Search

July 15, 2025 Aaron's Euros and Afcon Quarters Preview Aaron West SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

The athlete world is small – it is special to see so many people with such a big part of their identities in common gather together and feel instant connection, relate on shared backgrounds and experiences, become friends with those they once competed against... June 28, 2025 In The Know W/ AthletEX's Taylor Cohen Taylor Cohen LFG is all about building community. How did being a college athlete prepare you for building the AthletEX community? Being a college athlete at a top university helped prepare me for building our AthletEX community by leveraging my team building and leadership skills, providing me with instrumental mentors and resources, and offering the knowledge and experiences needed to build a business. AthletEX is built by athletes for athletes. We strive to replicate the best parts of the athlete experience through the events and resources we offer our community– combining fitness, wellness, and social experiences. Our key offerings were inspired by mine and so many of my former teammate’s stories, their struggles with transitioning out of college sports, and out of a need to fulfill core parts of the athlete identity and community. Personally, serving as team captain, becoming an All-American and National Champion, and playing at the collegiate and professional level provided me with the drive, ambition, communication, leadership, team-building, perseverance, empathy, confidence and connections needed to build and run our community. Which players or teams are you most excited about watching? Is there someone’s story that you connect with? I am most excited about watching the USWNT, the NWSL, and specifically Angel City FC. These organizations are pushing forward so many aspects of women’s soccer beyond the game - through business development, league expansion, community and partnership campaigns, increased pay and player initiatives, and growing opportunities for current players, retired players, and future players. I love how much women’s soccer has grown in the last few years and even though my favorite player (Alex Morgan) is recently retired, I am excited for what continues to unfold in her legacy and watching the women of the USWNT and the NWSL dominate on-field, set the standard for women’s sports culture globally, and push women’s sports forward. What is the most rewarding part of having built AthletEX? Most people think of doing things but then get stopped. Tell us how you kept going! The most rewarding part of building AthletEX is the genuine connections I watch happen every time we bring our community together. The athlete world is small – it is special to see so many people with such a big part of their identities in common gather together and feel instant connection, relate on shared backgrounds and experiences, become friends with those they once competed against, and continue to build on those connections outside of our events. I receive genuine “thank-you’s” all the time for building a community that provides a space to feel like you are part of a team again. That was the mission I set out on when I created AthletEX – to find your purpose and people after sport - and I get to feel the power of that mission every day. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Taylor Cohen is founder and CEO of AthletEX, a community for former college athletes, and a former professional soccer player. Maccabi Gold Medalist - Bundesliga Pro - NCAA Champion with WashU

I think one of the reasons I was drawn to fantasy golf is the smorgasbord of statistics that we can pour through. I can literally spend hours looking at statistical leaderboards, results and course histories trying to find an edge. Much like the WNBA, the LPGA Tour has made great strides in its statistical offerings in reason seasons, which has been great for fantasy players. July 23, 2025 Nine LPGA Numbers to Know Steve Pimental I think one of the reasons I was drawn to fantasy golf is the smorgasbord of statistics that we can pour through. I can literally spend hours looking at statistical leaderboards, results and course histories trying to find an edge. Much like the WNBA, the LPGA Tour has made great strides in its statistical offerings in recent seasons, which has been great for fantasy players. The only problem with trying to comb the LPGA stats for an advantage is that we really have to dig deep in some cases. The LPGA Tour is as deep as its ever been, with so many young players hitting the ground running and many of the best veterans still in their primes. That means most of the statistical leaders are the good players you would expect. I certainly find it interesting that only Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda have shot in the 60s in more than half of their rounds this season, but I didn’t need to know that to know those two were the best players in the world. That being said, I have several more obscure numbers you should know, highlighting players who could make a surprising impact at the upcoming AIG Women’s Open as well as the rest of the season. 