Brett Ludwiczak
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Mike Conley will look to dig Minnesota out of a 2-0 hole in the Western Conference Finals
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Plus, a look at how the WNBA season has started for the three former Ohio State players in the league.
The basketball world never sleeps. While the NBA is down to their final four teams in the playoffs, the WNBA season is just getting started.
The NBA Conference Finals feature some fresh blood, with the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, and Minnesota Timberwolves joining the Boston Celtics in the quest for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Along with the NBA postseason, there has been increased attention on the start of the WNBA season because of the debuts of rookies Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and a number of other popular players from women’s college basketball.
Even though Ohio State doesn’t have quite as many alums playing in the NBA and WNBA as some of the other college basketball powerhouses, there are a couple former Buckeyes who have been deserving of attention over the last few weeks. Mike Conley has been a veteran presence for a Minnesota squad that is making just their second appearance in the Western Conference Finals, while Kelsey Mitchell has arguably been the best player on the Indiana Fever early in the WNBA season.
In his 17th season in the NBA, Mike Conley is making just his second appearance in the Western Conference Semifinals, which is as many trips to the WCF as the Minnesota Timberwolves have made in their franchise history. Unfortunately for Conley, he has still yet to win a game in the final stage before the NBA Finals.
In his first appearance in the WCF while he was with Memphis, the Grizzlies were swept 4-0 by the San Antonio Spurs. This year, the Timberwolves are currently trailing the Dallas Mavericks 2-0 after two hard-fought games in Minneapolis.
Despite Minnesota sitting in a 2-0 hole with the series heading to Dallas, Conley certainly isn’t a reason why the Timberwolves are trailing in the series. In Friday night’s game two of the series, Conley scored 18 points, dished out five assists, and grabbed five rebounds. The 18 points Conley netted tied his high-mark for this year’s playoffs, as he also scored 18 points in game two of Minnesota’s first round series against Phoenix.
In the 12 games Conley has played in this year’s playoffs — he missed game five in the second round series against Denver — Conley is averaging 11.4 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. There have only been two games in this year’s playoffs where Conley has failed to reach double digits in scoring, with one of those being the series opener against Dallas when he scored just six points in 31 minutes.
Even though Minnesota has some great young talent in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, just as important for the Timberwolves is going to Conley because of how much experience he has. Edwards and Towns have struggled with consistency so far in the series with the Mavericks, which means the defense and smart decisions Conley makes on the floor is going to be even more needed if Minnesota is going to have any chance of erasing the 2-0 deficit they currently find themselves in.
Heading into the WNBA season, Caitlin Clark was getting most of the headlines ahead of her professional debut following her tremendous career at Iowa, which led to her being the top pick in the April draft. So far Clark has been solid in the first couple weeks with the Indiana Fever, but the most consistent scoring threat for the Fever has been former Buckeye Kelsey Mitchell.
In the first two games of the season Mitchell didn’t see much time on the floor, scoring eight points in 17 minutes in the opener, followed by playing 21 minutes and scoring just five points two nights later. Those first two games are looking like a bit of an outlier, as since Mitchell has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last four games, scoring 17 points in three-straight games before netting 18 points in Friday night’s 78-73 win over the Los Angeles Sparks, which was the first win of the season for Indiana.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25464871/2153378003.jpg "Connecticut Sun v Indiana Fever")
Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images
Much like Conley in Minnesota, a couple of young stars in Indianapolis are going to get much of the attention from the media. Clark and last year’s first overall pick Aliyah Boston are looked at as a couple of the faces of the future of the WNBA. Meanwhile, Mitchell is now in her seventh year in the league and has averaged at least 17 points per game in each of the last four seasons. It’s unlikely Indiana is going to make the WNBA Playoffs this year, as the team still needs some pieces to supplement Clark and Boston, but at least the young players on the Fever will have a veteran like Mitchell to look up to and model themselves after.
The Buckeyes taken in this year’s WNBA Draft were Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor.
Sheldon and the Dallas Wings have only played three games so far this season, winning one and losing the other two. Sheldon has been coming off the bench in the first three games and has scored a combined eight points in 41 minutes over those three games. Her best performance came on May 18, when she scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, and was credited with two assists in a 83-74 loss to Chicago.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25464903/2153075618.jpg "Chicago Sky v Dallas Wings")
Photo by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
At least Sheldon has seen the court so far, which is something Celeste Taylor hasn’t done with Indiana yet this season. Even though she hasn’t played so far this season, Taylor is still soaking up as much as she can at the professional level as she waits for her number to be called. There is still a huge chunk of the WNBA season left so there will come a time when the former Duke and Ohio State player will get her chance to impress.
