WNBA Today, 07/06/2012: Lynx lit up by LA; and San Antonio win a game of two halves

Yesterday’s pair of WNBA games got off to an amusing start with the news that Andrea Riley had only been unemployed for a matter of days, with LA picking her up after Phoenix cut her loose. Apparently, that 18% shooting for the Mercury (dropping her WNBA career percentage fractionally below the 30% line) had impressed someone in Los Angeles.

But enough about the scrubs; let’s talk about the basketball. The early game was in LA, where the league-leading Minnesota Lynx were the visitors. The Sparks had lost three in a row, by a combined 50 points (and one of those was even against Tulsa), but after a week off they were looking to improve in front of all their screaming young fans. The Lynx weren’t exactly coming in on a high either, after falling to their second defeat of the season in San Antonio on Sunday. Now they had a chance to respond against their other closest rival in the West.

The expected lineups started the game, and Adair, Anosike and Hoffman were still unavailable for their respective teams. The opening minutes of the contest favoured Minnesota, with the Sparks settling for jump shots and the Lynx’s balance finding points from all around their team. But the warning signs of what was to come were already developing. Kristi Toliver was hot from outside from the very start, and Candace Parker looked interested. Whether on length-of-the-court drives, shots in the half-court, or even actual post ups in the paint – Parker’s offense was in the building. So the Lynx led 19-11, but the advantage was short-lived. An insanely deep three from Toliver to close out the first quarter – already her third make in three attempts from beyond the arc – gave LA a 24-21 lead. Parker and Toliver had combined for 22 of the Sparks’ points.

When she’s in rhythm, Toliver’s one of the best pure shooters in the game. And Lindsay Whalen won’t be mistaken for the best defender in the world any time soon. But it was disappointing for the Lynx that Toliver was so wide open for several of her outside shots. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/04/2012: A Steady Diet of Danielle Adams

The solitary WNBA game last night featured the injury-riddled (and/or tanking) Phoenix Mercury, and the suddenly streaking San Antonio Silver Stars. The ever-useless pre-game graphics teased us with the possibility that Candice Dupree might be returning for Phoenix, but ultimately it was the same bunch that have been scrapping their way through recent games (sans Andrea Riley, who was finally cut for not being worth the paycheck). San Antonio, winners of five of their last six games – including inflicting Minnesota’s second loss of the season on Sunday – had the same ten players available that have produced their impressive recent performances.

The very first possession of the game was exactly like what we saw in that Silver Stars victory over the Lynx – Becky Hammon dribbled around a screen, the second defender didn’t show high enough from behind the pick, so she simply nailed the open jumper. But the rest of the first half didn’t go nearly as smoothly for San Antonio. All those perimeter jump shots that had been sailing through the net on Sunday were bouncing off the rim, and several of the passes that previously landed right in the hands of teammates were now finding the first row of seats. They just weren’t clicking.

Phoenix, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves. Or at least DeWanna Bonner certainly was. She’s been the leading light in several of the Mercury’s recent performances, forced into a starring role by the absence of so many top players. Her percentages have taken a hit as a result, but she’s stepped up to the mark and tried to lead the offense. Against San Antonio in the first quarter, she was taking over. She was hitting those long bombs for three. She was pulling up for midrange jumpers. She was driving to the rim and drawing fouls for free throws. Then she had a layup in transition to top it all off. By the end of the period, the Silver Stars only had 16 points; Bonner had 19 (of Phoenix’s 23). It was hard to see her keeping it up, but it was a hell of a start.

It was all pretty ugly in the second period. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/02/2012: A Four-game Feast

The basketball gods offered up a little bit of a treat on Sunday. To make up for a few miserable recent days of basketball, we got four games, at least three of which were well worth watching. The schedulers even spaced them out in neat one-hour intervals so you could transition smoothly from one to the next. We here at WNBAlien will pay tribute to the gods’ generosity in our usual way – with detailed analysis of all the action. Chronological order (feel free to skip the Phoenix-Washington game if you’re only interested in potential playoff teams), Bullet Point Breakdown-style – let’s get to it.

