WNBA Today, 06/07/2013: Moribund Mercury mauled by merciless Minnesota

 

Only one game in the WNBA last night. The solitary contest started just an hour before Game 1 of the NBA Finals tipped off, which seemed like an unfortunate bit of scheduling, but our game in Minnesota was over as a contest in plenty of time for fans to switch focus. Which tells you everything you need to know about how uncompetitive this game turned out to be.

 

We haven’t seen much of the Lynx so far this season. They’d played just one game in the opening 13 days, although that glimpse resulted in a dominating win over Connecticut. Their visitors, the Phoenix Mercury, had dropped both their games so far and looked pretty awful in the process. A visit to Minnesota is rarely the best way to reverse a losing slide in the WNBA.

 

The Lynx lined up for the opening tip as expected, with Janel McCarville joining the remaining four regulars, but there was a change for Phoenix. Second-year point guard Samantha Prahalis, who’s had a rocky start to the season (although that’s true of most of the Mercury roster), was benched in favour of wing Charde Houston. That slid Diana Taurasi over to the point guard spot, somewhere she can play but not her most comfortable position. She’s such a key part of their scoring punch that you don’t really want Taurasi bringing the ball up the floor and trying to initiate the offense on every possession. It’s also a switch that can’t help Prahalis’s confidence. The move by Mercury head coach Corey Gaines was essentially singling her out, when the whole team had performed poorly in their opening games.

 

It’s possible that the change in opening lineup was connected with the change in defensive approach that the Mercury tried in this game. They were attempting to trap on ball-screens – a move where both defensive players try to challenge the ballhandler aggressively when she goes around a pick. It’s not something Phoenix have done much of in the past, and certainly not something they were doing a few days earlier in Seattle. Using Houston instead of Prahalis put a longer player on the floor, who theoretically would have more chance to disrupt the ballhandler and block passing lanes on those traps. But obviously, aggressive double-teaming like that leaves a 4-on-3 behind the trap if the offensive player can pass off to a teammate, and in particular it leaves the original screener wide open unless help rotates over quickly. The Mercury have been a terrible defensive team for years, and they especially struggle to ‘help the helper’, i.e. making the secondary rotation to cover open gaps. Plus they were trying this new strategy against one of the smartest and most unselfish teams in the league. Unsurprisingly, the Mercury got torn apart, as passes beat the traps and Minnesota exploited the space.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/06/2013: Liberty fight off what’s left of the Fever

 

Yesterday saw our first Camp Day game of the year – which means an unusually early tip-off time, thousands of screaming kids that make regulars wish thunder sticks had never been invented, and often players who seem like they’ve barely woken up. The New York Liberty were still without Cheryl Ford due to knee pain, while Indiana added yet another injury to their growing casualty list. With Erin Phillips, Jessica Davenport and Jeanette Pohlen all out for some time, Katie Douglas missed this one as well due to a back problem. That left the Fever down to eight healthy bodies, pushing rookie guard Layshia Clarendon into the starting lineup.

 

The Liberty took advantage of Clarendon replacing Douglas by putting star guard Cappie Pondexter on Clarendon defensively for most of the game – thereby hiding Pondexter on someone who wouldn’t give her too much work to do, and who couldn’t exploit her occasional defensive lapses. The Fever cross-matched, detailing Briann January to harass Pondexter throughout the contest. But the difference between the teams in the early stages didn’t have much to do with anything as complicated as matchups or assignments – it essentially boiled down to shooting. The Liberty couldn’t hit a damn thing from outside however open they might have been, while the Fever were knocking down perimeter jumpers whenever they rotated the ball out to their shooters. With Shavonte Zellous and Tamika Catchings doing all the scoring, Indiana held a 22-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

 

The Fever lead was still in double-digits when matters appeared to get even worse for the Liberty midway through the second quarter. Kara Braxton had already been getting embarrassingly outworked by Erlana Larkins on the glass, and then in the fight for another one inadvertently elbowed teammate Plenette Pierson in the face. Pierson went down and stayed down for a while, eventually being helped off the court by the trainer. She returned later to sit on the bench, but never made it back into the game. With Ford injured and rookie Toni Young essentially unable to play in the post at this level, that left just Braxton and Kelsey Bone as recognised post players available for New York. Veteran jack-of-all-trades Katie Smith – who’s played everything from point guard to power forward in her first three games as a member of the Liberty – was called upon to step in as an emergency ‘post’. Of course, against Indiana, that also brings with it the assignment of guarding Tamika Catchings.

