Hi everyone! Welcome back! We have now reached the midpoint of the WNBA season and it is now time for a Week 5 update of the WNBA Rookie Watch. You can view the fourth week of WNBA Rookie Watch here.
WNBA Rookies Watch – The Midpoint of the WNBA Season
*Note – This WNBA rookie watch will be updated every two weeks instead of every week. This is because in the WNBA, there are a limited number of roster spots and so rookies have to compete with veterans/star players for spots. A majority of them either get cut, get limited minutes or need time to get adjusted. Their minutes will vary from game to game, opponent to opponent. It will be hard to find consistent minutes and so it won’t be easy to judge rookies on a week to week basis. I’m updating this every two weeks so that I have several games and data(!) to work with.
- Diamond Miller, F – Minnesota Lynx
My oh my! Diamond Miller sure had an amazing past two weeks that she has replaced Aliyah Boston as the top rookie for Week 5. My goodness! She continues to grow and get better and in the past two weeks for the Lynx, she averaged 16 points per game and 4.4 assists per game. She’s growing and emerging towards becoming into a good player. She still unfortunately turns the ball over frequently and it is something she will have to work on moving forward. She had season high 6 turnovers in her previous game against Connecticut on the road. Before that, she had 5 turnovers at home versus the Las Vegas Aces on July 22nd.
2. Dorka Juhász, C – Minnesota Lynx
Dorka Juhász sure got a ton of oppurtunity last week that she was the second best rookie for Week 5 on the Lynx alongside Diamond Miller. She averaged 10 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game in these last two weeks. She had two double-doubles, both on the road versus New York and Connecticut. She also shot the ball efficiently and only struggled against Connecticut in their last game. She is learning and getting better every single game and that is good to see, especially among rookies.
3. Aliyah Boston, C – Indiana Fever
Upon reaching the midpoint of the WNBA season, Aliyah Boston has shown that she is exhausted and that is why her numbers are low from the past two weeks. It is HARD to play in the NCAA women’s college basketball season in senior year and then immediately play in the WNBA as a rookie. Each player hits their low point. It’s what happened to Boston. Her numbers were down from the past two weeks hence why she dropped to the third spot this week. She’s still, however a top rookie but she was replaced by another rookie standout for Week 5.
4. Jordan Horston, G-F – Seattle Storm
Jordan Horston continues to remain sharp and contribute to the team because in these past two weeks, she averaged 9 points per game. Her numbers were a bit down from Week 4 to Week 5 and just like I previously wrote for Aliyah Boston, it seems Horston also is exhausted and a bit worn down which is why she dropped a couple of spots this week and falls to the fourth and final spot. She’s still a good rookie however to earn a spot in Week 5’s WNBA Rookies Watch.
That wraps this week’s edition of WNBA Rookies Watch report. Until then, remember to keep watching, cheering and supporting these young women during their rookie year in the WNBA. You can expect the next WNBA Rookies Watch on August 17th.
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