 

Minnesota Lynx 84 @ San Antonio Silver Stars 93

  • You’re going to have to excuse me for going all gushy about this game, because not only was there some excellent basketball played, but the chess-match aspects of the battle between head coaches Dan Hughes and Cheryl Reeve were fascinating as well. Just for those who want to hear about the basketball action and not the ins-and-outs of playcalling and rotations, there’ll be a Chess-Match Warning! posted before every entry related to little coaching intricacies.
  • The teams opened with the standard starting fives we’ve come to expect. One long-term injury apiece, with Jessica Adair and Tangela Smith unavailable.
  • Chess-Match Warning! Those with long memories – or who spend an awful lot of time at this website – may recall the twist San Antonio threw at Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs last year. They defended Maya Moore with the far smaller Becky Hammon, practically daring the Lynx to attack that matchup if Moore could come up with a post game. It worked shockingly well, and Minnesota rarely found a way to exploit it. But in the first regular season matchup between these teams in 2012, Hughes rarely used that tactic. This time, the Silver Stars went right for it. From the opening tip, Hammon was on Moore, Shameka Christon on Seimone Augustus, and Danielle Robinson on Lindsay Whalen. The Silver Stars weren’t messing around.
  • At the other end the Lynx wanted it switched around – Augustus defending Hammon, Moore on Christon.
  • Moore pulled down two offensive boards on the opening Lynx possession, suggesting she might be more prepared to take advantage of the Hammon matchup this year. But after Christon went off, with 8 points in the opening three minutes, Moore was benched for Candice Wiggins. Moore had lasted only 3:04 into the game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/01/2012: New York win ugly over Seattle. Real ugly.

Just one game in the WNBA on Saturday, and this report would’ve been up much sooner if I could’ve faced writing about the game before now. It wasn’t pretty. If you haven’t watched it yet – unless you’re a fan of the team that won, and really only if you’re a truly devoted fan – don’t bother catching it via the archive. This was one to skip.

Seattle came into New York (or really New Jersey) on something of a high. They’d won five games in a row, and just added old favourite Svetlana Abrosimova to the roster. But those of us who watched the ugly win over Washington on Tuesday, and who remembered how bad this team has often been on the road, were yet to be convinced. Still, with opponents like New York, they had every chance to keep the win streak going. The Liberty had lost four of their last five, looked absolutely dismal in several of those defeats, and still had Plenette Pierson out injured (it was a ‘left knee strain’ in the box score this time). Bar Washington or Tulsa, this is the road game you want to play right now.

New York coach John Whisenant made a move, promoting Kara Braxton into the starting lineup over DeMya Walker in an effort to get more out of the frustrating Braxton. You can make a bunch of money in this league just by being 6’5” and remotely able to move, but you’ll annoy a hell of a lot of people in the process if you’re as inconsistent and wasteful as Braxton.

The defensive assignments to start the game were interesting, with the two teams cross-matching on the perimeter. Seattle were comfortable with the natural matchups – Sue Bird on Leilani Mitchell, Tanisha Wright on Cappie Pondexter, Katie Smith on Essence Carson. That’s where the standard positions would have them. But New York wanted Carson on Bird, to hopefully trouble Seattle’s leader with her length; Mitchell on Wright; and Pondexter on Smith. Not too sure about the thinking behind those last two, but maybe the idea was that Cappie wouldn’t have to work so hard defensively, as Smith’s offense typically involves setting screens and firing threes these days.

At least that created something worth thinking about in the early stages, because the basketball was barely tolerable. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/30/2012: Playing away can be fun

Three WNBA games last night, all overlapping each other. Sometimes, the multi-game view in LiveAccess can be very useful. Considering very few of the fans in attendance went home happy, maybe they’d have been better off in front of a computer screen as well. Let’s get right to it, via the Bullet-Point Breakdown.

