6 Burst results for "Nalyssa Smith"
WNBA Nation
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on WNBA Nation
"Up WNBA nation? Kyle Haywood here and I am really excited about today's little small episode. It's finally time to give my final WNBA mock draft for 2022. This has been a lot of fun all season long. Being able to go back and reflect on each of these players where they've been. I've watched way more games and way more game film than I intended because I just got really, really into this year's draft class and to be honest, I'm looking forward to continuing to do this each and every year. So before we hop into the actual draft itself though, I do want to take a second and just give a couple quick announcements. First of all, we are now on TikTok. You can find us at W at WNBA nation pod just like our Twitter handle. You can find us on TikTok. We should have some pretty good content coming your way there. And probably the bigger announcement is that we now have a website. You can go ahead and check out WNBA nation dot com. There's so much there. You can listen to episodes right there from the website. You can check out the blog where I will have typed up an actual mock draft on there. You can also connect directly to our Twitch channel. You can email us, you can contact us. You can read a little bit more about our show. As well as probably the part that I'm the most excited for, and that is the store. We have totally revamped and recreated our merch store. We've eliminated some past designs that we had up and we've simplified it and we did a lot of research. We got a lot of different products and we just wanted to make sure that the stuff that you guys were receiving was really solid quality. Every once in a while, we would have someone purchase something in the past that just wasn't good quality. And we felt bad about that. And so we totally revamped our store. You can check that out. It's actually a teespring store. And if you go to WNBA nation dot com and click the store link right there, you can check out all of our different designs and different things for you to pick up. So go ahead and check that out. And yeah, let's hop right into this year's final mock draft. All right, we're going to start things off with the number one pick. This is now the Atlanta dreams pick after a trade that went down between the Atlanta dream. And the Washington mystics, they swapped pick number one and pick number three and Washington also picked up a couple other a couple other portions with that for Atlanta basically if you're sitting in that number three spot, that's a rough spot to be in because really a lot of people are looking at this draft as kind of a two person draft between ray and Howard and Melissa Smith. So dropping to three was kind of a big deal for Washington because either a, they didn't necessarily care for either of those top two picks, or B, they felt like what Atlanta was offering in this trade could allow them better opportunities in the future. So Atlanta now with the number one pick, let's hop right into it. I've got Atlanta taking Ryan Howard 6 foot two guard out of Kentucky. Now, the reason I'm going with Howard and I actually may have looked at nalyssa smith going number one overall had someone else been picking, but with Atlanta in particular, they no longer have Kennedy Carter. They no longer have Courtney Williams, and there is a lot to be desired in that Atlanta back court. Ryan Howard really could provide exactly hopefully what the dream we're looking for there. She's a very, very good on ball and off ball defender. She's got a really solid efficient shot. She averaged 20.5 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game and shot 44% from the floor. She shoots about 38 from behind the arc her senior year. And honestly, she really could end up being a big time franchise player moving forward. As the number one to pick. She also at 6 foot two, that's a rare size that you can have for a guard in the WNBA. And if that ends up being something that Atlanta can hone in on and how it can become a really strong piece of theirs moving forward, I think that this trade will end up being a smart move for the dream. So that's what I've got. Number one, Ryan Howard. Number two, the Indiana fever are gonna be selecting as all of you already know. Melissa Smith, 6 foot four, forward, out of Baylor. Basically the Indiana fever have a really easy job to do this upcoming draft with the number two pick. And that is, whoever Atlanta takes number one, you just take the other one number two. So nalyssa Smith is honestly, she very well may end up being the best player taken in this draft. The fever are in desperate need of a big who can rebound and can score efficiently. That's exactly what nalyssa Smith provides you. She averaged 22.1 points per game, 11.5 rebounds per game. And led a really strong Baylor team who many considered worthy of a number one seed as they headed into the March Madness tournament. Now obviously they got eliminated pretty early in the tournament, but still Baylor had a fantastic season. Melissa Smith is honestly, I think she's probably the best rebounder in this class. And she moves into space, really, really well on offense, which allows guards to make entry passes to her. She just reads the floor really well. And moves really well without the ball in her hands. She doesn't have a fantastic outside shot, most of what she does is inside the key or within ten feet and but she does a really good job there and, you know, she doesn't necessarily need to be a stretch big. So we'll end up seeing, we'll see what happens, but I've got Melissa going to the Indiana fever at number two. All right, now if you go to pretty much any mock draft from any source, you're going to find Ryan Howard and Alyssa Smith going one and two. That's.