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Plus, a look at how the WNBA season has started for the three former Ohio State players in the league.
The basketball world never sleeps. While the NBA is down to their final four teams in the playoffs, the WNBA season is just getting started.
The NBA Conference Finals feature some fresh blood, with the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks, and Minnesota Timberwolves joining the Boston Celtics in the quest for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Along with the NBA postseason, there has been increased attention on the start of the WNBA season because of the debuts of rookies Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and a number of other popular players from women’s college basketball.
Even though Ohio State doesn’t have quite as many alums playing in the NBA and WNBA as some of the other college basketball powerhouses, there are a couple former Buckeyes who have been deserving of attention over the last few weeks. Mike Conley has been a veteran presence for a Minnesota squad that is making just their second appearance in the Western Conference Finals, while Kelsey Mitchell has arguably been the best player on the Indiana Fever early in the WNBA season.
Mike Conley
In his 17th season in the NBA, Mike Conley is making just his second appearance in the Western Conference Semifinals, which is as many trips to the WCF as the Minnesota Timberwolves have made in their franchise history. Unfortunately for Conley, he has still yet to win a game in the final stage before the NBA Finals.
In his first appearance in the WCF while he was with Memphis, the Grizzlies were swept 4-0 by the San Antonio Spurs. This year, the Timberwolves are currently trailing the Dallas Mavericks 2-0 after two hard-fought games in Minneapolis.
Despite Minnesota sitting in a 2-0 hole with the series heading to Dallas, Conley certainly isn’t a reason why the Timberwolves are trailing in the series. In Friday night’s game two of the series, Conley scored 18 points, dished out five assists, and grabbed five rebounds. The 18 points Conley netted tied his high-mark for this year’s playoffs, as he also scored 18 points in game two of Minnesota’s first round series against Phoenix.
In the 12 games Conley has played in this year’s playoffs — he missed game five in the second round series against Denver — Conley is averaging 11.4 points, 6.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. There have only been two games in this year’s playoffs where Conley has failed to reach double digits in scoring, with one of those being the series opener against Dallas when he scored just six points in 31 minutes.
Even though Minnesota has some great young talent in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, just as important for the Timberwolves is going to Conley because of how much experience he has. Edwards and Towns have struggled with consistency so far in the series with the Mavericks, which means the defense and smart decisions Conley makes on the floor is going to be even more needed if Minnesota is going to have any chance of erasing the 2-0 deficit they currently find themselves in.
Kelsey Mitchell
Heading into the WNBA season, Caitlin Clark was getting most of the headlines ahead of her professional debut following her tremendous career at Iowa, which led to her being the top pick in the April draft. So far Clark has been solid in the first couple weeks with the Indiana Fever, but the most consistent scoring threat for the Fever has been former Buckeye Kelsey Mitchell.
In the first two games of the season Mitchell didn’t see much time on the floor, scoring eight points in 17 minutes in the opener, followed by playing 21 minutes and scoring just five points two nights later. Those first two games are looking like a bit of an outlier, as since Mitchell has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last four games, scoring 17 points in three-straight games before netting 18 points in Friday night’s 78-73 win over the Los Angeles Sparks, which was the first win of the season for Indiana.
Much like Conley in Minnesota, a couple of young stars in Indianapolis are going to get much of the attention from the media. Clark and last year’s first overall pick Aliyah Boston are looked at as a couple of the faces of the future of the WNBA. Meanwhile, Mitchell is now in her seventh year in the league and has averaged at least 17 points per game in each of the last four seasons. It’s unlikely Indiana is going to make the WNBA Playoffs this year, as the team still needs some pieces to supplement Clark and Boston, but at least the young players on the Fever will have a veteran like Mitchell to look up to and model themselves after.
Jacy Sheldon & Celeste Taylor
The Buckeyes taken in this year’s WNBA Draft were Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor.
Sheldon and the Dallas Wings have only played three games so far this season, winning one and losing the other two. Sheldon has been coming off the bench in the first three games and has scored a combined eight points in 41 minutes over those three games. Her best performance came on May 18, when she scored four points, grabbed four rebounds, and was credited with two assists in a 83-74 loss to Chicago.
At least Sheldon has seen the court so far, which is something Celeste Taylor hasn’t done with Indiana yet this season. Even though she hasn’t played so far this season, Taylor is still soaking up as much as she can at the professional level as she waits for her number to be called. There is still a huge chunk of the WNBA season left so there will come a time when the former Duke and Ohio State player will get her chance to impress.
Continue reading...