WNBAlien Playoff Previews – Eastern Conference Finals: Indiana vs. Atlanta

#1 Indiana Fever vs. #3 Atlanta Dream

 

Regular season series: Atlanta 4-0

@ Atl. 07/19: Dream 84-74

@ Ind. 08/27: Dream 86-80

@ Atl. 08/30: Dream 92-90

@ Ind. 09/11: Dream 93-88

 

Possibly the most extraordinary thing about this series is that I saw it coming. Really, go check – I had Indiana over New York and Atlanta over Connecticut in the East semi-finals in my preseason predictions back at the start of June, then took Indiana 2-1 over New York and Atlanta 2-0 over Connecticut in my previews last week. I’m as stunned as anyone, believe me (and the least said about my West predictions the better). But the reason I – and plenty of other people – expected these teams to be the last two standing in the East is pretty simple: they’re the best teams in the conference. Indiana had a slight late-season swoon, and Atlanta took a while to get going this year, but in the end it shook itself out and left us here. Now we get to see who can take the next step and head back to the WNBA Finals – 2010’s Eastern representative, or 2009’s.

It’s an intriguing matchup, not least because the Dream beat the Fever all four times they ran into each other this season. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/21/2011: A brawl and a blowout cut the West down to two

There are many different ways to play the game of basketball. Many different ways to win a game of basketball. Some of them are more pleasing on the eye than others, but when you look back at the record books in future years, all it tells you is who won or lost. Both of the WNBA’s Western Conference semi-finals went to deciding games, and the spectacles they produced were very different. But when it came down to it, two teams were delighted, two were disconsolate, and the rest was just details.

However, those were some pretty exciting details. Phoenix went up to Seattle on Monday night buoyed by their reasonably comfortable victory in Game 2. They might’ve had a horrible record against the Storm over the last couple of years, and they hadn’t won in Seattle since 2009, but they had the momentum after largely dominating the game in Arizona. The Key Arena crowd would inevitably help, and the Storm had been a vastly superior team on their own floor this season, but Game 2 had left them looking vulnerable. They’d need to perform far better than they had on Saturday to close out the series.

Both starting fives remained the same, DeWanna Bonner keeping her spot in the lineup for Phoenix despite Nakia Sanford now being fit enough to take part. It made sense, considering how effective they’d been in the previous game. Before we even get into the game action, let’s get the most obvious element of the discussion out the way first – this was a physical game. From the opening tip, it was just a war. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/20/2011: Fever fight through

Monday night in the WNBA was an illustration of the reasons we all spend so many hours watching these damn games. Passion and drama, spirit and excitement, players laying it all on the line in the effort to keep their seasons alive and try to win a championship. If you’re reading this and you haven’t seen last night’s games, much as I hate to send readers away, I can only suggest you take a few hours to catch up first. Don’t worry, this story will still be here when you get back.

The evening started in Indiana, with the deciding Game 3 of their series with New York. Back on their home floor with their own fans behind them, the Fever had to be considered favourites to join Atlanta in the Eastern Conference Finals, but after a comfortable win for New York in Game 2 it was far from a certainty. The series seemed wide open going in, and with 40 minutes of basketball left to play it could still have easily swung either way.

Same starting fives again, with neither coach springing any surprises. It’s a bit late to change anything now. These playoffs haven’t really been about messing around with the supporting pieces anyway – it’s been a matter of wondering when the superstars are going to show up. McCoughtry and Charles both failed to fire in the other Eastern semi-final, and now we were wondering if Tamika Catchings and Cappie Pondexter would produce in the deciding game of this one. Pondexter was 11-30 in the opening two games combined, bringing her poor late-season offensive production into the playoffs. Catchings was 7-20, including a 1-8 horror show in Game 2 that also included six turnovers. Both had been outplayed by their direct matchups in Katie Douglas and Nicole Powell in at least one of the prior games.

The early signs were better for Catchings than Pondexter. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/19/2011: Nightmare series ends for Sun; Lynx pushed to decider

Two more WNBA playoff games, two more teams playing to keep their seasons alive on Sunday in the WNBA. Once again it was time to step up or go home, because in these best-of-three series if you can’t bounce back quickly from a loss, you’re done for.

The proposition was a little different for Connecticut than our three other Game 1 losers. The only team to drop the opening game at home – and that after losing two home games in the entire regular season – the Sun now had to go out and steal a game back in Atlanta. Just like they proved last year, the Dream don’t necessarily need home court advantage to turn teams over, and a low seed couldn’t stop them sweeping through the East and heading to the WNBA Finals in 2010. Now if they could defend their own home court, they’d have an extra couple of days to rest before taking on New York or Indiana.

