Liberty & Lynx DOMINATE WNBA Rankings: Fever’s Playoff Push HEATS UP! | Yahoo Sports

what's up guys ice young here alongside Cassandra Negley and we are excited to talk about WBA power rankings this week A lot has happened in the last two weeks so we are going to get right into it let's take a look at our current WBA standings we're going to look at the top eight because the top eight make the playoffs and we know those are coming in less than a month it's a New York Liberty that stay at the top at 26 and five Connecticut Sun at a close two in the third spot the Minnesota links who I have a lot to talk about later at 22 and8 in fourth right now the aces making their way back after the Olympic break they're at 18 and 11 overall Seattle Storm are in fifth actually tied with the aces in six it's the Phoenix Mercury Seven the Indiana Fever at 14 and 16 and we know those Young Guns Are Climbing and then at eighth it's Chicago sky that are hanging on I must tell you that the ninth team right now is the Atlanta Dream they're 10 and 19 the sky are 11 and 18 so any given day a couple of games and we could have some flipflops Cass let's get into your power rankings on what you've seen over the last couple of weeks your top four right now are New York Minnesota Connecticut and Indiana tell me I know you want to get into Minnesota so I'm Gonna Leave the groundwork for you but I did think about putting them number one those were two very convincing wins um but the Liberty have just kept solid kept consistent they're working Sabrina uncu back into the lineup she missed a few games Minaj elaney finally got some post Olympic break minutes um so they just kept number one for me obviously the team that I moved up into fourth was Indiana I base it a lot on what we've seen out of the break from them and other teams I just like the way they're flowing offensively like it seems to be a different player every night stepping up next to Caitlyn Clark and Kelsey Mitchell they've talked about getting Aaliyah Boston involved more which I would like to see but I dissected a bunch of their numbers for the Caitlyn counter this week and all of their numbers are pretty much up Caitlyn's turnovers are down I know you are big on the turnovers turnovers are down since the break so I've just been impressed with them obviously like defensively not the most solid of teams um but for the teams that they've beaten out of the break I thought they deserve that slot yeah and I mean defensively we don't expect one of the youngest teams in the league to be the best team but they absolutely are battling they're three in one since the break they've beaten the Mercury they've beaten the storm and they only lost by 10 to the links which was a very hardfought game uh for me I'm with you in saying the Minnesota links could have been number one this week and I think if we do this power ranking in two weeks they could earn that I just feel like what Cheryl reev has put together in terms of the consistency the three and D I mean they play defense connected on one Accord they look so solid versus the Las Vegas Aces they beat them backto back I'm not sure last time we've seen the aces take backto back losses in in such a controlled fashion from the other team but I just thought the links look like Championship contenders they look like they should be in the deing bay finals this season um and the way nefisa klier is playing yo if you haven't watched nefisa klier please go watch we talk about Asia Wilson a ton but nefisa is making a campaign for her team this year I've been thoroughly impressed with them uh I still have New York Liberty Minnesota links Connecticut sun and Seattle Storm uh I liked what I saw from the Connecticut sun in terms of getting their first win over the New York Liberty this season we know that's been a tough team for them to beat I felt like that was a moment where they got over the hump um obviously Marina Ma has jailed very well with this team early she played fantastic versus her old team in Chicago uh and they look very very solid okay let's dive into our second half of the power rankings your four through eight are Las Vegas Phoenix Seattle and Chicago I have Las Vegas Phoenix Indiana and Chicago tell me your thoughts behind where the Las Vegas aces are right now because you have them fifth yeah the aces are still just kind of slogging through like they don't have the offensive output that they had before the break and certainly like that stretch where Chelsea Gray came back they looked much more like themselves and they've lost that and I don't know if it's just wear and tear from having four Olympians go to Paris and Asia Wilson carrying that team and Chelsea Gray isn't herself those stats are not what we usually see from from the point God so I don't know if the injury is impacting her or not but as you said with Minnesota the flip side of that is that the aces took two really bad losses to a team above them and so I just feel like they're still kind of in that fifth area and defensively like defense has been an issue I I I was gonna say I completely agree I am you know was fortunate to call their game versus Chicago sky where Asia hit the buzzard beater and throughout that whole game that was the only thing that seemed lacking to me was yeah sometimes their defense is a little stagnant it happens when you have so many players that can play one-on-one successfully but defensively they don't look like the same team that we've seen win back-to-back championships uh and it's it's like they have less than 10 games to figure it out to get back on one Accord before we talk about the playoffs a team though that I was very oh yeah the thing about the aces just to throw in one more thing about the aces I think we forget that when they won in 2022 like very good team but they were not you know miles away from everyone else the reason they were so dominant last year was their defense really really tightened up and so now we're kind of back to 2022 where the defense isn't as tight and so we're seeing these closer games it's just opponents are able to take advantage when they couldn't in 2022 oh yeah I completely