WNBA Nation
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on WNBA Nation
"So it's a way for you to be able to freely support the coverage of women's basketball. So we do appreciate all of the Twitch love that we have over there. Let's get into this. Let's hop in and actually start talking about this draft. I'm actually going to tie each of these picks not only to the number of pick, but to the actual team. And I went a little more in depth this time as far as looking at team needs or team personalities. Or where I think that teams might be maybe they're history of players that have been successful for them as a franchise, could influence if I had a couple of two or three players that were really close. That I was looking at in a specific pick for a specific team. I went really in depth into each of the team rosters and kind of where they're at and tried to make some determinations there. But let's go ahead and get started with our number one pick that is going to go with the Washington mystics and if you would have asked me a week or two ago to have this episode, I would have switched my number one picks. But the last couple of weeks have been good to the Kentucky wildcats and to Ryan Howard in particular. Starting to turn things around here. So I think Washington is going to go with Ryan Howard for the number one overall pick. For the last two weeks, I moved nalyssa Smith up from number two up to number one. Simply because Kentucky was looking like they were struggling. Howard seemed to be still putting up some pretty good numbers, but just wasn't being it wasn't able to take over games in ways that she could and should. She had a really strong showing against South Carolina, which ended up in a 9 point loss for Kentucky. But since then, they've rattled off 5 straight W's and are looking like they are going to make the NCAA tournament, which it was looking pretty shaky there for a few weeks, but it looks like they are going to be making the tournament as long as the wheels don't totally fall off. These last few games of the season. So Ryan Howard, here's the reason why she is still my number one overall pick. And that is simply because she is a big guard that she has some really great size for a guard. That's been a really helpful element for a lot of successful guards in the WNBA. Not only that, but she is so comfortable with the ball in her hands. When she's dribbling, shooting, passing, everything she does, it just looks easy. It looks natural. And so I think that, you know, getting into a WNBA franchise working alongside with teammates that are going to be significantly better than her Kentucky teammates, I think that she's going to be really, really able to flourish as a point guard. She's got a fantastic basketball IQ. She has a nose for the ball on defense. She honestly, she's a faster version of Chelsea gray and has a better shot. That's kind of where I see that. So she's really solid there. So I've got Ryan Howard as my number one overall pick again that could easily change. It's still a razor thin margin between Howard and Melissa Smith and B but also, again, taking into consideration team need. I do think that the Washington mystics that Howard fits their roster and fits their team needs very well there. I think that being able to have Howard as kind of an incoming young generation of a guard in that in that roster is going to be a really solid move for them. They've already got quite a few big bodies and so that's why I leaned with Howard going number one as opposed to Alyssa Smith. So I bet you can't guess who is going number two overall to Indiana, Kenya. Number two, overall pick going to the Indiana fever is Melissa Smith. Melissa Smith has done absolutely everything this season to secure her as a lock for the number one number two spot. And she's currently averaging 21.2 points per game, 11, just over 11 rebounds per game as well. And she isn't like a prolific block blocker, you know, she doesn't she doesn't block a ton of shots, but she does play some really solid defense in his in positions to cause the other team, not that she gets a hand on the ball, but the way that she positions herself defensively can affect a lot of the other teams shooting and that's also why she's in place for so many defensive rebounds. She had 14 defensive rebounds just the other day against Oklahoma state. So she's a fantastic player, really excited to see what Alyssa can do in the WNBA. She actually, the way