WNBA Week 11 Standings Breakdown And What Changes Next

We run through the Week 11 WNBA standings from the 8 seed up to the 1 seed and talk about what’s real versus what’s injury-driven noise. We also map out the playoff matchups if the season ended today and call out the non-playoff teams that could still make a run. 
• Current top eight standings and why seeding matters 
• New York Liberty drop to eighth and the health factor 
• Washington Mystics youth movement and inconsistency 
• Atlanta Dream losing streak, role clarity and coaching pressure 
• Indiana Fever big three and the question of Caitlin Clark efficiency 
• Dallas Wings roster timeline, rookie growth and future fit 
• Golden State Valkyries grit, cohesion and need for another scorer 
• Las Vegas Aces losing Kennedy Carter and the team fit debate 
• Minnesota Lynx staying first without Nafisa Collier and reintegration risks 
• First-round playoff predictions and what swings each series 
• “Stragglers” check-in: injuries, roster ceilings and who can sneak in 
please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA and two about my show 

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Call To Action

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show. Get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the week 11 updates for the WNBA. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And you wonder where you heard this before? That's how you've been listening with me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support.

Current Top Eight Standings

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Now, let's go ahead and talk about the WNBA standings real quick. We're going to quickly list off the playoffs as of right now, at least the standings, top eight. Okay. So number one, Minnesota Lynx. Number two, Las Vegas Aces, number three, Golden State Valkyrie, number four, Dallas Wings, number five, Indiana Fever, number six, Atlanta Dream, number seven, Washington Mystics, number eight, New York Liberty. Now, hear me out, right? We're going to start eight, work our way up.

Liberty Health And Depth Question

SPEAKER_00 0:50

New York Liberty. This is the largest drop this week. Alright, now next game they're going to play, the Dallas Wings. So maybe they vault up, maybe the Wings drop down. We're going to wait to see. But we know that this Liberty team needs to get healthy. They're still missing Satusabli. They're currently missing Leone Phoebe. I can't wait for them to get healthy. But again, here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen. I said this before. Last season, they're the deepest team. They look to be the best team on paper. Will that hold up? Come playoffs. We got to wait to see. But they have the talent, they have the cohesion. Well, you hope they have the cohesion because again, the healthiness factor messes that up. So we got to wait and see. But on paper, Liberty should be the deepest team. So I don't need to talk about them too much. Because I keep saying this all it's redundant work at this point in time. I don't know what to tell you. It just sucks that they're the number eight C right now. Is what it is.

Mystics Youth And Dream Expectations

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Let's move on to number seven. Mystics. They are the model of inconsistency. I just got to state that. Now keep in mind again, this is the youngest WNBA team in history. But again, model of inconsistency. And that's actually more than the dream, ladies and gentlemen. Now, I do like their young talent, right? You got Sony Satron, Kiki Ari F and Shakira Alston. They got some good pieces around there on that team. So we got to look for the future with this squad. But right now, point in time, I'm not expecting them to win a playoff series at all, whatsoever. So again, be competitive, not gonna win a playoff series. But that's just my expectations right now. We gotta wait and see what happens. Next, Atlanta Dream. Look, I still view Atlanta as a contender. All right. I understand it's a little shaky time right now. They had a five-game losing streak. That is tough. They got their tails beat by the Valkyries. That is tough. Like, if the playoffs were to start today, the Valkyries would play against the Dream, and the Valkyries are already dog walking them in the regular season record, okay? What I think the Dream needs to do, and I'm looking at the head coach now, because they have the talent. I'm still looking at the talent, but I'm focusing on the head coach. They need to make sure that their roles are defined a little clearer, right? And they need to work on execution. Again, talent is there. So execution does fall somewhat on the talent, but I'm also looking at the head coach as well, too. So if the head coach can't get it over, can't get the job done, maybe we need to talk about a new head coach personally. But again, let's wait to see because there's a lot more basketball to be that that needs to be played. And again, once the playoffs hit, I'm expecting big things out of the dream. At minimum, get to the second round and make that second round competitive. But we got to wait to see what happens. Now,