9 - The number of LPGA Tour winners 25 years old or younger through 17 tournaments. June actually saw the veterans gain some ground, as all three winners were 28 or older. Even so, the youth movement this season is undeniable. If this trend continues, we could see the top players have shorter peaks and careers in general as the next generation of young players comes up in their wake. It is too early to know for sure, but I’ll be keeping an eye on this trend the rest of the season. 19 - The number of different winners on the LPGA Tour through 18 events (The Dow Championship is a team event). We had just 20 different winners on the LPGA all last season. Five different players won multiple times, lead by Nelly Korda’s seven wins. Only two of those five have won this season: Lydia Ko and Jeeno Thitikul. For that reason, the Rolex Player of the Year race is wide open. Whoever is the first player to add a second win will have a big leg up. -1.20 - Perrine Delacour’s Risk Reward Score in the Aon Risk Reward Challenge. Delacour leads the Aon Risk Reward Challenge despite only playing five events and finishing no better than T21. I would be lying if I said I completely understood the Aon Risk Reward Challenge and how it is calculated, but it measures each player’s best two scores on certain holes each tournament. Delacour leads Hasa Hataoka, Nelly Korda, Jennifer Kupcho and Auston Kim in the top five. Delacour needs to play 22 more rounds to qualify, and I don’t know if she will get there, but it is something to watch. Delacour has just five career top 10s on the LPGA Tour, though she does have two LET wins. Yuka Saso, Minjee Lee, Angel Yin, and Jeeno Thitikul have won the four trophies that have been handed out, so it would be a major upset if Delacour finished at the top. Either way, it should be a fun race with a $1 million prize on the line. 286.66 - Julia Lopez Ramirez’s driving distance in yards, which is second on Tour. Lopez Ramirez also second in strokes gained off-the-tee. She led the field in strokes gained off the tee at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, where she played in the final group on Sunday but could not keep pace with eventual winner Maya Stark. The AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl will actually play slightly longer than Erin Hills did, and if Lopez Ramirez can play her way into the field, I like her chances of having another good week. 84.14 - The percentage of fairways Andrea Lee has hit, best on the LPGA Tour. She is also ninth in greens in regulation and bogey avoidance and fourth in Round 1 Scoring Average. She has quietly put together an excellent summer, finishing T30 or better in eight consecutive tournaments with five top-tens. Lee is one of the shorter players on tour, sitting 137th in driving distance, but she has made the cut in all five of her AIG Women’s Open starts. I expect her to have another solid week at Royal Porthcawl, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her pick up her second career win sometime this season. 84.54 - The percent of greens Azahara Munoz has hit in regulation from the fairway. Munoz leads the LPGA Tour in GIR from the fairway, but she only hits 68.31 percent of her fairways. If she can get hot with the driver or find a course with wide fairways, Munoz could pop in any given tournament. She has made the cut in four of her last five events including the Evian Championship and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, so she might be coming around. 68.83 - Hye-Jin Choi’s scoring average in the first round. Hye-Jin Choi is arguably the best player on the LPGA Tour who hasn’t won yet, but I suspect if you tried to guess who has the lowest Round 1 Scoring Average on Tour, her name wouldn’t be top of mind. She leads a group of six players who are averaging under a 70 in the opening round, along with Jeeno Thitikul, Minjee Lee, Andrea Lee, Somi Lee and A Lim Kim. 67.50 - Robyn Choi’s scoring average in the fourth round. You could have given me 100 guesses and I wouldn’t have named Choi as the leader in Round 4 Scoring Average. She has made the cut in just four of her seven starts this season, but when she has made the cut, she has finished T30, T11, T9 and T20. That all-or-nothing nature could make her an interesting dart-throw for fantasy, though she is obviously quite risky. Hyo Joo Kim is second in Round 4 Scoring Average and she has been fairly volatile as well, with three missed cuts and four top-10s this season. 43.33 - The percentage of Yahui Zhang’s rounds in the 60s. As you might expect, the leaders in Rounds in the 60s includes most of the top players in the world. That is especially true when you look at Rounds in the 60s percentage. Only Jeeno Thitikul and Nelly Korda have shot in the 60s in more than half of their rounds, and there is a reason they are widely considered the two best players in the world. If you look a bit lower, you will find 19-year-old Yahui Zhang in sixth place. Zhang has missed five cuts in 11 starts and is still looking for her first top-10, but she may not have to look much longer. If she can start avoiding the one or two bad rounds each tournament, she could be the next rookie to make an impact on the Tour. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