that she moves, I feel that she has a similar vibe, she's kind of like an Asia Wilson light right now. She has a she can move into space on offense. She has a real, just natural, she naturally finds herself where her teammates can get her the ball. And that helps her. She's one of the best, she's one of the most efficient scorers in all of basketball right now. She's shooting 55% from the field. And her free throw shootings looking better and better as the season progresses. She's now up to 70 7% from the line. Started out a little shakier than that. Previously, but looking really strong right now. Melissa Smith, here's the thing. Whether Smith goes to Washington or Indiana. She's going to be a mainstay in this league for a long time. I think there was a lot of question marks about the last couple top prospects going into the league last year. I don't have any question marks around Alyssa Smith. I think she's going to come in and probably be an immediate contributor to whoever decides to take her, whether that's Washington or Indiana. I don't see a circumstance where we see like we had last year with Charlie Collier and owa queer in Dallas where they both got drafted number one number two and then really didn't sniff the floor. So I don't see that being the case for either Howard or Smith here, I think that they're going to be immediate contributors and I'm excited to see what they do. There is a little bit of a gap. I feel like Smith and Howard, number one, number two, I think that's a lock at this point. I mean, even, I mean, even a major injury to either of these players, I still think they go number one number two overall. And which makes the next few picks really interesting. I've gone back and forth and there's been a lot of moving up and down for my picks like three through 12. All right. I constantly am tweaking these picks a lot more than I am my number one number two. However, my number three pick is actually someone who I've had up at number three for the majority of this season. I really, really like what I see from this player. And that is 6 foot 5 center out of old miss Shakira Austin. Shakira Austin has a WNBA ready body. She's able to not just her height, but the strength that she has, she moves really well. I like a lot from what we see from Shakira Austin. If she wants to study some film, if I were her, I would do everything I could to become Sylvia falls two..
The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"A given. You should want the ball. I don't care. Even if you have to break a play like excuse me and get your leg over top of somebody, pop out and get the ball and rip it around and seat belt it and go attack the basket. I guess so, my God, don't get me going. You know, I can go on. No, here's my thing, though. I don't like having the bag somebody to get the basketball. Well, you want to play. Well, you're reminding me of, though, is Ariel Atkins in her first couple years here. She was kind of passive. Offensively and that she had great players around her and that's where I think Ryan Howard fits in. She said we have great players around her. She doesn't need to be one of those places to get the ball. And she can learn how to be a go to player, like Ariel Atkins did. I believe much more personally just from everything I've read. I don't know. I'll have like in such a history, but I believe in the mystic's mental development a lot. I think they're really bought into the entire mental aspect of player training. And they've really done that in Natasha as cloud has talked about this often. So as Ariel Atkins, it's really helped them become better players. I believe in that mental development, a little bit more than I believe in them taking a player who doesn't fit into their offense and making them fit. Right. With a player like team to Charles, I don't know if it's fair to start comparing Melissa Smith to Tina Charles, right? So Tia Charles came in and she's been one of the greatest players I've ever seen. So she can do I trust you could trust her to do it. So I think to me, that's why I'm going with that. We're going to have plenty of time to talk about this. We will. We do. Now we have a good debate though now. Now I know I got a research to win this debate. We'll see. Let us know if you agree in the comments or whatever. Oh, I should tell everyone to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you're watching us on YouTube. Yeah. Hopefully, that means I put up on YouTube..
