In watching that video this is what stands out the most. The unusual/unnatural shuffling of the feet. Weird how folks can see such different things from the same video
2024 WNBA Playoffs
- Thread starter amh03
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The lack of complaining about a travel is not because it wasn't a travel. Pretty clear to me she does a little 5 step there.
Very happy the Liberty won. My hot take is that Fiebich will develop into a All-WNBA player over the next few years. Love her game on both ends of the floor.
I watched the live 6-second clip posted upthread like 10 times before commenting that I just didn't see it. The replies to me had to Zapruder the thing frame-by-frame in order to argue otherwise. I don't watch as much ball as some of you, but I've seen thousands of travels calls, and thousands more that could've been called, and this doesn't visually resemble either category to me, chiefly because the steps happened during the moments right after receipt of the ball, and possession is always a little shaky in those moments. It's possible Stewart's play falls under the letter of the travel rule - I can't say, and don't have the enthusiasm to try to figure out a definitive take - but I do know that at first glance it doesn't look like one. How many posters here argued, in real time in the thread last night, that it was a travel? Zero. We were all focused on the merits of the foul call and review. The notion that it may have been a travel was only brought up after the fact via a tweet video. If it's so obvious, how come nobody saw it real time? How come Cheryl Reeve is happy to complain that the officials "stole" the game from them, but the word travel has not even crossed her lips? C'mon now. Maybe it's not so cut-and-dried and obvious as you seem to think.
Yeah, this is funny. Because I don’t know anybody could see that and not see that Stewart took four or five steps before putting the ball on the floor. Now I do think there was a bobble in there so that is probably why it was not called a travel, but from the moment she first touches the ball to when she dribbles, you don’t need to do anything in slow motion to see that she takes way too many steps.
Really, really awesome to attend live. Was the first pro championship celebration I've ever seen in person. The degree to which these teams were game-5-level tight and just could not shoot, especially the Liberty, was super apparent right from the start. Ionescu both was indispensable for the Liberty with everything running through her and a complete disaster who should have lost them the game.
Jonquel Jones winning Finals MVP was kind of a surprise live, was the right call, and the arena was really pumped about it. Jones was just beaming and everyone felt it for her.
On the officiating, it wasn't always easy to tell live, but in general it felt like the free throw disparity came down to:
Obviously I did not catch the potential Stewart travel live, but I'm not sure you see that called much in any game, even on replay. It very likely happened, but it takes close examination to see it, and it's kind of in the context of her catching a pass, bobbling, and going around Collier as she tapped at the ball. Considering replay is supposed to be about overwhelming evidence, they are not going to overturn the foul by throwing in an entirely new travel call when it requires going frame by frame to be sure of and making some assumptions along the way.
Jonquel Jones winning Finals MVP was kind of a surprise live, was the right call, and the arena was really pumped about it. Jones was just beaming and everyone felt it for her.
On the officiating, it wasn't always easy to tell live, but in general it felt like the free throw disparity came down to:
- Home court favor + hangover from Game 4 where the Lynx got more calls
- Liberty were the better rebounding team + turned the ball over less. They came down with more loose balls that eventually resulted in fouls
- Liberty played slightly more out of the post, especially with Jones, who the Lynx had no real answer for. Lot of closely contested entry passes. Lynx scored a bit more in the paint but part of that was a lot of backdoor cuts and Collier / McBride just beating defenders 1 on 1 for layups
Obviously I did not catch the potential Stewart travel live, but I'm not sure you see that called much in any game, even on replay. It very likely happened, but it takes close examination to see it, and it's kind of in the context of her catching a pass, bobbling, and going around Collier as she tapped at the ball. Considering replay is supposed to be about overwhelming evidence, they are not going to overturn the foul by throwing in an entirely new travel call when it requires going frame by frame to be sure of and making some assumptions along the way.
IMO the officiating in the WNBA is a joke. They regularly allow travels and absurd levels of fouling go uncalled. Once in a while they call moving screens but they often let them go. And frequently call phantom fouls on shots. IMO Wilson gets to the line an insane amount of times because of this. Anyway, nothing was any different in the playoffs as the rest of the season. It was a great and exciting final round of the playoffs. Unfortunately with the current state of officiating in the WNBA this is what we get. They're not going to do anything about it so unfortunately the only recourse for teams is to not be in close games. It's unfortunate for Minny because they played so hard, but there's no "do-over" so they will have to move on.
this is as good a summation as you'll see and I substantially agree with all of it. The Lynx were far better on the perimeter on both sides of the floor and the Liberty were a step slow. Partially that's Ionescu being so tight but the Liberty also changed the way they play by moving Jones into the low block earlier/more often. Especially in the games I went to, you could see that Jones started half court possessions in the high post, at the top of the key, or even outside the arv. She's such a good passer and has such good hands for a center, she would go quickly around the horn, look for an open shooter or wait for a screen/pick so she could either pass and cut to the hoop or pick up her dribble. She also took the occasional three. Liberty exploited the Lynx' relative lack of size and quality in the low bock by moving Jones there earlier in the possession, but that disrupted their usual pattern of ball movement around the horn.
I can understand how Lynx fans are furious, though.
Timpf covers Finals Game 5 in detail. It's some great commentary, I really can't argue with anything he says.
He also says it was unquestionably a travel by Stewart. Just that they can't call it on the review.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VawksH253cU
He also says it was unquestionably a travel by Stewart. Just that they can't call it on the review.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VawksH253cU
The biggest take-away for me is that they HAVE to use the NBA's replay center for reviews instead of the refs in the arena doing it going forward. Not only is the reply center faster, asking refs to review their own calls is like asking a student to grade their own essays.