One of the many things I love about Sparket is the way the slate changes from week to week. Two weeks ago we had a wide-reaching contest with basketball and soccer picks spanning the entire week. This week’s contest is all-in on Thursday’s five-game WNBA slate. July 1, 2025 Sparket Picks for 7/03 Steve Pimental One of the many things I love about Sparket is the way the slate changes from week to week. Two weeks ago we had a wide-reaching contest with basketball and soccer picks spanning the entire week. This week’s contest is all-in on Thursday’s five-game WNBA slate. The league has had just one game since Sunday due to Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup Final, so all 10 teams should be rested and relatively healthy for what promises to be an entertaining night of basketball. 07/03/25 Indiana Fever Winner (1.8x) vs. Las Vegas Aces These teams both had .500 records heading into Tuesday and were one game over .500 when their MVP candidates are in the lineup, but that is where the similarities end. Las Vegas has struggled on the road all season, and their -7.5 net rating on the road is the third-worst mark in the league. By contrast, Indiana has a +10.5 net rating at home, fourth-best in the league. The Aces just beat Indiana by eight last week, but that game was in Las Vegas and Caitlin Clark committed eight turnovers while in the midst of a shooting slump. I expect her and her team to play better and pick up a much-needed home win. Top Scoring Team New York Liberty (3.2x) New York has lost four of its last five games, but I’m not going to overthink this. New York has averaged 87.6 points per game at home, 2.3 more than any other team. Indiana is fourth at 84.1. Only the Sun and Sky have allowed more points than the Sparks this season. The Sparks have allowed 90+ points twice in the last week, both against a Sky team that entered that stretch with the second-fewest points in the league. If there was ever a get-right game for the struggling Liberty, this is it. Top Points Scorer Caitlin Clark (4.4X) Clark is well behind the other three players in points per game overall, but she is averaging 23.4 ppg at home. Breanna Stewart is tops in the league at 23.6. A’ja Wilson is averaging 21.7 ppg on the road while Kelsey Plum averages 19.9. Based on that alone, we are getting a fantastic payout to back Clark. Clark was 1-23 on threes in her last three games heading into Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Cup, but she can’t possibly shoot that poorly for long. This might be our only chance all season to get her at such great odds. Washington Mystics +9.5 points (2.0X) The Mystics have lost just two games by double-digits all season. I get that they are on the road against the best team in the league, but I also think the Lynx could be in for a letdown following the Commissioner’s Cup Final. Last year they lost to a 3-14 Dallas team two days after winning the Commissioner’s Cup. I’m not necessarily predicting another loss, but a close win would suit our purposes just fine. Top Points Scorer Allisha Gray (4.2X) Don’t look now, but Gray is averaging 19.5 ppg this season, ahead of Diggins and Sykes. I think the Mystics have the defensive personnel to at least make Napheesa Collier work for her points, and that puts everyone in play. Rhyne Howard is day-to-day with a left upper body injury, and if she is limited or out for this game, Gray will likely have to pick up more of the scoring slack. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

Nai was the missing piece Minnesota needed. Since being acquired this month, she's dropped double-digit scoring in all three games she's played, averaging 13.3 PPG in wins over Seattle, Washington and New York. She's looked incredibly good on both sides of the ball and her shooting efficiency is the best I've ever seen (62.8 FG%). If she continues to come off the bench and produce at this level, she could certainly be a contender for Sixth Woman of the Year. She's already in the conversation for DPOY thanks to gritty, hard-nosed on-ball defense. August 15, 2025 Players Heading Into The Week Trending Up EJ Arocho Jewell Loyd | Las Vegas Coming off the bench, Jewell has looked fantastic! She has been the x-factor in their last four games, all wins which have come by single-digits. In those four, she averaged 14.3 PPG and only had 4 COMBINED turnovers, while shooting 42.1% from the field. She's turned up the intensity and efficiency, heading to the week looking dangerous as Vegas makes a push into the top half of the standings. Veronica Burton | Golden State One of the frontrunners for Most Improved, Veronica has looked terrific this season. On Wednesday vs Washington, she notched a career-high 30 points and became just the third player to record 30-5-5 on an expansion team. She's solidified herself as one of the most lethal 3-point shooters in the league, shooting just under 40% this season. The Valks went 3-0 last week largely in part to her 16.3 PPG, 6.0 RPG & 7.3 APG efforts. Leila Lacan | Connecticut The French rookie has recorded five games in double-figure scoring so far this month and has made an impact in stats across the board. A 17-point effort helped CT win their first game in nearly two weeks on Wednesday vs Chicago. It was a similar tremendous [16-point] effort which helped them notch a big win over NY to begin the month, proving that she can turn it up against the biggest and baddest. She could be locking down an All-Rookie spot. Maddy