WNBAlien Playoff Previews – Western Conference Semi-Finals: Minnesota vs. San Antonio

#1 Minnesota Lynx (27-7) vs. #4 San Antonio Silver Stars (18-16)

 

Regular season series: Minnesota 4-0

@ S.A. 07/31: Lynx 70-69

@ Min. 08/04: Lynx 62-60

@ Min 08/26: Lynx 85-75

@ S.A. 08/28: Lynx 72-61

 

So after all that work to make it into the postseason, San Antonio have earned the dubious pleasure of facing the 2011 Minnesota Lynx. The positive angle is that the Silver Stars won five of their last six games of the regular season. The problem is that they won’t be seeing Washington, Tulsa or LA in the playoffs. They’ll be travelling north to face a Lynx team that has finally pieced all their talent together and stayed healthy, losing only seven games all season en route to wrapping up the best record in the WNBA with weeks to spare. It’s a formidable prospect, and at first glance the signs don’t looks good for San Antonio.

Remember how good the all-conquering Seattle Storm team were last year? The group that swept every round in the playoffs? This Lynx team finished just one game worse than the 2010 Storm, and has put up some remarkably similar numbers. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/12/2011: East finally shakes out as regular season comes to a close

Sunday was the final day of the WNBA regular season, and there were still issues to be decided. Most importantly, the seeding and resulting first-round matchups in the Eastern Conference were still up for grabs, but the remaining games all carried some level of interest. Records were broken, a scoring title was won by the narrowest of margins, and we finally discovered who the hell would be facing whom in the postseason. Not a bad way to finish out the preamble before the real fight begins on Thursday night.

The opening game of the day, tipping off four hours before anyone else, was in Connecticut. Both the Sun and their visitors, New York, had every reason to go all out for the win. A Connecticut victory would confirm them as the #2 seeds, bringing with it the first round home court advantage that was vitally important to a team coming into this game with a 14-2 home record (and just 6-11 on the road). A New York win would’ve given them a chance to sneak into second place as well, although they would then be reliant on Atlanta beating Indiana in the game later in the afternoon. A loss for the Liberty would mean third or fourth, again depending on the later result. Regardless of the winner here, at least one team would be hanging on what happened in Indiana, but ignoring the permutations it was essentially like any other sporting event – win good, loss bad.

After a long ceremony to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, which can’t have helped the concentration levels of the players, the standard starting fives took the floor. Maybe the teams cooled down after such a long gap was created between their warm-up and the tip-off, because the first quarter wasn’t pretty. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/11/2011: First Round Playoff Schedule Set

Okay everybody, my apologies, but it’s been a very long week. And your WNBAlien chief writer is very tired. So we’re going to wrap everything from the final day of the WNBA regular season in tomorrow’s column. From the struggle for positioning in the East, through the battle for the scoring title and Sylvia Fowles’s efforts to be the second player in WNBA history to average 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season, it’ll all be there. For now, here’s the entire first round playoff schedule:

 

Western Conference

 

#1 Minnesota Lynx vs. #4 San Antonio Silver Stars

Friday Sept.16th         San Antonio @ Minnesota, 9pm ET

Sunday Sept. 18th    Minnesota @ San Antonio, 5pm ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday Sept. 20th  San Antonio @ Minnesota, T.B.D. (if necessary)

 

#2 Seattle Storm vs. #3 Phoenix Mercury

Thursday Sept 15th   Phoenix @ Seattle, 10pm ET (ESPN2)

Saturday Sept. 17th  Seattle @ Phoenix, 10pm ET

Monday Sept. 19th    Phoenix @ Seattle, 10pm ET (ESPN2, if necessary)

 

Eastern Conference

 

#1 Indiana Fever vs. #4 New York Liberty

Thursday Sept. 15th  New York @ Indiana, 8pm ET (ESPN2)

Saturday Sept. 17th  Indiana @ New York, 4pm ET

Monday Sept. 19th    New York @ Indiana, 8pm ET (ESPN2, if necessary)

 

#2 Connecticut Sun vs. #3 Atlanta Dream

Friday Sept. 16th       Atlanta @ Connecticut, 7pm ET

Sunday Sept. 18th     Connecticut @ Atlanta, 3pm ET (ESPN2)

Tuesday Sept. 20th   Atlanta @ Connecticut, T.B.D. (if necessary)

WNBA Today, 09/10/2011: Liberty keep Sunday interesting and assorted other contests

Before the excitement of the Western Conference home court decider between Phoenix and Seattle last night, the East had some fun of its own. Considering I’ve already printed the resulting playoff scenarios, I’m sure you already know the result of Indiana’s trip to New York. But after covering every single game of the WNBA regular season for its first 97 days, I’m certainly not going to skip any with only three days remaining. Which means you not only get the Fever’s clash with the Liberty in this piece, but the three completely meaningless games that have also taken place over the last couple of days. If nothing else, I’m at least a completist.