 

Connecticut Sun 77 @ Washington Mystics 64

  • For the fifth straight game, Sun coach Mike Thibault retained the same starting lineup, with Kalana Greene and Alison Hightower on the perimeter ahead of Danielle McCray. Washington switched things up a little, bringing Shannon Bobbitt in at the point to replace Jasmine Thomas. For whatever reason, Monique Currie continues to come off the bench – so the Mystics still haven’t tried starting all their best players together for a single game this season.
  • Washington were without backup guard Natasha Lacy due to concussion-like symptoms.
  • The game started poorly for Washington, with multiple turnovers and a forced timeout when Bobbitt picked up her dribble and was trapped. It looked like a blowout waiting to happen.
  • Despite those early problems, Bobbitt illustrated quickly that she was an upgrade on Thomas. Bobbitt has drawbacks – she’s tiny, at times she over-dribbles or has tunnel vision, she often can’t finish inside, and she’s not as good a shooter as she thinks she is – but she makes things happen. If the shot-clock’s running down she’ll penetrate and create something, even if it’s something fairly undesirable. Even when the ball’s in someone else’s hands, she’s often pointing and directing everyone as to what they should be doing. She gives this team a pace and directness they haven’t had with their other lead-guard options.
  • After their lead went as high as 11 in the first-quarter (ooh, unintentional Spinal Tap reference), the Sun relaxed a little too much. It had almost been too easy, and they took their foot off the gas. The ball stopped moving as well as it usually does in their offense, their key post pairing of Tina Charles and Asjha Jones faded out of the game, and Washington drifted back into it.
  • Offensive rebounds were helping the Mystics as well, even if they often only led to an extra opportunity to miss. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/29/2012: San Antonio teach LA a lesson in team basketball. Again.

Either by coincidence or design, the WNBA left last night free for everyone to focus on the NBA Draft (which was filled with kids who wouldn’t be eligible for the WNBA equivalent if they were female, but that’s a debate for another day). The only game yesterday was yet another Kids’ Day contest in the early afternoon, featuring the third match-up in the recent weeks between Los Angeles and San Antonio.

The Silver Stars won both previous encounters – the first in overtime, the second in a blowout – so this was a chance for either confirmation of superiority, or revenge. Having lost to Tulsa on Tuesday night in another embarrassing defeat, the Sparks needed some kind of bounce-back performance to snap them out of the funk they’ve slipped into. San Antonio were just looking to continue their development, cut further into LA’s advantage in the standings, and send all their screaming fans home happy.

The same starting lineups began the game as in the last clash between these teams, and the game picked up right where Sunday night had left off – San Antonio dominated. The Sparks started out with a couple of plays that had clearly been scripted by the coaching staff – post-ups for Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike – but their offense quickly devolved into far too many jump shots. Meanwhile, at the other end, the Silver Stars were picking them apart.

Once again, the most noticeable difference between these teams was the chemistry and teamwork that San Antonio exhibit. They make the extra pass, and they rotate to help defensively when necessary. This is a team to a far greater extent than LA. Their execution offensively is also far superior. They move without the ball and find the open shooter, and if someone slides open on a pick-and-roll, more often than not they’ll receive the ball. LA just aren’t anywhere near as organised or crisp, there’s a lack of communication on screens and traps, and it leaves them looking a mess. And when these breakdowns give up points on the defensive end, their heads drop and it affects their offense as well.

Of course, it helped San Antonio that they were making every shot on offer as well. LA’s weak rotations and inability to close out on shooters helped, but there’ll be days where they’re this open and still not hit much. With everything falling for Sophia Young, Shameka Christon and Jia Perkins, the Silver Stars were up 26-11 less than nine minutes into the game.

The fact that Young had 11 of San Antonio’s points at that stage didn’t reflect too well on Parker. The Silver Stars had come out with the same defensive assignments as in previous games – Jayne Appel on Parker, Young on Ogwumike – but LA had switched around. Parker was the primary defender on Young, and it didn’t work at all. All the statements about her new dedication to defense from earlier in the season seem to have been forgotten, and Candace is back to being the same defender she’s been for most of her career. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/28/2012: Day or night, injuries take their toll

Just two games in the WNBA on Wednesday, and unfortunately injuries continue to play a key role in how these contests play out. It’s going to be nice to come back in August and see healthier, more complete rosters take the floor.

