Nalyssa Smith is The X FACTOR For the Fever...

so Nelissa Smith is a player for the Indiana Fever and she is a player that has really divided opinions because there is an kind of a bit of an inconsistency when she plays like sometimes she looks like an All-Star other times she looks like she shouldn't be on the floor and I made a video I'm I think I made a couple of videos on the Lista Smith the last while like in the last couple of weeks I have made um Lissa Smith's time coming to an end in Indiana it's now or never tonight's game is important about both the Chicago sky and the Connecticut Sun games and she completely out dominated against Angel Reese against the sky she was really good I felt against the wings as well and then against the sun yeah if you look at the box score you're like she didn't have a good game but if you actually watch the game Nelissa Smith played well and the big difference is is that the effort is there and it's starting to come together she's getting easy looks like Nelissa is made is somebody that can make some of the craziest shots like there's no other player on this team that would shoot a one leg Falling Away throw from behind the head one into a one-handed floater from the free throw line off one dribble that I'd be like has a that is a chance of going in Lisa Smith regularly does it she's getting more aggressive on the offensive end like she is a scorer when she gets position on the inside when she is able to use her size get in on people and finish she's really good when she does this fade away one hand shot that she can sometimes hit where she flings it back almost off one hand like it's really hard like that very rarely goes in it's a really high degree of difficulty shot that she takes and that's kind of one issue is that a lot of the times Nelissa Smith takes really really high degree of difficulty shots when easy shots are probably the smarter decision but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter because it's all about impact on the floor and she has been exceptional and look this favorite team's been exceptional and I really like the dynamic with her and tamy F benley because they are the opposite of play as players they are the complete opposite like some games it's going to be 25 for Nelissa Smith some games it's going to be 25 for Tammy some games it's going to be 2020 and that's the thing where you've got a really good offensive player and look Nelissa Smith is still a terrible Defender if they play against but that's the thing she is bad at some aspects of defense like she's almost I will say her issue with defense is she switches off off the ball and she has a really bad tendency of jumping and turning she's a really bad tendency of kind of jumping and turning instead of just going straight up like the law of verticality does not apply to Nelissa Smith there are a lot of times where she's in good defensive position and just fouls but she turns her body for no reason so that's where her real issues are in defense and in just defensive Focus she's a hell of a rebounder and a hell of a finisher her shot actually hit hit a three was it against the Chicago Sky she went and hit a three was one them and it's like she's hitting threes it's just GG's it's game over if Nelissa Smith is out here hitting threes but um her shot isn't quite as far back over her head as it used to be it's not like from here anymore it's more now like here just still over her head but like it's not from here and she's uh she's working the only thing like the most important thing as a fan of a team his effort it is effort it's looking at your players and feeling like they gave 100% pie but player's not running back on defense if a player is not like um putting in the work which if you watch that game against Minnesota which was I think her last bad game she wasn't running back on defense half the time she was switching off on every switch she was getting face cuted fee carlier just had her way with her and it wasn't like fee was doing anything crazy fee was just running and cutting that's all she was doing and the step up in these last few games has been huge because now the team's winning and there is a correlation between the team winning and Nelissa Smith playing well there is that correlation because you've got Caitlin Clarke a Leah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell the three of them are going to always at worst case scenario give you a seven out of 10 game Caitlyn's gravity alone means that whether you're even if you're not judging by her standard in general she can't give you less than a six out of 10 the way Kelsey Mitchell's playing right now it's hard for her to have a bad game and Aaliyah Boston is one of those players that her IQ is so high that even when she's not scoring she's impacting the game in a bunch of different ways but if Nelissa Smith is making her shots and she's giving you 12 to 14 a game the team's nearly Unstoppable they are and that's really when it comes what it comes down to Nelissa Smith is I'm not entirely sure that she's this she's the long-term piece that Indiana need I think I've said it from the very start that I think this is a situation where it's like I think Lissa Smith would be better for a different team and I think Indiana will be better replacing Nelissa Smith not necessarily like if you can't get a good free agent to replace Nelissa Smith obviously you keep Nelissa Smith like simple as that you don't get rid of her you protect her in this um upcoming expansion draft no question no if fans or buts about it you protect her in the expansion draft but it's going to be very very tough when it comes to her like long-term fit on the fever because she is the team has cap flexibility CU your two best players are in their first and second year or two of your three best players in their first and second year and Lexi Hall I think is a better connected piece than Nelissa Smith is and they have a Max contract to give at her which realistically is going to be given at her position so it's going to be a tough one but for her her own career this last stretch of the season is going to be huge because if she again there's a possibility that they sign a power forward and bring her off the bench next year which is not going to be good for her the best case scenario for analissa Smith is that she balls out and becomes worth a legitimate asset she could very very well be somebody that maybe you don't let go to the Valkyries but maybe during the offseason you trade her to the Valkyries maybe they're able to maybe you're able to go and say like look we'll give you her give her give us your next year's first round pick which I don't think they would do but let's just say I don't know I'm trying to think of who would maybe make the Alissa Smith trade for a first because she'd be coming off the bench the Connecticut Sun don't have their first and they don't have their first next year either um so they obviously can't make that trade heck like there's definitely there are definitely trades you can make to get an equivalent of a first or a good starter for an Lia Smith and it could some it could be something that works out for both parties like sending your to a maybe not the sun maybe again maybe something it could be something like sending there to the aces you don't want to improve the ace CU if they feel like they contenders with you next year maybe you can send her to the aces for like a Megan gustofson whereas you improve fit but get the worst player and then you've got the your starting power forward if you're the Isis something like that either way either way if you are in the Lissa Smith the way she has stepped up recently has been admirable like she's been she had a bad stretch of games and she's having a really good stretchy games and the biggest change is the work rate that is what it comes down to because even if her shots on great if her shots off at least now you know you're still getting that like you're still getting an effort level that realistically not that it wasn't there it didn't appear to be there anyway from the outside looking in you are now getting an effort level from her where it's like I still think I think she looks worse because she's guarding the other team's best player most of the time because they play the same position as her and it's very it's not in the playoffs she's probably going to be the weaker of the um power forwards but I think that if she comes up against a sun I think she's done a good job on at at times this year I thought I think it depends like if they're playing the links that's a Tei game if you're playing the sun that's an Alysa Smith game in the playoffs if you're playing the Liberty I don't know which which of them um I don't know who you're going to guard I don't know which which of them is going to guard Stewie I don't think either of them can guard Stewie to be honest that's just going to be a tough game in general for them to play to Liberty if you're playing the aces that's an Alysa Smith game because you can put her on gustavson or Stokes and yeah it um hopefully touchwood she continues to play like a borderline Allstar because if she can play like that throughout the playoffs the Indiana Fever are probably the third best team in the w