Indiana seemed primed for New York to take advantage of last night. The Fever had nothing to play for, having sealed the #1 seed in the East days earlier. They’d lost their starting point guard to a nasty-looking ankle sprain in their last game (that’s the second starting point guard, after the first one blew out her knee a couple of months ago). They had no real reason to care about this game. New York, on the other hand, still had plenty to fight for. Opening the game in fourth place in the East thanks to Atlanta’s recent winning habit, two wins in their last two games had the potential to bump the Liberty as high as 2nd in the conference. That would obviously come with the added bonus of home court advantage in the first round, and after a slow start in their new home out in Jersey, the Liberty have settled in and entered this game 11-5 at the Prudential Center. After spending practically all year chasing after Indiana and Connecticut in the standings, sneaking into second on the final day of the regular season would be a nice bonus heading into the playoffs.

Third-string point guard Shannon Bobbitt took Phillips’s place at the point for Indiana – Phillips is expected to be ready for the playoffs, but there’s no point risking that ankle until then. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/09/2011: Taurasi terrific, but Smith helps Storm survive

The battle for playoff positioning in the WNBA’s Eastern Conference is heading to the final day of the season (see all potential scenarios here), so tonight’s Indiana-New York contest is relegated to tomorrow’s column along with the Tulsa-LA game that only a mother could love. Tonight, we look at the crunch matchup between Phoenix and Seattle out West, the game that would likely decide who had home court advantage for their impending playoff series.

After Phoenix beat Tulsa last night, nearly everything was sorted in the Western Conference. We knew the matchups, we had dates for every game, we even had tip-off times and TV channels. The only thing we didn’t know was who would have Games 1 and 3 at home, and who would be left with just Game 2. The Mercury pulled level with Seattle in the standings after last night, and a win tonight would’ve evened the season series, but the Storm held a far superior conference record. That meant that a Phoenix win tonight wouldn’t have completely sealed matters – they’d still need either a win over Minnesota on Sunday or a Seattle loss to Chicago the same night. For the Storm it was simpler – win tonight, and home court in the first round was theirs.

Bad news for the Mercury before the tip, as Penny Taylor remained on the sidelines due to back spasms. She was warming up before the game, but presumably didn’t feel ready to go. It’s the smart play if she was still hurting. Considering Seattle were 13-2 at home coming into this game, 6-11 on the road, it obviously would’ve been huge to take home court away from the Storm for the playoffs. But far bigger than that is having Taylor in one piece. At some point, the Mercury were going to have to win in Seattle, either tonight or in the playoffs. If Taylor wasn’t ready, you leave her on the bench and try to pull a game out in the postseason if the rest of the squad can’t manage it without her. DeWanna Bonner continued to start in Taylor’s place, while Seattle went with their established starting five.

The early stages of the game were ugly for everyone, as practically nothing would drop through the hoop. Still, the signs seemed reasonably positive for Seattle because they were working to produce offense in the paint, not just firing up jump shots. Phoenix, on the other hand, were almost exclusively jacking up shots from outside. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Special: Eastern Conference Playoff Scenarios

No, I haven’t covered tonight’s games yet, but anyone who cared probably just saw New York beat Indiana to keep everything nice and complicated in the East. So I thought I’d try to explain what remains in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Two relevant games remain, both on Sunday: New York @ Connecticut (1pm ET), and Atlanta @ Indiana (5pm ET). Indiana have sealed the top seed, regardless of what happens. Here’s every remaining possibility:

 

If Connecticut beat New York, then Atlanta beat Indiana: #2 Conn, #3 Atlanta, #4 New York

