Naz had 7 points and 8 rebounds in the Dream’s season opener. They lost to Dallas.
Also, Leigha Brown played only 3 minutes and missed her only shot in the Suns’ opening win.
1 Like
1 Like
We now have three!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cu4p4g-gE5J/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
2 Likes
Both Naz and Leigha put up their season-high in points last night. Naz had 13 (plus a season-high 9 rebounds) and Leigha had 5.
It looks like Naz has been getting more minutes since Nia Coffey suffered a broken bone in her hand last week.
As for our third WNBAer, Cyesha Goree hasn’t played since August 11. She was originally signed to a hardship contract, so I’m not sure whether or not she’s still with the Mystics.
1 Like
Leigha Brown was cut from the Connecticut Sun. It looks like she’s playing overseas.
Naz’s minutes are slightly below her career average by about a minute per game but she’s currently shooting 76% from the floor and her bpg, spg, and apg are all up from those career averages. She had a nice game in last night’s victory at Chicago: In 18 minutes, she had 8 points (4-4 shooting), 3 rebounds, an assist, steal, and that block on Angel Reese.
2 Likes
I don’t know whether it’s due to injury or not, but Naz has started the last 4 games (last 2 before the Olympic break, and the first two 2 after) for the Dream. The team isn’t doing that well (though they did win today) so maybe there was a shake-up with the starting line-up. Regardless, I’m happy to see her getting more minutes.
5 Likes
Naz came within 1 rebound of her first double-double on the season but instead finished with 10/9/4 in a blowout win vs. the Sparks. She only played 23 minutes and was a +32 over that time.
In her 11 games as a starter, she’s averaging 5.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg and shooting 48%.
The Dream has 8 games remaining in the regular season and won’t be making the playoffs.
3 Likes
As for the WNBA, they will be adding three teams over the next two years but, sadly, Detroit isn’t getting one of them. I have seen some push for the return of the Detroit Shock but we’re not there yet. Hopefully, the game keeps growing. On the plus side, 36 added roster spots by the 2026 season benefits the potential-longevity of Naz’s career and opens up opportunities for more former Wolverines to join her. I would think that Laila Phelia has a pretty good shot at getting drafted. I think after playing three years in A2, we can still claim her.
1 Like
Yet another thing to blame Karen Davidson for!
3 Likes
Why won’t they be making the playoffs? Aren’t they currently tied for the 8 seed with Chicago?
Yeah, the fact 8 teams make it in a 12 team league and the first round is best of three sort of gives the regular season a “nothing matters!” vibe
Especially since the Fever started 2-9 with 11 games in the first 17 days of the season and are 15-7 since getting anything vaguely approximating rest, they’re going to be a nasty reward for the Minnesota Lynx
1 Like
Not only did they have no rest but they played a pretty brutal schedule too. Bunch of games against top teams. And now they’re just unstoppable on offense
1 Like
Add in the WNBA/NCAA calendar is brutally unfriendly to rookies, The Fever are obviously built around one, and it’s the first year really that saw marked declines in how many players went overseas to play (dropped from about 60% of the league to 40%, with really only one STAR still doing it (Napheesa Collier))
You have a young team built around someone who had just finished a 40 game season in a league that had literally never been fresher playing, on average, 2-3 more games in the first 2.5 weeks of the season than anyone else, have ONE 2 game homestand (ie, they played or traveled every day). Truly nuts!
I mean they’re fighting with the Chicago Sky for the final spot.
The bottom 3 are trying to tank for Paige Bueckers.
Whoops! I just assumed that being 10 games under .500 was going to put them out of the race…and my crack research staff had the holiday off!
1 Like
There really should be another month off in between the end of the college season and the WNBA kickoff.
On Friday in an OT win, Naz had 18 and 8.
5 Likes
Was it different this year because of the olympics and 2 weeks off? I usually don’t pay attention to when the season starts.
1 Like