The early game was in Chicago, where Indiana arrived for their second Kids’ Day outing in succession. Not the greatest piece of scheduling the world has ever seen. The key injury here was obviously Epiphanny Prince, the Sky guard who looked like she might be making ‘The Leap’ into an elite class in the early weeks of the season. Prince was in attendance, but she was hopping around on crutches, not in uniform. She should be back to start the second half of the season along with the rest of us.

Other team news for Chicago had backup post Le’coe Willingham missing for personal reasons (although she was sat right next to Prince on the bench in street clothes), and Shay Murphy back after missing five games to represent Montenegro in EuroBasket Women qualifiers (they went 4-0, by the way). Sydney Carter had been cut after one game, because for the first time since May 19th, veteran point guard Ticha Penicheiro was in uniform and ready to play. Penicheiro’s recovery from her lingering calf injury meant that the hardship exception used to sign Carter immediately expired.

The Sky had lost their previous two games, both played essentially without Prince. But this was their first game back on their own floor without her, and the first one they might’ve felt capable of winning in her absence. The Fever have been inconsistent lately, with both Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas struggling to find their jump shots. The Fever were also fairly comfortably beaten the day before in Atlanta, so were carrying the fatigue from a back-to-back. With Indiana 2-0 up in the season series already, Chicago needed this one to avoid conceding the tiebreaker that could come into play at the end of the year.

Both teams started the expected groups – without Prince, Chicago presumably didn’t feel they had the players to go small again to match up with Indiana’s ‘Catch at the 4’ lineup. The early stages featured a stark contrast in styles, with Chicago working hard to feed Sylvia Fowles in the paint, while Indiana fired in perimeter jump shots. Largely speaking, the success rates were fairly similar and the game stayed close.

While both teams diversified their attacks, neither team managed to take control throughout a tight first half. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/27/2012: Dream win early, Storm win late, and Sparks suffer a nasty Shock

It was a unusual schedule for the WNBA yesterday. We had one game on so early that most people with ‘normal’ jobs couldn’t watch it; one game on national TV that everyone was petrified would be so excruciating that the league would lose fans rather than gain them; and one that was blacked out everywhere and impossible to watch until it was over. But as ever, WNBAlien is here to meet your needs, and cover all the action, Bullet Point Breakdown-style.

 

Indiana Fever 58 @ Atlanta Dream 70

  • It was the same starting five as usual for Indiana, with Shavonte Zellous starting despite the neck strain that forced her out early in Saturday’s game against Tulsa.
  • For the Dream, Ketia Swanier started once again at point guard, ahead of Lindsey Harding. If Harding’s fit to play, despite the ankle injury she suffered last week, it’s hard to understand the rationale behind bringing her off the bench. But it’s often hard to understand what’s going on in Marynell Meadors’s head.
  • The first quarter was Indiana’s. Tamika Catchings picked up two quick fouls (the first was cheap, the second could easily have been a charge on Angel McCoughtry instead), but Erlana Larkins came off the bench and filled the gap smoothly. McCoughtry was very quiet early on, and with the Fever taking good care of the ball Atlanta couldn’t get out on the break, leaving their offense utterly anaemic. So the Fever led 18-12 at the end of the first.
  • And that, frankly, was as good as it got for Indiana for the rest of the day. The momentum of the game swung entirely in Atlanta’s favour in the second period. A couple of quick shots from the Fever created long rebounds that let the Dream stretch their legs, a couple of sloppy passes did the same, and suddenly Atlanta were off and running.
  • Meanwhile, Indiana’s penetration had completely disappeared, and the only shots they were throwing up were perimeter jumpers, that wouldn’t fall. They shot 1-15 as a team in the second quarter. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/25/2012: Ever Increasing Victories

So, three WNBA games this Sunday, and the levels of defeat became increasingly comprehensive as we went along. It was like the basketball gods were tired of this week and just wanted it over and done with. They had no time left for tight, hard-fought contests. This was a day where the threat of overtime never even remotely raised its head above the parapet.