The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"Like I can push you to give you the right things to make you better, but I can't give you the skills that she has offensively. I love nalysis Smith. I just don't think she's the type of player that my teeth are drafts. I hear you. Okay. And I disagree. I don't know. And I know Mike Tebow loves offense. And the ability to put the ball in the basket. What are the list of smith's numbers as compared to my house? They're awesome. But she doesn't she doesn't shoot. I'll get the guy. There's just pretty darn good. But I know the game that I saw. And I try to watch as many games as I can. Trust me and believe me. And live or otherwise. And the last game I saw was Ryan Howard, it was on TV. I know Debbie had to know it was a little Vogue game. And gay men, she disappeared in that game. And I'd love Ryan Howard. So, Ryan, you know, in Kentucky fans, I'm not shading her, that game she did not step up. Fair enough. And I don't think that was due to a low motor. She just wasn't stepping up. And I'll think it was for lack of effort. She just didn't. And that to me, I mean, what have you done for me lately situation? And the list of Smith was killing in their last game against Michigan. And I mean, and I know they lost, I get it, Baylor lost that game in Michigan, Michigan's first top ten in the history of their program. But she was a problem. Like, they had the best match. I love that Nas hillman and Melissa Smith were matched up at times. It was just a great battle. And she stepped up to that. And they lost the game, but she stepped up to that. So I don't know. For me, I mean, if you can put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis, I think Ryan Howard is tremendous and her three point range. It probably gives her the edge for what might be likes in players to be able to be a three and but man, I mean, I don't think they can go wrong with either one. And I know I write the fence sometimes, but I just think with the size that Noah Smith presents the rebounding ability, she can defend multiple positions because she has great feet. I just think that that is also an invaluable asset for her on the defensive side to be able to rotate defensively, which my teeth will also like to do. No. Well, I think Ryan how are they switching to though? All right, so here's my theory. Here's my theory. Because our problem, I think, collectively, as of WNBA community. I mean, as a women's basketball community, generally, with Ryan Howard, is that we see the whole thing, right? Like this is the Britney crying of problems. You see a play that's so great that you think they should be putting up 30 points a game and should be so easy. And the two credit, like you said, now, Smith does do that pretty often. Because, though, this is why I think Melissa able to be more dominant. She goes down to the post and she plays in the post. And typically, she's playing against good teams. She has been playing against good teams, so they believe they have a post that can cover her, right? And then when you double into the post, it's much easier for her to just kick out to three, right? It's harder to deny her the ball generally. Because then you're giving up threes to achieve the truth pretty well. The guards shoot pretty well. Or they can figure out. My theory with Ryan Howard is she gets so much attention before she even touches the ball that is harder for her team to get the ball to her. I think her being a player that wants to win, she's saying, well, if I just stand over here and take people with me, my team is going to do better. And it's true at times. It seems does play kind of better when she's just taking over attention. So I think that's like my theory as to why it happens because I don't it's not like Ryan Howard's like getting the ball and passing it. She's like, there's just some possessions where she just doesn't touch the wall. So I don't know if that's the coaches having to tell her get the ball more or if that's her having to ask for the ball more, or if it's my theory that just as a perimeter player, if you were the central focus of a defense, it's a much harder for you to touch the ball than it may be for post player who is just so physically dominant that you can get anything she wants. That's true. That's true, but I mean, if I have to tell a kid to go get the ball, then that's not saying much for their motor. I mean, I'm just saying, I'm speaking as a coach. Like if I have to say, go get the ball. I shouldn't have to say, shouldn't have to tell a kid with a high motor to go get it. If they're, you know, hey, they're smothering me. I'm just gonna stand here. And I've seen this as a coach. I've seen this in our top players. They're just like, well, I'm just gonna take this defender with me then and stand here. Right. And not go get the ball. And I'm like, you're doing what they want you to do. I'm like, fight for the ball. Go get it. We'll get you some pin downs. Like, you need to touch the ball. I don't care if you shoot it. But the player like Ryan Howard or any top player, they've got to get a touch. Period, whether they shoot it or not. You can't take yourself out. That's what they want you to do. Like, oh, good. She's not even going to get the ball. And if I have to shake a kid's shoulders to say, hey, you gotta go get that. Like, do you want the ball? And so want to not have to, if I have to tell you, then it's like, oh, coach is telling me I have to go get the ball. I shouldn't have to do that. It should be, I want the ball. I'm find a way to get it. Hey, come get me a pen down. Tell your teammates, get me open, 'cause they are sitting in my face. Get them off me. So I can go get a touch. Or I might get to the offensive glass. Or am I getting the gap and get a live ball still and go the other way? There are ways to get yourself touch. But if the code test a manufacturer, how to get that done by connecting the dots, here you go a little Sally. He goes Lil Johnny. This is how you go get the ball. Like no. Like you're at this level now..
