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The NWBA is an established league with 12 teams of 12 players, including the biggest stars in the world.
It’s a league full of talent. They are the best athletes and the best basketball coaches in the world. I’m not against the idea of the league expanding soon, but the fact that there are only 12 teams makes it very competitive. It makes things more exciting. It really is the best of the crop in terms of talent going into this league. All matches are really exciting
Explains Rose-Ann Jolie, who is also the University of Ottawa’s Gee-Gees Principal Instructor and Associate Montreal Alliance.
Of the 12 teams, the top eight in the standings advance to the playoffs after a 36-game season.
The idea of expansion is part of the discussions. Until just this week, Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri suggested having a team in Toronto was part of his dreams.
Three Canadians
To date, only three Canadian players have made it to the WNBA.
Ontario Nurse Kia hopes to return to the injured Phoenix Mercury roster currently, and hopes to return during the season. The person who represented the Maple Leaf at the Olympics twice, at Rio 2016 and in Tokyo in 2021, tore the cruciate ligaments of his right knee during a playoff last October. His return date is unknown.
Mael Gilles of Montreal was invited to Camp Mercury, but was cut short before the start of the season.
The other two Canadians in the ring, Natalie Ashonua and Bridget Carlton, play for the Minnesota Links. Without team star Nafissa Collier, who will give birth to a baby girl in May, they could enjoy more playing time this season.
Natalie was undoubtedly the best Canadian player at the last Olympic tournament. At twenty-nine, she is no longer young, but she can impress. Carlton is an excellent shooter. It will be interesting to see what opportunities they have at the start of the season without Collier.
Comments by Olivier Paradis-Lemieux.
We might have an idea of what awaits them on Sunday, when they face the Washington Mystics in the first game broadcast by Radio Canada Sports.
It’s going to be a fun game because the Lynx will have to deal without their star, Collier, and the Mystics will have to adjust to the return of a key element in their formation: Elena Delle Donne
says Oliver Paradis Lemieux.
Elena Delle Donne during a match against the Connecticut Sun
Photo: USA TODAY SPORTS/David Butler II
Daily Dawn, 32, had to withdraw from the 2020 campaign because she was among those at risk of serious complications if she contracted COVID-19.
She is a girl who has always had health issues due to her Lyme disease. Since she was in college, she always had to try to make up for Lyme disease with supplements etc. Last year, she also missed almost the entire season due to various back injuries.
says Oliver Paradis Lemieux.
During the preparatory matches, she stood out by having the first place in the scorers’ rankings with an average of 21 points.
She’s a great player, but we don’t know yet if she’ll be able to play all the matches. We will have to see at what level he will return.
A star imprisoned in Russia
One of the stories likely to be the most trending this season is that of Mercury of Pheonix star Brittney Griner, who has been kept in Russia since last February 17.
According to Russian customs, the midfielder, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was arrested for possession vapes and liquid with a specific smell
of cannabis. She was then at an airport in the Moscow region and was trying to get home after the winter season in the Russian League.
Britney Greiner during Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, October 2021, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Photo: Getty Images/Mike Mattina
The United States also announced on Tuesday that it is unjustly detained
And they intend to speed up efforts to bring her back to the country.
It’s a complex and political story, says Olivier Paradis-Lemieux. With the current climate, it’s hard to say when it will return and this season-long cloud may hover over the WNBA, but especially Mercury. Every match will be talked about. The topic will always be on the table.
According to basketball specialist Radio Canada Sports, Phoenix should definitely be a serious title contender this season, but without Britney Grenier, the challenge will be hard to beat.
Do you want Connecticut Sun revenge?
Although Chicago Sky won the championship, last season’s favorite team was definitely the Connecticut Sun. With 14 consecutive wins in the last 14 games before the playoffs, many already saw the Connecticut representatives lift the trophy.
In the end, Chicago Sky muddled the waters and defeated The Sun in the semi-finals to slip through the final round and beat Greiner Mercury.
This season, with a roster similar to last year’s and with the return of Junkel Jones, last season’s most valuable player, Sun is expected to be among the top three teams in the standings.
Jonquil Jones
Photo: USA TODAY SPORTS/David Butler II
Olivier Paradis-Lemieux’s attention is also turning to the Seattle Storm due to the return of Brenna Stewart, one of the players he admired most during last summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
A staple of training was missed by the end of last season, the victim of a left foot injury that necessitated Achilles tendon surgery.
It’s a worrying injury because there is always the possibility that it will come back. We don’t know if he’ll find the same level
says the prescriber.
Stewart will share Storm Field with Sue Bird, a historic player on Team USA.
Japanese beginner to watch
Roy Machida
Photo: Reuters/Sergio Perez
Even if the league is made up primarily of American players, some rare international pearls have managed to secure a place for themselves. Such is the case of Japan’s Rui Machida, our commentator’s favorite, Olivier Paradis-Lemieux, who is one of the recruits to the 2022 Minnesota Mystic Training.
Are you going to play a lot or not? Well, we don’t know yet. She’s definitely a newbie this year. But this is such a different proposition that I can’t wait to see how she gets a job because she really is a better player against the WNBA.
says Oliver Paradis Lemieux.
Usually, we see great sports players. Roy, she’s a 5’4″ girl, a fast turbo. It is able to move and get around those big towers. It would be great to watch her enter the field
he adds.
“Alcohol scholar. Twitter lover. Zombieaholic. Hipster-friendly coffee fanatic.”