next question is, should Johannès return to the team? do her positives (her playmaking, her ability to get hot from outside) outweigh her negatives (defense, when she tries but can’t get hot from outside) enough as it relates to being on this team?
if Dojkic & whoever they draft at #11 work out, then there's no need for her to come over. Cap space would be another issue, too. Let her wait to come back in 2025 then.
y’all will like Dojkić. she simply makes timely plays, and tends to find herself in the right place at the right time. definitely plays like she has years of pro experience already – calm & collected. most importantly, she’s more competent defensively than Johannès, if that even needs to be said.
especially considering she can provide 3pt shooting from the PG position, it would be quite odd not to see her make the team.
Post by bluedevilsdsufan5 on Feb 3, 2024 15:06:31 GMT -5
I’m excited for Dojkic, what happened with her in Seattle @stormeo? Did she fall out of the rotation and ask to get cut or just get cut in general? I remember she had a few high assist games and thinking it was weird she wasn’t playing.
I’m excited for Dojkic, what happened with her in Seattle @stormeo ? Did she fall out of the rotation and ask to get cut or just get cut in general? I remember she had a few high assist games and thinking it was weird she wasn’t playing.
really not sure, especially as i'm no insider. never heard anything more after she left – at the time she merely said that she had some "commitments in Europe" that "[forced]" her to leave before the end of the season. i doubt anyone "forced" her to return; maybe more likely, she didn't want to risk injury and felt it wasn't worth it for her to stick around since we were clearly gonna fall short of the playoffs at around the time she left. maybe she just wanted a few weeks off before her Italian team started up.
i also thought at the time she was homesick/didn't want to be in the US anymore – but here she is now, ready for round two. so maybe she felt we didn't treat her right. regardless, no hard feelings as it relates to her. i've always felt that a lot of European players treat the W as something to check off their bucket list and so they bother to stick around beyond a single season... if they even last that long, apparently. 🙃 ya just can't count on them season after season. maybe Dojkić will like New York more and try sticking around longer. but even so, Prioritization would probably end up keeping her & any other Euro out after so many years anyway.
Post by bluedevilsdsufan5 on Feb 3, 2024 15:45:17 GMT -5
^thanks! Yeah that all makes sense. I really wish leagues could work together to try not to overlap. Easier said than done I suppose. But hoping Dojkic can stick as a solid backup PG here in NY!!
Be kind to yourself, the way you expect others to be kind to you.
Post by bluedevilsdsufan5 on Feb 3, 2024 17:50:13 GMT -5
I like her game, she gives me Johannes lite. She has a sweeeeeet dime at the 0:24 mark. She seems to have good range, a funky hitch to her jumpshot but beautiful follow through. And seems fearless to the rim, good size decent speed and nice ‘English’ with the scoops/layups!
Obvi highlights make everyone look cute, but I’m hopeful 🔥🙏🏽
Be kind to yourself, the way you expect others to be kind to you.
Poor Walt Hopkins let Dojkic torch Germany and then he never got to coach her.
i see he stepped down from coaching them for "personal reasons," did we... did we ever find out why exactly? 🫢
No, but it definitely saved themselves from a massive clash between their strongest lineup and his preferred style. Who could imagine Hopkins running a lineup with Fiebich or Satou at the 2 while trying to qualify for the Olympics?
y’know, New York positioning itself as being a mini-hub for German players with Fiebich and Nyara Sabally on the roster could be the move to eventually acquire Satou, who will be unsigned in 2025 (even as Dallas will likely end up coring her). also a mini-hub for Oregon players.
they probably don’t do it at this point, but maybe a play will be made for Ruthy Hebard on a camp deal.
Post by bluedevilsdsufan5 on Feb 4, 2024 23:06:04 GMT -5
If we somehow got Nneka, which again I would love but worry a teensy bit about fit, I guess it’s Laney off the bench:
Vandersloot 5’8/Dojkic 5’11 Ionescu 5’11/Laney 6’0/#11 (Osborne 5’9 or PaoPao 5’9) Stewart 6’4/Thornton 6’1 Ogwumike 6’2/Fiebich 6’4 Jones 6’6/Sabally 6’5
If Nneka wants a championship, and doesn’t mind about making less money or being a starter, she could still get a lot of PT off the bench in a 6th woman role. 8 player rotation:
Everyone’s minutes go down a bit, aside from Jonquel and KT. Dojkic minutes could go to Sabally instead and Laney and Stewie play up a position. But with 3 all star front court players in front of her it’s hard to see Nyara get playing time.
Ideally we have lots of blowouts so the youth can play too 😂
Be kind to yourself, the way you expect others to be kind to you.
Post by bluedevilsdsufan5 on Feb 7, 2024 22:47:08 GMT -5
Okay so no Nneka, no EDD. Let’s get those contracts signed for JJ and Stewie! Still down to draft Ayoka Lee at 11 now, SG like Correa (I think she’s from NJ!) at 17.
Vandersloot 5’8/Dojkic 5’11 Ionescu 5’11/Correa 6’0 Laney 6’0/Thornton 6’1 Stewart 6’4/Sabally 6’5/Fiebich 6’4 Jones 6’6/Lee 6’6
The bench seems youthful, but Dojkic and Fiebich have some international experience and we have KT. Alternative could be to draft PaoPao or Osborne at 11 and sign Hawkins or Hebard. I think if JJ and Stewie take slight discounts, it works financially.
Be kind to yourself, the way you expect others to be kind to you.
if Stewie & JJ take juuuust enough of a discount (even at/slightly above $200k per person), New York could simply fill out the remainder of their roster spots with players on [vet] min and they could fit in 12.
there just don’t appear to be a lot of players left out there to give a six-figure contract to anyway. tbh at this point in free agency, i’d prefer quantity over “quality” in having an extra player around.
if Stewie & JJ take juuuust enough of a discount (even at/slightly above $200k per person), New York could simply fill out the remainder of their roster spots with players on [vet] min and they could fit in 12.
there just don’t appear to be a lot of players left out there to give a six-figure contract to anyway. tbh at this point in free agency, i’d prefer quantity over “quality” in having an extra player around.
12 gives you more options than 11 does, which typically doesn’t matter. however, i am reminded of how hard they tried throughout last season to make Piph Prince their de facto 12th player. could’ve been interesting if they had her or someone else that Brondello could’ve swapped out Sloot or Ionescu for when both were going through their prolonged periods of ineffectiveness throughout the playoffs.
also, what difference-making acquirable player is still out there, such that it’s worth paying that one player’s salary as opposed to two players who’ll work on the cheap & could be just as useful while giving the roster more positional flexibility? only player i can think of is Emma Meesseman, who for all we know could be done with the W altogether.