Fever Rising To The Top? (WNBA Week 16 Update)

We drop a Week 16 WNBA standings update and call out the teams rising fast, the teams sliding, and the clubs already locked into the playoffs. Then we map out the current first round playoff bracket and pick the X factors that could swing each series.  

• Current top eight standings and what changed this week  
• Indiana Fever surge from fifth to third  
• Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics labeled as inconsistent  
• Three teams already clinching a playoff spot: Minnesota Lynx, Golden State Valkyries, Las Vegas Aces  
• Lynx vs Wings outlook with Olivia Miles vs Paige Bueckers as the must-watch battle  
• Valkyries vs Mystics focusing on defense, spacing, and Washington’s point guard questions  
• Fever vs Liberty framed by health, with Sabrina Ionescu vs Caitlin Clark as the marquee guard matchup  
• Aces vs Dream as the hardest series to pick, spotlighting Chelsea Gray, Jordan Canada, Angel Reese, and A’ja Wilson  
• Listener questions on who climbs, who falls, and what your playoff picks are  

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Transcript

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Welcome And Quick Housekeeping

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show, it's favorite show get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about week 16's WNBA update. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Try and get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you're wondering where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening to me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support. Now, if you're new, you might not know how this goes. For all the stragglers, right? For the fans, I appreciate y'all. Y'all know how this goes. We're going to talk about the standings and the updates to follow. We may talk about some playoff matchups as well. But that, you know, sometimes I talk about it, sometimes I don't. But

Week 16 Standings Snapshot

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let's go ahead and talk about the standings real quick. Give you a quick little update. So right now we have the Minnesota Lynx at number one, Golden State Valkyrie, number two, Indiana Fever, number three, Las Vegas Aces, number four, Atlanta Dream, number five, New York Liberty, number six, Washington Mystics, number seven, and Dallas Wings, number eight.

Biggest Risers Drops And Clinchers

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Now, to note, it's fair to say that the fever, they had the biggest rise this week. Last week they were fifth. Now they're third. Kudos to them. We had the Dream and the Mystics, both tied for the biggest drop. Last week, I believe they were the biggest rise. This week they're the biggest drop. These told y'all, these two teams are the most inconsistent in the WNBA. It is ridiculous. They are paired together. Kind of crazy. We also got to give a shout out to these three teams for already securing a playoff spot, which is the Minnesota Lynx, the Golden State Valkyrie, and the Las Vegas Aces. Kudos to them. However, the Aces did just drop from third to fourth. So it is weird to not say that the fever did not secure a playoff spot, but it's okay. I'm expecting the fever and the dream and the liberty to secure a playoff spot by next time that we talk about this list. So, ladies and gentlemen, you know, a couple of interesting things to note about it this week for the changes, right? But let's talk about

Lynx Versus Wings Breakdown

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this. What about the playoff matchups? Because each team has been doing pretty well. But we we've talked about these teams for about 16 weeks now, right? So y'all already heard y'all heard my thoughts, ideas about the teams. Let's go straight to the playoff matchups. Currently, this would be between the Lynx and the Wings, right? One versus eight. I lean links. I do. Reason why. Arique's got to be the X Factor. And I think the Lynx just have too much defense to throw at the wings. Keep in mind, Arike, if he if she's snapping along with Paige, AZ's hit, and Jessica Shepard's game looks a little bit more appealing, right? Because now she has a lot more weapons to utilize as the forward. But what happens if we make her a scorer rather than a playmaker, rather than a facilitator? I think that kind of goes against what makes Jessica Shepard the most improved player this year. So again, I think the Wings, while a good team, fell off a little bit due to injury. I think the Lynx have too much to throw at them, whether it's with Nafisa Collier, Natasha Howard, even Courtney Williams, Caleb McBride, Olivia Miles, that's too much defense and offense to throw at the wings. I'd have the Lynx winning in spades. And the most important matchup to watch would be Olivia Miles versus Paige Beckers. Honorable mention, Jessica Shepard. And I may even throw in Alana Smith because these two teams, these two players were on links just last year, going up against Napisa Collier and Natasha Howard. So again, I like the Lynx versus Wings matchup. I just favor the Lynx in that matchup.

Valkyries Versus Mystics X Factors

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Next, we've got to talk about the two through two versus seven, which would be the Golden State Valkyries versus the Washington Mystics. Not gonna lie to y'all, I'm favoring the Valkyries in this, right? The Mystics height definitely helps, don't get me wrong. But the lack of point guard play is gonna make the Valkyries' job a little bit easier. They can key in on Sony Citron. I think they have the personnel to combat Kiki Erie Effen and Shakira Alston. Don't get me wrong. Again, the height of the Mystics helps out. That's Kiki Erie Effin and that's Shakira Alston. I think that's gonna be an interesting battle. I just expect the Valkyries to win because of their defense, because of their shooting as well, too. They can space the floor out. And because the point guard play for the Mystics is a little bit not there. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to go too much at Georgia more because this is a rookie season, right? Last year she missed it because of injury. Still, it's not where we need it to be. So I would expect the Valkyries to win this matchup over the Mystics. I would love to see, I think the best matchup is going to be Gabby Williams versus Sonia Citron. Okay. Honorable mention, Shakira Alston versus Kia Stokes, because that'll be the battle of the bigs. But again, I do lean Valkyries for this matchup. Now, next one would