The same starting fives unsurprisingly remained in place. Atlanta may have made their key fourth quarter run in Game 1 with Angel McCoughtry on the sidelines, but they weren’t about to bench their leading scorer and driving force on the basis of that. The first quarter wasn’t pretty, especially for Connecticut. The very first shot the Sun put in the air was a 17-foot jump shot from Tina Charles, which just perpetuated their central issue from the previous game – their star center taking far too many shots from outside. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s first three shots were all taken by the opposing center – Erika de Souza – and her combined distance from the basket on all three would’ve come nowhere near 17 feet. Get used to me saying this because it was a theme all night – Charles was already settling for shots from too far away from the basket.

Sun coach Mike Thibault recognised how poorly his team had opened the game, calling a timeout down just 4-2 less than two minutes into the game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/18/2011: Do-or-die brings the best out of Libs and Merc

Part of me hates these best-of-three playoff series that the WNBA uses for its first two rounds. You play for months to get here, and then everything can be over in the blink of an eye. A slightly shorter regular season allowing longer playoff series would be a better framework in my eyes. But you can’t deny that it makes the postseason instantly exciting. After losing their opening games, New York and Phoenix went into Saturday’s games in do-or-die situations. Win, and they’d have a chance in a deciding game on Monday night; lose, and all the hard work all season long would’ve been for naught.

After a forgettable performance in the opening game in Indiana had still left them with a shot to win at the buzzer, New York had every reason to believe that they could turn things around in Game 2. The Prudential Center out in Newark might not have the history of Madison Square Garden, but their 12-5 regular season record there showed that the Liberty made it feel like home pretty quickly. Combining the home crowd with the extra impetus of having their backs against the wall, New York had to come out and remind everyone that they were a better team than Thursday night suggested.

The starting fives were the same as Thursday, although Shavonte Zellous was back in uniform on the Fever bench to add a little extra depth to their reserves. The necessary urgency was there from New York in the early minutes. There seemed to be more energy about their play than in Game 1, and there was more effort on the defensive end. Offensively, both Plenette Pierson and Kia Vaughn looked far more interested in being part of the solution than they had on Thursday, with Pierson knocking down two early jumpers from midrange. Even more important, Nicole Powell seemed to have discovered the shooting touch that eluded her in the previous game, finishing a layup inside before nailing each of her first three efforts from long-range. The only negative for New York in the first quarter was that once again Katie Douglas was winning her personal duel with Cappie Pondexter. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/17/2011: Dream steal one on the road; Lynx sneak one at home

After a nailbiter and a blowout opened up the 2011 WNBA playoffs on Thursday, the remaining first round series got underway on Friday night. With the 1-1-1 format that the league switched to last year still in play, defending your home court in the opening game has become vitally important for the higher seed. Lose on your own floor in Game 1, and your opponent has the chance to close out on home territory in Game 2. Indiana and Seattle both pulled off home victories to open their series – could Connecticut and Minnesota do the same?

Heading into their games against Atlanta, the main storylines seemed obvious. Connecticut had to find a way to stop Angel McCoughtry, while the Dream had to stop Tina Charles. If that somehow played out to a tie, then the relative performances of the supporting casts would come into play – but if either managed to take over, their teammates might not matter too much.

Both teams had their expected starting fives on the floor to start the game, a far cry from last year when Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors made heavy changes from her regular lineup for the opening playoff game. After relying heavily on her starting five during a successful second half of the season, there was no way that she would make similar changes this year.

The first half was dominated by the defenses. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/16/2011: And they’re off!

So last night, the real stuff got underway in the WNBA. You play the whole regular season to make the playoffs, and now they’re here. Screw it up now, and you might as well not have bothered. It’s time to put up or shut up, go hard or go home, and any other cliché you can remember that I’m forgetting. This is what it’s all about.

The first game saw Indiana hosting New York in the #1-#4 matchup out East, which you’d think ought to make the Fever strong favourites. But the Eastern Conference has been so tight this year, and the Liberty finished just two games behind their first round opponents – in reality this was arguably the most unpredictable playoff series of the four. For what it’s worth, Indiana lost five of their final seven regular season games, and New York two of their last three, but you can typically throw form out the window going into the playoffs. Everyone starts 0-0, and history doesn’t count for much.

Indiana were back to what’s become their regular starting five, with Tamika Catchings returning after sitting out the final regular season game and point guard Erin Phillips back after recovering from her ankle sprain. The only player out was reserve guard Shavonte Zellous, who sprained her own ankle in the last game against Atlanta. New York had their standard five out to open the game as well, with Cappie Pondexter reportedly still rehabbing her ankle but ready to play regardless. It’s the playoffs – if you can walk, you can play.