 

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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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WNBA Today, 05/28/2013: Griner dunks but Mercury demolished, while Mystics squeak past Shock

 

Memorial Day was a big holiday for the WNBA this year. While the season may have begun for the diehards on Friday night, Monday was the launchpad for the vaunted ‘Three to See’ on national television. ESPN2 rolled out the red carpet for Skylar Diggins in Tulsa’s home opener, followed by the professional debuts for Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne. It didn’t all go quite according to the anticipated script, but there was some entertaining basketball along the way. Oh, and a couple of dunks. We mustn’t forget the dunks.

 

First up, Diggins’s Shock hosted the Washington Mystics, making their first appearance of the 2013 season. That meant the 4th overall pick from this year’s draft was involved as well as the top three, with Tayler Hill immediately slotting into the starting lineup for Mike Thibault’s Mystics. Matee Ajavon was late arriving to training camp due to overseas commitments, which may have played into the decision to start Hill, but it also allows them to use Ajavon in a similar sixth woman role to the one Renee Montgomery performed for Thibault in Connecticut. Offseason acquisition Kia Vaughn got the start at center ahead of veteran Michelle Snow.

 

The Shock were down another player, after already starting the season shorthanded. Nicole Powell and Tiffany Jackson-Jones were already out with injuries since the preseason, and Candice Wiggins joined them in street clothes after tweaking her ankle in Saturday’s loss to Atlanta. Point guard Angel Goodrich slid into an all-rookie starting backcourt alongside Diggins. On the bright side, giant center Liz Cambage was ruled healthy enough to start the game, replacing Kayla Pedersen in the lineup.

 

The first play of the game was a heartening sight for Shock fans, with a high-low hook up between Glory Johnson and Cambage. If all goes to plan, that could be Tulsa’s starting frontcourt for the next decade. The quicker they can start building chemistry and learning to read each other, the better.

 

There was clearly a focus on getting the ball in to Cambage down low from the Shock early on – which makes a lot of sense when you’ve just added a 6-8 behemoth with decent touch to your post attack. It worked pretty well when they found her in good position, and she simply gives them something very different to attack defenses with. It’s no longer just small guards trying to break people down and make something happen. It’s still a work in progress though. Cambage isn’t fully fit, and the offense sometimes gets bogged down while they’re desperately looking for her and not even considering anything else. She also sometimes seems to drift out of games if she isn’t actively involved in the play going on. So much of defense, especially for centers, is being in the right place to help, so concentration is key and something she’ll need to improve. The officials are still working out how referee her as well. She’s gangly and a bit awkward, and when she turns into defenders her elbows tend to be at head height of her opponent. Her fault and an offensive foul, or simply tough luck on the defender? It’ll probably vary from night to night.

 

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WNBA Today (belated), 05/27/2013: Storm blown away by red-hot Sparks

 

Apologies for the delayed coverage of the holiday weekend’s games. Watching Great Britain’s women’s team swallowed up a lot of my time (please come home soon, Ms Leedham). Rest assured most game analysis will be more prompt over the course of the season. Coverage of Washington-Tulsa, Chicago-Phoenix, Delle Donne, Griner et al will be coming later tonight. First, Sunday’s bloodbath.

 

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Sunday night saw the opening game of 2013 for two teams with very different outlooks on the season. The Los Angeles Sparks have brought back every meaningful piece from a strong 2012 campaign, and added Lindsey Harding to run the point. Their expectations for 2013 are a lot of wins and a deep playoff run, preferably with a parade at the end. Conversely, the Seattle Storm are without star duo Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson, have only four rotation players returning from last year, and are hoping to scrap their way through 2013 as best they can. Given all that, maybe the way this game played out shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

 

The Sparks opened the game with the lineup everyone had projected since the Harding signing. Kristi Toliver and Alana Beard slid over to shooting guard and small forward respectively, opening space for Harding to take over the primary ballhandling responsibilities. The fears that Beard’s fitness might not allow her to begin the season on time were apparently unfounded. Seattle had Temeka Johnson replacing Bird, with Camille Little and Tina Thompson paired in the post. The only slight surprise was free agent signing Noelle Quinn starting at small forward, leaving second-year wing Shekinna Stricklen to continue coming off the bench.

 

The opening play of the game was a lovely example of LA starting as they meant to go on. Toliver popped up off a screen, took a feed from Harding, and swished an 18-foot jumper. A pure scorer getting to play off the ball, and being allowed to focus on what she does best.

