Hellllooooooooo Ball-Knowers!! It is your Friday correspondent of sorts here ready to take on this week’s questions, hot takes, and ethical hate from our lovely No Cap Space Discord!

As always, if you want to join in the fun of talking ball with the best women’s basketball community out, then hit the subscribe button. You also can submit your takes in for every Friday!

Now let’s dive into what the Ball-Knowers got for me this week.

The Hotline in video form…

The game recap from Fever vs Wings…

Tyler and Greer give their thoughts and reviews on UConn’s new documentary…

Olivia Miles is bringing the WNBA into a Brand New Day…

Ball-Knower Cherie went on a strong victory lap on the NCS Hotline after Angel Reese’s performance against the Los Angeles Sparks (more on them later). And it was a victory lap well earned!

I mean you can look at the stat line on that embedded tweet. No notes. Angel Reese is always operating under an unethical magnifying glass from those who like to use her name for clicks. The missed layup vs the Fever was a low moment, and it is totally fair to say that, but the ethical part comes with acknowledging a performance like this as well which many will fail to do.

The growth in Reese’s game has been awesome to watch this season and the trajectory only looks to be going up. More games where she can achieve high efficiency from the field is exactly what will lift Angel Reese into the highest of high conversations about the best basketball players in the world. In Los Angeles, she showed the direction she is heading in is the right one.

We got a bit of a combined question here from Ball-Knowers Tay, Jo, and Chris! To sum it up, how have WNBA benches and developmental contracts been used so far and how important do they seem to truly be?

The introduction of development contracts was something I had been really excited to see come into the WNBA with the new CBA and that excitement has been largely met with…well nothing. There hasn’t been a true breakout star from the developmental contract path yet. Maybe it is something that just needs to take some more time but there are larger bench problems before that happens.

Teams don’t like using their benches! This is a starters league through and through currently. As more roster spots are introduced via expansion, I could see both the benches and developmental contracts in the WNBA becoming more generally impactful as a gauge of the best teams in the league. But until then, you will continue to see starters playing large minutes.

Last but not least our Ball-Knower KB wanted to get my thoughts on the Sparks going full tank with Lynne Roberts telling the media that ownership has asked that bench players receive more playing time the rest of the season.

Well first off, welcome to the club Sparks! I personally am happy as the self appointed WNBA tank commander that a team is making this pivot (looking at you Phoenix). Being stuck in the middle sucks, the Sparks would know, and this allows them to not only try and improve their odds for this draft but maybe more importantly due to the two-season rule, next draft for Sarah Strong.

As for Lynne Roberts putting it on the jumbotron that it was the ownership that requested this? To me that doesn’t sound like a coach that is feeling confidence from their boss about their future. There has already been some changes made this season for the Sparks and it certainly will be a position to watch for in this offseason.

And be sure to subscribe to the newsletter (or have the Ball-Knower in your life subscribe) if you haven’t already!