May 27, 2023
Locked on Women’s Basketball: WNBA rookie check-in, breakout players and more
By The Next
Plus, what's gone wrong in Phoenix?
In the latest episode of Locked on Women’s Basketball, Hunter Cruse, Em Adler and Lincoln Shafer discuss what’s happened early in the WNBA season, including rookies’ debuts and players who have caught their eye so far.
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The discussion begins with two Seattle Storm rookies, guard/forward Jordan Horston out of Tennessee and 25-year-old guard Ivana Dojkić from Croatia. Here’s Lincoln on Dojkić:
“[Seattle is] looking for a point guard of the future. I don’t know if she’s looked like that. But she’s definitely looked like someone who belongs on a WNBA court. She has some ability off ball, she can throw some good passes, she’s looked solid on the ball, and I haven’t really noticed her defense too much, which is a bit of good and a bit of bad. It means that she’s not been fantastic, but she hasn’t been the worst defender on the floor in any of those lineups, either … Even if Dojkic is a little bit older than a lot of the other rookies out there, she does look like someone who’s been playing professional basketball for a longer time.”
Next, Cruse, Adler and Shafer discuss players they’ve particularly enjoyed watching so far this season. One of Em’s shoutouts goes to Rebecca Allen, who is in her first season with the Connecticut Sun after spending seven seasons with the New York Liberty. Here’s Em on the 6’2 guard:
“Rebecca Allen is someone who I think was underrated for a bit in New York. She is someone who was one of the rare players in the W who really solidly fits the three-and-D, scalable role player role that we are always clamoring to have more of. She’s one of the better perimeter defenders, really versatile, provides secondary rim protection, and we’ve always known that she’d been able to … hit movement shots. … She’s playing a lot of two, a lot of three, even some four at different times, depending on how fouls and game flow are working for Connecticut. And she’s just able to contribute in a bunch of different roles there. … It’s just really fun to see her in such a well utilized role.”
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