Fever Versus Liberty Depends On Health

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be 3 through 6 or 3 versus 6, right? That's the Indiana fever. First the New York Liberty. And I gotta say, ladies and gentlemen, this is purely healthy. Like if the if the Liberty are healthy, I lean Liberty. But they haven't been healthy all season long. So as a result, I have to go fever. It's crazy to think about it, right? Like the X factor for this, for this situation, for this matchup, would in fact ironically be two similar players. Michaela Timpson on the fever and Leone Phoebush on the Liberty. They both can guard one through five. They both can score on the offensive end. Like they can get a little bucket for sure. But the versatility that they bring is what's gonna really swing this series. Who can have the better impact? Like when the Liberty won, Leone Phoebus was credited a lot for being a valuable member of the team. Don't get me wrong, Stewie, John Quell, Sabrina, they played really well offensively and defensively to a degree, too. But Leone Phoebus was consistent on both ends of the floor. Not finals MVP, but very consistent. And that versatility is what a lot of people credit to her success in the WNBA. Well, Michaela Timpson has that too, ladies and gentlemen. So I can't wait to see this matchup. But again, Leone Phoebus has been injured, has been hampered. So she does need to come back at some point in time, shake off a little bit of the rust, and we'll see what happens. But also, they're missing Satsu Sabali still. So if she's able to come back and remain healthy, then I like deliberate, like I said. But if not, the fever's offense has been pretty potent. Michaela has shown that she can at least bolster the defense to help out with Aliyah Boston. So I do like the fever. And I think the matchups that I'm looking forward to watching the most, Sabrina Ionescu versus Caitlin Clark, right? Which point guard is better? Right? They both can give triple doubles, they both can shoot the ball from deep range. Which point guard is better? And then you also got, and this was not a direct matchup, like I don't expect to see them guarding one another, but Kelsey Mitchell versus Brianna Stewart. Because these are two prolific bona fide scorers in the game. Like if they just wanted to focus solely on scoring, Brianna Stewart and Kelsey Mitchell would be at the would be at the top of the list. Oh, wait a second. They're already there. Like Kelsey's number two, Stewie's top ten. Like, it's there's levels to this. And she's been averaging 20 now for quite some time, too, Stewie meeting. So again, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I would love to see that matchup personally.

Aces Versus Dream The Swing Players

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And then the final matchup, four versus five. We got here the Las Vegas Aces versus the Atlanta Dream. Who coincidentally just played recently, actually. So did the Liberty and Fever, by the way, too. But again, that was with injury. But the Aces versus the Dream. Aces just lost to the Dream, by the way. The Dream have the capability to win this playoff series, to be clear. I don't know who I'd want to really root for or cheer or expect to win. I could see both teams realistically winning. If you say put money on, I might say aces just because there's a comfortable standpoint from you from betting on them. But keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, the X factor for this series, at least for the Aces, would be Chelsea Gray. Because if Chelsea's scoring and playmaking the way we know Chelsea to do, specifically in the playoffs, more so in the playoffs, right? Then it's a different discussion. But let's not forget, too, Angel Reese on the dream has been fairly consistent this year. So if she can like keep that going, more so on the offensive end, and get as close as possible to Asia. I'm not saying usurp Asia. I'm not saying beat Asia. Like if Asia gets 27 points, hey, bro, I'd settle with 16 to 21 points from Angel Reese because I'm getting double digit rebounds, plus a little bit of playmaking. Cut down on the turnovers, which he's been doing better of. Give me some defensive stats like steals and blocks, which he's been doing. That can work out. So if that happens, that's great. But also on the flip side, Chelsea Gray does have a does have a matchup to go against, which is Jordan Canada, who Jordan Canada was playing alongside Sue Burch. He studied behind Sue Bird. So Jordan Canada's a pretty good point guard. And when Jordan Canada is playing well, the dream are doing pretty well. Now, yeah, we could say, oh yeah, Asia got to dominate, or Ryan Howard and Alicia Gay got to play well, but those are obvious. These X factors are what I'm focusing on. And you could say, you could say Angel Reese is a little obvious too, but I specifically tied it to Asia Wilson. Because at first, I actually didn't want Angel guarding Asia. I just saw Asia being guarded by Angel, and she didn't do that bad. Don't get me wrong, Asia still got her points. She got hers for sure. But Angel Reese did pretty well too. And as a result, the dream did what? Won the game. So again, if that happens, and everybody else just does their job. Like they play phenomenal as a team defensively. That's gotta be consistent. But Angel Reese is the X Factor for this team. And if that, if they can continue to play that way, the Dream meaning, then I can see the Dream winning the series. Not just one game, the series, multiple games, ladies and gentlemen. That's what I'm talking about. But again, y'all heard my thoughts. The only series I'm really faltering on, or I really having a hard time picking the answer, is the Aces versus the Dream. That might be the most entertaining matchup. Arguable mention, like honorable mention, fever versus Liberty, but that's again contingent upon health. I like to see the Valkyries versus the Mystics, and I like to see the Lynx versus Wings. But y'all heard my playoff

Your Picks And Closing Requests

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matchups. That would be more important. But I'm curious, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, what do you all think about the seatings of the standings thus far? Do you expect anyone to turn up or fall down at any point in time? In an egregious manner, too. Like maybe you think the wings will vault back up. Maybe you think the Liberty will vault back up. Should the will the dreams fall down? Will the fever flame out? Like, let me know your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen. Also, who do you got in these playoff matchups? What are your X factors? I'm curious for your thoughts. Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, 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 Get A Bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.