WNBA Today, 09/04/2011: Western battles roll into final week

It was all about the West in the WNBA last night, with the battles for second and fourth in the conference played out across two games. In the end, everyone survived to fight another day. Which is a slightly more generous way of saying that absolutely nothing changed. But at least there was some reasonably entertaining basketball along the way.

Leading off the evening, Seattle travelled to San Antonio for the second game of a back-to-back. The first game may have been in Tulsa but it was still a taxing journey, especially for star Lauren Jackson, who’s continuing to work her way back to full fitness. However, at 5-1 since Jackson’s return, and with a win from the previous night against the Shock in the bank, Seattle were hoping to show some more road improvement against the Silver Stars. The Storm have been atrocious on the road this year, especially while Jackson was out, which is what makes these final few games so important. Currently holding a half-game edge on Phoenix for second place in the West, if Seattle can cling on to that spot they’ll host games 1 and 3 (if necessary) in the first round of the playoffs. Game three in Key Arena, versus game three anywhere else on the planet, makes a huge difference to Seattle’s chances of advancing.

For the Silver Stars, the game was just as important. Having broken a six-game losing streak against Connecticut on Tuesday, then carried that momentum into a win over Phoenix two days later, they’d reestablished a two-game edge on LA for the fourth playoff spot in the West. A win here and a loss for the Sparks in the late game would’ve left San Antonio three up with three to play, and heavy favourites to reach the postseason. It might even have given them a shot at overtaking Seattle or Phoenix and avoiding a first-round clash with Minnesota. But that was something they couldn’t concern themselves with just yet. First make the playoffs, then worry about who you might be facing.

The starting fives were as expected – Seattle featuring Lauren Jackson despite fitness concerns about her playing on consecutive days, and San Antonio continuing their three-guard set with Jia Perkins as the nominal ‘small forward’. After making me so happy with their opening possessions against Tulsa the day before, Seattle were a complete shambles immediately after winning the tip in this game. Jackson was caught in the air with nowhere to go before offloading the ball to Sue Bird, who promptly threw a pass straight out of bounds. Uh oh. Turnovers have been the Storm’s bête noire this season, especially on the road, and that wasn’t a pretty way to open up. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/03/2011: Who Wants it More?

So having looked at Connecticut’s demolition of Indiana and Tina Charles’s ‘assisted’ triple-double in yesterday’s column, we now switch our attention to the three other games from last night. Unlike that contest between teams still fighting for playoff seeding, the three remaining games ultimately had real meaning for only one of the teams involved in each game. And guess which side came out on top in all three? Desire and need tends to be a key deciding factor when you hit this stage of the season.

Tipping off simultaneously with the Fever-Sun game, Atlanta and Washington had both flown south for the second half of a home-and-home series. I guess that’s one way to avoid giving either team an advantage on back-to-backs. After a great run of results, including consecutive wins over Indiana, losing on Thursday night in Washington was a disappointment for the Dream. You’re not supposed to lose to lottery teams when you’re fighting for playoff position. In fact, that was the second time they’d lost to Washington this season, so dropping another game to the Mystics would’ve been slightly ridiculous, considering Washington have only won six games in total all year. Meanwhile, the Mystics have nothing to play for, but obviously proved the night before that they’re still capable of playing the spoiler.

Washington coach Trudi Lacey reinstated Matee Ajavon into her starting lineup in place of Kelly Miller, after Ajavon proved a key element in dragging the Mystics to their win the previous night. It didn’t make much sense when Lacey benched her, so why should we expect any particular reasoning behind re-promoting her? The Dream were still without Erika de Souza, although her wardrobe is obviously more extensive back in Atlanta than it is on the road, because she’d gone from a t-shirt and shorts on Thursday to a little black dress for Friday. Well, probably not that ‘little’ considering 6’6” Erika was wearing it, but you know what I mean. Atlanta commentator Bob Rathbun said that de Souza told him she was hoping to be ready to play against Tulsa on Sunday, which is good news for the Dream. She was still in a walking boot though – and the opponent is Tulsa – so don’t be surprised if they hold her out for another game. Alison Bales continued to deputise.