Siegrist | Dallas Maddy hasn't missed a beat since returning from a knee injury that sidelined her for nearly two months. Since her comeback on August 3rd, she's averaged 14.8 PPG, including tying a career-high with 22 points in a big win over Indiana on Tuesday. Dallas remains out of the playoff picture, but Siegrist has certainly invigorated this team to continue competing and showing up against the top dogs in the league. DiJonai Carrington | Minnesota Nai was the missing piece Minnesota needed. Since being acquired this month, she's dropped double-digit scoring in all three games she's played, averaging 13.3 PPG in wins over Seattle, Washington and New York. She's looked incredibly good on both sides of the ball and her shooting efficiency is the best I've ever seen (62.8 FG%). If she continues to come off the bench and produce at this level, she could certainly be a contender for Sixth Woman of the Year. She's already in the conversation for DPOY thanks to gritty, hard-nosed on-ball defense. Dominique Malonga | Seattle The French phenom had a stretch from Sunday to Sunday (August 3rd to the 10th) where she looked unstoppable. Two double-doubles and averages of 16.5 PPG & 7.8 RPG helped Seattle keep it competitive vs Indiana, Minnesota, Vegas and LA, losing those four by a combined 15 points. Malonga is certainly challenging for WNBA Rookie of the Month and has all but locked down a spot on the All-Rookie Team. She has come alive! DeWanna Bonner | Phoenix The last three games have seen the vet put up back-to-back-to-back double-digit scoring (19.0 PPG) and a season-high 23 points (vs her former team Indiana). Her efforts off the bench are keeping Phoenix steady at 4th in the standings as we inch closer to the postseason. At some point, her name has to be brought up in 6POY talks. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author EJ Arocho is Mr. Women’s Basketball and lives in New Jersey. Lives by the shore but looking to make waves everywhere!

With the WNBA season beginning and the NWSL and LPGA seasons heating up, now seems like the perfect time to take a look at five storylines... May 9, 2025 Five Women's Sports Stories To Watch This Summer Steve Pimental I love watching individual games and sporting events, but one of my favorite things as a sports fan is watching how a season unfolds across several weeks and months. With the WNBA season beginning and the NWSL and LPGA seasons heating up, now seems like the perfect time to take a look at five storylines I will keep an eye on across women’s sports this summer. 1. Can the Lynx, Liberty and Aces maintain their dominance for one more season? The Liberty and Aces have combined to win the last three WNBA Championships. The Lynx knocked off the Aces in last year’s playoffs before narrowly losing to the Liberty in overtime of the decisive fifth game. All three teams are expected to contend for the title again. Along with the upstart Indiana Fever, they are the only teams with better than 5.3% implied odds to win the title. That being said, all three teams have new challenges to overcome to remain at the top of the game. The Liberty lost Hall of Fame point guard Courtney Vandersloot but have seemingly replaced her with Natasha Cloud. Cloud should be an upgrade on the defensive end, but the Liberty may miss Vandersloot’s passing, creativity and leadership. On paper, the Liberty should be in good shape by adding Cloud, Rebekah Gardner and Isabelle Harrison, but we won’t know for sure until we see how they fit with their new teammates on the court. The Aces are in a similar situation after trading Kelsey Plum for Jewell Loyd. Loyd is a three-time All-WNBA player, so it is hard to argue the Aces got much worse, but there may be growing pains as Loyd settles into three guard lineups with Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray. Young, Gray and Plum had played together since Gray joined the Aces in 2021, and it may take time to develop similar chemistry with Loyd. An even bigger problem may be the Aces frontcourt injuries. They have always struggled to get production next to A’ja Wilson but with Megan Gustafson and Elizabeth Kitley out with injuries and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus announcing she is expecting her second child and will miss at least the first three months of the season, the Aces will be relying on Kiah Stokes and Queen Egbo for the foreseeable future. The Lynx may have the fewest questions of these three teams, but they also have the shortest track record. They won 11 more games in 2024 than the year before and if they are to get back to the WNBA finals, they will have to do so without Cecilia Zandalasini, their big signing from last offseason. The Lynx will likely miss her shooting and creativity after she was selected by the Valkyries in the expansion draft. The Lynx will likely suffer even more losses when they have to cut down rosters, which could hurt their chances even more. The reason why I’m looking so closely at these three teams is that if they suffer any slippage from previous seasons, the Indiana Fever look poised to pass them by. With DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sophie Cunningham joining Kelsey Mitchell, Cailtin Clark and Aliyah Boston, the Fever should contend for the first time since 2015. 