For @herhoopstats, I did a deep dive on Lauren Betts' draft profile: where her game stands on both sides of the ball, its statistical comparisons to previous highly drafted 6-foot-7 players, and how she projects to the WNBA. https://t.co/f2WgFOcWuE

Not much change in lottery luck this year, but Dallas picks up its second win in two years.

Before tonight's WNBA draft lottery, a look back at which teams have fared best in the lottery since 2011. The Aces have been one of the luckiest lotto teams, winning 2 of 5, while the Dream have dropped more spots on average than anyone. Data via @WBBTimeline

Examining the UCLA star's game and how it projects to the WNBA level. Newsletter by Josiah Cohen: https://t.co/qnWiOX08hl

(That graph is interactive in the post!)

Serious basketball content (some might even call it scouting lite) coming tomorrow morning.

It just comes down to whether the digital clips hit, and the influencers will probably have to pull their weight to make that happen. The 2KL's version of influencers unequivocally failed; now, they're leaning into the new gen. Will it work? That no longer has much to do with 2K.

But the league is banking on the entertainment provided by chaos at least cancelling out the gameplay downgrade, and they'd argue that gameplay in the 2KL wasn't exciting to begin with. The broadcast (& thus the game) isn't the huge, all-encompassing focus/expense it used to be.

Furthermore, the big step back in gameplay quality—previewed during the NBI series—is a tough watch for any prior fans. The league also seems to have full NBA IP access, including team IP and NBA players, which is something previous 2KL teams *never* got to work with or build on.

What's frustrating for players (among other things) is how it felt like the 2KL was spending more and more money on influencers, w/no tangible results, even during its first version. 2KL, eg, flew in tons of influencers for the '24 playoffs; we have no idea how that worked out.

They're 100% spending huge money on influencers (no idea how much). A lot of that $ comes from huge cutbacks on player salaries, prize money, and broadcast/studio costs. The bet is that the increased digital engagement b/c of the creators takes those thinner margins to the green.

OK, a few "NBA 2K League" thoughts. Obviously, the league has pivoted completely to the influencer/creator system, with a tangential connection to NBA 2K itself and with no connection to competitive 2K. That was the writing on the wall for the last 18 months. Will it succeed?

EuroLeague Women four factors and team ratings through regular season round five. #EuroLeagueWomen

What the Turkish team did to exploit Schio's ballscreen coverage: https://t.co/rCuLk6LTU5

EuroLeague Women four factors and team ratings (per 100 possessions), updated through round four. See link below for more on the data, as well as a breakdown of Galatasaray's offensive execution in their win over Schio: #EuroLeagueWomen

Ok, wrapping this one up. I'm going to break down how GSC exploited and executed enough upon Schio's defense to get the win in tomorrow morning's post, but until then, some nice plays from Ceci Zandalasini (always poised in the paint) and a nice 3 off Zoom action for Kitty Laksa.

Schio again with the sequencing: nice start-of-quarter slice to get Conde a post up and an even nicer turnaround make. Then, post touch again for Conde with a weakside pin-in screen slip. Talked more about Conde's game here: https://t.co/HZWTq4Wxx3

Great chess match. Schio (ATO) goes flex (screen) reject pindown, forcing the rotation and finding the open corner three. They run it again, and watch #11 (Derin Erdogan) recognize the action & call out the reject and follow. Galatasaray executes defensively and gets a stop.

Awak Kuier attacks and finishes at the rim. Two bad closeouts. Badiane stunts at the elbow and, flipping her hips/top foot twice, loses leverage integrity. Then Shepard rotates on the backside of a trap and overruns it by a foot—nice by Kuier to get middle twice and convert.

Clever from Maria Conde/Schio. They show the Spain action early (backscreen roll, pop), and Jess Shepard gets fouled. Then, off a BLOB, they show the same action, but Conde slips the back screen. If Shepard fades wing, she might be able to hold Kuier and negate the recovery.