girlbye3]

Kate finally driving to the basket again but she needs to be making those free throws 🥴 and hopefully bring back her midrange a bit

im not worried about her free throws, she's only taken 2 lol

[girlbye3]

something that i've also noticed about kate's game so far this season is she's doing a good job of finding ways to score that aren't just 3 pointers. she's driving to the basket, getting fouled, etc. i honestly think she improved in this area during unrivaled, so it's nice to see her bring it into her W game this season

totally agree!! the last couple of games she's been able to knock down a three, but she's also scored in the paint too. I hope she's able to keep that up!!

[girlbye3]

you know what anon, I actually agree! Lynne Roberts is a frustrating coach, and I dont understand her rotations or distribution of bench minutes 90% of the time, but I think this team allows Kate to do what she does best.

completely agree. Kate isn’t a star player, we know that. She is at her absolute best supporting stars. And that is a skill in itself. There’s a reason she played so well alongside CC, A’ja, Chelsea, Jackie and now KP, Nneka etc. like KP said, kate is always in the right spot. She does all the little things teams need to get their stars open or defend well and she can knock down shots or drive to the basket when needed. Kate herself also said that she really likes the style of basketball than Lynne Roberts wants to play. She said ‘we like a fast paced offense, paint and spray. It’s a great offense for people who like to shoot the basketball and I’m one of those people’. And as much as the rotations make no sense, Kate’s obviously already part of it above several other players. She fits in really well and the praise KP and Rae both gave to her after the game shows that her teammates see it

yes, I think Kate is definitely at her best when she is able to support the stars around her.

[girlbye3]

i have a hot take - despite not getting a ton of playing time, I think this Sparks team is a much better fit for Kate than the Valkyries

you know what anon, I actually agree! Lynne Roberts is a frustrating coach, and I dont understand her rotations or distribution of bench minutes 90% of the time, but I think this team allows Kate to do what she does best.

With the Valkyries, I think she felt a lot of pressure to jack up threes and be a constant scoring threat for them, but as we know, that's just not really Kate's game. And, because the Valkyries didnt really have that go-to scorer last year, I think Kate was put in some positions she wouldn't normally be in (taking late-in-shot-clock shots, being a high-volume shooter etc). With the Sparks, the offensive focal point is obviously KP, but also Dearica, Nneka, Ariel etc. Kate is able to come in and bring energy and hustle, but is also not expected to put up 10+ shots a game. She's also been taking higher-percentage shots because a lot of the defensive focus goes towards the players previously mentioned. I mean, just take her 3 from last night's game....KP smartly drove the ball into the paint, brought 3 defenders to her, and then kicked it out to Kate for a pretty wide open 3. And, though it's still a small sample size, I also think that's why we're seeing Kate shoot the ball a lot better so far this season. She's just getting better looks.

Next steps are that she gets on the 12-player roster and then plays like 15 mins a game. That would be the sweet spot for her, I think.

[girlbye3]

Yea Roberts talking about Kate needing consistency not only for herself but for her teammates definitely makes me feel like moves will be made soon.

let's hopeeee

[girlbye3]

honestly part of the reason I think the Sparks haven't waived someone for Kate yet is not because they're unsure about Kate, but because they dont know which player to waive. I feel like they're trying to decide between like 3 or 4 and maybe aren't totally certain

ya that wouldn't surprise me. I think they should either waive Park and then sign her to a DP contract, or waive Cannon. I do not think they should waive Latson or Feagin

[girlbye3]

V staying in the Sparks likes 😭 She liked their highlight of Kate’s two baskets. She’s been in the Sparks likes more than the Valks this past month lol

one thing that girl is gonna do is support kate!!

[girlbye3]

I feel like they activated Ziegler so she could get paid tbh. If Feagin and Park weren’t playing, no way she was gonna see the floor. Before the game Coach Roberts said that it’s hard for kate to get into a rhythm if she’s playing one game and not the next and that it’s unfair on the other players to if she’s there one game then not the next, so I suspect they will burn all her games by All Star and then make some decisions. 4 DNPs for the Sparks 😳 not inc Ziegler so it seems like they can do without someone easily. Coach Roberts also said kate was going to play with a lot of enthusiasm that sounded like a ‘we need her to me’. I think atp it’s inevitable someone is waived for kate it’s just a case of who and when

well she only has 5 games left, so at this rate they're gonna burn through her games by like June 21 lmao 🤣 but ya, I think they just activated Ziegler so she could get that $6k. hopefully the sparks make some moves asap!

[girlbye3]

It’s clear Kate is a spark off the bench and those quick 5 points in the 4th helped them increase their lead. Yes she had 4 fouls but 2 of them were very questionable. She’s had 5 points the past two games playing 3 min and 8 min so she’s definitely been effective for them. I really hope they don’t drag out all her DP games first before doing something 😒

agreed and I don't feel like KP would say she hopes Kate isn't a DP player for long if she didn't think it was going to happen relatively soon

[girlbye3]

As KP said “Kate Martin for President” ❤️

[girlbye3]

Interesting that no one was out for sparks but they activated both DP players….wondering if roster moves will be happening soon if the sparks lose tonight

Honestly I would not be surprised if Kate gets activated this week. This is two games in a row where 4 of the 12 players didn’t touch the floor at all

[girlbye3]

Also silver lining, pretty much all ive seen online is people saying “why didn’t Kate play more?” or “Kate deserved second half minutes!” That’s wayyy better than people saying “why did she play” or “get her off the court.” Always leave them wanting more haha!

This. People used to hate on her stats. Even though she hasn’t played a lot, she’s still avg 3 pts in 7 min, her FG% is 53.8 and 3pt% is 44%. I know it’s a small sample size but she’s been very effective in the min she gets.

Totally agree! As you said, small sample size thus far, but definitely promising.