understand Kelsey plump told me that she said teams are playing as different they understand what we're doing now they have learned and who wants to lose and let someone win a championship three times in a row right so everyone's getting better the last team that I would say I'd like to hint in my power rankings is Chicago I'm not from Chicago but I have a love for Chicago like I do for Jersey like it's it's you know we breed dogs and I just really love the way that this young Chicago team is hooping backto back heartbreaking games they had the Connecticut son and were winning that game guys was less than a minute and then lost uh they were in the game with Las Vegas Aces Kennedy Carter makes unbelievable play after play and they lose the last second buzzard beater so this young team is literally right there they know it Teresa Weatherspoon knows it Kenedy Carter knows it um and I just would love to see them continue to grow and make sure that they really do solidify that playoff position they have it right now they've got to make some separation from Atlanta um but I was really impressed with what I saw in person from them in a tough week where you play the sun and the Aces and you take both teams down to the wire it's a good young team right there in Chicago so the hottest team in the league the Indiana fi a team that we hey haven't made a playoff spot since 2016 and that was their ultimate goal for this team this year you get back-to-back number one picks and you say you have to be in the playoffs you have to get to the top eight Cass what have you liked from this fever team and can they make some noise in the playoffs I've liked how they've played after having more time together like we focused so much in the early season on quite frankly like how bad they looked and how disoriented and how frustrating it was to watch an offense after you had watched Caitlyn Clark like be a prolific offensive presence with Kate Martin and Gabby Marshall and all those players in Iowa they have found their footing together like pressors on the court on like these social media Clips you can tell that they've formed a better chemistry and honestly like it just takes time to do that like Caitlyn Clark as a rookie point guard has been given the benefit of time in that she had a second training camp in her first year I mean that's huge and so Kelsey Mitchell you had mentioned is having potentially a career year she's averaging about what she had before it's just like you said she has someone to pass her the ball you have Lexi Hall stepping up to hit threes yeah um I just think they've taken advantage of the time they've come on a huge run and Lindon had said last year if they didn't make the playoffs it was going to be a disappointment I do think that they can take a game in the postseason I don't know if they're going to win a series but certainly when you have a player like Caitlyn Clark and Ayah Boston uh Kelsey Mitchell is used to winning in college but you have this recenty of winning with a player like Caitlyn and Aaliyah and that does carry into a playoff series yeah absolutely um so playoffs you know seating is 1 18 27 so right now they would be matched up with the Connecticut Sun uh could be an opportunity right for the Minnesota links to jump the rankings and get in second is there a difference to you whether who they play could play in the first round the lyns versus the sun it's tough to say right now so Indiana is going to play Connecticut this week I think that'll be a better um connector of this question just because adding Marina mavy does change the Connecticut Sun uh I think what will be huge for Indiana in the postseason is getting hot from three that's really how we saw them just away from Seattle um I'll be interested to see how they do against Connecticut this week certainly excited to see what this young team can continue to do and in terms of just securing a playoff spot uh and then what they can show with you know hey Leah Boston Caitlyn Clark and what they're building in Indiana well with W teams having about 10 to 12 games left in the season uh as it's winding down we get to talk about Awards and who we feel like has showed off and showed out this season so Cass let's start with MVP uh I have been very clear about this it was almost like our in Don Staley we trust for NCA tournament it's in Asia Wilson is the MVP I just think she continues to show us that she's the best player in the league I think that she's dominating in terms of scoring the basketball for her team she's second and rebounding in the league she's first in blocks in the league she also averages two steals a game um just doing a little bit of everything and she continues to get better if there's nothing that impresses me more about Asia Wilson to be quite honest it's that every year we see her she continues to get better she continues to dominate um um and she is the reason why the aces right now are fourth I think there are other players who've been playing inconsistent but she has not she's brought every single game uh your thoughts on MVP MVP I think Asia is still the front runner but I think the Gap is a lot smaller than I felt like when we talked two weeks ago is playing out of her mind including those two games against the aces just elevated numbers around the board she's shooting like 60% after the break compared to 40% before I think the interesting thing about fee is that we lost track of her a little bit because she was out for five games heading into that Olympic break and maybe there was some concern about what she would look like when she came back I know when I saw her at Olympic Training Camp I was like ah like is she actually going to play in Paris clearly she played and played well and she's playing so well for the links right now that I think she has a strong case to take some number one votes from Asia the MV MVP the MVP vote is the top five um so some other strong candidates I think Sabrina uncu has done a good job leading the liberty of course winning MVP as a guard is always difficult obviously more difficult when you have Asia Wilson doing Asia Wilson things Alyssa Thomas's numbers