The first half progressed more along the lines of how Atlanta would expect a game against Washington to go. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/02/2011: Sun stun Fever, and the triple-double that never was

It was a four-game feature on Friday night for the WNBA this week, but you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow for detailed coverage of three of them. Just for tonight, we’re going to focus on the matchup between the current top two in the East. Indiana started the night at 19-10, 1.5 games clear of tonight’s hosts Connecticut. Having just lost both parts of a home-and-home with Atlanta, the Fever were looking to break their mini losing-streak against another Eastern Conference playoff rival. The Sun had also lost their last two, each by more than 10 points in Tulsa and San Antonio, so they had every reason to respond as well. Indiana have already sealed the tie-breaker between these two teams by virtue of a 3-1 record in previous encounters this season, so Connecticut essentially had to win this game if they wanted to sneak into first place by the end of the regular season. A loss, and the resultant 2.5 game gap, would’ve left Indiana as near-certainties to take home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The game got off to a pretty even start. Connecticut were using their 2-3 zone quite a bit, mixing it in with their standard man-to-man, and they were tipping balls away to create turnovers. But with Katie Douglas knocking down jumpers from outside, the Fever counterbalanced the possessions they were giving away. It was a high-paced game, with Connecticut looking far more comfortable back on their own floor – as is always the case. Home court advantage means so much to the Sun because they’re a vastly better team in the Mohegan Sun Arena, 13-2 this season for the best home record in the WNBA. They like to run whenever it’s available, but especially in front of their own fans. It seems to make a huge difference to their composure and confidence.

The high pace of the game contributed to a high number of turnovers, as both teams gave the ball up a little too cheaply in their efforts to make something happen quickly. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/01/2011: When key pieces are missing, wins don’t come easy

A WNBA double-header tonight, and just for a nice change, you’re getting WNBAlien coverage of both games only hours after their conclusion. The first game to tip off was in Washington, where a miniscule crowd watched their Mystics take on Atlanta. For Washington, these games don’t mean anything. Having traded away their 2012 first-round pick, even tanking to improve their lottery odds isn’t worth the effort. However, the fans did have the prospect of Monique Currie returning from her ACL injury and seeing her first action of the season tonight. If that’s enough to make you want to renew your season tickets, more power to you. Atlanta had bigger issues on their minds. Just half a game behind New York for third in the East, and 1.5 behind Connecticut for second, the Dream’s late charge has given them a shot at improving their seeding for the playoffs. Also, mathematically, they haven’t even made the postseason yet. Although it’s going to take something dramatic from both Atlanta and Chicago to take the spot away from them.

Making Atlanta’s task more difficult was the loss of their starting center. After stepping on Jessica Davenport’s foot and spraining her ankle, Erika de Souza was on the bench in t-shirt, shorts and a walking boot. Why on Earth she even bothered to travel with the team for a one-game roadtrip she was never going to participate in, I have no idea. Can’t be much fun flying coach when you’re 6’5” with a sprained ankle. She was replaced by Alison Bales in the Dream’s starting lineup. For the second straight game, Mystics coach Trudi Lacey tinkered with her starting lineup as well, although her moves have been through choice, not injury. The three players she promoted from the bench for the last game – Jasmine Thomas, Kerri Gardin and DeMya Walker – all retained their spots, but Matee Ajavon was benched for Kelly Miller. Nope, I have no idea why either.

Once again, the most interesting aspect of the opening minutes was a defensive decision by the Dream coaching staff. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/31/2011: Postseason positioning still a perplexing puzzle

As you near the end of any regular season in a sports league, some games naturally don’t mean an awful lot. The WNBA is no exception, but thanks to tight standings in both conferences most of the teams are still fighting for something as we head into the final two weeks of the season. Still, there are certainly some games that aren’t as important as others right now, so even I’m intending to limit the depth of coverage on certain matchups. Of course, we’ve seen how that’s gone throughout the course of the season, so let’s just be thankful that there aren’t any Tulsa-Washington games left on the schedule. I’d probably have found some reason to write 2,000 words about it.

The key New York-Chicago contest from last night was covered in yesterday’s column, but taking place hot on the heels of that one was Indiana‘s visit to Atlanta. With the tip-offs only 30 minutes apart, Atlanta obviously didn’t know that Chicago would lose to the Liberty and drop two games behind them in the standings, so this was a crucial game for them coming in. Even given that Sky loss, Atlanta’s place in the postseason was hardly a mathematical certainty, so they need to keep fighting for every win they can lay their hands on. The Dream have also been on such a streak lately – 12 wins in 16 games – that they’ve crept up on the other Eastern Conference playoff teams. They entered this game just half a game behind New York, and 2.5 behind Connecticut. Rising above the fourth seed that seemed their highest target a few short weeks ago is no longer beyond the realm of possibility. Indiana have had some troubles lately, losing to LA on the road and then Atlanta on their own floor when these teams met on Saturday. Minnesota are almost out of sight for home court advantage throughout the playoffs, and Connecticut have pulled within 1.5 games for the top spot in the East. More to the point, this Dream squad is a potential first-round playoff matchup for the Fever, and they’d lost both previous games against Atlanta this season. You don’t want to head into a playoff series with a dismal recent record against your opponent.

