Breaking Down The WNBA Playoff Picture And Surprise Teams

We break down the latest WNBA standings, point differential shakeups, and Commissioner’s Cup momentum to figure out who looks like a real title threat right now. Then we get into the games and storylines that are defining the week, from Lynx vs Wings to Angel Reese’s return to Chicago. 
• Current playoff matchups and who we expect to advance 
• Why point differential can tell a truer story than record 
• Commissioner’s Cup standings and what they signal 
• Our contender tier with the Lynx, Liberty, Aces, and Dream 
• Playoff contender tier including the Wings, Fever, and Valkyries 
• Concerns about the Sparks and what needs to change 
• Thoughts on the Sun transitioning to the Houston Comets and honoring franchise legends 
• Lynx vs Wings recap with Olivia Miles vs Paige Bueckers breakdown 
• Dream vs Sky recap and what Angel Reese’s stat line means for both fanbases 

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Transcript

Quick Hello And Subscribe

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show, it's favorite show get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're gonna talk about the updates for the WMBA. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's how you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support.

Playoff Standings And Early Picks

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Now, the WMBA. If we want to talk about the stand-ins, right? Current playoff stand-ins. If the season were to end today, it'd be as follows Lynx versus tempo, aces versus the fever, dream versus the Valkyries, Liberty versus the Wings. And I gotta say this, ladies and gentlemen, if that were to happen, that'd be a pretty interesting playoff, right? I'd have the Lynx, the Aces, the Dream, and the Liberty all advancing Lynx. You know, the only thing that's really stopping them in this round would be health. Keep in mind they're number one right now without in the feast of college. It's pretty tough. Aces. That one could go the distance, not gonna lie to y'all. That one could go the distance. That might be the most entertaining series that playoff. Dream vs. Valkyries. Huh. Actually, this one could be the most entertaining as I look at it. Dang, that's pretty stellar right there. Because Valkyrie's ain't no slouch, bro. And the dream, we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. But that would be very interesting to watch. You still gotta expect the dream, but that'd be a fun series to watch for sure. Liberty versus Wings. Hmm. That one's gonna be a good one. I think Liberty ultimately win that for sure. Expectation, lean Liberty. But at this point in time, I may not be overly surprised. No, I'd be surprised if the Wings won that. But I told y'all what the current playoff standings are. There's a difference though,

Point Differential Changes The Order

SPEAKER_00 1:51

right? Because each team has a different point differential, meaning the difference between how their results are compared to everybody else's. So, meaning if I beat a team or beat teams by five points, and you only beat teams by one point, well, my team is looking to be more dominant. Our records could be the same, but our point differential kind of shows that my team is a little bit higher. So if we're basing these standings off the point differential, it goes Lynx, Dream, Valkyries, Liberty, Aces, Wings, Fever, and then Tempo, right? It sucks because I still have not mentioned my sparks not once. Oh my gosh. Dang. Commissioner Cup, current standings, right? We got a tie at number one. Undefeated teams are Lynx, Aces, and Liberty. Next, we got the Dream, followed by the Wings and Fever, who are tied. Then we got the Valkyries. Then we got the Tempos with the Mystics kind of looking at that next team. They this if this if we're talking about playoffs, they would not be making it. But we give them some love. Who are my contenders based on the current playoff standings, the point differential standings, and the commissioner cup standings, ladies and gentlemen?

