2024 LA Sparks Season

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks get blown out at home vs the Minnesota Lynx, who are without Napheesa Collier. This was a weird game because both teams were bad. The Sparks forced 5 shot clock violations but turned the ball over 18 times. The difference was the 3-pt shooting. The Lynx shot 50% while the Sparks shot a miserable 3/20 or 15% from threes.

Negatives: Rookie Jackson had her 3rd game this season where she seemed disengaged. For at least 6 possessions, she just stood in the corner waiting for someone to pass to her. She attempted only 8 shots; that's not what you want for the 2nd best scorer on the team. I don't know if it's just bad coaching or if she's a passive scorer. The bench contributed nothing tonight. Cooke, Yueru, and Burrell shot a combined 1/10. Yikes. Nurse stunk it up again and missed every jumper, but she did get 2 layups. McDonald had 4 turnovers, but at least 2 of those passes should've been caught. The Sparks' bigs (Yueru and Stevens) do not have good hands or mobility.

Positives: Clarendon had another good game off the bench, shooting 4/5 and dishing out 4 assists. Hamby shot very efficiently but only took 9 shots.

The offense looked terrible tonight with all the turnovers and missed shots. On defense, they kept losing the shooters. Burrell plays hard but she has no fundamentals. She loses sight of her defensive assignments regularly. I think 2/3 of the roster need to be replaced next season. Cooke, Burrell, Nurse, Yueru, and Brown are not a good fit for this team. Stevens and Clarendon neither helps nor hurts the team so they could be gone as well.

Right now, the core should be Hamby, Brink, Jackson, McDonald, and Talbot. Everyone else can go, especially the coach.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks win their 2nd road game of the season vs the Dallas Wings - one of the 4 competitors in the Paige Bueckers tankathon. Right now, over 2 seasons, the Sparks have a 2 game lead vs the Mystics, a 3 game lead over Atlanta, and a 4 game lead over Dallas. This means the Sparks have the highest probability of winning the 2025 WNBA draft lottery.

https://www.tankathon.com/wnba

This is a weird game because Arike Ogunbowale, the 2nd leading scorer in the WNBA, was effectively contained by Kia Nurse. Arike was held to 2/15 shooting and only had 12 pts.

Positives: For the first time this season, the Sparks actively looked to pass to Jackson on offense. Jackson still blew 2 lay-ups and 2 wide open threes, but she's showing growth. The Wings have small guards and Jackson loves to go at smaller players on offense. Jackson ended up with a new career high of 23 pts and 7 boards; Hamby dropped 27 pts and dished out 5 assists; Stevens made all of her threes 4/4.

Negatives: They won the game against a tank competitor. I don't think it's a big deal because the Wings will likely get Satou back after the Olympic break so they should do much better.

The Mystics have 17 games left and they play some very tough opponents including the Fever twice, the Mercury twice, the Lynx three times, the Storm twice, the Sun, and the Liberty. It's going to be very difficult to out-tank the Mystics. Fortunately, the #2 draft position is still valuable because Kiki Iriafen is the best forward in college.

TDRock · Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:08 pm Post subject:

I watched a rerun. I didn't know the other team was tanky. Hmm :/

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks lose to the visiting Seattle Storm in a back and forth close game. They lead by 2 pts with 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter but it was just too much Jewel Loyd and Nneka. Burrell had a career high of 18 pts and Stevens had a career high of 15 boards, but they gave up too many baskets in the paint. Without Brink, the Sparks have reverted back to last season's lousy interior defense.

Positives: Not only did Rae Burrell get a career high in scoring, but she shot 5/7 from threes and had 2 blocks. We've seen active Burrell in the past where she's just running around trying to follow the ball, but it worked out today. The rookie Jackson scored 16 pts and dished out 4 assists, but she was very inefficient - though most of the missed shots were good shots. Stevens added 24 pts on 7/12 shooting.

Negatives: Nurse had her 5th 0-fer of the season but she only took 2 shots. At this point, it might be a good idea to insert Burrell in the starting line-up. McDonald had 4 turnovers and didn't shoot very well.

This is exactly the type of game I'd like to see for the 2nd half of the season. Rickea Jackson got 38 minutes today because Hamby was in foul trouble; we saw her post up at least 3 times and make plays. She drove to the basket and dished to Hamby. She also had zero fouls. That's growth. The team was competitive and played hard, but the tank was not threatened.

If the Sparks don't get the #1 pick and end up with the #2 pick, they should draft Kiki Iriafen, another forward. This means they should probably not resign Azura for next season. Even if they don't get Bueckers, they can still be very competitive if they land a quality point guard in free agency like Dijonai Carrington.

