Why this worthy All-Star didn’t get my vote. Plus: Commissioner’s Cup final is tonight

Backcourt: Caitlin Clark, Rhyne Howard, Olivia Miles and Kelsey Plum

Frontcourt: Natasha Howard, Jonquel Jones, Natasha Mack, Jessica Shepard, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson

The two Dream games after I submitted my vote don’t exactly help the Rhyne Howard case, but before then, she was averaging 18.1 points, 3.2 assists and 2.6 (!!) steals while making 3.2 3-point attempts per game. That combination of scoring volume and elite perimeter defense got her the last guard nod.

Kelsey Plum might be the more controversial inclusion since she’ll likely miss the All-Star Game with a lower-leg injury, but she’s been the best offensive guard in the W.

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That being said, it sucked to leave out Bueckers and Sonia Citron, who are no-brainer All-Stars.

Jonquel Jones felt like a relatively easy frontcourt inclusion with her scoring efficiency, rebounding and rim protection. Natasha Mack was the hardest decision, and it came down to her, Boston or Reese. The Mercury have been real bad, but through no fault of their starting center. She is a perfect roll threat and has been one of the best defensive bigs in the league, and Phoenix is actually plus-2.2 with her on the floor. Not even Alyssa Thomas has a positive net rating for the Mercury.

Because this is All-Star voting, not All-WNBA voting, I don’t mind picking players from losing teams. It’s fun to reward players who are popping off, even if they don’t necessarily have an All-Star track record.

Annie’s picks (alphabetically): 

Backcourt: Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, Olivia Miles and Kelsey Plum

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Frontcourt: Aliyah Boston, Natasha Howard, Jessica Shepard, Breanna Stewart, Gabby Williams and A’ja Wilson

Sabreena and I had only three differing votes on our All-Star ballots. Starting with our backcourt selections, where she picked Rhyne Howard, I have Bueckers. Beyond what I wrote above in the first section, my decision to select Bueckers over Rhyne Howard came down to her efficiency and an overall more balanced stat line. Bueckers is averaging 19.9 points per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. She’s also averaging just under six assists per game and only two turnovers.

In the frontcourt, where Sabreena selected Mack and Jones, I have Aliyah Boston and Gabby Williams. Boston is the fifth leading scorer among bigs in the WNBA, averaging 17 points per game and shooting 50 percent from the field and 42.6 percent from 3, a significant improvement from the 20.7 percent she shot from deep last year.

When it comes to Williams, we’ve always known the caliber of player she is on the defensive end, but this year she’s married that with her best-ever scoring output. She is the Valkyries’ leading scorer, averaging 15.8 points per game, and is proving herself to be one of the best two-way players in the league.

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Fast Breaks

🏀 ICYMI, Alyssa Thomas was suspended one game for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area” of Clark in last week’s Mercury-Fever game.

🏆 Are the Valkyries title contenders? After Marina Mabrey’s WNBA-record 53-point game, they jumped in our power rankings.

👀 Over the course of her first 19 pro games, Olivia Miles has shifted Rookie of the Year odds. (Andddd MVP and Lynx title odds.)

🎙️ On the pods, Zena, Annie and Sabreena discuss the aftermath of that Fever-Mercury game. Plus: We talk Commissioner’s Cup final!

🎓 Over in the NCAA, college athletes will now be allowed five years of eligibility instead of four, with redshirts and waivers eliminated. The age-based eligibility model is intended to prevent athletes from playing into their mid-20s.

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Front-runners or Frauds? Liberty look to answer that in Cup final

The Liberty (12-8) picked a tough time to go on a two-game skid. In the 10 days since their eight-game win streak was snapped by the Mystics, the Liberty are 1-4 heading into tonight’s Commissioner’s Cup matchup (7 p.m. ET on Prime Video) against the Aces.

Making matters worse, they’re coming off a cross-country road trip following their 76-67 loss to the Valkyries, a season-low scoring output for them.

The Liberty were pegged as an early contender this season after re-signing their core and pulling off a free-agent coup in signing forward Satou Sabally. But the story has been about their inability to establish a strong identity because of their ever-changing lineups.

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First-year coach Chris DeMarco has used nine starting lineups through 20 games thus far, due to injuries and absences. Only one of his starting groups is undefeated: Pauline Astier, Leonie Fiebich, Marine Johannes, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones.

Sabrina Ionescu has started in seven of the eight games she’s been available for after being out with a left foot injury and then with a back injury. The Liberty are 2-5 in games that Ionescu has started. But that stat is less of an indictment on her than it is on the team’s inconsistent rotations.

Sabally’s latest absence, now that she’s in concussion protocol and missing tonight’s final, is one more challenge for New York.

But this is still the same Liberty squad that comfortably beat Las Vegas one week ago on the Aces’ home court. The title-winning ceiling is there, and tonight’s Cup final would be a good time to recapture that form.

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Trophy Time: What’s at stake in the Cup final?

The Commissioner’s Cup has historically been a postseason preview, with nine of the 10 Cup finalists going on to make a semifinals run later that same season. The only exception was the Storm in 2021, who crashed out in the second round (but it’s worth noting that they were without Stewart, as the two-time MVP’s 2021 campaign was cut short due to a foot injury).

Fast forward five seasons, Stewart is now with the Liberty, playing in her fourth Commissioner’s Cup final. She’s 2-1 so far.

It’s the second time New York and Las Vegas will face off in the in-season tournament, and the first time any team will be a repeat winner of the trophy. 

The Liberty have had the Aces’ number over the last three seasons, boasting a 9-2 record since the Aces beat the Liberty for the 2023 WNBA championship. But Las Vegas (14-5) is in much better form of late — assuming A’ja Wilson is good to go after sustaining a right leg injury in the Aces’ win over Chicago on Sunday.

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In past seasons, the cash prize ($500,000 for the winning team) has been a big draw of winning the Cup. But with the new CBA, average salaries have jumped from about $130K to nearly $600K. While the purse for the Cup hasn’t changed, hopefully the motivation for it hasn’t either.

Find our full Commissioner’s Cup final preview here.

Yikes: Officiating woes continue

Something we don’t need to see in tonight’s Cup final? The continuation of whatever has been going on with officiating …

The start of the WNBA season was highlighted by a newfound emphasis on freedom of movement, one of the main talking points that came out of the league’s newly established officiating task force. The aim was to crack down on excessive physical perimeter defense to allow for a more free-flowing game.

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Early returns showed an uptick in fouls called (6.4 more per game) and games stretching well past the typical two-hour run time; the extra 7.4 free throws each night certainly doesn’t help.

But in recent weeks, there has been a slew of missed calls, ranging from the most basic — like a missed foul call on the Wings at the buzzer that would have sent Azurá Stevens to the line with the Sky down one — to the more egregious, like the original no-call when Thomas pressed her fist into Clark’s neck after becoming entangled going for a loose ball.

Whichever way you slice it, officiating is currently holding back the WNBA.

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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