True Contenders Versus Playoff Tier

SPEAKER_00 3:07

I only got four teams. Lynx, Liberty, Aces, and Dream all look like contenders. Again, Lynx, number one, without their best player, defisa Collier. Liberty, we understand, at least on paper, they're supposed to do what they're supposed to do. And they have been injured themselves. Think about it. Satsu Sabi coming off injury. Leone Phoebe has only played a couple games. Banaj Velaney's getting back into the swing of things. Sabrina Ionescu's only played like one game. They're climbing up the ranks. We're going to expect more out of them come playoff time for sure. Aces. We know who the aces are. Defending champions. They have that championship pedigree. Similarly to the Liberty, we know what they're going to do come playoff time. So the regular season, while it matters for these two teams, doesn't matter the most. The dream. I need to see the dream consistently at the top because they are in their prime years, if you will. They got the talent to be able to win a title. They just got to get the cohesion downright. That means more time on the court together. That means more games played. So again, right now, these four teams are looking like contenders, championship contenders. There are some playoff contenders, though, ladies and gentlemen. There are some playoff contenders. Keep in mind, again, these four teams are pretty smooth. They boast some good talent, right? Deep rosters. So do some of the playoff contenders. I just need to see a little bit more out of them. For example, the wings, the fever, the Valkyries. They look really good. Let's see what happens as time goes on. I expect these three teams to make the playoffs, meaning that we only got really one spot left open. And that's a lot right there, ladies and gentlemen. That really is a lot. Again, the wings have been playing pretty well. Paige Beckers has been playing MVP-like, right? We got the Fever, who are still trying to figure some things out. Because, you know, Caitlin Clark's still trying to shake off some rush. She didn't play it for the majority of last season. And you still got Aaliyah Balston and Kelsey Mitchell out there doing their thing. They got some different pieces as well, too. Let's see what happens. Also the wings. Listen, Jessica Shepard has been playing some good basketball. Some good basketball. To the point that if her stats look this way, some people are going to try to call her the next female Yokick. I promise you. I can see it. It's not quite the same, but numbers look a little interesting. I will say that. We got some good players on these teams. The Valkyries, again, starting five. I've been saying they've been pretty stellar, adding Gabby Williams to this mix, too. A, they got some Hoopers on their team with some chips on their shoulders, ladies and gentlemen. But also two other teams to focus on as potential playoff contenders.

Sparks Worries And Lottery Outlook

SPEAKER_00 5:50

The Toronto Tempo, one of the newer teams, and the Washington Mystics, the youngest team in WNBA history. I wanted to throw like my sparks into the mix, but I need to see more from us before I say we can become a playoff contender. And I mind you, the Tempo and the Mystics are fighting for that last spot. If my sparks start to come up, which I expect them to, they would be right alongside the Tempo and the Mystics currently. So again, when we're looking off playoff contenders, my sparks could make it. Hell, so could the so could the Mercury as I think about it. Because you it's hard to keep out Alyssa Thomas. It really is. Like if you're looking at the names on our teams, Alyssa Thomas, Dwana Bonner, Khalia Copper for the Mercury, that should be able to get you at least a bottom seed playoff team. Like I remember before the season started, I said that they may get, I had them at the bottom of my playoffs, like number eight. They could hit that. They could hit that. My sparks, I expect just off the names, for us to be hired. Keep in mind, Kelsey Plum has been injured. But we look trash defensively, which is something that Kelsey actually does not contribute to our team that well. So again, if we're if our issue is defense, Kelsey Plum is only going to make our defense drop, respectfully. So I'm kind of hesitant. I'm kind of nervous to see what happens going forward. Because yeah, this is not looking that great if I'm a Sparks team. You know, we got Nekaback. You know, Dierka Hanby is the offensive stud. Defensively, though, we looking a little uh like Ray Burrell, Cameron Brink, those are our defensive pests, if you will. And I mean, we got to see more out of them. Ariel Atkins, we brought you in. Defensively, you've been solid. More production we would need from you. I'm just not liking how my sparks look. But again, ladies and gentlemen, you heard my teams. And then again, if you basing off what I've been saying, Mercury, Sparks, they should be in the lottery section, along with the Portland Fire, the Chicago Sky, the Seattle Storm, and the Connecticut Sun, who will be transitioning next season to the Houston Comets, if I'm not mistaken. And that's kind of cool, actually, as I think about it. Let's transition on from the standings because I've already talked to y'all about how disappointed I am about my team.