The starting fives were the same as Saturday, the same as they’ve been for both clubs for a while now. The intriguing aspect of the opening minutes was that Atlanta had clearly come out with an effort to ‘hide’ Angel McCoughtry on defense. She suffered with foul trouble in both of Atlanta’s previous contests with Indiana, and played limited minutes as a result, so the Dream had her on Tangela Smith and Sancho Lyttle stepping out to cover Tamika Catchings. It was a smart move by the Atlanta coaching staff, but not exactly a positive statement about McCoughtry’s ability to play smart or avoid trouble on her own. Considering Angel’s defensive reputation, you shouldn’t have to hide her on a more limited offensive player.

The most positive aspect of the early stages for Indiana was that Katie Douglas looked interested. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/30/2011: East clearing up as the Sky fall

Everyone played tonight in the WNBA, with six games taking place across the country. Including five games tipping off within an hour of each other. The WNBA does not like to make my life easy, and with all kinds of LiveAccess issues, it only got more difficult. For quick coverage tonight, we’re going to tackle the most meaningful game of the evening, which also happened to be the first game to tip off. The murky playoff picture is starting to clear up just a little.

The opening game was clearly the most critical for the teams involved. Chicago beat New York on Sunday night, but still sat 1.5 games behind Atlanta and 2 behind the Liberty in the chase for the playoffs. A win on New York’s home floor tonight would’ve brought them within a game of the Libs, and depending on what happened elsewhere, potentially half a game away from Atlanta. A Sky win would also seal the tie-breaker over New York, which would mean they’d only have to draw level with them in the standings to sneak into the postseason. A loss, and the Sky’s season was essentially over. New York had allowed their playoff future to become far too perilous. A win in this game would effectively dispose of the Sky, leaving them to worry about fighting for positioning with Connecticut and Atlanta over the last ten days of the season. A loss, and the nerves would really start to jangle.

The starting fives were as expected, Chicago sticking with the Erin Thorn/Dominique Canty backcourt that has brought them two wins since Sky coach Pokey Chatman promoted them. These teams know each other so well by now, that there were no surprises in the opening quarter. Kia Vaughn once again flashed her skills, after proving to be easily the most effective Liberty post player against Sylvia Fowles on Sunday night. She already had six points by the time the Liberty took a 10-5 lead, and was working hard against Fowles defensively. But as the quarter wore on, and Liberty coach John Whisenant left Vaughn out there (presumably because he remembered how much of a downgrade her backups had been on Sunday), Chicago came into the game. With Fowles starting to find some room in the paint, and Epiphanny Prince and Cathrine Kraayeveld coming off the bench to make a couple of shots, Chicago spun the game around and led 18-11 at the end of the first. Vaughn finally got a rest with just a minute left in the period.

However, the second quarter reminded us exactly why the Sky were 14-15 coming into this game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/29/2011: Playoff race intensifies with quintuple feature

As the WNBA approached the final two weeks of the regular season, the five-game slate on Sunday carried significant importance for a variety of playoff battles. We’ve got teams fighting for position, teams struggling to even reach the postseason, and one or two still showing enough pride to battle it out for victories when their fates have been sealed for weeks. The final positioning was clear as mud before Sunday, and pretty similar by the end, but for individual teams these games are becoming vitally important to the success – or failure – of their 2011 seasons.

The first game to tip off was in San Antonio, where fans, players and coaches alike must have been growing increasingly worried over recent weeks. Having lost five in a row, and nine of their last eleven, a team that led the Western Conference in the opening weeks of the season is now under threat of missing the playoffs. LA’s loss at home to Tulsa on Friday night had helped them out, and maintained the gap at 1.5 games, but the fear remained. Considering Sunday’s visitors were Minnesota, that fear was well-warranted. Winners of their last four, and 22-6 overall, the Lynx were one game away from officially sealing the top seed in the Western Conference. Three games clear of Indiana, home court advantage throughout the playoffs isn’t far away either. They’re not the team you want to see step off the plane when you’re fighting for your playoff lives.

As ever, the Lynx opened with their typical starting five, while Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes kept faith with his recent lineup starting Danielle Robinson at the point. The rookie speedster has started their last couple of games, and the change has failed to snap their losing skid, but Hughes shows no signs of switching back to veteran Tully Bevilaqua. The scoreline stayed reasonably close throughout the first half, but managed to be simultaneously frightening for the Silver Stars. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/28/2011: McCoughtry gets by with a little help from her friends

Just the one game on Saturday night in the WNBA this week, so you get just one game of coverage from me in this column as well. Which means tomorrow’s piece, featuring all five games from Sunday night, will probably be an epic about as long as War & Peace. We can only hope that I reveal a heretofore undiscovered talent for brevity. But somehow I doubt it.

