During last week, unrivaled players remained after training for the development of additional skills. The reason? The league head-to-head tournament starts on Monday, the players got additional isolation work.
Support for the Ligue mid-season tournament was unveiled at the start of last week for the single elimination format to a final of the three. Seven players were excluded on Sunday evening due to persistent injuries, but the excitement among the 23 competing players is preparing to see who reigns supreme, and the fall in the playing among the players is high.
“I think it will be an incredible show,” said League president Alex Bazell. “All players who play are ecstatic to have a chance to win the cash prize. It will also be great for culture.
Invalided’s argument to potential players and investors has always included the concept of an individual tournament when they developed the new 3 × 3 3 × 3 women’s basketball league which was launched last month. The founders of the league aimed to satisfy one of the most common questions that fans ask: who would win in a head-on-one game?
“It is something for the basketball cultivation that the higher levels never do with regard to star matches,” said Luke Cooper, president of the Invalided basketball operations. “It’s always the only competition that everyone is asking for, and we had the impression that we had the opportunity to do it in a unique way.”
Like other aspects of unrivaled membership, players were essential to the development of the tournament.
“The players are ready to put their names in play and to see who would be the winner, which, I think, is unique for this level of talent to put themselves there,” said Cooper.
Monday at 7 PM and, the tournament begins with a first round of eight games. Here is everything you need to know about the event.
How does the support work
Almost all the participants of the inaugural season of Invalided play in the tête-à-tête tournament. To create the support, 30 players were divided into four pods with at least one player per team sorted in each pod. The pods were made to distribute talents and positions as well as to create convincing matches.
Fans, media, players and coaches then submitted sowing recommendations to help create matches in a seeding format n ° 1 against n ° 1 against n ° 8, 2-7, 3-6 , 4-5. The two upper seeds in the A and D cloves received first -round byes.
Due to persistent injuries and prioritize the well-being of players for regular seasonal matches, unequaled will combine the two sessions of the 1st round for tournament 1 out of 1 presented by Sprite in a single session. The 1st round will be played from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. He in Wayfair Arena, broadcast on… pic.twitter.com/jxslcfovgd
– Unparalleled basketball (@univaledwbb) February 9, 2025
While the first round was planned to include 14 games, Undoued announced several support updates with inactive players due to injuries and “prioritize the well-being of players” for the second half of the season.
Bazzell said the league became aware this week that it might have to make changes to the support. As unrivaled weighed how to do it, he wanted to maintain the integrity of the support and not move the matches.
“We wanted to give (the players) for each occasion to compete,” said Bazzell. “And inevitably, it comes down to the decision not to assert it at this stage if you are not really healthy.”
Consequently, seven players will receive Byes in the second round. Previously, only Arike Ogunbowale and Jewell Loyd were planned for the Byes. Only two first -round clashes in the individual invalided tournament present WNBA stars several times.
Aliyah Boston faces Kahleah Copper and Skylar Diggins-Smith plays Dearica Hamby. The latter is an essential head to head, with two of the most qualified players in the draw. Hamby is third at the score in the first season of Invalided (21.2 points in just 12.8 minutes per game), while Diggins-Smith hit the most winning shots (four). The winner of this match will meet Ogunbowale in the second round, which is a difficult test, but Hamby and Diggins-Smith are qualified enough to do a deep race.
What are the rules?
The tournament consists almost entirely of single elimination competitions. Only the finals are a series for the best of the three. The matches are played on a winning score of 11 points, or 10 minutes in total, according to the first possibility. The clock will not stop during the gameplay.
The regular season of Invalided uses a modified stopwatch of 18 seconds, but its tête-on-one tournament will have a chronometer of seven seconds. The game flow is make-it-take-it, which means that if a player marks a basket, he retains possession. The games follow traditional rating rules; A 2 -point shot always counts for 2 points and a 3 point is 3 points.
What is the winning price?
The players were attracted to various unrivaled financial aspects. The 36 original players have all received equity in the League with an average salary of more than $ 200,000 for the 10 -week season. The tête-à-tête tournament is just as lucrative.
The Prize Pool is $ 350,000 in total, with $ 200,000 to the winner. Each of the winner’s teammates receives $ 10,000. The tournament finalist receives $ 25,000 and the semi-finalists who do not progress to the final also receive $ 25,000.
In comparison, the WNBA CBA only allocates $ 2,575 to the winner of the Skills Challenge and the competition in 3 points during the weekend of the Stars of the League. (WNBPA, in partnership with Aflac, provided a bonus of $ 55,000 to the winner of each competition last summer.)
Prediction
Arike Ogunbowale
Ogunbowale has not yet had a vintage inverted performance. She scored more than 20 points only once in her first six games and has not hit a 3 -point since late January. However, Ogunbowale is one of the most dynamic offensive players in sport. Her 34 points in the WNBA 2024 star match – all in the second half – showed that when she warms up, she may be almost impossible to stop.
Ogunbowale has a Bye in the first round, and even if she will have to play a WNBA star in the second round – be Diggins -Smith or Hamby – she should be favored against the two players, as well as one or the other of her Potential opponents in the quarter -final, Sutou Sabally or Dijonai Carrington. The windows seemed to be made to measure in his strength. Although it is risky to choose a seeded head n ° 1, the ability of Ogunbowale to mark in all areas of the soil – and 3S trade for 2s – makes it an interesting choice.
How to look
The tournament will be broadcast over three days on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
The first round begins Monday at 7 p.m. (and) on TNT and Trutv. The second round and quarter -finals are broadcast Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on TRUTV. The semi-finals and the finals are broadcast on Friday on TNT and TRUTV between 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. as a NBA RISING STAR-STAR COMPETITION OF NBA RISING TNT TNTS
“It’s pretty cool that it leads to the NBA All-Star weekend,” said Cooper. “We are not part of (the weekend officially), but it’s a bit in the same vein of what this week is. This means that people in the competition of mind for skills, the Slam Dunk competition, the 3-point competition, and our individual competition is also a bit in there. »»
This article originally appeared in Athletics.
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