WNBA Today, 08/25/2011: In Shock to nobody, Storm win

Well you can’t blame me for posting this one a little late. No games on Wednesday in the WNBA, and just the one late, late game on Thursday. And what a glamour matchup it was. Oh no, wait, it was Tulsa on the road. A masterful piece of scheduling by the WNBA once again. At least their hosts, Seattle, have Lauren Jackson back to add a little interest and excitement to the contest. A win in this game would pull Seattle into a virtual tie with Phoenix for second place in the Western Conference. A win for Tulsa would break a 19-game losing streak and send everyone watching into shock.

Both teams kept faith with the same starting lineups that they’d used in the last couple of games. For the third game in a row since her return, Lauren Jackson scored the opening points, this time on a little catch-and-shoot jumper in the lane (while being fouled). She’s like a nice little security blanket for Sue Bird – the first option and the final option on a possession if there’s nothing else available. As a whole, the first quarter resembled the early stages of Tulsa’s game against Minnesota on Tuesday – Seattle looked comfortably the better team, but not all that interested or invested and without a great deal of energy to start the contest. As a result, a Tulsa team that was knocking down a few shots from outside and has generally been playing with a little more composure lately hung around, and Seattle only led 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was ugly. Ug-ly. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/24/2011: Cappie explodes; San Antonio sink; Tulsa toil.

For anyone who missed it, I covered two of Tuesday’s games in yesterday’s column. Now it’s time for the remaining three. Chronologically, Minnesota’s trip to Tulsa came first, but let’s face it, top vs. bottom doesn’t mean a great deal at this point in the season. So we’ll get to that game at the end. First, the two contests that involved teams still fighting it out for playoff positions, and even to make sure they reach the postseason to begin with.

Live on ESPN2 in the US, Cappie Pondexter returned to Phoenix with her New York Liberty squad for the second time since forcing a trade prior to the 2010 season. When she went back last season the teams ended up in a scuffle that led to Pondexter being ejected from the game, so it was an interesting choice for national TV. If you’d had to assign probabilities of a brawl for every game all season, this one might’ve had the highest value on the schedule. Maybe they were working on the age-old maxim of “any publicity is good publicity”, and hoping there might be some extra-curricular activity. The chances of any kind of scuffle decreased a little when news filtered out that Diana Taurasi would miss her second straight game due to back spasms. Apparently she wanted to play, but the Mercury medical staff decided against it. Probably a good idea considering how chippy the game was always likely to become.

After winning four of their last five games, Phoenix had moved 1.5 games clear in second place in the West. However, with a four game road trip coming up, this would’ve been a nice game to win to send them out on their travels on a positive note. For New York, the win Atlanta completed over Chicago just before this game tipped off gave them a little breathing room to make the playoffs, but made their grasp on 3rd place even more tenuous. It’s still a combination of trying to hold Atlanta off while trying to chase down Connecticut for them, just as it’s been for several weeks now. They were helped out a little for this game by the return of backup center Quanitra Hollingsworth, deepening their post rotation and reducing their reliance on recent acquisition Kara Braxton. It was Braxton’s first appearance back in Phoenix since being dumped for pennies on the dollar by the Mercury earlier in the season, due to her attitude and a physical altercation with Olayinka Sanni. Judging from the boos that greeted her when she entered the game, the Mercury fans didn’t exactly welcome her back with open arms. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/23/2011: A Spark of hope, but the Sky are falling

Yes, I know, this is being posted very, very late. I offer up the same apologies that always accompany a post that’s only ‘daily’ for those in Seattle, LA and all points even further west. What you get in this piece is detailed accounts of two of tonight’s early games – the ones that didn’t involve Tulsa. Check back tomorrow – or probably ‘today’, technically, by the time you’re reading this – for coverage of Tuesday’s other three games. The WNBA continues to make my life difficult by playing too many games on the same nights.

