WNBA Today, 05/26/2012: Sun and Fever keep rolling; Liberty fears deepen

It was a Friday night triple-header this week in the WNBA, and seeing as the general opinion seemed to be positive last time we tried it, we’re going to tackle them Bullet Point Breakdown style.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 79 @ Connecticut Sun 83

  • San Antonio head coach Dan Hughes stuck with his itty-bitty starting lineup, With Danielle Adams at center and Jia Perkins the nominal small forward. Connecticut’s Mike Thibault changed things around a little, with Allison Hightower getting the start ahead of Kalana Greene on the wing. Renee Montgomery continues to come off the bench for the Sun (and isn’t very happy about it, according to local press).
  • Tan White is back practicing for Connecticut after her concussion, but didn’t play. Rookie Ziomara Morrison, who was supposed to help provide size and bulk to San Antonio’s interior, is reportedly limited by a finger injury but continues to dress and played very briefly.
  • Adams did a decent job on Charles early, despite the extra inches that the Sun center has on her. Adams can use her bulk to at least make it difficult for Charles on the low block.
  • At the other end, Charles had a few problems. She likes to play free safety a little bit, drifting in the paint to be able to offer help defense when her teammates need it. Against a lot of 5s that’s fine, but with Adams, if you sag back she’s just going to sit happily at the three-point line and fire away all day. The same problem occurred when Adams set screens for her guards, because Connecticut typically trap the ballhandler (or at least show hard with a ghost of a double-team) on pick and rolls. So Adams sets the screen, the guard’s defender and Charles slide over to challenge the ball, and if the guard can pass back to Adams she’s often wide open for a jumper. The defense depends either on a third defender rotating across to cover quickly, or Charles recovering in time to challenge the shot. Both of those are difficult to keep doing effectively. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/25/2012: Sparks ask questions, Lynx provide answers

Just the one game in the WNBA last night, but it was a fascinating clash between a reigning powerhouse and a fresh new challenger looking to prove themselves. Of course, the bizarre thing is that it’s the Minnesota Lynx who now sit on top of the pile with a target on their backs, while the Los Angeles Sparks are trying to knock them off their perch. This is not your mother’s WNBA.

Both teams started as expected, Minnesota with their standard five and LA with Kristi Toliver keeping her spot in the backcourt. Center Nicky Anosike remains unavailable due to a knee injury for LA, and with Sharnee Zoll done for the season they’re currently working with only nine healthy players. Minnesota are at ten with Amber Harris still nursing an ankle sprain.

The opening stages were about what you’d expect, with the Lynx playing their typical efficient game and the Sparks riding Candace Parker for all she was worth. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/24/2012: Are You Worried Yet?

I hate overreacting to early season results. Plenty of teams start off slowly and gain steam, and in a competition where a ridiculous two-thirds of the league makes the playoffs, finishing well in September can mean a lot more than starting hot in May. But barely a week into the WNBA regular season, some fans in Seattle and New York are showing signs of panic. And if you’ve watched their performances so far, frankly it’s not hard to understand why.

The Liberty faced Minnesota on Tuesday night, in their second ‘home opener’ (their first home game was shifted back to Madison Square Garden due to scheduling conflicts, so this was the first 2012 game in Jersey at the Prudential Center). For the few fans that showed up – and we’re talking a Mystics-sized crowd – it wasn’t pretty. Last year’s champs toyed with them for a while, batting them around like a kitten trying to decide what to do with a tasty little morsel it’d found in the garden, before pouncing to finish them off. The 80-62 final scoreline didn’t accurately represent how close the score had been through much of the game, but it was a fair reflection of the gap between the performances.

Now I was the one cautioning New York fans against panicking following their 0-2 start in back-to-back openers against Connecticut. And I hold to my basic view from the weekend – there’s talent on this roster, and I think they’ll win some games. But my definition of ‘some’ is starting to trend downwards. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/20/2012: First Impressions

Welcome to the first WNBA Today of the 2012 season. We’re going to be trying to keep the game recaps a little more brief this year, hopefully to the benefit of both author and audience. The idea is that there should be more analysis and impressions, without quite so much basic recapping of play after play and possession after possession. At least that’s the target. There might be a few kinks to work out.