look pretty similar to last year obviously her scoring is down because Brianna Jones is back and scoring I think was always the issue for voters last year but she'll probably be on some ballots uh Caitlyn Clark will be on someone's MVP valot I promise you that we see this a lot with rookies um as long as she gets one point as long as she gets on one person's fifth place ballot like she will be in the MVP rankings yeah yeah um I I have obviously Asia nefisa Alyssa Thomas uh Sabrina enescu I completely agree with that she has been the most valuable player this season for the New York Liberty when she's been on the floor and then my other one is Clea copper um I just think what K has been able to do how she started this season with 8 30o games um obviously you know her first time playing in the Olympics and her Olympic debut was fantastic but she has just continued to look so mature so consistent for the Phoenix Mercury willing them to a couple of wins honestly um and they need every bit of her to continue to be a team that's in the top eight and have an opportunity um so I just think what she showed this year has been really dominant from like the guard position um okay let's move into our rookie of the year SL our all rookie team Let's go Team first give me your all rookie team uh the players I'm considering for it Caitlin Clark Angel ree obvious we talk about them at nauseum so I'm gonna put him to the side uh Ria Jackson is having an incredible season in Los Angeles uh certainly I think if Caitlyn and Angel weren't kind of running away with a rookie of the year race maybe we'd have a third in there um Camila cardoso didn't start the beginning of the Season due to injury but has really started to comeing to her own five blocks against Asia Wilson like hey I probably should not have been you know guarding Chelsey gray on that inbound play to end the game but I digress I'm not the head coach uh I also want to highlight Liberty reserve lyanna feish she's playing incredibly well great defense she's had to do some spot starts for Baja Laney um not a traditional rookie in terms of she came out of the draft she's from Germany I think she's 24 25 26 years old but she's technically a WNBA rookie so I think I have her on my team right now yeah yeah I completely um agree with those cardoso coming off a career high she had 18 points another game she is just continuing to get better every single time she steps on the floor definitely could be in a defensive player of the year conversation a couple of years to come with some maturity absolutely she showed that she can do that but you're absolutely right we know about the two that are you know really in this head-to-head Rookie of the Year conversation seems like every other week Caitlyn is breaking this record and then Angel breaks this record the most recent one for Angel is that she's tied Tina Charles for uh the most double doubles in a season as a rookie she's at 22 right now as of August 27th um and we know what cc continues to do um for the Indiana Fever uh our coach of the year coach of the year I'm gonna go first I'll take the pressure off you Cass my coach of the year right now is Cheryl Reef it's not someone who uh is a stranger to being coach of the year in the W she's won four championships in the W she knows how to win in this league and she knows how to put together a good team I mean the team right now for the Minnesota links and what she got from free agency and Courtney Williams uh the growth that we've seen from even a player like Kayla McBride at this point in her season to nefisa Collier and the way that it all gels Alena Smith a player that I have come to love watching her play every time she steps on the court that to me it show Ree and what she's been able to do with this team so far Cass your thoughts on coach of the year reev is definitely in the lead for me uh at the commissioner's cup she told us all I think it was after their win you know you all love your super teams and I thought about that a lot lately because when you build a super team sometimes you're asking players we saw this in New York to do something a little bit different to fit next to the Superstar next to you yeah I think Cheryl reev especially with the pieces they added in free agency has said okay like Courtney Williams you're great in the mid-range like fee you're the leader do your thing Kayla let's get you you know hot from three and and melded together players who do certain things well versus saying let's bring in all this Talent like top end talent and figure out what you're going to do well right um Sandy brondello will probably pull some votes because Liberty are up top again um if they win out or no they lost to Connecticut but they're going to be close to that winning percentage record um or most wins in a season Stephanie white for the Sun might pull some interest uh do want to highlight Christy sides and Teresa weather spoon they might pull some votes um I think usually we see this go to coaches who have lifted a team to the top and again like ree is in the lead for me but Christy sides and Teresa weather spoon have done a lot with that young Talent yeah yeah completely agree and then to be honest we can't forget about Becky Hammond I think the aces could I think the a yeah because how hard is it to three repeat right if we're really voting and we're using you know our perspective how hard is it to three repeat in this league and so it's been a harder harder season already because of the Olympic break because of the injuries that the aces have sustained earlier in the season not having their point guard in Chelsea Gray so I also feel like if the aces can still manage to come out this thing top three uh and threee obviously right we're give her the nod then but even top three I just think with all the different distractions and uh things that have come this season it still would be very impressive to me uh to see what Becky Hammond has been able to do with this with this core group and keeping everyone together and keeping the level of play as high do ballots are due on the last day of the regular season so I'm curious what would