Sun Jerseys And Comets Return

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah, I am. It hurts. Houston Comets, though, ladies and gentlemen, they're coming back. We had the Connecticut Sun retiring some jerseys, right? Like we had John Quell Jones jersey retired. And I believe they're trying to do the same thing with Alyssa Thomas at some point in time, which I I wholeheartedly respect. You gotta do Dawanabon as well, too. I wholeheartedly respect that. Because listen, ladies and gentlemen, there was a time where these women were out here hooping, like they were getting a bucket out there, they were looking pretty scary. It it gave vibes like they're gonna be around for quite a while. And they were like they were getting to the finals, they lost a couple times. It happens, it really truly does. If there was an NBA team I would want to compare them to, maybe like the Heat, you know how the Heat were always just around. They were right in the finals, just could never really get over the hump. That's what this Sun team looked like. So I hate the fact on one hand that we're losing the Connecticut Sun. But on the other, on the flip side, the Houston Comets coming back. Yeah, they they had like four titles in a row. Like, bro, I kind of would like to see what this looked like too, and bringing it to Houston. Huh. Tell you right now, Texas might be a little interested out there for basketball purposes. I'm telling you right now, I may have to go watch for sure. But I love the fact that they're giving John Quell Jones Alyssa Thomas. I love that they're I love that they're giving them their flowers before the organization eventually transitions onto the Houston Comets. So I'll look forward to seeing how the season progresses for the for the Connecticut Sun. Hopefully they do okay. I think they're gonna be at the bottom, though, to be clear. But if they're also at the bottom, I wonder who's gonna be coming out of the WM for the WNBA draft. Because if they keep positioning themselves properly at the bottom, they have a chance to draft Juju or Zhang Xiao, who is about 7'3, who would be the tallest person drafted in the WNBA. So, I mean, I'm just saying, you know, next season could be interesting, and Juju wants to say that's cool. I don't know how well the Connecticut Sun is gonna do over the next couple seasons, but we gotta wait and see though. We gotta wait and see. Oh, I'm sorry, the Houston comments, my bad. But let's go ahead and switch on top let's go ahead and switch topics, shall we?

Lynx Beat Wings Miles Shines

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Lynx versus wings. I told y'all, right? I think the Lynx are contenders. I think the wings are playoff contenders. Lynx end up beating the wings, ladies and gentlemen, which it was no, it was, I'm not really surprised that that happened. Winning 176, slightly surprising, not gonna lie to you, slightly surprising. Again, I favored the wings, I mean the links, the distance between the two scores, it's a little crazy, especially with at the time, they were the number one and number two seeds in the WNBA. Again, I did not have the wings as the number two seed in the WNBA. Hell, I technically don't need to have the links as the number one seed. I still need to see how teams look healthy. I need to see what Fee looks like when she comes back, how the team gels. It's a lot of things, but I still have the links as a contender. The thing that kind of got me was Olivia Miles versus Paige Beckers. I've been saying that Olivia Miles and Paige Beckers can be viewed on par. I may be walking back some of my statements about Olivia Miles, not at MVP level. I was saying it because not her game, just because of the time frame that has gone on, right? I wanted to see a little bit more out of Olivia because if she keeps doing this, what she's been doing, alright, cool. She can be in the MVP discussion. Has nothing to do with her game. It just had everything to do with the amount of time that went on. And I'm telling you right now, she was hooping, bro. She was moving them puppies. 24 points, very efficient numbers, 7 of 10, 8 for 8 from 3. I mean, from the free throw lines, crazy. Seven rebounds, six assists, four turnovers, a little bit high, but it's okay because again, she don't always do that. And she gave us six assists. Plus, she was active on the defensive end with one steal and one block. I ain't gonna lie to you. Paige gave me some decent numbers for show. Now 23 points, 9 to 16 from the field, you know, 3-7 from three. Cool. Only two free throws, so she had to get hers without going to the free throw line. But here's where it kind of caught me off guard. We had two assists to five turnovers. And ladies and gentlemen, Paige Beckers is normally efficient, but normally productive when it comes to that assist-to-turnover ratio. I don't usually see more turnovers than assists. I usually see about almost three assists to one turnover from Paige Becker's. Now keep in mind, like I said, the Lynx are in fact better than the wings. Even right now, without Nefisa Collier, you gotta remember, the Lynx can actually boast five all-star caliber players. We got Olivia Miles, we got Courtney Williams, who has been an all-star before. We got Caleb McBride, aka Caleb McBuckets, who has been an all-star before. We got Natasha Howard, who has been hooping, by the way, ladies and gentlemen. I mean hooping. Trust me, alright? Like she can win, she could go to the all-stars this season, just off her production. And of course, Phi, who is an all-WNB caliber player, MVP caliber player, of course, she's an all-star. So that's the team that Olivia Miles has. Meanwhile, with with with with yeah, with Paige, we got Arique. You know, she's an all-star caliber player. Jessica has been playing all-star caliber this season. I'll say that. But even still, ladies and gentlemen, it leans Olivia Miles' team. So I do expect, to a degree, Olivia's statistical impact production, right? Results, to be a smidge higher than Paige. However, I'm not making excuses. End of day, Olivia did outplay Paige this game. She did. I'm not gonna lie to y'all. She did. And again, if Paige had more assists, less turnovers, I could say it's a wash. Because again, you have a better team. Olivia still did her thing. Also, this is Olivia's rookie season, Paige's sophomore season, her second season. So I'm factoring all that stuff in. But this game was pretty spectacular. And it just showed me, okay, I think I do believe that the wings are gonna end up having to move away from Arique, unfortunately. Because you got to think about Paige and AZ as your future. Jessica been playing pretty good basketball. Maddie looks like a solid small forward who could play power forward as well, too. Like they're about a piece away, which I think a reason to be that miss that that that that piece that fills in what they need personally. Their bench looks okay, although they can produce a little bit more. But again, ladies and gentlemen, this was a good game, good battle, and I can't wait to see Olivia Miles versus Paige Beckers for years to come. And again, these two girls can hoop. I've even said that they're potentially better than Caitlin Clark, who is a lot of people's fan favorites. Just fans. And and and and and yeah, I've already done that video. If y'all didn't listen, go check it out. It's pretty good. Now, enough about that game, though, because I don't want to harp on it too long because I can talk about that game forever.