2. Is there a changing of the guard on the LPGA? Last year was dominated by Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda, who combined to win 10 of the Tour’s 35 events. They were relatively quiet in the LPGA’s first major of 2025, the Chevron Championship. Instead, we may have witnessed the beginnings of a youth movement on tour. Mao Saigo, the 2024 LPGA rookie of the year, picked up her first career LPGA win, coming out on top in a five-player playoff. One of the players she defeated in that playoff, 22-year-old Yin Ruoning, followed up that performance with a T2 the next week at the Black Desert Championship. I’m not expecting Ko or Korda to go away anytime soon, but it is exciting to see the next generation begin to step up, especially in the majors. 3. Can anyone challenge Paige Bueckers for Rookie of the Year? Bueckers is -300 to win the award this season. By way of comparison, Caitlin Clark was -750 last season. She was pushed to the brink by Angel Reese, who was drafted seventh overall with the Sky’s second pick in the first round. My best guess is that someone will rise to challenge Bueckers, but I don’t know who it is. Number two overall pick Dominique Malonga has the talent to challenge Bueckers, but it remains to be seen if she will get enough playing time and touches in Seattle’s crowded backcourt. At +5000 Hailey Van Lith might be the best bet to challenge Bueckers. Like Reese, Van Lith was an accomplished college player who was the second rookie selected by the Sky. Unlike Reese, Van Lith probably needs an injury to Courtney Vandersloot to get enough playing time to challenge Bueckers. A handful of other first-rounders should have opportunities to make an impression, mostly notably Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen in Washington and Juste Jocyte for Golden State. Aneesah Morrow’s game shares some similarities with Angel Reese, whom she followed at LSU. The Connecticut depth chart appears wide open, so both Morrow and Saniya Rivers should have opportunities. My dark horse is second-round pick Te-Hina Paopao. She shot 40% on 4.8 three-point attempts per game in her college career, and that skill should make her a perfect fit with her new coach (more on that later). Only one WNBA second-round pick has won Rookie of the Year, Crystal Dangerfield in 2020. If anyone is going to buck that trend this season, Paopao should have the best shot. 4. Will the NWSL continue to embrace its youth movement? So far this season 21 teenagers have appeared in NWSL games. Last season 22 teenagers played in at least one game. From 2021 through 2023 just 16 teenagers total made it onto the pitch. I will be interested to see not only if those numbers continue to grow but also what kind of impact these young players will have. Rookie Riley Tiernan, who is 22 years old, is currently second in the league with five goals scored for Angel City. She is just one of several rookies who could shape the league table this summer. 5. What Impact will the new coaches have around the league? Eight of the 13 WNBA teams have new coaches this season. Seven of those are first-time head coaches. It stands to reason that those teams, and the league in general, will look substantially different than what we are used to, in ways that we might not foresee. The Chicago Sky seem committed to making Kamilla Cardoso the hub of their offense under head coach Tyler Marsh. Cardoso got a late start as a rookie last season and by the time she made it on the floor, Angel Reese was in the midst of setting double-double records. Reese has openly discussed expanding her game outside of the paint this season, at least in part to open up space for Cardoso. The most obvious coaching impact could be Karl Smesko, who took over the Atlanta Dream following 23 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast. His teams won 25 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons and made at least 300 3-pointers in each of the last 15 seasons. The Dream were 10th out of 12 teams in made 3-pointers last season, while finishing ninth in 3-point attempts and 11th in 3-point percentage. Their two biggest additions, Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner, are bigs who are not known for shooting threes. I can’t wait to see how Smesko’s system meshes with his personnel. Only one new coach is taking over an expected title contender: Fever head coach Stephanie White. White previously coached the 2015 Fever squad that lost in the WNBA finals, as well as the 2023 and 2024 Connecticut teams that lost in the Semifinals. It will be her job to blend the newcomers with the returning talent and make sure this team plays enough defense to supplement their offensive firepower. Her ability to do so will help shape the WNBA this season. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

