I prefer a full rebuild with a new coaching staff and a head coach like Nakase or Smesko - teachers - hopefully patient ones. I would not mind a losing season next year but would enjoy watching Dom and her young teammates grow into a championship team.
A team led by Nneka and Skylar at 36 most likely won’t contend for a championship, so I would prefer a partial rebuild.
The goal is to keep some veteran leadership around while giving the young players a chance to grow in a competitive enviroment. Fighting for a playoff spot, like what the Mystics are doing, helps young players get used to high pressure situations and grow faster.
I would focus on keeping vets who can be connectors, essentially players who don’t dominate the usage or the offense but contribute decently on both ends with playmaking ability, to help keep the team competitive while maximising room for young players to grow (which is why Mystics benefited from trading away Sykes).
However, even in a partial rebuild, I’m unsure how to balance the option of keeping both Ezi and Dom, since both are 5, neither can create their own shots or shoot 3 consistenly, or play at the 4.
In examining the type of rebuild to pursue, it seems important to keep in mind that the decisions to "keep" a particular player or not, must bear in mind that those will be mutual decisions, and not just what the organization decides it wants. That seems especially relevant in the cases of Nneka and Diggins. They are both worthy players, who could be valuable moving forward (although having them has not yielded much in terms of contending), and they also have - at least publicly - been strongly tied to the soon-to-be former coaching staff. They may be disinclined to play under the next regime. The front office (assuming they continue), will need to plan for both full (everyone *not* named Malonga and Horston leaves without resistance) and partial rebuilds (attempting to retain Gabby, Sykes, Ezi, plus Horston and Malonga). Were I to have a vote, a full rebuild (player personnel, coaching staff) makes the most sense. Losing is a miserable experience; it's worse when there's no clear path to fixing it (other than running back more of the same and praying for a better result). The upcoming free agent feeding frenzy is a great time to remake the club.
I would vote for a full rebuild with new coaching staff and new GM. I agree they need a 5 who is big, physical and can play bully ball down low. Makes me miss LJ so much. Going forward, Build around Dom, Jordan and maybe Ezi. Although, I do have questions about her. She doesn’t seem to play with urgency or heart and her rebounding and scoring are subpar. Maybe the WNBA is too physical for her? But, I don’t know if that’s due to poor player development and coaching.
I'm really quite thrilled with Dominique Malonga and how she's developing and I think that she can be a real enforcer for us maybe sooner than you think. I believe that how far we go in the playoffs will largely depend on how dominant Dom becomes. All of our players have to play a lot better than they have been. There's no excuse for us being so bad at rebounding the ball. Allowing our opponent to collect twice as many rebounds as us is just insane. That means no one was doing their job!
After our 3-game winning streak, I had high hopes that we might have righted the ship, but then a game like this brings us (and my expectations) crashing back to earth. I think Coaching is our biggest problem. I have frankly never seen a coach quite as passive as Noelle Quinn. We need someone who is a real leader who will fight for our players and inspire them and know when to challenge terrible calls. I'm sure that we would also benefit from having a real enforcer in there to push back on the bullies.
We need a big, for sure; but I'd like to keep Nneka, Sky, Gabby, Dom, and Ezi and have Jordan back and healthy. Possibly others. I don't think Kattie Lou is the 3-point shooter answer for us. Mainly I'd like to see what our very talented current players could do with an analytical coach.
I don’t have the patience for full rebuilds, personally. Unless there is absolutely no hope for the current team. A possibility of a multi-season playoff drought and losing records sounds miserable. I think some substantial changes are needed, but I do think Gabby, Dom, Ezi, and Jordon should stick around. If Nneka and Skylar leave there will be a huge leadership void that would need to be filled by another veteran, I think, while whoever the next high-pedigree draftee is gets familiar with the W.
I prefer a full rebuild with a new coaching staff and a head coach like Nakase or Smesko - teachers - hopefully patient ones. I would not mind a losing season next year but would enjoy watching Dom and her young teammates grow into a championship team.