A line-up of Brink, Hamby, Iriafen, Jackson, and Carrington is a top 5 team in the league if they get the right coach.

TDRock · Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:23 pm Post subject:

Let's Go Sparks

Let's Go Sparks

TDRock · Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:50 pm Post subject:

I'm watching a replay… I'm starting to get concerned… Lol

TDRock · Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2024 8:00 pm Post subject:

Well this was a fun game until the kind of I guess midway through the fourth where Nneka was just like OK it's time to win now. Lol this is the second time I've watched the game that I can remember that things were going good and then they kind of fell apart at the end so amongst other things it looks like they need to learn how to close out a game.

Oh well. Good game for the most part.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks get blown out by 35 pts at Crypto by the New York Liberty. The game was over in the first 4 minutes of the 1st quarter. Every Sparks player looked terrible; they shot 35.9% fg and had 20 turnovers.

There was a line-up change. The Sparks were missing Aari McDonald and Stephanie Talbot - both have foot injuries. They picked up Crystal Dangerfield; she can handle the ball, but she has no playmaking ability and she's not a good shooter. The Sparks GM appears to really like small guards. Cooke, McDonald, and Dangerfield are three of the smallest players in the league.

Rae Burrell tried hard; she was very aggressive tonight and got fouled a bunch of times going to the basket. She shot a whopping 13 freethrows. Rickea Jackson was very passive once again, but she still ended up with 13 pts. Hamby had a double double but turned the ball over 5 times. The Las Vegas Aces are coming up so it's possible the Sparks are looking ahead. There is some bad blood between Hamby and her former team, so we can expect a much better effort on Sunday.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks sign point guard Odyssey Sims to a 7 day hardship contract. Aari McDonald may be out for an extended period due to her foot injury. They lose a close one to the Chicago Sky. Dearica Hamby struggled to score against the Sky's big frontcourt. Hamby had her worse game of the season and only scored 7 pts on 2/8 shooting. I think Hamby may be looking ahead to tomorrow's game against the Aces.

Positives: Finally, Kia Nurse had a decent game - her best game since the Indiana game back on May 28. Talbot had a good stretch in the 3rd quarter where she out ran the Sky defense and got 2 open lay-ups. The team assisted on 23/29 fg and cut down the turnovers to only 8. The 2 new point guards, Dangerfield and Sims are both terrific ball handlers. This team didn't have even 1 good ball handler before, so we should see the number of turnovers drop.

Negatives: Even though Rickea Jackson scored 13 pts, she scored them in 2 bunches, one early in the 1st quarter and one early in the 3rd quarter. Jackson once again disappeared for long stretches of the game. Part of the problem is the coaching. The offense looks ugly and chaotic and too reliant on the point guard. Jackson is the 2nd best scoring talent on the team but they don't get her the ball and she doesn't demand the ball.

Azura Stevens struggled with interior defense, just like last season. She has the height, but not the agility or reaction time to defend well. The team really misses Brink on defense.

There are 14 games left in the season and the Sparks are 2 games ahead of the Washington Mystics in the tankathon. With Austin and Sykes back, the Mystics should lose ground in the tank contest. The only other tank competitor is Phoenix, if they end up in the lottery. The Sparks are tied (over 2 seasons) with Phoenix.

TDRock · Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2024 11:38 am Post subject:

Oh dear.

Thanks for the update.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks lose big vs the Las Vegas Aces. The game was competitive until halfway through the 4th quarter and it was very winnable, but the 21 turnovers and the poor shooting lost them the game.

Negatives: Sims and Dangerfield shot a combined 4/17. Hamby had her 2nd consecutive bad game; she turned the ball over 6 times and shot 1/5 from threes. Nurse, Talbot, and Sims all missed wide open lay-ups. Cooke only had 2 minutes of playing time but managed to turn the ball over and missed 2 shots. It might be time to part ways with Zia Cooke; she has regressed a lot this season.

Positives: I enjoy watching players grow and I think we are finally seeing some growth from 3rd year player Rae Burrell, at least on the offensive end. She's become much more aggressive and confident in going to the rim; that's her game and we want to see more of it. Burrell shot 3/4 fg and 3/4 freethrows. Rickea Jackson scored 15 pts on 7/11 shooting. Most of her baskets were at the rim; she's struggling to shoot from distance.