I have picked out a handful of stats around the league I find interesting and/or surprising. We will take a look at why these stats stand out... June 3, 2025 Four Early-Season Stats to Know Steve Pimental On Monday, we took a deep dive into the Atlanta Dream’s 5-2 start and evaluated their status as second-tier contenders. I really enjoyed breaking down their stats to this point and speculating on what Atlanta could do to improve going forward. Let me know in our Discord if you found that useful, and what kind of content you would like to see going forward. We are doing something similar with today’s article, but rather than focus on the season stats for one team, I have picked out a handful of stats around the league I find interesting and/or surprising. We will take a look at why these stats stand out and what, if anything, they mean going forward. 1. The Liberty’s starters' minutes are down. This started out about Sabrina Ionescu, but as I dug in, I realized it actually had little to do with her and everything to do with the team as a whole. Sabrina and Breanna Stewart are averaging the fewest minutes of their careers. Natasha Cloud is averaging her fewest minutes since 2018, and Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich are also down significantly from last season. It made some sense that the starters’ minutes would be down since the Liberty added Rebekah Gardner and Isabelle Harrison in the offseason to what was already a fairly strong bench. It stood to reason that the better the bench played, the less the starters would be needed. Instead, I found the starters are playing fewer minutes because the Liberty are blowing everyone out. For instance, Sabrina Ionescu played 37 minutes at Indiana and 36 in the second game against the Valkyries, which were the only two games New York has won by fewer than 14 points this season. The starters are playing a lot when they need to; they just haven’t needed to. I plan to keep an eye on how much rest New York’s starters are able to get going forward. Their net rating is 25. 1, more than double their league-best 11.7 net rating last season. The 2023 Las Vegas Aces hold the record for best net rating in a season at 15.3, so the Liberty will inevitably come back down to Earth. They have played just one game against a team that currently has a winning record, and once that changes, the rest could be harder to come by. That being said, while the Liberty and Lynx separate themselves from the rest of the league, the wear-and-tear on their best players could determine who has the advantage in the playoffs. Napheesa Collier is currently third in the league at 35.5 minutes per game while Bridget Carleton is 17th at 31.3 and Courtney Williams is 28th with 29.4 mpg. Sabrina Ionescu leads the Liberty with 28.8 mpg, good for 31st in the league. If that trend continues all season, I like the Liberty’s chances to repeat as WNBA champions. 2. Naz Hillmon leads the league in effective field goal percentage. This is among players averaging at least four minutes per game. I don’t know that I even mentioned Hillmon in my Dream article, but that was probably an oversight. Atlanta started winning once Hillmon became entrenched in the rotation. She has averaged 17.9 minutes per game in Atlanta’s five wins and 3.7 minutes per game in their two losses. Hillmon’s effective field goal percentage has gone up in every year of her four-year career, and while a jump of nearly 20 points from last season seems unlikely to sustain, it seems clear she has improved yet again. One thing to keep an eye on is Hillmon’s three-point percentage. She was 1-6 from beyond the arc in 114 career games prior to this season, and she is 4-10 in 2025. That’s not the main reason her effective field goal percentage is so high, but it would be quite valuable for Atlanta if Hillmon’s three-ball became a real weapon. 3. The Washington Mystics lead the league in free-throw attempt rate. The Mystics were ninth in offensive rating last season, and with Ariel Atkins gone, I didn’t think there was any way they would score enough points this season to be competitive. That still may be the case, but they are firmly in the middle of the pack with a 3-4 record thanks to ranking fourth in offensive rebound percentage and first in free throw rate. Brittney Sykes leads the league with 11.2 free throw attempts per game, 3.6 more than any other player. Sykes currently ranks 118th in effective field goal percentage and second in usage, so she and her teammates need to continue to get to the line at an elite rate if they are going to stay in the playoff race. 4. The Seattle Storm are third in the league in fast break points but 12th in pace. I plan to pay close attention to this the next time I watch the Storm. Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams have always been effective in transition, and both are off to strong starts to the season, but I can’t say I’ve noticed a ton of fast-break points in the games I have seen. Seattle is eighth in the league in steals but third in points off turnovers, so the only conclusion I can draw is that they are being selective when they do run and converting their fast break opportunities at a high rate. Seattle has been as middle-of-the-pack as it comes this season, with a 3-4 record and a -0.4 net rating. They look relatively safe to make the playoffs, but that could change if the fast-break points dry up. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Seattle’s coaching staff lean into this strength and try to force more turnovers. With as good as they have been in transition, it might be worth it to gamble to create more transition opportunities, even if that could lead to more open looks for opponents. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.