First up, a game between two truly awful teams. Sorry, not in the mood to sugarcoat it. By now, everyone knows how bad Washington are. When you’re 5-20 in the standings, it’s kind of hard to keep quiet. It’s really only the presence of the Shock that has kept people off their backs for how close they’re running some of the historically terrible teams in this league. Their opponents tonight, Los Angeles, have had a ready-made excuse nearly all season. Lose an MVP candidate to injury, of course you’re going to be bad. The same thing happened when they got a pass from a lot of people last season. The problem is, Candace is back, and they’re still dreadful. The Sparks have produced some of the most pitiful defense you’re ever likely to see on a WNBA level in their last few games, and it took some effort to stand out from the dismal defensive effort they’ve been producing all season. Thanks to a schedule that helpfully got easier just after Parker returned, and the continuing poor form of the San Antonio Silver Stars, LA are somehow creeping back into playoff contention. But that’s more a sad commentary on their competition and how easy it is to make the playoffs in this league, than a positive reflection on how they’ve been playing.

Sparks coach Joe Bryant sent out the same starting five he’d been using lately for this game. It was immediately apparent that he’d dumped the atrocious switch-on-everything defense that they’d thrown out on the floor against Indiana and Minnesota last week (no idea whether they used it in Tulsa, as that game still isn’t available online and probably never will be). In this game, they started with a terrible man-to-man that looked exactly like it does when you first learn it as a five year-old at school – that’s your guy, go follow him around the best you can. Occasionally, they switched to a terrible 2-3 zone instead (which might well be the second defense you learned at school). You know how some teams and coaches in this league have a defensive system, or at least a defensive ethos that they drill into their players? Yeah, not in LA. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/22/2011: Sun, Fever, Sparks win; entire league receives a Boost

A triple-game Sunday for the WNBA yesterday, but due to technical issues only two that anyone could watch unless you happened to be in Tulsa. So you’ll have to make do with two typically detailed reviews, and one summary compiled entirely on the basis of play-by-play details and boxscore numbers. I’ll throw in some bitching about LA’s defense and some criticism of how terrible Tulsa are just to make it feel like I watched it.

The first game up yesterday was a rematch of Friday night’s overtime thriller between Atlanta and Connecticut, with the venue switching to the Mohegan Sun. The Dream pulled off a remarkable victory in the previous game, shutting down Tina Charles for the final 25 minutes and forcing the extra period with an unlikely three-pointer from Sancho Lyttle. They received an assist from the Sun themselves when coach Mike Thibault benched starting point guard Renee Montgomery at the end of the third quarter for what he later described as an ‘internal matter’. Which probably means she said something naughty, and he showed her who’s boss. She was back in the lineup for this game, so presumably they’ve put it behind them. That loss was Connecticut’s second in a row, the first time they’ve lost consecutive games since early July, so they were looking to stop the rot before it could gain any more traction. Losing both halves of a back-to-back in overtime can be waved off as bad luck – drop the next one as well and it starts to look like a losing streak.

For Atlanta, that win over the Sun was their 10th in 13 games, a run of results that has completely turned their season around. With everyone bar backup point guard Shalee Lehning finally healthy, they’re looking up and entertaining the possibility of climbing the standings beyond their current fourth. A win here would’ve brought them within 2.5 games of Connecticut and given the Dream a 2-1 advantage in the season series between the two teams. While they still have to hold off Chicago to ensure their playoff spot, second in the East might’ve started to look somewhat plausible. It’s a far cry from the 3-9 record they opened the season with.

The standard starting fives began the game for both teams once again. Immediately, Tina Charles and Erika de Souza picked up their battle under the basket right where they left off on Friday. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/21/2011: Wild West heating up

Saturday was a big night for the WNBA’s Western Conference, as all five teams still in with a shot of the playoffs featured. With one superstar having already returned, another making her first appearance in months, and a third taking the night off due to pain, it’s all gotten a little extra-interesting as we head into the final weeks of the regular season. The one East-only matchup had an exciting finish as well, but we’ll get to that at the end. First, the West.