Fever Wings Valkyries Big Questions

SPEAKER_00 3:24

I'm gonna combine these next two teams, ladies and gentlemen. I think it's fair. Because they've also been here the last two weeks. Technically, the third seed has also been here the last two weeks, so I may encompass them too. Now, fever, wings, and Valkyrie. Because they all have been the same, basically. I don't need to really add nothing. Like we know what the fever got, right? They have a big three. My only question for the fever is do they need less scoring from Caitlin Clark? Kelsey Mitchell, she's been given very close to 50-40-90, meaning 50 from the field, 40% from three, 90% from the free throw line. That's pretty damn impressive. And she averaged about 23 points a game. Meanwhile, Caitlin's ass is over here giving 21 on what 40% from the field, 34% from three, and like 86% from the free throw line, and and also giving about five turnovers a game. I'd like to see more efficiency, scale her numbers back a little bit, and let's see what happens with Caitlin with when Caitlin Clark does that, plus focusing on Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. And before y'all say, Oh, I'm out of pocket, let's not forget Caitlin's ass was not playing last year. And where did the where did the fever go again? Oh, they took the aces pretty daggone far, right? I thought so. So again, I'm curious, do they need less scoring from Caitlin right now? The wings, they're a different discussion because I'm trying to figure out whether or not their team is complete or if they need more time. This season they've been looking pretty good, but should we focus more on them come next season? Because we still got to get AZ Fudd into the thick of things. She's been playing well, but we got to remember, ladies and gentlemen, she is still a rookie. All right. Paige, she's been playing like an MVP. Jessica Shepard, most improved player, hands down. Arique, she's been playing some good basketball. She's been playing Arique's been okay. All right. The future of the wings, that's what I'm focusing on right now. Will they keep Arike or will they try to pair maybe another forward with the wings to go forward in this Paige Becker's era? That's what I'm curious about. Because does the Arique really fit Paige? Imagine if you had Paige and AZ as the guards, and you got Shep, Awok, and somebody else. That wouldn't be bad. Because we also got to remember, too, ladies and gentlemen, we have Alana Smith coming off the bench and she's a co-depoy just last season. So I do like the wings. Are they a complete team or do they need more time? We gotta wait to see. Same with the Valkyries. Are they missing anything contender-wise? Don't get me wrong, I like what they have cohesion-wise. They're gritty, okay? The Valkyries do have Gabby Williams, all-star starter, well deserved. And I think if the if the Valkyries stay top three, you gotta put Gabby Williams for the MVP discussion for sure. But I still think they're missing an all-star caliber scorer outside of Gabby, because Gabby's elite. Gabby's elite on the defensive end for sure. But offensively, I think she's still missing a little bit, like the Brianna Stewarts, like the Paige Beckers, you know what I'm saying? Like they're like the like the HB Wilsons, like the Nafista Colliers. I think she's missing just a little bit from them, but she's still a bucket and she's still right there, though. Just a little bit different. Hence why I say, are they missing anything contender-wise? But we gotta wait

Aces Roster Fit And Lynx Return

SPEAKER_00 6:52

to see. Now, also, the Las Vegas Aces. What's the impact of them losing someone like Kennedy Carter? We understand they are defending champions, ladies and gentlemen. I get it, wholeheartedly do. But they just lost 12 points in 17 minutes. And I still don't think that they have enough justification to let her go. To be clear, I'm not there. I can't speak on everything that happened. I'm just saying, damn, I thought they could have kept Kennedy Carter. But again, I'm not there. I ain't going at Becky Hammond, I ain't going at Asian them. I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, Kennedy Carter was hooping. She could get a bucket for sure. But team fit also matters, and I'm not going to act like it don't because again I'm a Lakers fan, right? And y'all remember when Nick Van Exel was on the team and he didn't quite have the right fit that we needed, and we ended up getting Tyloo. Okay. We gave more minutes to Derek Fisher. Okay. There's those players arguably were not better than Nick Van Axel. If we're talking about individually, but if we're talking about team fit, they fit more than Nick did. So I get it. If Kennedy doesn't fit the aces, I'm just saying, damn, 12 points in 17 minutes, I personally would want to use, but that's just me. Now the Lynx, they're at number one. They still at number one, and they still don't have their best player in the Fisa Collier. So no new updates for the Lynx. Only thing I'm gonna say is this. When the feast of she's been cleared to practice, right? So when she does come back, if the links don't look dominant, I wonder if people will start to turn on Nafisa Collier. Oh, she's old, oh she's washed, oh blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I don't think excuse me. I don't expect the links to drop far. I excuse me. Oh my goodness. I just expect them to maybe take a slight step back just to integrate Nafisa Collier to mix with Olivia Miles. But again, I'm curious what the Lynx fan base will start doing. If the Lynx can't get over that hump, because again, the Lynx are number one right now. They've been number one all season long, damn near. And Nafisa Collier, if she comes back and yeah, and yeah, and they're not looking that Steller, that may be interesting news right there to follow going forward. But right now, those are the eight standings.