have to happen for you to vote Becky Hammon as head coach you know knowing that your ballot is due then great question I feel like what would have to happen for me is what would make you voter yeah for the aces to not lose any more than two games the rest of the season okay I think they can can go on a solid stretch where they win nine out of the next 11 you know eight out of the next 10 um and look like a team that's trying to three repeat and turn it around and finish that strong right I think Unfortunately they lost a couple of these tiebreakers and head-to heads like the links um but again I think there's still room to show that they are the best team and if she can coach her way out of this little rut that they're kind of having it also shows um yeah shows her level of of ability in her job okay okay okay we'll see we shall see we'll keep an eye on that for two weeks our Defensive Player of the Year Awards Cass I will start with you who is catching your eye defensively this season in the W uh Asia and fee are obviously up there one player I want to highlight who I don't think will be my vote right now just because of what Asian Fe are doing but eie magore with Seattle has been a year in year out all defensive team um Contender shall we say Defensive Player of the Year Contender she's a player like you know Camila who one day she's gonna really be on top of this award her 2.3 blocks per game are second um six defensive rebounds a game 10th steals per game are a little bit down but an elite rim protector for a pretty solid Seattle defense yeah I completely agree with that um I love A's game I think she's so crucial to what Seattle is able to do her and NECA uh in a front court is dynamic and very long um completely agree with that yeah I think it's just just so tough to see what Asia and nefisa ker are doing um one hit for nefisa ker she's also second in the league and stills per game at 2.1 I feel like we talked so much about her scoring her ability to pass um but she also is an elite Defender does get in the passing lanes and is very very smart in that way as well Asia is third in steals so you talk about rebounding defensive rebounding blocks and then steals just kind of amazing honestly what fee and Asia are able to do in all areas of the game okay our six play player six woman of the year uh I always love this award because it helps everyone to understand in the game of basketball that the bench is important you cannot just go with the starters you need to also have a loaded bench uh my sixth player of the year right now that I feel like has shined and we've seen the most out of is Tiffany Hayes um from the aces uh this is a player that was retired at home chilling and decided to come back and try and win a championship with the ases uh tip Hayes is averaging in 20 minutes she's averaging 8.8 points 2.5 rebounds two assists a game she's shooting 49% from the field folks and 34% from three I don't expect anything less of her because she's a vet and we know what she's capable of but anytime that you get that type of production Off the Bench especially for a team that's trying to threee it's so much more important and so to me she's a front rout for this Cass who else have you seen for a six player of the year um opportunities selections two year point about tip Hayes you know the aces bench averages 15 points per game uh Hayes contributes most of them she's a huge spark for them Sophie Cunningham is coming off the bench in Phoenix um has provided a spark for them and Leah Edwards is coming off the bench for Washington uh Kennedy Carter I think had this award locked up early but she played her way out of it and made her into the starting lineup and we've seen a lot of players um who are going to be flirting with that that threshold for qualifying for the award yeah definitely um well I think Kennedy Carter though played herself into another possible award maybe the most improved this season uh yall know I'm I'm big on Chicago and the way that they play but I just think the the level that she's taken her game to um what it means me speaking from a player perspective to play for a coach that believes in you to play for a coach that allows you to be you and to be comfortable where you can be confident in yourself and your abilities and that's what you're seeing from Kennedy card and the way that she's playing I mean she is lethal in the mid-range I haven't seen a team yet be able to stop her first step um and I also think that she is growing like we're seeing a young woman grow into who she is into what she knows she can be and it's really cool to see um so I feel like you know my most improved pick right now is Kennedy Carter uh cast your thoughts I hate this sword like I really do it's so difficult like everyone interprets it all these different ways like I mean do put do put asan Wilson has most improved she improves every year like like the margin is small for her right right but I I think Sabrina unesc again is a solid candidate for this award her uh shooting percentage from the mid-range hitting that floater like really developing her game there I think makes her the strongest candidate um giving them them a complexity we saw this a few years ago with Jackie young uh working on her three-pointer and going on to win the award I also think another person is D Carrington for Connecticut Sun you talk about how you look at the award most improved her role improved she stepped up her defense has improved I'm sorry we talked about guards who could be you know talked about for defensive player of the year I definitely think D Carrington has brought a high level of intensity on the defensive side of the basketball for the sun um and also her scoring ability in transition I think that she's jelled so well with Connecticut in that starting position and their team you know at the top of the standings that is doing very good because uh she has grown in her in her role Cass thanks so much for talking W Power Rankings with me well as the season winds down we're excited to see who's gonna sweep up these Awards who's going to lock in their playoff spot stay tuned for more of our coverage