Opening up our Western slate, the Los Angeles Sparks travelled out to face the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. With Candace Parker back in the fold, LA – somehow – managed to beat East-leading Indiana on Thursday night. To my eyes, as regular readers will remember, it was far more down to an inept performance from the Fever than a particularly impressive one from LA. Still, it had to give them extra confidence heading into the game with the Lynx. Compared to San Antonio, LA’s schedule is very straightforward for the rest of the season, meaning their playoff hopes are still alive despite being three games back prior to Saturday night. A win in Minnesota would get that playoff push off to a heck of a start. It hardly mattered, but the Lynx went into this game knowing that a win would officially, 100% statistically confirm that they’d made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. It’s been a foregone conclusion for weeks, but when you’ve been on the outside looking in for so long, it’s always nice to make these things official. There’s also still the small matter of home court advantage throughout the playoffs to fight for.

Minnesota’s starting five has barely changed all season, and nothing was any different for this one. LA stuck with the five that ‘worked’ against Indiana. The Sparks’ defense immediately presented itself as the exact same style and concept that they offered against the Fever. They were switching on everything, not bothering to fight over or around any screens regardless of the players involved. Lindsay Whalen’s not dumb. She brought Taj McWilliams-Franklin out to set screens on three Lynx possessions within the first three minutes of the game. Each time, LA switched and Taj was left being defended by Ticha Penicheiro. Yeah, that’s not going to work. Three easy buckets resulted, two for Taj on layups and one for a wide open Rebekkah Brunson when the ball was kicked to her. I hate this LA defense with a passion. It’s dismal.

The scary thing was that Minnesota started messing it up. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/20/2011: With a Lyttle Bit of Luck

Just one game to look at from Friday night in the WNBA, but first the quick injury report from Saturday – Jackson’s back but Taurasi sat with a bad back. Try saying that five times fast. I’ll have coverage of all four of tonight’s games in tomorrow’s column, including a couple that went right to the wire. For now you’ll have to make do with Connecticut‘s visit to Atlanta, which was no mean contest itself.

The usual starting fives that these teams have settled into took the floor to open the game. After a crushing overtime loss in New York the night before, Connecticut were looking to rebound quickly a get back to winning ways. However, as always in this league, fatigue can be a serious issue in the second half of back-to-backs. After completing a four-game roadtrip on Tuesday in LA, Atlanta were undoubtedly happy to be home, but they hadn’t had much trouble on their travels. 3-1 on that trip, and 9-3 overall in their last 12 games, it’s been a month of progress for the Dream that they were hoping to continue against the Sun.

The first quarter was entertaining, but no one managed to create much of an edge. It took Renee Montgomery barely two minutes to throw two terrible passes into lanes that simply weren’t there, before deciding she’d just start shooting and score instead. That’s a positive way to avoid turnovers. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/19/2011: A New York state of desperation

There were three games in the WNBA yesterday, but one turned out to be the game of the night by some distance. So we’re going to concentrate on the top contest and worry about the others later. After blowing out league-leading Minnesota in their previous game, Connecticut headed into last night on a high. Having won 10 of their last 13, they were looking upwards with hopes of chasing down Indiana, rather than worrying about what was going on behind them. Despite being just one place lower in the Eastern standings, and only 2.5 games behind the Sun, things haven’t been quite so rosy for New York of late. They finally scraped a win over Washington on Tuesday night, but three losses in four prior to that and some tired-looking performances had left them glancing over their shoulders at Atlanta and even Chicago. A win over Connecticut would’ve provided a much needed fillip, and resurrected faint hopes of catching the Sun for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It also had the potential to reassure players and fans alike that they were going to make the postseason in the first place.

The pre-game news for New York wasn’t good. Quanitra Hollingsworth was still in street clothes due to her ankle sprain, limiting the Liberty’s post options for the second straight game. Joining her on the bench was Nicole Powell, out due to a bone bruise or a left-knee contusion, depending on which injury report you wanted to listen to (they’re essentially the same thing, just phrased differently). Powell hasn’t had the greatest of seasons to say the least, but losing your starting small forward rarely increases your chances of victory. Essence Carson replaced her in the starting lineup. The Sun had everyone available, and stuck with the same starting five that they’ve used throughout their 10-3 run.

