October 1, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Can the Aces slow down Ionescu and Stewart?
By The Next
Megdal: 'I don't necessarily know that there's an adjustment Las Vegas can make ...'
On Tuesday’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Howard Megdal previews everything you need to know about Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, with the Liberty looking to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
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First, Megdal took a look at the Game 1 performances of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, after they combined for 55 points in New York’s 87-77 series-opening win on Sunday. Ionescu scored 21 points, with five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block, while Stewart led the Liberty with 34 points, along with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
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Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, released his latest book on May 7, 2024. This deeply reported story follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
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“She wasn’t rushed, she wasn’t too slow to get to things, she just found the rhythm right away and dictated things from the start,” Megdal said of Stewart’s performance. “Sabrina is healthy, and she spent all offseason working on that quicker first step to get downhill. It has changed the way the Aces are able to cover her.”
He continued later: “And here’s the thing: I don’t necessarily know that there’s an adjustment Las Vegas can make to change the trajectory of what [Stewart and Ionescu] are both doing.”
Then, Megdal explained why the Aces need more from Chelsea Gray moving forward in the series.
“Chelsea Gray is—wherever you want to rank her—incredibly valuable and incredibly important to the Las Vegas Aces. And, if you’re sending doubles, triples at A’ja (Wilson), A’ja has five assists. … A’ja had a historic season, (but) if Chelsea Gray doesn’t play like Chelsea Gray, this is a really hard series for them to win, even if New York doesn’t play as fully efficiently as they did in the first game of this series,” Megdal said.
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