Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. We jot down NBA and WNBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Myisha Hines-Allen had a breakout game with the defending champions in the season opener.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Washington Mystics.)
The Washington Mystics are the defending WNBA champions. But the team that they trotted out for the season opener didn’t seem like the same team from last year’s title campaign. Reigning Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne isn’t playing this season and it didn’t look great that she was denied a health exemption from the league (you can read more about her story behind this link. The Mystics acquired Tina Charles from the New York Liberty in a blockbuster 3-team deal but she opted to sit out since she was at high risk for the pandemic (asthma). Kristi Toliver left the Mystics for the L.A. Sparks (she’s not playing, anyway, also due to the pandemic). Veterans Natasha Cloud and Latoya Sanders have also decided to sit out the season due to the pandemic and their concerns for social justice. It seemed like this was going to be a fight against the Indiana Fever as the Mystics were… not the Mystics of 2019.
Well, someone decided to step into that starring role for this game. Yes, the Mystics still had WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman but she wasn’t the #1 option here. It wasn’t the steady Ariel Atkins. It wasn’t the gamer Aerial Powers. And it wasn’t new acquisition and two-time Most Improved Player winner Leilani Mitchell.
That went to little-used Myisha Hines-Allen, who scored 27 points (22 in the first half) and 10 rebounds as she dazzled with her outside shooting, footwork inside the post, and seemingly-easy drives to the cup. How little was she used by the Mystics?
Myisha Hines-Allen has 16 points with 6:43 left in the second period. Glad to see her getting some run because these are her career stats thus far. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/W5UW4qdCe4
— 𝘙𝘦𝘺-𝘙𝘦𝘺 🤞🏾✌🏾 (@TheNoLookPass) July 25, 2020
Not even 8 minutes per game last season. It shows the depth of the Mystics last season when they went all the way after a 26-8 clip in the regular season.
There’s no doubt how talented all these players are in the league. But what brings them up to the next level is confidence. Taking an opportunity and showing that they belong. Obviously, it surprised us all that Myisha was able to do all of this against the Fever. But she also knew she could play and she trusted her skills against the best women in the league.
This Hines-Allen game was equivalent to the Flip Murray game way back in the Seattle Supersonics’ opener in 2003 when he shocked the NBA world with a 24-point performance (after a very quiet 14-game rookie season that saw him average 1.9 points per game). Murray would go on to have a serviceable 8-year NBA career. Hopefully, this game boosts Hines-Allen even more and becomes a legitimate starter in the league.
And once things are back to semi-normal again and all the Mystics come back, that team from D.C. is going to look even more terrifying.
Good on you, Myisha!
Bullet Passes
I watch the WNBA, yes. Probably more so in the last three years but I had always kept up. I probably should’ve made TNLP BOTH a NBA AND a WNBA site from the start. But I suppose this is better late than never. Sorry if I bungle on some WNBA things here. I continue to learn.
The top pick of the 2020 Draft, Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty, didn’t do so well in her debut game (12-6-4 but 4 for 17 field goals and 0 for 8 from three). It IS just one game and everyone tends to overreact over something like that. However, games are fewer this campaign (22 instead of the expanded 36-game season that was supposed to happen this year) so each contest counts even more now.
On the other side, the Seattle Storm are a more complete team as they got Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird back this season. They didn’t play at all last season so they didn’t have a full squad during their title defense.
The L.A. Sparks looked so good as they plastered the Phoenix Mercury, 30-8, in the third quarter. The usual suspects Nneka Ogwumike (21 points and she made all 8 field goal attempts), Candace Parker (13 points), and Chelsea Grey (13 points, 7 assists) did their thang. However, the newest Spark Seimone Augustus went for 16 off the bench. It’s so weird to see Augustus in a Spark uniform as she was with their rivals, the Minnesota Lynx, from 2006 to last season. I don’t think this will stop being strange.
Lastly, from here on out, the scoreboards are going to look weird. None of the teams are playing home and road games as they’re all playing in one place. Instead of @ (at), I’m putting v for versus.
Double U Scoreboard
SEA 87 (1-0) v NY 71 (0-1)
LA 99 (1-0) v PHX 76 (0-1)
IND 76 (0-1) v WAS 101 (1-0)
Watch This Play
The dribbles, the drive, the footwork, and the creative lefty finish by Nneka.
Nneka Ogwumike is blends fundamentals and creativity together in such a fascinating fashion pic.twitter.com/Lr4SUWjmMK
— Brady Klopfer (@BradyKlopferNBA) July 25, 2020
That was such an expert move against the very tall Brittney Griner.
Hope you do like me covering the WNBA. I’m gonna try my best, guys.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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