David Yapkowitz Articles - Page 56

The Las Vegas Aces are the defending champions and are set to begin their playoff run to defend their title. They’ve consistently been the top team in the WNBA this season led by MVP candidate A’ja Wilson and a strong cast of supporting stars in Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. The Aces have […]

With the best record in the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces are set to defend their title. They do have the New York Liberty nipping at their heels though. The Aces are 32-6 while the Liberty are 32-7. The Liberty have one more game left on their schedule ensuring that the best they can finish […]

The New York Liberty have been enjoying this season. Billed as one of the championship favorites coming into the year, they have so far lived up to the expectations. With a roster bolstered by star power alongside incredible depth, the Liberty look every bit the title contender most fans and pundits thought they would be. […]

The New York Liberty entered the 2023 WNBA season as one of the favorites to win the title. With new additions in Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot, the Liberty revamped their roster into a championship contender alongside the Las Vegas Aces. But a huge reason for their success has been due to a […]

The Phoenix Mercury have been eliminated from playoff contention and have two games remaining in the regular season. It’s been a tough year for them filled with disappointing play and a rotating door of injuries and absences. They welcomed Brittney Griner home and they witnessed Diana Taurasi become the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 […]

The Washington Mystics were hit with a ton of injury issues this season. At one point in the year, they were missing three starters in Elena Delle Donne, Ariel Atkins and Shakira Austin, and a key reserve in Kristi Toliver. Despite that, the Mystics managed to keep afloat and they ended up clinching a playoff […]

Not much has gone right for the Phoenix Mercury this season. They welcomed Brittney Griner back in the lineup and saw Diana Taurasi become the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 career points, but either than that there haven’t been many bright spots for the Mercury. They’ve dealt with inconsistent play, fired their head coach […]

The Minnesota Lynx have had a phenomenal turnaround since their rocky start to the 2023 WNBA season. Early on, they looked like a team destined to miss the playoffs and finish with a high lottery pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. But the team has clinched a playoff berth with two games remaining on the […]

The Atlanta Dream have had a roller coaster of a season. Despite uneven and inconsistent play, they have managed to clinch a playoff berth. They are currently 18-20 and in sixth place in the WNBA standings. With two games remaining in the regular season, they can potentially get as high as the fifth seed as […]

It was a disappointing 2022-23 season for the St. John’s Red Storm. They finished with an overall record of 18-15 and only 7-13 in Big East Conference play. They managed to knock off Butler in the first round of the Big East Tournament, but lost to Marquette in the second round and missed the NCAA […]

The Seattle Storm have been eliminated from playoff contention this season, but they are still must-watch TV due to superstar Jewell Loyd. Loyd was selected as an All-Star this season and was awarded the All-Star Game MVP honors. Loyd has been on a scoring tear this season and she has been leading the WNBA in […]

With the 2023 FIBA World Cup down to the semifinals, the remaining teams vying for a gold medal are the United States, Canada, Germany and Serbia. The United States and Germany will face off in one semifinal game while Canada and Serbia will face off in the other. Canada’s run to the semifinals saw them […]

The FIBA World Cup is down to the final four teams in the United States, Canada, Germany and Serbia. Team USA will square off against Germany and Canada will face Serbia with each of the four teams vying for a spot in the gold medal game. In Canada’s case, they got to the semifinals by […]

In the new age of NIL (name, image, likeness) deals, some of the top college athletes are able to make a profit in a way they were never allowed to do before. Some college athletes have signed deals that are worth millions of dollars. When it comes to the women’s basketball side of things, there […]

The Texas Longhorns were one of the top teams in college basketball last season. After Chris Beard was let go following allegations of domestic violence, the team did not miss a beat under new head coach Rodney Terry. Terry led the Longhorns to a 12-6 record in Big 12 Conference play as well a Big […]

The 2023 FIBA World Cup has reached the end of group play and the start of the knockout stage. Team USA suffered their first loss of the tournament but still advanced to the quarterfinals. One team that will not be advancing to the next stage of the FIBA World Cup is the Dominican Republic led […]

The Dallas Wings have quietly become one of the top teams in the WNBA. While the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun have been the top three teams in the league for the entire season, the Wings have solidified themselves as the fourth best team in the WNBA under new head coach […]

With the knockout stage here at the FIBA World Cup, one of the top teams who can pose a threat to Team USA is Canada. Led by rising star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada was facing a must-win situation on Sunday against Spain. A loss would have eliminated Canada from the 2023 FIBA World Cup knockout stage. […]

Team USA suffered their first loss at the 2023 FIBA World Cup under head coach Steve Kerr on Sunday. The 110-104 loss came against Lithuania and was the first time that Team USA had lost a game in FIBA World Cup play overall. They found themselves down 31-12 after the first quarter and were never […]