With this loss, the Sparks are tied for worst record in the league and are the front runners in the Paige Bueckers lottery. Looking forward to next season.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

For some reason, this game vs the Connecticut Sun was played in Boston at TD Garden to a Sun franchise record crowd. The Sparks lose a close one in a very winnable game. The Sparks lead by 3 pts late in the 4th quarter but then collapsed under the Sun defense and gave up about 13 pts in a row.

Positives: The Sparks played good defense and competed hard. There isn't much separation between the Sparks and the best teams in the league; they're just 2 or 3 players away from contending. They need a playmaking guard who can shoot and they need another defensive big because Stevens can't defend and Yueru doesn't jump to rebound.

Negatives: They shot only 2/19 from threes. Rickea Jackson missed 4 wide open jumpers. The rookie struggled to make shots in this one. She only shot 5/13 fg, but she was active on both ends of the court. Hamby struggled again for the 3rd game in a row. Both Hamby and Stevens are terrible at passing and they were responsible for 8 of the 21 turnovers. Dangerfield is a great ball handler, but she can't shoot and ended up with an 0-fer.

TDRock · Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 4:31 pm Post subject:

I watched the re-airing last night. Good game but yeah... :-/

Did they ever say why it was at the Garden? I missed the first part of the first quarter so I don't know if they said but that was confusing to me.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The two worse teams face off and the Sparks win by losing to the Mystics. The Sparks now have the worst record in the league which means they have the best chance of landing Paige Bueckers in the draft lottery.

Rickea Jackson scored 16 pts in the first quarter, hitting 3 threes, but only scored 1 pt the rest of the game. I counted 6 consecutive possessions in the 2nd quarter where her team mates did not pass her the ball. It's a problem when the point guard doesn't pass the ball to the best player on the court.

Positives: Jackson, Cooke, and Burrell all had good games. Burrell played hard and dove into the seats for a loose ball, so she's continuing her aggressive play on offense. Cooke only got garbage minutes, but she made two middies.

Negatives: Jackson mishandled the ball at least 3 times. She struggles with ballhandling. I've mentioned the problem before, so I won't say anything more.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks lose a close game to the Dallas Wings on the road. In their last meeting, rookie Rickea Jackson had a career high 23 pts. Today, she had a new career high of 25 pts, hitting 6/8 from threes, and outscoring the entire Wings team in the first quarter by herself.

Positives: Sparks win again by losing to another tank competitor. The game was very competitive. Sims got revenge on her old team and scored 26 pts in just 3 quarters. In addition to her scoring, Jackson had 3 blocks and 4 assists. Since the Olympic break, Jackson has been the best player on the team. Hamby and Stevens both had efficient scoring games.

The outcome is the best case scenario right now. We're seeing growth from Jackson and the players are competing. I don't think the Sparks made a mistake in drafting Jackson over Reese. Rickea Jackson just needs to be a little more consistent and work on her ballhandling. Her defense has been great the entire season (except for that game where they had her guard Kahleah Copper).

LakersRGolden · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2024 1:37 pm Post subject:

Lose a competitive 2 point game. Masterful

TDRock · Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2024 7:12 pm Post subject:

Watching vs Liberty. We're up right now. Let's go Sparks!

(Tied right when I typed this :/)

EDIT: there we go Sparks! Let's be sure to surge like this again at the end of the fourth quarter.

2nd EDIT: WooHoo!

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks beat the best team in the league, the New York Liberty tonight. For some reason, the Liberty were very sloppy with their passes and turned the ball over 19 times. Rookie Rickea Jackson continued her excellent play and dropped 19 pts, hitting 4/6 threes. Jackson scores in bunches and tonight, she scored 11 pts in the 1st quarter. Hamby seems to have recovered from the Olympics and looked active. Third year player, Rae Burrell, has emerged as a consistent scorer off the bench. Tonight, Burrell got a new career high of 18 pts including 10 pts in the 4th quarter.

Positives: The Mystics also won today, so the Sparks don't lose any ground by winning. Sparks fans finally got to see Rae Burrell become the player they thought she could be. Jackson had her 4th good game in a row. Sims had her 2nd good game in a row. For next season, the Sparks should consider signing Sims because she's the only guard with a midrange game.

Negatives: I saw a lot of empty seats at Crypto. Hopefully, they'll be competitive for the entire season next year.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks get blown out at home to the Atlanta Dream, lead by the 2nd all-time WNBA scoring leader, Tina Charles. Charles outscored the Sparks by herself in the first quarter and ended up with 23 pts. The Sparks struggled with their outside shooting and shot only 14.3% (3/21) from threes. Yikes. Rookie Rickea Jackson had a poor shooting game, after a string of amazing shooting games. The Dream pack the paint so any player that tries to score inside will get doubled or tripled. Jackson got doubled on at least 3 shots in the paint.

