***WNBA Thursday

Aussie why don’t you IM me and let me in on what kind of streak you are on?  I think it is 12-1 but I don’t have energy to go back and check. 

And buddy remember you were so down after those bad bad beats. Remember that going forward. Cream always rises. You do the work. 

Much appreciation as always. 

Brutal One. 

Hayes is out

Not touching this first game. BOL to those who do.

Big D, I am sitting on the very same future bet as you mate with the Sparks at 8/1. For me this season, there is a big discrepancy between the top 5 and the other teams. Storm, Lynx and the Mercury will struggle, even if they do get through the first round, they then have to play the Sparks in LA or Aces in Vegas, both teams have been so solid at home. In fact, I have never seen home court be so strong in a season. The top 4 teams right now are combined 53-10 S/U at home. The key for us mate is the Sparks finish 3rd, because it means that will play the Sun and I like their chances of beating them in a best of 5 in the semis rather than meeting the Mystics in the semi's. If that occurs and the Sparks somehow can manage 1 road win in 3 potential games in Connecticut (Sun are now 15-1) so its a tough ask but doable IMHO. This is where the Sparks experience will excel. Parker and Nneka have done this so many times, Chiney is new to this but Riquna, Bear and Gray have all done it. The worrying factor for me if I was a Mystics backer is the fact that Toliver is going to come back into the team after almost a month off and slide right back into her starting role. Not sure about you but I don't believe that's a good move. Yes she knows the system well but still, having a month away from actual playing time is tough. There is no denying that the top 2 seeds have prevailed in the last 3 seasons due to the new playoff format but I haven't lost hope yet for the Sparks and even the Aces. The only thing about the Aces is that they have Plum and Young running the show who might struggle come playoff time.

I still predict a Sparks/Mystics WNBA Final mate, and it might give us a nice opportunity to hedge out bets as well for some profit.

Exactly what I wanted, the Aces to lose and the Dream to shock them

 Seattle Storm @ LA Sparks: Sparks -6.5

After watching the Dream beat the Aces, this for me is the best time to take the Sparks because if they win today, they lock in 3rd spot regardless of the result against the Lynx in their last game because even if they do finish up with the same record as the Aces, they have got a better record against teams with 500% of more. No news on Nneka as yet, but she has had almost 4 days now to get over her illness which she suffered from against the Aces. If Nneka is in, even better but without her, I still like the Sparks in this game. Howard beasted the other night vs Griner, but Griner is as soft as tissues even though she tries to put on a hard persona. Howard has a tough ask against Parker, Chiney, Brown and Nneka (if she plays).

Just so people know what I am on about. The rules of the WNBA tie-breaker if both teams finish on equal wins

***Better winning percentage against all teams with .500 or better record at the end of the season.

So teams with 500 or better right now is every team from 7th up to 1st. Mercury can still finish exactly on 500 as well if they win their last 2.

So Sparks against teams with 500% or more
vs Mystics 1-2
vs Sun 2-1
vs Aces 2-2
vs Sky 2-1
vs Lynx 2-0
vs Storm 1-1
vs Mercury (if finish 500%) 2-1
So total record against teams as of right now with 500% or more, is 10-7

Aces in the same aspect
vs Mystics 1-2
vs Sun 1-2
vs Sparks 2-2
vs Sky 2-1
vs Storm 2-1
vs Lynx 2-1
vs Mercury (if finish 500% or more) 1-1

So Aces are 10-9

Its real close, but the Aces only have 1 game left vs the Mercury, if they win that they will go 11-9 and means that the Mercury cannot go 500%. The Sparks need to win today as they also have the Lynx coming up, if they win today vs the Storm the Sparks will be 11-7 against 500% teams and the Aces cannot catch them at all.  

Just checked as well David, unfortunately the Aces won the series 2-1 so Aces cannot drop lower than 4th.

Actually David, unless Sky win both their games (vs Sun and Mystics) and Aces lose to Mercury then the Sky can get into top 4 spot. Even if the Sparks drop these next 2 the Sky can get there. So much can still happen in 3 days of basketball.

Quote Originally Posted by peekay89:

I'll tail here because... why not? 

Fingers crossed Peekay the Sparks who up today to playoff basketball and really shutdown the Storm. No FIBA plays for me last night, fell asleep early and woke up and missed almost all the action

That is the kind of game I wanted to see from the Sparks. Every player contributing and playing hard with great hustle. Good to see just in time for the post-season.

So now we have this picture heading into tomorrow's games.

1. Mystics
2. Sun
3. Sparks (cannot move from 3rd)
4. Aces
5. Sky (beat the Sun and they tie with Aces)
6. Lynx (beat the Mercury and hold down 6th)
7. Storm (play the Wings in their final game)
8. Mercury (cannot move from 8th).

Tomorrow we have;

Wings @ Mystics - Mystics should take care of them

Fever @ Liberty  - snooze fest. No idea who wins this one because both are tanking for drafts and they are both very close to the same amount of losses over the last 2 seasons

Sky @ Sun - Sky wins and they can have the same record as Aces. Sun win and they get very close to the Mystics for the top seed.

Lynx @ Mercury - massive game. Mercury cannot move from 8th but need some kind of confidence hit. DT needs to land some shots, now 4-39. Lynx can clamped down on 6th spot but the Storm has the tie-breaker over them so if the Lynx lose, Storm will jump back into 6th until the final day of games.

Not a good time when you just wake up for the alarm to see what's your pick. And unfortunately misread it. What a stupid lad haha. Anyway congrats mate.