If Connecticut beat New York, then Indiana beat Atlanta: #2 Conn, #3 New York, #4 Atlanta

If New York beat Connecticut, then Atlanta beat Indiana: #2 New York, #3 Conn, #4 Atlanta

If New York beat Connecticut, then Indiana beat Atlanta: #2 Conn, #3 New York, #4 Atlanta

 

So bizarrely, if New York beat Connecticut, they’ll know that they’re playing each other in the first round of the playoffs – but have to wait four hours for the result from Indiana to find out who has home court advantage. That’s because Connecticut win the two-way tie-breaker with New York (2-2 season series record, superior conference record), but come second in the three-way tie-breaker with New York and Atlanta (Connecticut were 2-2 with both the others in the regular season, but New York’s 3-2 season series record over Atlanta gives them the edge).

That’s the way my maths reads the situation, anyway.

Hope that made things clear. Or left you completely confused, but able to work out what might happen on Sunday regardless.

Back later with true daily update, featuring the Phoenix-Seattle game about to start.

WNBA Today, 09/08/2011: Merc set the stage for tomorrow night; Lynx can’t stop winning

There were two games in the WNBA tonight, one completely meaningless to both teams, and one involving Tulsa on the road. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the dog days of the WNBA regular season.

Let’s start with the game that at least remained vaguely relevant to how the season might play out. Phoenix hosted Tulsa knowing that they needed to take care of business before their crunch matchup with Seattle tomorrow night. A win would tie the Mercury in the standings with the Storm. If they could follow up with a win in Key Arena, then beat a Minnesota team with nothing to play for on Sunday, they’d steal home court advantage in the first round from Seattle. Also, mathematically, San Antonio could still catch Phoenix for the #3 seed, and a win tonight would take care of that small possibility. Tulsa, being Tulsa, had nothing to play for but pride and that fourth win of the season that would allow them to avoid the worst record in WNBA history.

Given that they were playing the Shock, Phoenix took a couple of risks with their lineups. Penny Taylor stayed in her warmups all night, resting due to the back spasms she aggravated in the Mercury’s last game. The hope is that she’ll be fit to play tomorrow against the Storm, and once again DeWanna Bonner took her place in the lineup. It also became evident as the game went along that Mercury coach Corey Gaines was trying to use his entire roster and balance out the minutes, keeping everyone as fresh as possible to face Seattle. Tulsa began the game with what’s become their standard starting five in recent games. That left rookie center Liz Cambage coming off the bench again, despite the combined 50 points she’s scored in 55 minutes against the Mercury across three games so far this season.

Tulsa got off to a decent start, with Andrea Riley looking willing to penetrate for once rather than jack up threes from so far outside she can barely see the basket. The Shock kicked up a gear when Cambage entered the fray less than four minutes into the game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/07/2011: Becky’s a beast; Indiana seal the East

It’s about time the playoff picture in the WNBA was given at least a little clarity. Last night, San Antonio had the chance to complete the final eight, by mathematically eliminating Los Angeles with a win on the Sparks’ own floor. Tonight, Indiana had the chance to seal the #1 seed in the East with a win over basement-dwellers Washington. At least then the maths would become slightly easier.

San Antonio went into last night’s matchup with a two-game edge on Los Angeles. An LA win would’ve tied the season-series between the teams, and given the Sparks the edge in the next tie-breaker (conference record). They’d still have needed the Silver Stars to slip up in one of their remaining games against Washington and Tulsa, but it would’ve piled the pressure on San Antonio. However, the Silver Stars had actually produced a couple of decent performances in the last week, achieving comfortable wins over Connecticut and Phoenix before falling to Seattle. LA, on the other hand, had lost three of their last four and were still playing defense that could’ve been generously described as ‘rubbish’. San Antonio must’ve arrived at Staples Center feeling they had every chance to cement their postseason spot.

The expected starting fives opened the game, which meant Kristi Toliver remained at shooting guard for LA, and the 5’8” Jia Perkins at pseudo-small forward for San Antonio. With Tina Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker out there as LA’s frontcourt, Perkins had to guard one of them, and the Sparks were noticeably trying to take advantage of that mismatch in the early stages. It was usually Thompson that they were trying to force-feed, and she’s at least four inches taller than Perkins, but as Jia showed in battling Swin Cash last week she’ll put up a fight against anyone. The first time LA tried it, the possession blew up in their face when Perkins tipped the ball and created a turnover; the second time Thompson had an easy finish. Of course, the opposite side of the coin was that Thompson had to chase Perkins around at the other end, which was never likely to turn out well. Perkins nailed a three in the early going, and she was wide open when she took it.

Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/06/2011: Angel complicates matters

Two games in the WNBA tonight: an Eastern fight for playoff position, and a Western battle to simply reach the postseason. I’ve decided that the crunch game out West deserves its own column, so San Antonio’s attempt to seal the final playoff spot and confine LA to the lottery will be covered tomorrow. Here, we look at the latest installment of matchups that attempt to clear up the playoff picture in the East – and usually end up muddying it even further.

Connecticut came into tonight off the back of two blowout wins, and in the knowledge that victory over Atlanta would pull them even with Indiana at the top of the East. This time they’d be level for at least 24 hours, rather than the two hours they managed on Sunday. A win would also have confirmed the Sun as at least the #2 seed in the East, meaning home court advantage in the first round. However, standing in their way was a Dream squad with targets of their own. After a horrible start to the season that’s left them playing catch-up all year long, Atlanta are finally right among the challengers. A win over Connecticut would take them into sole possession of third place, and within one game of the Sun. If Indiana lose their remaining games, there was even still a chance that Atlanta could finish top of the East, which would be remarkable after their 3-9 start. Even ignoring all the mathematics and seeding equations, this game was also about sending a message for both teams. There’s every chance that these two could meet in the playoffs, and their matchups so far this season have been ultra-competitive dogfights. Whoever won the game tonight would add a little edge of confidence for a playoff series that might get underway about a week later.

There was good news on the health front for both teams, as Sancho Lyttle continued to start for Atlanta and Kalana Greene was back in the lineup for Connecticut. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/05/2011: Eastern race takes center stage

So after Saturday took a stab at clearing up the Western Conference playoff picture – and got nowhere – Sunday was the turn of the East. Mathematically Chicago were still in with a chance of making the postseason, but realistically this had already become a fight for seeding. After Connecticut’s blowout win over Indiana on Friday night, the Sun had moved just half a game behind the Fever at the top of the East. New York were only a game further back, and Atlanta a game behind them. With just eight days left in the regular season, practically any final order was still possible, and with all four playing on Sunday any of them could make a move if someone slipped up. At the same time, all four were playing in separate games, so there was potential for the same thing to happen as Saturday – everyone wins, or everyone loses, and the status quo remains. And for the calculator fans out there, yes, the four-way tie is still a possibility.

The first game to tip off was in Atlanta, where Tulsa provided the opposition. After winning 14 of their last 19 games, the Dream may be in fourth place but they’re looking a dangerous threat in the postseason. However, before they became too concerned with seeding, they still needed one more win to officially confirm that they’d seen off Chicago and made the playoffs. A home game against Tulsa seemed like the perfect opportunity. The Shock may have finally won a couple of games, but this is still the weakest team in the league with very little to play for. Pride, and the one extra win necessary to avoid the worst record in WNBA history is about it. That’s a nice team to see on your schedule when you’re looking to clinch a spot in the postseason.

Good news for Atlanta, as center Erika de Souza returned to the starting lineup after missing a couple of games due to an ankle sprain. I guess the walking boot she’d been wearing was largely precautionary. Without wishing to rain on the Dream fans’ parade, however, I do want to mention one potential hitch in Atlanta’s plans for another assault on the playoffs. The FIBA Americas Tournament takes place in Colombia from September 24th to October 1st. This year it isn’t just a continental championship, but also the regional qualifying tournament for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The winner qualifies for the Olympics, and the teams in 2nd/3rd/4th will head to the additional Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year. The dates are right in the middle of the WNBA playoffs, and both de Souza and Iziane Castro Marques are Brazilian. I’ve heard nothing from the players or the Dream about what the plans are, but even if they left at the last possible moment to reach Neiva for the start of the tournament, they’d miss games 2 and 3 of the Conference Finals, and probably game 1 of the WNBA Finals (assuming Atlanta advanced that far). That’s if they’re willing to forgo any preparation time with the Brazilian team whatsoever. So she might be healthy, but the Dream could be losing their starting center sometime soon anyway. Continue reading →