 

Seattle were right in this game for most of the first half. They were playing with a little more speed in their step than we’re used to seeing – Johnson likes to push the ball, so that could be a season-long trend – and they were pretty effective offensively. Little in particular was going to work. A backdoor cut that mystified Candace Parker, a couple of nice turnaround jumpers and a pick-and-pop three all dropped for a player who’s become an increasingly versatile scoring weapon. Offensively, Storm coach Brian Agler will have been happy with that first half.

 

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WNBA Today, 05/26/2013: Sun and Dream open up with victories

 

Four more teams got their WNBA seasons started last night, and just because I feel like it, we’re going to go Bullet Point Breakdown on both of them. Away we go.

 

New York Liberty 69 @ Connecticut Sun 81

  • Day two of the season, and I’m already tired of writing about injuries. The Sun were obviously without Asjha Jones, skipping the entire season to rest various ailments. New York were without both Plenette Pierson and Cheryl Ford due to knee pain (which is especially worrisome with Ford, considering her history with knee issues and the ever-present concerns about her surviving a WNBA season). The Liberty are hoping both will be ready for their home opener against Tulsa on Friday.

 

  • Third-year forward Kelsey Griffin slid into Jones’s starting spot for the Sun, while the rest of their lineup was the same one Mike Thibault used for most of last season. Ann Donovan, sensibly, isn’t going to try to change too much about a team that went 25-9 last year. New York opened with rookie forward Toni Young next to Kara Braxton in the post, and Leilani Mitchell at point guard alongside Cappie Pondexter and Essence Carson on the perimeter. For now, the Pondexter-as-‘lead guard’ concept is on hold.

 

  • For the record, backup Sun post Mistie Mims is now Mistie Bass again. NBA writers and broadcasters have it really easy on the name-changes compared to those of us on the women’s side.

 

  • Toni Young spent most of this game indicating that she has a long way to go as a pro player. There was one offensive board and putback in the second half where she skied for the ball and illustrated her pure athleticism. Otherwise she looked pretty lost.

 

  • Kelsey Bone, on the other hand, had a heck of a debut. The #5 overall pick in this year’s draft was matched up with 2012 WNBA MVP Tina Charles during most of her minutes and gave Charles everything she could handle at both ends of the floor. Bone stood up to her defensively, made a couple of nice buckets, and generally just looked ready for this level. There was one particularly pretty step-through move past Charles late in the first half – especially impressive for a player who hasn’t even played in Europe yet (or under John Whisenant, who loved to teach that).

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WNBA Today, 25/05/2013: Fever float past sorry Silver Stars

 

So WNBA basketball is back, albeit with an opening game that didn’t exactly set anyone’s heart aflutter. Even before the tip in San Antonio, there were warning signs about this one. With star forward Sophia Young out “until at least August” (according to the broadcasters prior to the game – chances are her ACL tear will remove her for the entire season), the Silver Stars’ other leading light Becky Hammon will be missing for “at least a month” with her broken finger. It was a scary-looking cast she had immobilising that right hand, as well.

 

Meanwhile on the opposite bench, Indiana had their own problems. Guard Erin Phillips, center Jessica Davenport and wing Jeanette Pohlen are all injured, and it’s going to be several weeks at least until we see any of them. Rookie guard Layshia Clarendon also missed this game to attend her graduation ceremony, but at least she’ll be back for their next contest. So the Fever had more players out, but fortunately for Indiana they’re all role players, rather than vital leaders.

 

It didn’t take long for our first little piece of history. Referee Sue Blauch took just 29 seconds to call the first ever defensive three-seconds violation in the WNBA, with Tamika Catchings playing her typical free safety defense and getting caught in the lane too long without ‘actively guarding’ anyone. It seemed like a slightly quick whistle to me, but just about reasonable on review.

 

Much of the first half was sloppy, as both teams tried to remember how to play WNBA basketball. There were defensive miscommunications where teams ended up with unintentional double-teams (and someone else obviously wide open), and plenty of bricks clanking off the rims. San Antonio scored the first 10 points of the game, and held a reasonable lead for the first 15 minutes of the contest, largely because they actually hit some shots. Shameka Christon was hot early from outside, then Danielle Adams came off the bench and joined in – only to remove herself from the action with three quick fouls. The second call was harsh, with Erlana Larkins crumpling under minimal contact, but the third was a dumb reach on an entry pass to Tamika Catchings. Adams doesn’t look in any better shape than the last two seasons, but she’s shown she can be effective for significant stretches even in this condition. She has to play smarter than that.

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