Last season was a pretty forgettable one for the BYU Cougars as they completed their final season in the West Coast Conference. They finished with an overall record of 19-15 and only 7-9 in WCC play. They will be moving to the Big 12 Conference this season and a fresh start. The transfer portal has […]

The top three teams in the WNBA this season have been the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun. But the Dallas Wings have quietly cemented themselves as a top four team in the league. Led by the star duo of Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally, both of whom were named to the […]

It’s no secret that flights from game to game have been at the forefront of the issues that WNBA players currently face. Earlier this season, those issues came to a tipping point when Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner was harassed in an airport. Currently, WNBA players are not allowed to fly charter as other professional […]

The Atlanta Dream have been a bizarre team this season. They have enough talent on the roster to be one of the better teams in the WNBA but they’ve just been very inconsistent. At 17-19, the Dream currently hold a playoff spot at No. 5, but they could easily miss the playoffs altogether as they […]

The Indiana Fever’s roller coaster season came to an end this week when they were eliminated from playoff contention. They still have four games left to play but they have to wait until next season to make the playoffs. At 11-25, the Fever’s record isn’t quite what it appears to be. They were in a […]

The New York Liberty have been one of the best teams in the WNBA this season and they’re considered a championship favorite alongside the Las Vegas Aces. They retooled their roster in the offseason by adding All-Stars Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot to play alongside fellow All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney. But […]

San Antonio Spurs rookie forward Victor Wembanyama is quite possibly the most hyped NBA prospect ever. He was considered a generational type prospect long before the Spurs selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. There was absolutely no question that he was going to be selected as the top […]

Overall, the 2022-23 season was a successful one for the Texas A&M Aggies basketball team. They finished with an overall record of 25-10 and 15-3 in SEC Conference play. They made it to the SEC Tournament championship game where they lost to Alabama who was ranked the No. 2 team in the nation at the […]

The FIBA World Cup is officially underway. The tournament is being held across three countries; Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. So far, Team USA is off to a good start. They’re 3-0 having defeated Greece, Jordan and New Zealand. Their next two games are against Montenegro and Lithuania. But it was an NBA player not […]

For the majority of this season, the Las Vegas Aces have been the best team in the WNBA. They still hold the best record in the league at 30-6, but they haven’t been playing as sharp as of late. Part of it may be fatigue, part of it may be the doldrums of the regular […]

At 19-16, the Dallas Wings sit in fourth place in the WNBA standings as the regular season begins to wind down. With the collection of talent on their roster, they are a potentially dangerous team come playoff time. The Wings are led by the star duo of Arike Ogunbowale and Satou Sabally, both of whom […]

The Dallas Wings have been one of the better teams in the WNBA this season. With only a handful of games left in the regular season, the Wings are 19-16 and are in control of the fourth spot in league standings. They are two games up ahead of the 17-18 Washington Mystics. The Wings have […]

At this point in the offseason, most NBA teams already have their rosters set for the 2023-24 season. A few minor moves are what’s left to be made in the form of two-way contracts or training camp Exhibit 10 contracts. This season as per the NBA’s new CBA, teams are allowed to have three two-way […]

The Atlanta Dream have been having a very inconsistent season. With an overall record of 17-19, they’re still in the mix for a playoff spot, but they’re also in danger of not making the playoffs all together. They currently sit in sixth place in the WNBA standings but they could easily fall to ninth as […]

The Denver Nuggets are the team to beat in the NBA’s Western Conference until proven otherwise. That’s the leeway you get when you’re the defending champions. That’s not to say they won’t have their share of teams coming for their throne. The Western Conference got tougher this offseason. The Golden State Warriors added Chris Paul. […]

The Phoenix Mercury don’t have anything left to play for in the standings as they have officially been eliminated from playoff contention this season. What they can do is play spoiler for teammates jockeying for playoff position and they can also play for pride to finish out the season on a high note. One of […]

It was a fairly successful 2022-23 season for the Tennessee Volunteers. They finished with an overall record of 25-11 and 11-7 in SEC Conference play. They made the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 beating Louisiana and Duke along the way before falling to Florida Atlantic. Tennessee did so without key guard Zakai […]

At this point in the offseason, most college basketball rosters are completed. There may be a special case here or there where a player is waiting for NCAA clearance, but for the most part the dust has already settled even for all the players still in the transfer portal. While the portal has changed the […]

With the 2023 WNBA regular season winding down, the playoff picture is beginning to look a little more clear. Both the Seattle Storm and the Phoenix Mercury were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday with their losses. The Indiana Fever remain alive in the playoff race but they face some uncertainty surrounding Aliyah Boston. […]

Just looking at the rosters from the ongoing FIBA World Cup and the number of NBA players playing for other countries, it’s evident how much of an influence international basketball has begun to have on the American game. American colleges have begun to look overseas for potential recruits. It soon won’t be so uncommon to […]