So only a single matchup, but it carried plenty of intrigue all on its own. With seven games left on their schedule, Indiana held a 1.5 game lead over Connecticut at the top of the East. Minnesota are already worrying about home court throughout the playoffs over in the West, but the Fever have more immediate concerns before that’s even a consideration. You have to win your own conference before you worry about the teams on the opposite side. Visitors Atlanta have even more important issues to take care of. Their win in Chicago on Tuesday night went a long way towards sealing their playoff spot, but a late swoon could still put their postseason place in jeopardy. They’ve also crept right up on the tail of New York, giving themselves a chance to move higher than the #4 spot they currently hold.

Perhaps more interesting than any of those potential moves, if these teams stay exactly where they are until the end of the season, they’ll be facing each other in the first round of the playoffs. This was the first of three remaining meetings between the teams before the end of the regular season, and it was a potential opportunity to  grab a mental edge before they clash in the postseason. If nothing else, it was a chance to see Tamika Catchings and Angel McCoughtry go directly at each other, which is always entertaining. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/27/2011: Playoff chase still has some Shocking twists

Okay let’s face it, the big WNBA event of Saturday night came late in the evening, when many saner people than I had already gone to bed. But we’re going to build up to it, Shock fans (oops, spoiler alert). Every game yesterday had at least some level of playoff implications, so it’s not like we can just ignore all the basketball that went before in favour of those few final seconds. However much we might want to.

Having already covered the Phoenix-Connecticut matchup in yesterday’s column, next up was San Antonio’s trip to face Minnesota. While the Lynx are still playing to mathematically win the West and seal home court advantage throughout the playoffs, their regular season is already winding down. Everyone knows they’ve won the conference, and they’ve got a couple of games on Indiana for home court. Their last few matchups are more about preparing for the playoffs than anything else. The situation in San Antonio is a little different. Having lost eight of their last ten, the Silver Stars were only 1.5 games ahead of LA for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West heading into this one, and the gap seems to have been decreasing by the day. A road game against the Lynx obviously wouldn’t be your first choice to turn a spiralling record around – in fact it might be just about last on this list this year – but it’s dire straights for San Antonio at this point. They need to scrap for any possible win they can find, and if they can snatch a couple in unlikely places it’ll be an added bonus.

Helping the Silver Stars out for this game, Danielle Adams was finally back in uniform after missing 11 games due to her mid-foot sprain. Bear in mind that Seattle went 10-10 without Lauren Jackson, while LA went 5-10 without Candace Parker – San Antonio were even worse, at 3-8 without Adams. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/26/2011: Sun a little too hot for the Mercury

Some more split coverage for you with tonight’s action. Four-game fun for Friday in the WNBA, and due to time constraints you’re only receiving a taster tonight. You get the opening game of the evening in this piece, and the anticipation can build until tomorrow for the WNBAlien coverage of the other three. Good things come to those who wait.

The night began in Connecticut, where Phoenix were making their yearly visit. After arresting a brief slide (two consecutive overtime losses barely counts) with a strong win over Atlanta, the Sun are still only two games behind Indiana and retain hopes of catching the Fever to win the East. Their 12-2 record at the Mohegan Sun Arena illustrates just how important home court advantage could be for Connecticut in as many postseason games as possible. The Mercury started this game in the same position as the Sun in the standings – second in their conference – but with different problems. Minnesota are all but confirmed as the #1 seeds in the West, and Seattle have pulled into a virtual tie with Phoenix for second place. It’s looking more and more likely that Storm-Mercury is going to be the 2-3 first-round matchup, but home court advantage is up in the air. An extra game in Seattle’s Key Arena or the US Airways Center in Phoenix could make a huge difference in who progresses.

Significantly improving the Mercury’s chances in this game, Diana Taurasi returned to their starting lineup after missing two games due to back spasms. She also survived a potential suspension for her 7th technical foul, due to one being rescinded earlier in the season. Connecticut remained faithful to their established starting five. The opening quarter was a pure shootout. Phoenix were playing their standard game, charging from one end of the floor to the other and keeping the tempo high, but Connecticut were scoring right along with them. While Taurasi and Penny Taylor rained in shots for the Mercury, no one in a Phoenix vest could guard Tina Charles. When Charles wasn’t scoring herself down low or stepping outside for her reliable mid-range jumper, the amount of attention she drew was breaking everyone else open. Even Kalana Greene knocked down a pair of threes to contribute to the scoring. However, in the end, Connecticut couldn’t quite stay with a smoking hot Mercury team. Continue reading →