We’re also going to try something new for the opening edition, which we’re calling WNBAlien Bullet Point Breakdowns. The content in BPBs will be pretty similar, but it separates it all out into nice easy chunks, and saves having to mould it all into a coherent article. This won’t be how every WNBA Today is presented all season, but especially on days with lots of games it may well make a regular return. Feel free to leave a note on whether you think it works. In fact, feel free to comment below about anything related to the articles or the WNBA, or drop a line to richardcohen123@yahoo.co.uk . You can also follow me on Twitter at @RichardCohen1, where you’ll find all kinds of pithy comments. Mostly about basketball.

On with the games, starting with Friday night’s opener in Seattle, and right through all seven of the weekend’s contests.

 

Los Angeles Sparks 72 @ Seattle Storm 66

  • A couple of surprises in the Sparks starting lineup, but they were less shocking when news emerged that Sharnee Zoll and Nicky Anosike were both suffering from knee injuries. The lack of real point guard options on the Sparks roster immediately came under the microscope, with Alana Beard and Marissa Coleman starting in the backcourt. Seattle were as expected, with Camille Little and Tina Thompson sharing the forward spots.
  • Seattle got out to a smoking hot start, because they were pushing the ball and looking for early offense within their sets. LA came out with a pretty dodgy looking 2-3 zone defense on several possessions and Ann Wauters murdered Candace Parker right in the middle of it. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Tulsa Shock

PG: Temeka Johnson/Ivory Latta

SG: Riquna Williams/Jene Morris

SF: Scholanda Dorrell/Karima Christmas

PF: Kayla Pedersen/Glory Johnson/Jennifer Lacy

C: Chante Black/Lynetta Kizer/(Elizabeth Cambage)

Significant additions: Gary Kloppenburg (new head coach, former Indiana assistant), Johnson (trade with Phoenix), Robinson (free agency from San Antonio), Johnson (college draft), Williams (college draft), Morris (free agency after being out of the league), Black (missed last season through injury), Kizer (college draft).

Significant losses: Tiffany Jackson (pregnant, will miss entire season), Elizabeth Cambage (training with Australian National Team and will miss first half of season), Sheryl Swoopes (free agent, unsigned), Amber Holt (cut), Andrea Riley (trade with Phoenix)

—–

At least now we can give the Shock fans some hope. There’s some light at the end of the tunnel. A hint of spring peeking its head up from the end of a long, cold winter. Because Nolan Richardson is no longer in charge, and the Shock hierarchy finally went out and found someone with a history in the WNBA who just might know what he’s doing. A long-time WNBA assistant coach, most recently for several years in Indiana, Gary Kloppenburg takes the reins and can begin the long road back to contention for this franchise. No one’s saying this team are going to be good, not yet. In fact, player for player this roster might even be worse than last year. But you have to start somewhere, and you have to start heading in the right direction. The Shock look like they might finally be doing that. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Seattle Storm

PG: Sue Bird

SG: Tanisha Wright/Katie Smith

SF: Camille Little/Shekinna Stricklen/Alysha Clark

PF: Tina Thompson/Victoria Dunlap

C: Ann Wauters/Ewelina Kobryn/(Lauren Jackson)

Significant additions: Wauters (free agency after being out of the league through choice), Thompson (free agency from Los Angeles), Stricklen (college draft), Dunlap (trade with Washington), Clark (free agency after being out of the league)

Significant losses: Lauren Jackson (missing first half of season to train with Australian National Team), Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham (trade with Chicago), Ashley Robinson (trade with Washington)

—–

Being consistently good can be a problem in US sports leagues. The lack of high draft picks that results means that teams can get old before your eyes, without the young talent being added to replace them. Storm head coach/general manager Brian Agler decided that he needed to do something about that this offseason and made a big move, giving up important veterans Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham to acquire the second overall pick in the draft. The trade was partly made in the hope that one of the highly-touted college juniors (Brittney Griner, Elena Delle Donne, Skylar Diggins) would declare for the draft, which ultimately never occurred, leaving it looking a far more risky move. Still, the move also created the cap room for him to re-stock with other veterans, and even without star post Lauren Jackson for the first half of the season the Storm should be very competitive once again. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: San Antonio Silver Stars

PG: Danielle Robinson/Tully Bevilaqua

SG: Becky Hammon/Jia Perkins

SF: Shameka Christon/Shenise Johnson

PF: Sophia Young/Danielle Adams/Tangela Smith

C: Jayne Appel/Ziomara Morrison

Significant additions: Christon (free agency after being out of the league), Johnson (college draft), Smith (trade with Indiana), Morrison (free agency from outside the league)

Significant losses: Ruth Riley (free agency to Chicago), Scholanda Robinson (free agency to Tulsa), Roneeka Hodges (trade with Indiana), Porsha Phillips (cut)