First up was Atlanta’s trip to New York, a game which completed the four-game season series between these teams, despite the fact that it’s still June. Address all complaints to the WNBA scheduling department. While they’ve had a largely miserable start to the season, two of the Liberty’s four wins this year have come over the Dream, so a win in this game would’ve taken the series 3-1 and given them the tie-break over Atlanta. Assuming New York still have hopes of making the playoffs, that’s something that could come into play later in the year. Thoroughly inconsistent themselves this year, the Dream were looking to bounce back from a loss to this same Liberty squad last Tuesday.

Making that recovery far more likely was the simple fact that leading scorer and star player Angel McCoughtry was back in uniform, after missing a couple of games with an MCL sprain. There was more encouraging news for the Dream in that both Tiffany Hayes and Lindsey Harding were dressed and ready to play after their ankle injuries late in the last game. Ketia Swanier had been moved into the starting lineup, but Harding was fit enough to come off the bench. She looked like she was in a lot of pain on Tuesday night, so it was good to see her in one piece. New York were still without Plenette Pierson due to what was previously a hyperextended knee – although the official listing in the box score for this game read ‘calf strain’.

The first quarter was dominated by Atlanta. McCoughtry came out firing, but the Dream swiftly realised that they could knife through what New York were generously calling ‘defense’ at will. While the Liberty were clanking perimeter jumpers off the rim, Atlanta were constantly in the paint for layups, either in transition or in the halfcourt. It was far too easy for the Dream, and they were up 26-16 by the end of the first quarter.

The opening period also contained one of the worst charging calls you’re ever likely to see. Armintie Price was coming in for a layup, and Essence Carson was still sliding both backwards and sideways when she flopped on the ground after barely any contact from Price. Hideous call.

The only good sign for New York in the first quarter was that point guard Leilani Mitchell was already 3-3 from three-point range. In general, when Mitchell’s produced points this season, the Liberty have won games. Now they just needed to remember how to do everything else. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/24/2012: Favourites all cement their superiority. Just.

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday – it’s been a busy few days in WNBAlien-land. Everything should be back to normal next week. For now, we’re going to catch up on Friday night’s game, as well as everything that happened on Saturday. Everyone who was supposed to win eventually took care of business, but some of them did it with far greater ease than others.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 76 @ Seattle Storm 82

  • Both teams went with the starting fives we’ve come to expect from recent games. Seattle’s bench was slightly shorter than usual with Victoria Dunlap out again due to concussion – but then, Brian Agler probably wouldn’t have used her anyway.
  • Those starting lineups created a matchup at center between Ann Wauters and Jayne Appel, and once again it didn’t reflect well on Wauters. The Belgian is supposed to be a top-level pivot, one of the better centers around, at least offensively. Appel, on the other hand, has been a huge disappointment for most of her WNBA career, and we’re still waiting on her to prove she even belongs at this level. Wauters makes her look good. It seems like the perfect matchup for Appel, who bodies Wauters just enough to make her uncomfortable, usually without drawing whistles. Wauters should be able to do better against her, but it’s the second time in two games between these teams that the Storm center has done practically nothing.
  • Meanwhile, defensively, Wauters continues to be a conspicuous flaw in the Storm’s structure. Everyone else is starting to work it out and find their old form, but her rotations and mobility are weak, and she gets lost an awful lot. A central part of the Storm starting the season so poorly is that Wauters was meant to be better than this. Replacing Lauren Jackson with her has proven to be a huge step down.
  • As a unit, it didn’t feel like Seattle were playing that poorly in the early stages, but they couldn’t make any shots. The team defense was still largely working as it should, but Jia Perkins came in for San Antonio and actually tickled the twine. The Silver Stars led 17-11 at the end of the first quarter as a result.
  • Danielle Adams offers a balance to Wauters: she can’t move or guard anyone either. In this game, she also couldn’t hit any shots, which essentially made her useless. Continue reading →