The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"And or they could set themselves up to the present because this team still has championship aspirations for now. Mike tiba mentioned that he's not going to be coaching forever. So the question is, should they trade the pit? Or should they keep that? I mean, first of all, I'm glad not a GM. All right. Do you want me to answer first? I always thank you, answer first, so. No, you go ahead, 'cause I have my ideas, but I'm also weighing things. So you go ahead and I'll push you in one direction. I think they should absolutely keep this pick. To me, it's just like, if there's someone you can get, that's a superstar. If you could trade this pick to Seattle storm for a core designated Brianna Stewart or coordinating to a Lloyd, go for it. You know, you're never gonna regret trading for a player like that or you know some other players that I don't even know if they're available or I don't know, whatever. Who cares? If there's a super star player, I'm talking about. Yeah, then maybe think about it. Because maybe think about it, 'cause maybe that makes your team so much better. However, to me, this team needs the next ten years of the mystics. Because if things go as planned, they're not going to be back in the draft lottery for a long time, right? Right. That's what happened with the land dollar. They got land all dog and then they were out of the draft lottery. So they haven't had this sort of really high level pick and they've done amazing with the picks they've had. But I just think right now, if you see a star in this draft and personally, I do see a potential star in Ryan Howard. I see another potential star in the list of Smith and we can get into that a little bit too. Yeah. If you see a player that has even like a 15% chance of becoming a superstar on the level of analia Dell Don or any of the other players we talk about in this league, you got to go get them now because this may be the last chance you really have to get a player that sets you up for the next great iteration of the mystics, which is probably not going to include players like Natasha cloud and Atlanta aldon or T and Charles those players by the time this franchise going to the next phase are not going to be here. So I think now is the time to grab players to me. There's very little that would make me even think about trading this bill. Yeah. I mean, I certainly agree. And I think that with Washington, having that number one pick and the ability to choose their fate. I love that. And they are totally in control. I don't think they will entertain trading it. I wouldn't trade it. I would, you know, look at what is coming out of this year's collegiate group. And I think they are very strong and very pro ready. You were talking about Melissa Smith. I think that she is really a great complimentary piece for what Washington likes to do. I know she's only before the three that she hit the other night in that game, you know, I think that she had only attempted four threes in her entire career up to that point. So I know that she plays great defense. And I know that my TiVo loves three and D players. She she's just the deeper though, because she doesn't do a three part. Doesn't do the three, but she does mid range and then very, very, very efficiently. I love that Tina Charles wasn't a three player either coming into the league. Right now she is. So it's something that she can continue to work on and add to her game. So we're not going to maybe count her out initially, but not for the long haul. Big picture of what she could develop into. And she made that three, by the way. She doesn't have a she doesn't have a bad stroke. It's slow, but it's not terrible. And she was. No, you're good. She was wide open, but she hit it. So, I mean, it's something I think that will continue to develop for Melissa Smith. But I love Ryan Howard. I know, you know, in a couple games, she was kind of MIA in terms of dominating the game, which as a number one pick, you want to see players and again, I'm falling back on my word of consistency. That's the word of the day. Can you be consistently dominant? And yes, we know what you can do, but they can't just be on a random Tuesday. Like you have to be able to sustain that level, knowing that you're going to draw the best defenders and in spite of that dominate the game. And when the team needs you to step up, step up and be that player, win or lose. Win or lose, right? Like you want to see that in your top picks. So I think Washington should for sure. Keep the pick, who they choose, I think is going to be very interesting because my Tebow said we have a lot of questions that need to be answered. And one of those is MME 7. Yeah. Does some in return? And what does that do to the salary cap? What does that do to what the roster looks like and the rotations? I just think it's going to be very interesting for Washington and the next couple of months and they have a lot of choices to make. But I think it's predicated on decisions by players that are being made also. Yeah, no, I agree. And there are some juniors that could probably come out. I don't know. The draft systems so weird. Like when COVID, yeah. Well, it's not even like, it's time for COVID. It's like, you have to be on schedule to graduate and I don't keep track of all of these players like credits. So I don't know who can graduate this year. Right. But I think a couple of things I want to respond to and what you were saying. So first off, you said she'd be complimentary to what the mystics are doing. I think Richard Cohen brought this up in our stats slack that I don't see I don't view this pick as a player that should be complimentary to what the mysteries are doing. This is a player that is replacing whatever the mistress are doing in the future. Because this, again, I'm talking about ten year ten year time frame here that I'm thinking about. Right. Look, Elaine del Don's great, and she's healthy. It's amazing. She's still 32, 33 with back problems. So she's not going to be around forever. Natasha is getting up there. There are players that are getting up there. So I don't need someone who compliments what we're doing now. I need someone who's gonna dominate what we do in the future. And with a player like Ariel Atkins who hopefully will be here for a very long time with players that are coming up in this system. So to me, I'm not looking for complimentary. And that's why I.