The early stages of the game belonged to Indiana. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Playoff Previews – Eastern Conference Semi-Finals: Connecticut vs. Atlanta

#2 Connecticut Sun (21-13) vs. #3 Atlanta Dream (20-14)

 

Regular season series: Tied 2-2

@ Con. 07/31: Sun 99-92

@ Atl. 08/19: Dream 94-88

@ Con. 08/21: Sun 96-87

@ Atl. 09/06: Dream 85-74

 

This time last season, things were very different for these two teams. Atlanta had just about held on to their playoff spot despite losing six of their last seven games, while Connecticut finished a place below them and missed the playoffs entirely for the second straight season. What a difference a year makes. The further development of Tina Charles, improved health of Asjha Jones and better support from the surrounding pieces has seen a much improved Connecticut team challenge Indiana for the Eastern Conference crown. Meanwhile, after an awful 3-9 start to the season, Atlanta have come charging back into the reckoning led by their own MVP candidate in Angel McCoughtry. After the seasons they’ve had, neither is going to be happy with just making up the numbers in the postseason.

While the matchup wasn’t decided until the final day of the regular season, the home-and-home games that these teams played in mid-August felt like playoff encounters, so it almost seems like this series was destined to happen somewhere along the way. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Playoff Previews – Eastern Conference Semi-Finals: Indiana vs. New York

#1 Indiana Fever (21-13) vs. #4 New York Liberty (19-15)

 

Regular season series: Tied 2-2

@ Ind 06/10: Liberty 81-80

@ N.Y. 06/11: Fever 86-80

@ Ind 08/13: Fever 82-71

@ N.Y. 09/09: Liberty 83-75

 

The strange thing about this series is that both teams might well have chosen to play the other, given the options available in the Eastern Conference. Going into the final day of the regular season, Indiana could’ve ended up with New York or Atlanta in the first round. With an 0-4 record against the Dream this year, and with Atlanta coming off a late-season tear, there was a definite feeling that Indiana were comfortable losing on Sunday to create a matchup with New York instead. For the Liberty, while their first choice might’ve been to sneak into the #2 seed for home court advantage, they probably weren’t too disappointed to drop below the Dream into fourth. Instead of having to deal with Tina Charles and Connecticut’s formidable home record, the Liberty get Indiana, whose form has been almost as inconsistent as their own in the final weeks of the season.

These teams know each other so well that the series is likely to be very, very tight. When the Fever and Liberty meet it’s usually a slugfest of a game, very physical and intense throughout. Both teams build their identity from their defense, but play systems that are visibly very different on the floor. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Playoff Previews – Western Conference Semi-Finals: Seattle vs. Phoenix

#2 Seattle Storm (21-13) vs. #3 Phoenix Mercury (19-15)

 

Regular season series: Seattle 3-1

@ Sea 06/04: Storm 78-71

@ Pho 07/26: Storm 83-77

@ Pho 08/16: Mercury 81-79

@ Sea 09/09: Storm 85-70

 

Well this one feels like it’s been coming for a while, doesn’t it? Since Minnesota started pulling away at the top of the West and San Antonio and LA fell away, it became increasingly likely as the season progressed that these two would be running headlong into each other in the first round. It’s become an oft-repeated fact that the Storm have beaten the Mercury in nine of their last ten meetings, including the game that essentially decided home court advantage for this series last Friday. But most of those games came in 2010, when the Storm were a significantly more dominant force than they have been this season. Do the Mercury have what it takes to turn the tables and upset the team that dumped them out of the Western Conference Finals just last season?

While they ended up right next to each other in the standings, these teams are an exhibition in contrasts. The league’s slowest-paced team (and Seattle took it by a mile this year) faces its second-fastest (Atlanta once again finished just ahead of Phoenix in possessions per game). Seattle’s #1-ranked defense faces Phoenix’s #1 offense (it’s #9 offense vs. #10 defense at the other end, but that doesn’t sound nearly as impressive). And if you’ve watched these teams play in recent years, you really don’t need the numbers. The Mercury don’t change. They will charge up and down the court at every opportunity, looking for breakout chances and ideally layups before the defense can get set. They will then proceed to play some fairly lackadaisical, pathetic defense at the other end. The likes of LA and Tulsa have shown just how terrible defense can be in the WNBA this season, but the Mercury weren’t much better and they’ve been at this for years now. They’re experts in the art of playing barely any defense.

The Storm, on the other hand, will play physical, tough, hard-nosed defense. Continue reading →