—–

Last season was fun for the Silver Stars and their fans. Expectations were modest after a poor year under Sandy Brondello in 2010, and everyone was happy to have Dan Hughes back in charge. Then Danielle Robinson and Danielle Adams both excited everyone as rookies, Jia Perkins proved a worthy addition on the perimeter, and they even took a game off the eventual champion Minnesota Lynx in the first-round of the playoffs. Things were looking up, and a team that had started to age and look a little stale had a fresh outlook. Now they have to build on that momentum and keep the push going, as they try to make the step from plucky outsider to true contender. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Phoenix Mercury

PG: Samantha Prahalis

SG: Diana Taurasi/Alexis Hornbuckle/Alexis Gray-Lawson

SF: DeWanna Bonner/Charde Houston/(Penny Taylor)

PF: Candice Dupree/

C: Nakia Sanford/Zane Tamane/Avery Warley

Significant additions: Prahalis (college draft), Houston (‘trade’ with Minnesota), Hornbuckle (‘trade’ with Minnesota), Tamane (free agency after being out of the league)

Significant losses: Penny Taylor (ACL injury, out for the season), Temeka Johnson (giveaway trade with Tulsa), Ketia Swanier (free agency to Atlanta), Marie Ferdinand-Harris (unsigned, retired from the WNBA)

—–

Like LA, there are all kinds of questions hanging over this team heading into the 2012 season. Unfortunately for the Mercury, it’s hard to find quite so many answers. They began their offseason by trading starting point guard Temeka Johnson to Tulsa for Andrea Riley, who ultimately didn’t even make the team. Then Penny Taylor blew out her knee playing in the EuroLeague Women Final Eight, ending her WNBA season before it began (along with her Olympic dreams). Free agency produced merely two players from the end of Minnesota’s bench and a backup big from Europe, while point guard hopes now rest on an untried rookie. Even with their typically exciting run-and-gun system and the mercurial talents of superstar Diana Taurasi, is could be a long season for the Mercury. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Minnesota Lynx

PG: Lindsay Whalen/Erin Thorn

SG: Seimone Augustus/Candice Wiggins

SF: Maya Moore/Monica Wright

PF: Rebekkah Brunson/Devereaux Peters

C: Taj McWilliams-Franklin/Jessica Adair/Amber Harris

Significant additions: Thorn (free agency from Chicago), Peters (college draft), Championship rings

Significant losses: Alexis Hornbuckle (‘trade’ with Phoenix), Charde Houston (‘trade’ with Phoenix)

—–

You know what makes sense when you win a championship and prove to be one of the better teams in league history? Bringing back everyone who mattered from that team, and going for the repeat. So the Lynx did just that. Early fears that Candice Wiggins might leave through free agency or that Taj McWilliams-Franklin might wish to move on to yet another team ultimately proved unfounded, so the top nine players from last year’s squad return in 2012. And they’ve arguably upgraded the remaining two spots. Injury, complacency, and the big bulls-eye now painted on their back are the only things that look like threats to stop this team from being just as good as they were last year. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Los Angeles Sparks

PG: Sharnee Zoll

SG: Alana Beard/Kristi Toliver/April Sykes

SF: DeLisha Milton-Jones/Marissa Coleman

PF: Candace Parker/Nneka Ogwumike/Ebony Hoffman

C: Nicky Anosike/Jantel Lavender

Significant additions: Carol Ross (new head coach, formerly an assistant with Atlanta), Ogwumike (college draft), Beard (free agency from Washington), Coleman (trade from Washington), Anosike (trade from Washington), Zoll (free agency after being out of the league), Sykes (college draft)

Significant losses: Ticha Penicheiro (free agency to Chicago), Tina Thompson (free agency to Seattle), Noelle Quinn (trade with Washington), Jenna O’Hea (with Australian National Team preparing for the Olympics), Natasha Lacy (trade with Washington), LaToya Pringle (trade with Washington)

—–

After several years of mediocrity and inconsistency, the very least we can say about the Sparks heading into 2012 is that they’re interesting. There are so many questions, sub-plots and unknowns surrounding this team that it’s going to be fascinating to see how it all works out. If new head coach Carol Ross can pull all the pieces together, and they stay largely healthy throughout the year, they have the potential to be a powerful and dangerous group. However, even the most devoted Sparks fan has to admit, there’s also the potential here for everything to come crumbling down around them. Continue reading →