Stupid Power Rankings (Bubble Week 1)

Power Rankings, WNBA Leave a comment

People LOVE Power Rankings in sports. It’s pretty stupid. So, of course, I have MY Stupid Power Rankings. I take 10 things from the NBA and WNBA (or not) in the past week and rank them accordingly. You don’t like them? Make your own rankings!

Since I’m also covering the WNBA now, I am including them here. We are in a unique time in sports today so let’s see what’s been going on in them bubbles! The “week” will also start from WNBA Opening Day, which was Saturday, July 26th.

(PHOTO CREDIT: David Sherman/NBA.)

1) So Pro Basketball is Back

I had been vocal against sports coming back in general. But with that said, the pro basketball bubbles have worked to great effect thus far and I will continue to root for everyone involved to stay healthy. While Major League Baseball has bungled right from the start and could close very soon, both NBA and WNBA have tested their athletes rigorously and the people in the bubbles have followed the rules.

One week down. Now to do this until October.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Washington Mystics.)

2) The Champions’ Admirable Title Defense

As of this writing, the Toronto Raptors are playing the Miami Heat (this is how the NBA schedules now with only three courts to work with). But we remember how surprising they were earlier this season. They continue to impress post-Kawhi as they gave the Lakers nothing in the 4th on their way to a win.

And the Washington Mystics lost nearly their entire core from last season’s championship team. Yet they have gotten off to a 3-1 start and would be undefeated if it weren’t for a clutch Cheyenne Parker shot. Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.

(PHOTO CREDIT: WNBA.)

3) Sylvia Fowles Becomes WNBA’s All-Time Rebounder

The NBA has a ton of history so we won’t see career records get broken too often. The WNBA is nearly 25 years old so they don’t have as much to archive. So it’s pretty damn cool to see a star like Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx break the league’s all-time record in career rebounds.

It’s also pretty damn special that the record-holder was her ex-teammate and now coach (well, assistant coach) Rebekka Brunson. We know those two have been through battles together during the Lynx’s impressive run.

Congrats, Syl!

(PHOTO CREDIT: Kim Klement/Getty Images.)

4) T.J. Warren Scored 53 Points

I’m sure people guessed that a superstar like James Harden, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, or Giannis Antetokounmpo would be the first to score 50 points in the bubble. Harden actually came close on Day 2 when he dropped 49.

But it was T.J. Warren, the one the Suns traded for cash (and even threw in a pick to get rid of him!), who did the deed. He couldn’t be stopped; he scored 53 points in the Pacers‘ impressive win over the Sixers. I love random high-scoring games from non-stars.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Ashley Landis/AP.)

5) Fitting Rudy Gobert Does This

The main reason everything came to a halt was because the NBA suspended their season after Rudy Gobert tested positive on Coronavirus.

The NBA resumed their season last Thursday and guess who scored the first points of the resumption? RUDY GOBERT, OF COURSE.

And to add to this, Rudy Gobert made the game-winning free throws against the Pelicans. After a pass from Donovan Mitchell, who also tested positive and famously had a rift with Gobert because of the Coronavirus.

The irony is as thick as Jen Selter’s backside.

6) This Bol Bol Dime

My gosh. This is such a pretty bounce pass from the son of Manute Bol.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Mone/AP.)

7) Tom Thibodeau Will Coach The Knicks

This has potential hilarity written all over.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP.)

8) Let The Sun Rise

DeWanna Bonner is leading the league in scoring by a mile (27.5 points per). Alyssa Thomas is a warrior that continues to play with TWO TORN LABRUMS. The duo also plays 37 minutes per game each and, of course, they both lead the league.

The problem is that the Connecticut Sun are winless after four games. Not great.

9) This Should Always Be A Blocking Foul

I hate hate hate this. Marcus Smart complained that it was a conspiracy to keep Giannis in the game but this is 100 percent a blocking call every single time. Unfortunately, while the refs got it right here after replay, they call this thing a charge, sometimes, and many players do the last-millisecond slide a lot.

First of all, the offensive player NEVER has enough time to avoid the defensive player. With that little time, how can they change direction? How can they stop themselves from running into a player that runs to that spot while they’re in the air? It’s so dangerous. And it’s so awful.

I remember when a charge call involves a defensive player that has been stationary a couple of seconds before getting run over…

10) Her Name Is Aerial Powers

I’ve seen many people say that Aerial Powers is “too sensitive” and that Andre Iguodala was right. This is exactly the patriarchy that we must take down.

When Andre said her number instead of her name, I could see it as an honest mistake. Aerial was also right for saying that Andre should’ve said her name. It doesn’t take much time to look her up on Google. Iguodala could’ve easily apologized to Aerial.

Instead, Andre doubled down.

Women’s sports (women in general) have been overlooked for too long. How can they get the respect if people don’t even want to say their names? The women have been fighting for equality for way too long. I’ll let this tweet finish this because Aerial said it way better than I ever could.

Hope everyone stays safe at the bubble and the wubble. And speedy recovery to Sabrina Ionescu and Jonathan Isaac.

Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.

TNLP on FaceBook.


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