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[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Every coach must say they believe in their team but honestly all of this talk about the first game and championships from Jose can’t help but make me wonder what reality he lives in. 20+ points and 50% shooting from 3 out of your starting three guards and you barely scrape by with a win while giving up over 100 points. They are not going to shoot like that every game especially arike and not every team will play horrible defense like the fever. CC is literally incapable of playing competent defense.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Actually to add….Dallas will always be a poverty franchise if Arike is shot chucking the air out of the ball and not caring about losing as long as she gets her stats. Stat watchers on threads will see 29 points but not the 24 attempts or free throws. Shot them out of the game.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

José is Azzis biggest OP and no one can tell me otherwise. That is all.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Going to have to pray that somehow someway Paige is able to play by Wednesday because the team looks horrible without her even against a KP less sparks team. Hopefully this calms any Jess is the best player chatter because she is a Paige merchant who looks average when she’s not on the floor. Jess also needs to find some defence at some point throughout the season or this is a first round exit out of the playoffs. She lets people right by her too easily. Paige is the offensive anchor and Azzi is the defensive anchor and the team looks so bad when they’re not on the floor. Not sure why Jose has beef with awak but she is barely playing any minutes. The bench is also pretty bad and neither of them can be relied on to score at least 10 pts off of the bench consistently. OS has starter shot attempts almost every game but doesn’t deliver consistent production. Sug should play more regardless of what playing time may have been promised to os to get her sign with them.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Glad to see Azzi is going to take advantage of the much needed PR from wnba all-star weekend as her manager would have to be fired for incompetence if she didn’t book her at least for a couple of events. Also hope that she is able to mingle with more players in the league because regardless of how well she plays in the upcoming years. Being an all-star unfortunately requires help from her peers that may never come if she doesn’t put herself out there more.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

2 cents is that that Sheppard was food for cardoso and stevens until Li came in and made it a bit more difficult for them. I’ll have to give Jose his props for realizing Li needs to play against decent front courts if not for just having a big body to get in the way and she played over 20 minutes. Awak is super inconsistent from game to game which is why her playing time changes drastically from game to game. Azzis 3 is just off and I hope she can work on it to figure out why. No Arike slander because she is in her “play decent” cycle. Paige was Paige.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Had an entire post written up about my mid season thoughts about the Dallas wings and the app crashed. So I’m just going to write a couple things considering the discourse I’m seeing about Azzi on threads. This is my opinion 

-Azzi fc does just as much harm than good. The premise that everyone is out to get her just puts more stress and negativity on her head. No Paige, Ashanti, Mackenzie, her parents, Sarah, kk etc are not praying on her downfall or out to use her. You’re also contributing to the negative PR that anti-fans and wnba media are already contributing to. Encourage her and highlight her good moments not always the bad. Questioning why the Dallas wings IG admin may not post azzi as much as the others. When the first two weeks of the season people were sending the admin threats and forcing them to delete comments that were accusing them of just using azzis popularity etc. Those are contributing factors that people seem to have forgotten. 

- Yes her teammates go away from her for periods of the game or don’t see her when she open. She cant reach “flow state” with inconsistent touches. There were games this season where she went 3-4 minutes without touching the ball on offense as well which obviously will affect her rhythm. I would like to see her shoot at least 13-15 times a game accumulated across 4 quarters. Not all jammed in the 2nd half. So I too get frustrated when she isn’t passed to when open. 

-HOWEVER it’s the W and she is going to have to adjust to her current situation. She has to learn to stay ready to shoot, maximize her touches and make the best of her opportunities. There were plenty of times yesterday that she had the ability to shoot the 3 but for some reason hesitated and the moment passed her so she had to dish it out. She does not like taking contested 3s but this is something that Azzi NEEDS to work on throughout the season and on especially in the offseason. She has to get comfortable shooting slightly contested 3s or taking the shots that may make her a bit uncomfortable because the top 3 point shooters in the W have to. Shots like the one she passed up at the end of the conn sun game are shots she’ll have to learn to get comfortable making. Yes she ended up making the two which was okay in that moment but the next time that play is drawn up for her. She might not have the option of making a two opposed to a 3 so she needs to try to make that play. 