June 12, 2025 Jaden's WNBA Commissioner's Cup Picks Jaden Fode SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

This isn't a moment, it’s a MOVEMENT… and you do NOT want to get left behind! May 8, 2025 Meet Mr. Women's Basketball EJ Arocho It’s simple. I’m a guy who LOVES women’s basketball. From scouting at the High School & AAU level for Prep Girls Hoops & my scouting service, EJ’s Evals… to freelance & independent media coverage for college, reporting on the transfer portal & all things WNBA… it’s what I eat, sleep & breathe. It’s what I do & what I do best. Some call me EJ, others call me Mr. Women’s Basketball. If you follow me on X, you know what I’m about. If not, you’re missing out! (@ejayarrow) We’re witnessing the meteoric rise of this sport, so let’s continue this journey together. Let’s keep investing in something truly great every single day because this isn’t a moment, it’s a MOVEMENT… and you do NOT want to get left behind! SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author EJ Arocho is Mr. Women’s Basketball and lives in New Jersey. Lives by the shore but looking to make waves everywhere!

July 20, 2025 Find Out Why W/ Jax - Watch Me! Sports Bar Jax Diener - Owner SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

July 8, 2025 Aarons Euros Matchups Aaron West SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author

Voting for the WNBA All-Star Game ends Saturday, June 28, making this the perfect time to reveal my own 10-player ballot. June 23, 2025 Steve's WNBA All-Star Ballot Steve Pimental There are a lot of valid strategies for voting for All-Stars, including voting for the best players, the most fun players, or whomever plays for your favorite team. For my vote and, more importantly, this article, I’m attempting to identify the six frontcourt players and four guards who have had the best seasons at the time of this writing. So Stefanie Dolson won’t be on my ballot, even though she would make the game infinitely more fun. I’m going to choose six frontcourt players and four guards (as per the rules) who have been awesome through the first five weeks of the season. I can’t wait to compare this list to the All-WNBA teams at the end of the season. I found it fascinating that the WNBA website lists each player’s fantasy points on the ballot, along with points, rebounds, and assists. Fantasy points are a reasonable proxy for overall production, but I worry I sometimes fall into the trap of evaluating players by their fantasy value rather than their real-life value. That’s not the end of the world, but it's not really appropriate here, either. If I vote for Rhyne Howard it should be for her contributions to the Atlanta Dream, not her contributions to my fantasy team, insofar as they are different. What I realized from completing this exercise is that there are going to be a lot of “All-Star snubs” this year. There are literally a dozen players that I believe have a reasonable case to be an All-Star starter who I could not find room for on my ballot. Just try to keep that in mind before you take to social media to lament how your favorite player got robbed. Frontcourt Napheesa Collier, Forward, Minnesota Lynx Phee would be my MVP to this point in the season, though it is closer than I would have anticipated. Her numbers are quite comparable to A’Ja Wilson’s, but Collier has played two more games and been much more efficient. It also doesn’t hurt that the Lynx have the best record in the league and the Aces are eighth in the standings. Collier leads the league in points and is sixth in rebounds. A’Ja Wilson, Center, Las Vegas Aces It seems like Wilson was out forever but she only missed three games before returning for the Aces’ home loss to Seattle Friday. The three-time WNBA MVP could very well be on pace for her fourth award. Her per-game numbers are absurd. She ranks fourth, second, fourth and first in points, rebounds, steals and blocks per game. She is averaging 2.0 steals per game and 2.7 blocks. If she can maintain those averages, she would become just the second WNBA player ever to average at least 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks in a season. That being said, I don’t think you can be the MVP when your team is below .500 in games you play. Breanna Stewart, Forward, New York Liberty Stewart has struggled from three this season but she is still second in the league in ppg and 14th in the league in true shooting