Angel Reese Returns As Dream Win

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Angel Reese returned to Chicago, right? Our uh that was a pretty good game. That was a pretty good game. The the dream did win 82 to 75. Angel Reese, she's been shooting a little bit better, ladies and gentlemen. Five of 12 to bring in 17 points with 17 boards. Turnovers were a little high with six, but she also gave four assists. Think about it. I just said Paige Beckers had five turnovers, two assists. Not saying that Angel Reese is the playmaker that Paige is, but I could accept five and six, or four and six more than two and five, just to be clear. But Angel Reese's game overall has been fairly impressive. Matter of fact, her plus-minus was plus 18. That's the highest amongst the team, keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen. So again, she's been playing some quality basketball, brought in two steals, no blocks. All right, that's cool, but she's more of a stealer, if I had to say anything. She has been blocking the ball for sure. But I can't wait to see what happens when Breonna Jones comes back, too, man. Because this team looks kind of interesting. I'm not gonna lie to you. This team looks a little bit interesting for sure. The dream looked pretty daggone good. But the sky, here's what I'm wondering. Right, because I said that Angel had a good game, right? 17-17, that's nothing to scoff at. Carmilla Cardoza, 13 points, two rebounds, five assists, four blocks. Solid game. But the highlight is when Angel gets 17-17. I think if you're Sky fans, you may be a little bit upset. You may be a little bit mad. Because you did have Angel East at one point in time, and now you don't. And keep in mind, she did say she wanted to leave to have more things around her, to have a better team around her. And I mean, yes, right, the Sky have been dealing with injury, Rakia Jackson, unfortunately, Tori ACL. So that hurts. I heard you. I get it. But ladies and gentlemen, if I'm the Sky, I'm I I would have tried my hardest to win this game. Not saying that they didn't, but this is one of those games that you needed to win just to make a statement. Because remember in the NBA when Jaden McDaniels yell or state that the Nuggets can't defend, and then he goes out and like drops 30 or something like that. This is one of them type moments. Because again, when someone says, hey, look, I like the organization, appreciate y'all for drafting me, but y'all players ain't good enough, and then y'all go out and lose, granted. Again, 82 to 75. That's not that, it's not like it was a BTA work, but still, I would have liked to see y'all put up a little bit more effort. At worst, limit Angel, like her, limit limit her rebounding, make her not have a decent game. Like, do something like that. That did not happen, unfortunately. So, ladies and gentlemen, if I'm the Sky fan, I gotta feel a little bit upset. And if I'm a dream fan, I gotta be happy with what I'm seeing. Because again, Angel Reese has been producing pretty well. Look at six or six from the free throw line. She hits a three-pointer, ladies and gentlemen. Like, what you know I'm saying? Like, that's tough, bro. That's tough. So, again, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a good time for WNBA basketball. I'm telling you that right now. If you don't believe me, tune in because you will be pretty entertained. We got some good narratives along the way. Along the way.

Season Questions And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_00 19:20

But y'all have heard my updates. Y'all have heard my contenders, my playoff contenders, my lottery teams. You heard my gripes about my sparks still. Like, we're weeks into the season, man. Can we turn it around, please? Yo. But most importantly, ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the end of the episode. So I'm curious what you all are thinking about the WNBA season thus far. Is there a team that you want me to talk about? Is there a team that's surprising to you? Is there a team that you expect to win? Is there a team that's disappointing? I'd love to hear your thoughts. But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA, and two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get A Bucket. I hope you all are having a good one. Take care.