The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"nalyssa smith" Discussed on The Her Hoop Stats Podcast
"A year. Anyways, here's what we're talking about on this episode. It is all about the WNBA draft lottery reaction to the mystics winning. What the message should do with the pick and whether or not we pick Ryan Howard or Melissa Smith first, right. Now so please enjoy courtside. Big story in WNBA right now. The Washington mystics. Yes. Our hometown team here wins the draft lottery in Natasha cloud was the representative. She had her lucky watch on. Honestly, when I heard Natasha cloud, was going to be there. I was like, oh. It might be on. It might be hard for the mistress, but what was your initial reaction to the mystics winning the draft lottery? And then we'll get into what they should do with the pick. Oh man, first of all, I was losing my mind because as Mike T bone the head coach in general manager of the Washington mystics said at the on that night was that he remembers when they had the three to see and the mystics picked forth with Taylor hill out of Ohio State. And the first three were Britney greiner, Elena delle donne and Skylar diggins Smith. And at the time it was dig but whatever. But listen, you know, I remember that moment and how shocked she was having the highest percentage chance to get the number one pick and not just having the highest percentage and then getting number two. You have the highest percentage chance and you got a number four in the three to see draft back in a couple of years ago. So this was very satisfying in that regard because I was there and suffered through that moment with Sheila Johnson, doctor Sheila Johnson and with the Washington mystics as chief operating officer. But I just think that and I just think that, you know, it was really exciting to see tosh and I videoed the moment. And I didn't think it would be viewed as many times as it was viewed, but I was honestly like in that moment like, okay, it's down to two. I was like, let's go. Bethany Donovan, what are you pulling out of there? And man, they pulled out Indiana fever, which is also great for Marianne. Stanley was the head coach at Indiana. I was also with Washington for years as a head coach was coaching a year in 2002 with the Washington mystics and obviously on board as associate head coach when they won the championship and many years around that championship. But I just thought that it was incredible to see the energy of Natasha cloud when she knew that Washington got that. Number one pick, it was an amazing moment for the city, I think, as well. Yeah. And I mean, we didn't have the parade yet for the 2019 championship. So every little thing that happens that is great for this team is super exciting. And I know my team all you can see is smile was ear to ear. Yeah. And I just thought it was a great night for the city of D.C. and the DMV. It's about time to the mystics got some look on their side, right? It has been a tough stretch since the 2019 title with COVID taking out the parade, then the next season we didn't have Tina Charles and Leon the next year. Let me tell a long comes back with their games and she's here. And then during those three games, she had troubles with her. It was just like, it's just been so frustrating in such a long, it felt long and tough, the tough road for the Washington mystics. Yeah. So maybe this is the start of things turning around. Like maybe this is the start of the luck turning around, the injury look at the draft lock, I think, you know, I think with this pick, they have a chance to set themselves up for the future..