-When you look at the top 3 point shooters in the league they aren’t just shooting catch and shoot 3s or easy transition 3s. I think I’ve only seen her hit 1 step back 3 all season which was against the valkyrie. She is an amazing shooter with a quick release so I would like her to work on side-step 3s, step back 3s, Hesi 3s etc in the offseason. Want her to go to the marine, marina and kelsey school of feeling confident making BS some times. Obviously this take isn’t for the “Arike Os” of the world. 

-It’s too late but man I really wish she did unrivaled to develop her 1v1 skills and get more comfortable depending on herself more. I don’t see project B giving her the development in the areas that she needs to develop the most imo. 

-The organization believes that she is a part of the future of the organization just from the CEOs comments and believes in her talent. The way Paige got rid of passive p this season. I know Azzi can do the same and learn to be a bit more selfish and confident with her shots. 

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Ashanti is about to start running the MVPaige campaign herself because the wings clearly won’t do it. As an aside I’m so sick of seeing players fake pass to Azzi or not pass to her when she’s wide open. Azzi locked down marina in the 4th which was great to see and crucial for the win but sick of watching Jessica be a cone on defense. I need her to get it together or else Cardoso is going to drop a malonga on her.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

This was my main gripe regarding project B as it doesn’t make sense to have 23+ year old wnba players playing against teenagers if I’m being honest. Again still to early to tell who is joining but I really hope the amount of teenaged athletes is minimal.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Not sure why Jess saying in the press conference that the guards really stepped up the last two games annoyed me so much but it does. The “guards” (not Arike) have been doing what they’ve been doing a majority of the season. It was actually the bigs who finally stepped up this game and the paint wasn’t free real estate like it was a majority of the season. I hope I’m just misinterpreting what she said.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Has not exactly translated yet to the court but at least she is aware that the team plays soft and lacks physicality because that’s one of the biggest things that stands out to me watching them play.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Wings go on a run to get back into the game led by Paige and Azzi and they cut the lead down but like clockwork Jose puts the worst defenders on the team back in at the same time. Li can’t defend at all but her mere presence in the paint is better than what was on the floor. Arike needs to start coming off the bench at this point. Besides being a defensive liability her shooting is so bad right now that I’m seeing her be left open for 3 and she still can’t hit anything.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Knew they werent serious about winning the game when I seen 5’10 Azzi in the trenches with a’ja while the bigs were on the perimeter.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Insert meme about selfishness in the locker room. Vets would rather lose trying to have good stats than play defense and pass to the open man. The regression post the aces game needs to really be studied. Also Azzi playing 42 minutes because the already putrid defense is non existent without her on the floor as well.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

I was just thinking about how it feels like the WNBA is a league that I would say is a little selfish and tbh full of jealousy. It is a league made of up of a low number of active teams coupled with limited roster spots and pay compared to other professional leagues. You have players fighting to stay in the league every year and 50% of players drafted not making the cut. Then having to fight for minutes on top of that. It is unfortunate to see because you can tell how it has affected team dynamics and rosters over the years. Anyway I say all this to say that when I see people say xyz is selfish or hunting their own shot. They let this or that get to their head, they think it’s their team. Why did they shoot it when so and so was open. Some are fighting for minutes and some are fighting to prove their “haters” wrong. Some are fighting for more money and a better contract. It is up to the coach to change the culture and correct that behavior.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

My intial reaction to Azzi joining project b was slight concern over the lower level of competition she would face and the amount of games held in a week. However at the end of the day it is HER decision and I do not blame her for wanting to not only be paid far more but also travel the world opposed to being stuck just in Miami. She also may want to escape any comparisons or shadows she may face and do something on her own. The amount of online vitriol I’ve seen over the decision from 35fc as if she has betrayed them on some personal level has left me nothing short of confused.

[luckymatrixsorcerer]

Had 4 days off to prepare and still can’t defend a pnr. I almost feel like Jose has to be trolling at this point. Bad shooting nights happen but Natasha Howard saying “It feels good playing a team that doesn’t really protect the paint” is embarrassing to say the least. I hope that the wings can learn to increase their competitive edge and play with some hate in their hearts especially Paige.