Monthly Archives: June 2013

WNBAlien Feature: Trading Tina Thompson

 

Last week saw one of the legends of the WNBA, the sole remaining player from 1997’s inaugural season, announce that this would be her final year. Tributes and glowing assessments of Tina Thompson’s career rightfully flooded in, but because I’m an unsentimental soul my first thought was “does this make it more or less likely that she’ll be traded?” On reflection, it seems like the retirement announcement probably doesn’t make much difference – there was always a strong chance that this was her last season anyway, so any move for her would’ve been primarily about what she could offer in 2013. But it does seem like an appropriate time to look at whether Seattle might find a new home for Tina before the trade deadline on August 15th.

 

Before we look at where she might fit, a few elements that make the possibility worth examining:

a) The Seattle Storm aren’t winning a championship this year. Thompson herself made some noises in preseason about whether Seattle was where she still wanted to be. She signed on for two years, expecting to make championship runs alongside Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. She ended up on a squad that suffered through all kinds of injury issues in 2012, and now is missing both Bird and Jackson for the entire 2013 season. While there was a hard-fought win over the ballyhooed Phoenix Mercury on Sunday night, this is a rebuilding year for the Storm without their two superstars. If they make the playoffs it’ll be a surprise to many, and developing their young players is really a bigger priority than wins. That makes a trade potentially appealing to both the Storm and Thompson herself. The franchise could get some kind of return for a player who’s about to retire, plus the karma boost of giving her a last shot at “one for the thumb”; Thompson gets to make that final run at a title with a team closer to the prize.

 

b) Thompson might not want to go. Despite those preseason comments, she’s starting in her 17th WNBA season, by all accounts Seattle is a nice place to live, and she seems to have a nice rapport with her teammates and the fans. The return on a trade for her also probably isn’t going to be huge for Seattle – a draft pick, likely second-round unless someone is incredibly desperate, or maybe a fringe player who isn’t fitting in somewhere else – so it seems unlikely they’ll be forcing her out the door unless she wants to leave.

 

c) But one last shot at a ring would have to be tempting. Thompson was a central part of the Los Angeles Sparks team that lost in three games in the Western Conference Finals in 2009, but she hasn’t been to the WNBA Finals since the Houston Comets’ streak of four titles from 1997 to 2000. Sitting on someone’s bench playing 5 minutes a night in garbage time probably wouldn’t appeal to her much, but if there’s a more significant role available off a thin bench or even starting due she’d surely be interested. It’s not like she’d have to be there for very long.

 

Of course, trades don’t happen very often in the WNBA, and meaningful ones are even more rare. With only 12 teams there aren’t many options to trade with, and there are even fewer when you’re only looking at teams with some kind of chance to win a championship this season. That crosses off Washington and Tulsa immediately, leaving just nine teams to consider. In increasing order of likelihood:

 

Distinctly unlikely: Indiana, New York, San Antonio

With all their early-season injuries, Indiana could almost work, and the 3/4 combo-forward who defends in the low-post that Thompson has become would fit in the Fever’s system. But they’ve got a settled core of players, and they’re the one theoretical option who’d have some issues fitting Thompson’s salary under the cap. So I can’t see it.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/03/2013: Shots still falling for Sky; sky already falling for Mercury?

 

Three games on Sunday in the WNBA, but for once they were generous enough to spread them out for us and avoid any overlap. Bullet Point Breakdown time for all three:

 

Atlanta Dream 73 @ Washington Mystics 63

 

  • For once, both teams involved in a WNBA game were essentially healthy. Tiffany Hayes continued to start for Atlanta, but Armintie Herrington was available off the bench after missing their last game due to illness.

 

  • There was sloppy basketball from both teams early on, with misplaced passes and blown layups on either side. Crystal Langhorne won the early skirmishes at the power forward spot over Sancho Lyttle with hustle rebounds and a nice backcut, but that was about all that worked for Washington.

 

  • Barely five minutes into the game, the pattern for most of the afternoon began to take hold. Washington were so desperate to push the ball and find quick offense that they were making mistakes and turning the ball over. It’s a cardinal sin against Atlanta, who desperately want to force turnovers and ignite their running game. Even off Mystics misses they were simply beating Washington down the floor for easy opportunities – an unforgivable failing in transition defense. Atlanta were up 9 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 15 in the second.

 

  • The silver lining in the first half for the Mystics was the performance of Belgian rookie Emma Meesseman. She made some hustle plays on the glass and showed off her range by hitting a couple of jumpers from mid-range. At barely 20 years old, Meesseman would still have a year or two of college development left if she was American. As long as she keeps showing up, she could be a useful part of Washington’s future. That said, Thibault seemed reluctant to play Meesseman with Langhorne, presumably worried about the defense they’d put up without a true center. So giving Meesseman extended minutes kept Langhorne off the floor. And this team is rarely going to win games without Langhorne playing a key role for most of the game.