A team led by Nneka and Skylar at 36 most likely won’t contend for a championship, so I would prefer a partial rebuild.
The goal is to keep some veteran leadership around while giving the young players a chance to grow in a competitive enviroment. Fighting for a playoff spot, like what the Mystics are doing, helps young players get used to high pressure situations and grow faster.
I would focus on keeping vets who can be connectors, essentially players who don’t dominate the usage or the offense but contribute decently on both ends with playmaking ability, to help keep the team competitive while maximising room for young players to grow (which is why Mystics benefited from trading away Sykes).
However, even in a partial rebuild, I’m unsure how to balance the option of keeping both Ezi and Dom, since both are 5, neither can create their own shots or shoot 3 consistenly, or play at the 4.
Keep Nneka, Skylar, Gabby, Jordan, Dom, Sykes. Possibly keep Wheeler and Ezi. Draft Olivia Miles to develop under Skylar.
A new coaching staff would be an improvement, with the right proven track record. I believe this coaching experiment has run its course.
In examining the type of rebuild to pursue, it seems important to keep in mind that the decisions to "keep" a particular player or not, must bear in mind that those will be mutual decisions, and not just what the organization decides it wants. That seems especially relevant in the cases of Nneka and Diggins. They are both worthy players, who could be valuable moving forward (although having them has not yielded much in terms of contending), and they also have - at least publicly - been strongly tied to the soon-to-be former coaching staff. They may be disinclined to play under the next regime. The front office (assuming they continue), will need to plan for both full (everyone *not* named Malonga and Horston leaves without resistance) and partial rebuilds (attempting to retain Gabby, Sykes, Ezi, plus Horston and Malonga). Were I to have a vote, a full rebuild (player personnel, coaching staff) makes the most sense. Losing is a miserable experience; it's worse when there's no clear path to fixing it (other than running back more of the same and praying for a better result). The upcoming free agent feeding frenzy is a great time to remake the club.
I would vote for a full rebuild with new coaching staff and new GM. I agree they need a 5 who is big, physical and can play bully ball down low. Makes me miss LJ so much. Going forward, Build around Dom, Jordan and maybe Ezi. Although, I do have questions about her. She doesn’t seem to play with urgency or heart and her rebounding and scoring are subpar. Maybe the WNBA is too physical for her? But, I don’t know if that’s due to poor player development and coaching.
I'm really quite thrilled with Dominique Malonga and how she's developing and I think that she can be a real enforcer for us maybe sooner than you think. I believe that how far we go in the playoffs will largely depend on how dominant Dom becomes. All of our players have to play a lot better than they have been. There's no excuse for us being so bad at rebounding the ball. Allowing our opponent to collect twice as many rebounds as us is just insane. That means no one was doing their job!
After our 3-game winning streak, I had high hopes that we might have righted the ship, but then a game like this brings us (and my expectations) crashing back to earth. I think Coaching is our biggest problem. I have frankly never seen a coach quite as passive as Noelle Quinn. We need someone who is a real leader who will fight for our players and inspire them and know when to challenge terrible calls. I'm sure that we would also benefit from having a real enforcer in there to push back on the bullies.
Ugh. There's so much I like about this team and the players, and even the coaches. I can't think of any options I actually *like*.
We need a big, for sure; but I'd like to keep Nneka, Sky, Gabby, Dom, and Ezi and have Jordan back and healthy. Possibly others. I don't think Kattie Lou is the 3-point shooter answer for us. Mainly I'd like to see what our very talented current players could do with an analytical coach.
I don’t have the patience for full rebuilds, personally. Unless there is absolutely no hope for the current team. A possibility of a multi-season playoff drought and losing records sounds miserable. I think some substantial changes are needed, but I do think Gabby, Dom, Ezi, and Jordon should stick around. If Nneka and Skylar leave there will be a huge leadership void that would need to be filled by another veteran, I think, while whoever the next high-pedigree draftee is gets familiar with the W.