Negatives: Jackson struggled tonight; her shots were either long or to the side. It looked like she was rushing her shots for some reason and couldn't get out of that mode. Hamby only scored 5 pts (she struggles when teams pack the paint). No one had a good game; Yueru wasn't bad; she's improving on her post moves.

Positives: There are only 8 games left and the Sparks are very comfortably in the lead in the tankathon. Since they also have the toughest remaining schedule, it's likely that they'll have the worst record in the league.

TDRock

Watched the replay of the game yesterday evening. And yeah... :/

What I did find remarkable was that there was no energy whatsoever coming off the bench neither from the coaches nor the players that I ever saw... I mean I was watching TV I wasn't there but…

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

Sparks competed hard but fell short vs the Indiana Fever. They lead at the half, fell slightly behind in the 3rd quarter and never recovered. Rookie Rickea Jackson had another terrible shooting game and missed 2 layups and airballed an uncontested 10 footer from the baseline. The whole team missed at least 8 layups.

Positives: The starters (aside from the rookie) played well. They managed to fix the turnover problem by getting 2 ball handlers in Sims and Dangerfield. Rae Burrell continues to impress; she's got a great motor and was all over the court on offense. Burrell scored 16 pts on 6/10 shooting and dropped 3 assists. Nurse and Stevens shot fairly well from 3s, hitting a combined 6/15. Sims was unstoppable and dropped 20 pts along with 6 assists.

I'm sold on Burrell; give her an extension. She's been the 3rd or 4th best player on the team since the Olympic break. I was wrong about her; she showed lots of growth in the 2nd half of the season.

Negatives: Over the last two games, Rookie Jackson shot 7/27 fg (25.9%). She looked sluggish once again and it's a little disappointing because the rookie on the other team played with lots of energy.

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks get blown out on the road vs the Chicago Sky. They were up 8 early, but then gave up 3 threes to Banham and then struggled to stop the Sky in the paint. Without Brink, the Sparks have very poor interior defense; they got outrebounded 35 to 26. Rookie Rickea Jackson had a nice first half, scoring 15 pts, including 7/7 freethrows, but then she took the 2nd half off. This has been a recurring problem with Jackson; she has terrific 1st halves and lousy 2nd halves. I don't know if it's a mental block or a conditioning problem, but she has yet to fix it.

Positives: Rae Burrell got her first start of the season and she's earned it. She got into the passing lanes several times and made plays, but her shot wasn't going in. She did end up with 3 steals and 4 assists. Jackson rebounded nicely from her last game, but she missed every shot from distance. She ended up with 17 pts, 6 boards, 3 blocks, and 3 assists. Hamby had 21 pts and 5 dimes.

Negatives: Dangerfield almost seems afraid to take a shot because she's not a good shooter. Cooke got some minutes but missed all her shots from distance and they weren't even close. I hope Cooke fixes whatever the problem is because this season has been terrible for her.

Coach Miller gets some credit for rewarding effort; he's been taking players out of the starting line-up in favor of players who play hard - like Burrell and Talbot. There are only 6 games left and the Sparks are clear favorites to win the lottery.

TDRock

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 923

The Sparks lose a close game vs the Connecticut Sun. Rookie Rickea Jackson was the standout in this game; she dropped 23 pts on 9/18 fg to go along with 3 steals. This may seem impressive, but Rickea missed at least 4 wide open shots from around 15 ft; she needs to make more of those. The Sparks lead at the end of 3 quarters but gave up the lead on a Mabrey 3-ptr half-way through the 4th quarter. The Sparks still had their chances but the Sun defense kept the Sparks 2nd half scoring to only 22 pts. Yikes.

Positives: Dangerfield had perhaps the best floater from a Sparks player all season; the shot had a nice arc and hit nothing but net. She needs to shoot a lot more floaters. Yueru had a great 1st quarter where she grabbed 8 boards, but struggled the rest of the game. Jackson played the whole game and she's finally broke that 2nd half scoring slump. She scored 11 pts in the 1st half and 12 pts in the 2nd half. She was defended by Carrington early on and by Bonner in the 2nd half. Jackson outplayed both Sun players tonight.

Negatives: Turnovers are still a problem. Nurse and Jackson had 4 turnovers and Sims had 5 turnovers. Burrell got in early foul trouble and didn't play much.

I was watching the Bonner/Jackson matchup in the 4th quarter. Jackson held her own - a very impressive feat for a rookie. There are only 5 games left. Bring on the draft lottery.