 

  • Atlanta had 12 points off 14 Mystics turnovers in the first half, a ridiculous and suicidal number for Washington. The Dream also had a 16-0 advantage in free throw attempts. Hence the 13-point Atlanta lead.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/02/2013: Sparks stifled in San Antonio, while Lynx lift off

 

Two games in the WNBA last night, with the Western champs of the last two years finally joining the fray, and two familiar Western foes clashing for the first time in 2013. The latter saw the Los Angeles Sparks travelling to San Antonio to face the Silver Stars. LA got off to a great start last week with a dominating win over Seattle, but a groin problem for Alana Beard left them a little shorthanded last night (at least it wasn’t the ankle that troubled her during the offseason). Marissa Coleman started in her place. San Antonio stuck with the opening lineup from their ugly loss to Indiana, continuing to battle on without leaders Becky Hammon and Sophia Young.

 

The defensive assignments from the start of the game saw LA with the natural matchups (point guard on point guard, shooting guard on shooting guard etc.) but San Antonio cross-matching at the guards, putting Danielle Robinson on Kristi Toliver. It’s something they’ve done before to try to corral Toliver, and it’s actually a little easier with Hammon out. Jia Perkins is bigger, and a slightly smarter defender, who can at least do a job against point guards like Lindsey Harding. If Hammon was out there she’d either have tried to do her best on Harding, or they’d have complicated things further by attempting to hide her on Coleman.

 

And there was a noticeable improvement in San Antonio’s defense throughout this game compared to their opener in Indiana. The help and swarming recovery was much better, leaving fewer of those open driving lanes that the Fever repeatedly exploited. That said, part of it came down to LA’s offense, which wasn’t nearly as smooth in the halfcourt as they were against Seattle. The jumpers didn’t fall as easily early on, so the rhythm was never quite the same, leaving LA constantly playing catchup.

 

It was a fast-paced game, with both teams looking to run when they had the opportunity. Robinson continues to mature as a point guard who can run an offense, but she’s still at her best when using her exceptional speed to fly out on the break or knife to the rim. Shenise Johnson also had an excellent game off the San Antonio bench, making some of that ‘noise’ I asked for last week. This is what they need from her every night, and if they get it she’ll be in the running for both Most Improved and Sixth Woman of the Year. She’s an active and annoying defender, and offensively she’s capable of a little bit of everything. Dan Hughes must still be delighted that she fell to him at #5 in last year’s draft.

 

Candace Parker was a huge presence in this game – perhaps a little too huge. In a game where Toliver never found a way to become involved, and Nneka Ogwumike was constantly on the fringes as well, the Sparks needed Parker to be a central part of the offense. But when she’s constantly bringing the ball up the floor herself, and often looking for her own shot instead of moving the ball, she plays a part in those teammates failing to enter the action. She’s not a selfish player in general – she’s a very willing passer when it becomes the obvious option – but the Sparks can become Candace and the Parkerettes a little too easily. And they’re not as threatening as a team when that happens.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/01/2013: Dream spoil celebrations, Tulsa toil again, and Sky continue to impress

 

The vagaries of the WNBA schedule left us with three blank dates after the Memorial Day excitement, then a triple-header last night. Time for a Bullet Point Breakdown to cover it all:

 

Atlanta Dream 86 @ Indiana Fever 77

 

  • Even before the tip-off, Indiana earned praise from this small corner of the WNBA world by raising a championship banner reading ‘WNBA Champions’ rather than ‘World Champions’. The latter term tends to annoy those of us who recognise that basketball is played outside the United States (especially in the women’s game, where some European superteams actually have more talent than most WNBA squads). So well done, Fever organisation.

 

  • Injury news, as ever: Indiana are still without Erin Phillips, Jessica Davenport and Jeanette Pohlen (although all three were present, and none of them were using crutches or wearing heavy braces, which are good signs). Rookie guard Layshia Clarendon was available for the first time after missing their opening game to attend her graduation ceremony (which meant Jasmine Hassell was waived again after a brief emergency signing). Atlanta were down a player with Armintie Herrington staying home due to illness. Tiffany Hayes started in her place.

 

  • The first half of this game was pretty even throughout. Indiana were the team finding points in transition – Atlanta’s usual trick – but the Dream were on top on the glass and effective in the halfcourt, keeping it close.

 

  • As with last season, having a ballhandler and scorer like Tamika Catchings at power forward creates problems for opponents. Atlanta were switching big/big screens, so if Erlana Larkins set a pick for Catchings, Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle would swap assignments. Faced with Erika in front of her, Catchings’s eyes lit up and she attacked repeatedly. The Fever ran a lot of those 4/5 screens.

 

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