First Round Matchups If Today

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Let's talk about the playoff matchups real quick. Lynx versus Liberty. If the playoffs were to start today, Lynx versus Liberty would happen, and I would hate that. I genuinely, wholeheartedly would hate that, ladies and gentlemen. Because again, this should be a second round matchup. If I have to choose, I'm gonna say Liberty, but I'm also predicting that they're gonna be healthy and they got the cohesion because on paper right now they're the deepest team, they're the best team. But if not, I gotta go links. Because again, they got the cohesion, they got the talent to do so, and the coaching. So, y'all heard that. Aces vs. Mystics. But I I would hate Lynx versus Liberty. I just had to make sure. I just had to throw that in again. Ace vs. Mystics. Yeah, I got Aces winning that one. And that's due to execution and the Mystics inexperience. Again, Mystics, good learning lesson for y'all for sure. But yeah, Aces got that one in space. I really don't even feel like I need to talk about that too much, honestly. If y'all think I do, then we can talk about it another day. But Aces vs. Mystics, we out. Valkyries versus Dream. I understand that the Valkyries won in the regular season the majority of the time. I think I still think it's the Dream series to lose. I'm basing that off talent. But if we're going execution, Valkyries win that one. So Dream, if I'm y'all, yeah, I'm I need y'all to prove to us, and I said us, that y'all can execute pretty well. Because if not, y'all gonna lose in the first round. And you can't keep doing this. Like y'all need to actually make it to the second round and make it quite competitive. Or else, if I'm management, y'all got one more season before we start making some major trades. And I'm talking about Alicia Gray probably gonna be gone, to be clear. But that's just me though. That's just me. But again, that's what I'm focusing on. If I'm the Atlanta Dream, Valkyries, it don't even matter if y'all win or lose. Because no one expected y'all to be number three seed-wise. So, tip of the cap, let's see what happens with that. Wings versus fever. I already talked about this last week. It is what it is, it's gonna be an entertaining matchup for show. If you wonder what I said, go back and listen to what I said for the week 10 matchup. But it's highlighting Paige Beckers versus Caitlin Clark, it's highlighting Jessica Shepard versus Leah Boston. It's highlighting Arike Gomwale versus Kelsey Mitchell and throwing a little AZ Food in that mix, too. That's gonna be an interesting matchup to watch, playoff wise. But again, I already talked about it week 10. Go follow it.