percentage. She could actually be a darkhorse MVP candidate if she starts shooting like she has throughout her career, but even while shooting 22.2 percent on threes she has been awfully good for the Liberty. Satou Sabally, Forward, Phoenix Mercury I think it would be perfectly reasonable to have Stewart, Sabally and Thomas in any order. Sabally gets the edge over her teammate due to playing more games. Sabally has been well-known for her scoring, and she is leading the league in usage due in part to Kahleah Copper missing most of the season. I have been equally impressed with Sabally’s rebounding, as she has averaged 8.1 per game. Like Stewart, Sabally hasn’t yet shot the ball well from deep. She doesn’t have the same track record as Stewart but if Sabally’s shooting improves in the second half, she could make an All-WNBA team for the second time in her career. Alyssa Thomas, Forward, Phoenix Mercury Is Thomas the best player never to win an MVP award? That may be worth diving into in a future article, especially if Napheesa Collier wins MVP this season. Thomas is a three-time All-WNBA and five-time All-Defensive team selection. She has the most career triple-doubles, with 15 between the regular season and playoffs. Sabrina Ionescu is second with four triple-doubles. Thomas leads the league with 8.9 assists per game while averaging 14.4points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She is also anchoring the team with the fourth-best defensive rating in the league. Nneka Ogwumike, Forward, Seattle Storm I think there are seven forwards you could reasonably pick for this spot. I went with Ogwumike because her team is out to a surprising 8-5 start and she is basically the only post player on her team who has played well. Ezi Magbegor has struggled while rookie Dominque Malonga has struggled to earn significant playing time. Meanwhile, Ogwumike is averaging 20.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. Guards Caitlin Clark, Guard, Indiana Fever No guard has won WNBA MVP since Diana Taurasi in 2009. Caitlin Clark will almost certainly end that streak, though probably not this season. She barely reached my games-played threshold but she is averaging 41.7 fantasy points per game, nearly five more than any other guard. She is eighth in the league in usage and second in assists. She still commits way too many turnovers but that should change as she gains more experience in the league. Sabrina Ionescu, Guard, New York Liberty Ionescu and Caitlin Clark are fairly similar players, but it seems nearly impossible to compare them because their team contexts are so different. Ionescu has played five more games but Clark is averaging 2.2 more minutes per game. Clark has committed more than twice has many turnovers per game as Ionescu, but Ionescu plays with two other point guards and Breanna Stewart, while Clark has all of the ball-handling responsibilities in Indiana. I feel like I’m punishing Ionescu for playing on a better team but Clark is averaging 3.5 more assists per game, and that was just too much for me to ignore. Allisha Gray, Guard, Atlanta Dream I had to have at least one guard from the 9-4 Atlanta Dream. While it's not Rhyne Howard’s fault that Dream head coach Karl Smesko has her shooting too many threes, I gave the nod to Gray because she is so much more efficient than her teammate. Gray is averaging 20.2 ppg on 49.7 percent shooting from the field and 43.2 percent on threes. Gray is sixth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, and I believe she is a better defender than Howard as well. Brittney Sykes, Guard, Washington Mystics Much like the last frontcourt position, this spot came down to seven different players. I finally landed on Sykes as a nod to her carrying the Mystics to a surprising 5-7 record. Sykes has be considered the frontrunner for most-improved player. She is averaging 20.6 points per game, well above her previous career-high of 15.9. Her 4.8 assists per game are also a career high, and she is third in the league in usage. I thought she was miscast as a number one scoring option but she has more than proven up to the challenge. Sykes still leads the league in free throw attempts while shooting 81.0 percent from the line. SEE MORE ARTICLES & VIDEOS About the Author Steve Pimental would rather write 20,000 words about Stef Dolson than write two sentences about himself. He lives near Chicago with his beagle/shepard mix, Hootie.