What did not go well for Napheesa necklace in Invévérale?
It is one of the co-founders of the League. His team, The Lunar Owls, has an 8-0 sheet and the last unbeaten club. She is the top scorer in the league (29.4 points) and grabs 11.5 rebounds per game. And Friday evening, Collier made the story unrivaled, winning its first individual tournament, which has a prize of $ 200,000.
The last collar basket in the third match of his confrontation in the final against Aaliyah Edwards came to a patented Phee facade. It was appropriate, because the combination of leg play and collar finesse made its mid-range horsemen among the most difficult plans to stop in women’s basketball.
Bearing the same sneakers, a pair of Nike Kobe 9, which she put on in the WNBA final with the Minnesota Lynx, a collar, a seeded n ° 1, jumped excitement after her last blow fell. She shared embraces with her teammate Lunar Owls, Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had looked shortly, and family members. “Queen Phee” was then presented with a crown to mark the occasion.
“I just wanted to celebrate with them, people in my corner,” said necklace.
The tournament took place near Miami this week in the middle of the inaugural season of Invalided, opposing some of the best women’s basketball players in the world.
In Friday’s final, Collier abandoned the first match in the final series of the best three against Edwards 9-6. But necklace has been adjusted, remaining anchored on the many fake pumps of Edwards and bounces to win the second 9-4 game. She smothered Edwards in the decisive game, being the subject of 8-0.
Edwards had progressed to the final after beating Arike Ogunbowale in the semi-finals, while necklace eliminated Azurá Stevens earlier on Friday evening.
Here are five points to remember from the tournament.
1. NBA and Wnba should copy unrivaled
The change is common throughout the NBA and the WNBA stars weekends, with new events and competition formats regularly covering the festivities. But never, however, no league has tried a tête-on-one tournament, which is partly why the Invalided Tournament was so long awaited.
Holding a tête-à-tête tournament during the breaks of the NBA and the WNBA in mid-season could hear a relaxing weekend for sports stars. This would also force the players to put their ego aside and not to fear the possibility of losing. Nevertheless, Invivated has shown how excitation can be generated in this competition – for fans and players.
“You put yourself in the game,” said necklace. “So I think the money should be worth it for players, but if it was, I think it’s a good thing for fans to look. It’s super exciting. It’s fun for us to do so, but upwards, obviously, you have to hurt it. »»
Unforeseen has argued. As a result, it has a stellar mid-season showcase. Other leagues must follow and create an essential event.
2. No shame in losing
Breanna Stewart was one of the players who pleaded for the inclusion of the unique elimination tournament in the Invalided calendar. She thought that with financial incentive, it would produce an exciting event. But Stewart, one of the No. 1 seeds of the support, did not last long in the draw. Not only did she lost her match in the first round against Edwards, but Stewart was Skunk 12-0 in a match that lasted less than two minutes.
Stewart’s place in the women’s basketball hierarchy is no different because of the result. She contributed, missed her three shots, failed to obtain coherent stops and to lose. She congratulated Edwards (who is also her MIST teammate), and the tournament continued.
Whether it is one of the lessons in the tête-à-tête tournament. A game that played 11 will not demolish the work of a player. Stewart perceived as badly as a player in the event, and his inheritance is unchanged.
3. Games should not end on free throws
Three of the best clashes of the tournament ended on the free throws while the victory of the second round of Courtney Williams on Rhyne Howard finished on the Frankish launches line, just like the second round of Ogunbowale and the victories in the quarterfinals On Skylar Diggins-Smith and Sutou Sabally, respectively. These are three of the most intense competitions in the tournament, but the finishes were disappointing.
The end of free throw matches during the regular Invalided season is already anti -climatic compared to the alternative. It was particularly true in this event.
Here is a possible solution: if a player is up to a basket to win and is dirty, play resets and the player begins a new possession at Half Court. If the player is at fault three times consecutive, she is just considered the default winner. (Think of the NFL rule which almost attributed to the Eagles a touchdown in the NFC championship.) Is this an ideal end? No. But that should disincle hacking in the end of the game and lead to more winning baskets. Even if an occasional game ends by default, is it worse than what he concludes on the free throw line?
4. Money was an important motivator
The money prize played a key role in the success of the tournament. The Prize Pool was divided so that the winner ($ 200,000), the finalist ($ 50,000), the semi-finalists ($ 25,000 for each player who did not progress to the final), and even the The winner’s teammates ($ 10,000 each) all brought money home. The participants knew the issues.
“This is the only thing I think about,” said Shakira Austin after beating Chelsea Gray in the first round. “I am tired like hell. All I think is: “2-Hunnit, 2-Hunnit”. »»
The WNBA collective negotiation agreement allocates less than $ 7,500 combined with the winners of the Skills Challenge and the 3 -point competition, which is why last summer, the WNBPA and the AFLAC joined forces to give the winner $ 110,000. He produced a better event and assuming that he returns this summer, the caliber of participating players will only improve. The Invalided’s individual tournament was no different. The money spoken.
By advancing in the semi-finals, Edwards needed less than 10 minutes of playing time to earn more than a third of his WNBA salary ($ 74,909). A seeded head n ° 8, she eliminated two seeds n ° 1 (Stewart and Ogunbowale) en route to the final. But the fog striker failed to eliminate a third head of higher series. However, she added to her salary to take away with her second place.
“It’s a bit crazy. I didn’t think about it like that, ”said Edwards. “But I think that invocation is an excellent space for athletes, in particular young athletes like me, to capitalize on the manufacture of money here in North America and to provide for the needs of our families.”
5. Can the tournament have an impact on basketball culture?
Unparalleled league leaders were impatient to do something that other leagues did not do in an official setting. But the hope is that the legacy of the tournament will be larger than a week -long event.
“We are trying to really change the culture of women’s basketball,” said collar. “You go to the playground or the park and you see guys playing pick-up where they play 1, you don’t see much with women, and we really try to change this, which it means to be a The female athlete and the culture to play in your backyard, to play the park, to play 1, as we do. We don’t see this much and we are trying to change this. “”
It remains to be seen in the success of creating a quarter of work, but the event has certainly given the players to present skills that they may not always display in other contexts.
This article originally appeared in Athletics.
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