Stragglers Injuries And Dark Horses

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Now, let's mention the stragglers real real quick, ladies and gentlemen, because I think it's okay to bring them up. When I say stragglers, I mean the teams that are not making the playoffs as of right now. Okay. So we got My Sparks, which long story short, ladies and gentlemen, that's due to health. All right. Kelsey Plum out. She's been out for about a month. She's supposed to come back on the 24th, if I'm not mistaken, of July. So let's see what happens if she returns. Because it's still got to be if. Okay. Because if we do return and if we stay at this ninth spot, we could end up replacing the mystics. And I say that because I expect the links, I mean I'm sorry, the Liberty to vault back up. But the Mystics, I think we can replace because of our experience. If not, I'm about to say blow it up. And and and follow with me next episode when I talk about what we doing, the sparks meaning, to be clear. But again, for right now, health is the reason why we look a little out of pocket. Now, for the Portland Fire, and I hate to say this with all due disrespect, they just not good enough. They not. I'm very surprised, actually, that they at the number 10 spot. I'm gonna just keep it a buckle with you. I ain't even gonna talk too much about it. Portland, kudos to y'all. Y'all in the thick of things. Y'all could make the playoffs. I would be highly surprised if y'all do. I'm not expecting it. It is what it is. Toronto Tempo. Listen, I'm actually kind of disappointed, but I understand why y'all are below the fire. This team goes as far as Marina Maybury and Britney Sykes take them. And Britney Sykes has been injured for quite a while, actually. So again, only banking on Marina May, who is very quality. She just tied the WNBA point total in one WNBA game, which was 53, right? So clearly she can get a bucket. But if you have Britney Sykes there too, I think that vaults you up a little bit more. So the fact that y'all lost Britney, again, she's supposed to come back. Gotta wait for her to come back. So that's the reason why they're dipping. If she comes back, can they eclipse the Mystics? We gotta wait and see. If she comes back, could they eclipse my sparks if we get Kelsey Plum back and we all healthy? We gotta wait and see. But the tempo have been playing pretty good, playing at their own tempo. I ain't mad at them. I ain't mad at them. Still not good enough. But they go as far as Marina and Britney take them. But we're gonna wait to see how that looks. Phoenix Mercury. Yeah, injuries are derailing their season thus far. It is what it is. I love Alyssa Thomas. I love Kalia Copper. But ladies and gentlemen, yeah, they're looking, they're starting to look a little older. Duana Bonner is starting to look a little older. And they're injured, and their teams have been injured. The team has been injured. I can't hold you. So again, them being is she here? 9, 10, 11, 12? Sheesh. That is disgusting work. Could they actually climb up the ranks? Yes, I do think they still can. But it's gonna be an uphill battle for sure. They're gonna need some, they need somebody off the bench to really start producing, bro. And I don't think they have it. I don't. I love Dawana Bonner. She's looking too old now, man. She's looking a little too old. Chicago Sky. Yeah, I'm just calling Space Bay. Not good enough. End of day. I don't even feel like talking about him too much. Interesting pieces across the board. Rikia Jackson's injury definitely does hurt. Shout out Camilla Cardozo for doing what you're doing. Y'all got some interesting pieces. Skylar Diggins over there playing well. Courtney Vandersloot done came back. Hear all of that. Not good enough. Sky calls Spade Spade. Same with the Connecticut Sun. Not good enough. I hope Britney Griner finds a new team. Matter of fact, Britney, come over to my Sparks, bro. Just go ahead and do that, baby. We can make some things pop. We can make some things shake for sure. But son, y'all don't have a good enough team. And it sucks too, because this is y'all last season, so this is how it's going to end. But y'all go to be Houston Comets again. So maybe that works out. Maybe y'all get an influx of energy. You know what I'm saying? Maybe. But we're going to wait to see what happens. But right now, yeah, y'all not good enough. So I don't plan on talking about y'all too much. The Seattle Storm, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the future of the team is low-key bright. So I'm very surprised that they're at the bottom of the barrel. On one hand, I get it, right? But on the other hand, I don't. Flag J Johnson, smooth. Awak Couier, no, I'm sorry. Ow Fam is on the team. Smooth. And I like Awak Couiller. I just think Owl Fam is better, sadly. That's crazy work. Ezie Magbagore, what's gonna happen with Ezzy? Is she gonna stay on the team? Is she gonna leave? We gotta wait to see what happens with that one. But I like Ezie. And I think Ezie, Owa, and Dominique Malonga, who is the current all-star from the storm, I think all three of them can player can play well together. I actually do. So it kind of sucks that they're at the bottom of the barrel. I get it. Ezie's been injured, right? Natisha Hyde's been playing some good basketball. I like her. I like the storm. I like the trajectory. I just hate the fact that my sparks couldn't have gotten Dominique Malonga like I wanted us to. Because we should have got her. But we ended up having to trade and get Kelsey Plum and all this stuff. It's just frustrating to see. Because the Storm, I really do like their potential. I like their trajectory. It just sucks that they're at the bottom of the barrel right now. But imagine if they, oh my gosh, imagine if they can get the number one pick. And imagine if someone like Juju comes out. You got Flag A, you got Juju, you got Our and you got Dominique plus Ezzy. Hey, yo, that may be tough. I may be a Storm fan. But again, ladies and gentlemen, these are the stragglers, by the way. I just had to make sure I talk about them right quick. Show them a little love. On the next episode, maybe I'll probably talk about some updates for the WNBA. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode.

Listener Questions And Closing

SPEAKER_00 17:57

So I'm very curious. Who are you appreciating? Who are you liking in the top eight of the standings? Is there a playoff matchup that you want to focus on primarily? I need to know that. And then also for the stragglers, which one do you think has the best chance of getting to the playoffs this season? I'm curious to your thoughts. But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, like I said, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone one about the WNBA and two about my show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Goodabucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.