The first half was nip and tuck all the way, without either team managing to take control. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/18/2011: Searching for Answers

Because of the very useful tools that came with setting up WNBAlien, I can see how people arrive at this site. In the same way, I can also see which search engine terms people have used in order to be referred here. Typically it’s obvious stuff like ‘wnbalien’, ‘wnba alien’ or ‘wnba’, but some of them have been interesting, amusing or downright bizarre. Some of them have also been questions that have led people here, but weren’t actually answered on the site. So I’m taking this opportunity to hopefully entertain and amuse – and to answer those questions. I figure that if someone was interested enough to search, and kind enough to visit my site as a result, it’s only fair that I provide a few replies. Plus maybe I’ll gain a few extra readers if they plug the same search back in again and wander back. So here we go – all the bolded phrases were the exact search terms that have led people to WNBAlien during its brief existence, with semi-colons separating the different searches. All spelling errors have been left in for the sake of accuracy.

 

how much was chastity reed’s contract with the tulsa shocks worth; how much does natasha lacy make; courtney vandersloot contract salery

First a few easy ones. Chastity Reed was on the first year of a third-rounder’s rookie-scale contract before Tulsa dumped her, meaning she would’ve earned $36,570 if she’d survived the whole season. She lasted under half the year on the roster, and ultimately made around 16 grand.

Natasha Lacy was signed by Los Angeles as a free agent for the league minimum, and as a player with under three years of WNBA service, that’s also $36,570 this season. Unlike Reed, Lacy will receive all of it. Taking the question in its entirety, Lacy will likely make more over the WNBA offseason, where this year she’ll be playing for Ceyhan in Turkey. Although she obviously won’t be making the large sums that the stars can earn on European teams.

Like Reed, Vandersloot’s a rookie, but as a top-four pick she makes rather more. This season, she’s on $46,708, which will progressively rise to $59,552 by her fourth year in the league (assuming nothing’s gone horribly wrong and led to her being waived).

 

wnba trade braxton; trade braxton; kara braxton out for personal reasons; wnba braxton; wnba braxton trade; kara braxton what’s conduct detrimental to the team mean

There were more too, but I think you get the gist. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/17/2011 (extra): You can go home again, but you might not enjoy it

Told you I’d be back with the final game from Tuesday night. Hope no one was holding on with bated breath, because it really wasn’t worth it. With Minnesota heading out to Connecticut, all the talk was about just one person – Maya Moore. Returning to the area where she had so much success in college, the first appearance of the WNBA’s presumptive Rookie of the Year back in Connecticut had helped the Sun sell out the Mohegan Sun Arena for this game. Moore’s team has had a couple of tight contests recently, and even dropped a game in Phoenix, but they’d still won 11 of their last 12 games. Hilariously, they’ve already won more games this year than the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves managed in the entire 2010-11 NBA season. The T-Wolves played 82 games; the Lynx only needed 23 to surpass their win total. However, the Sun won’t have been cowering at the prospect of facing the WNBA’s hottest team. 9-3 themselves in their last 12 games, Connecticut are still chasing after Indiana for the top spot in the East and have only lost twice at home all season. They won’t have wanted to make Moore’s homecoming a pleasant one.

The usual fives took the floor to start the game, without any fresh injuries or absences to report. Moore put a three in the air on her first touch of the ball, but when it rimmed out the stage was set for how the opening minutes were going to play out for her and the Lynx. Many of the fans may have showed up to see Moore, but it was the Sun they’d end up cheering for. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/17/2011: A streak ends, and a superstar returns

Last night in the WNBA was packed full of nailbiting finishes. We already looked at two of them in yesterday’s column, but there’s plenty more to come. Seems like those basketball gods are still looking favourably upon me (although for those waiting on an update, Megan Fox is still yet to arrive).

We’ll start with the game in Phoenix, where Seattle arrived looking for a turnaround. The Storm were demolished on their own floor by Atlanta on Saturday night, and their only win in their last four games was over pitiful Tulsa. They’ve also been dismal away from Key Arena this season, so combining their recent form with a flight out to an opposition venue didn’t bode well. On the positive side, they were playing Phoenix. Over the last two seasons, Seattle had won the last nine in a row over the Mercury, including their one decent road win this year (two in Tulsa and one in Washington barely count). If there was a single place where the Storm might be able to create a change in their own fortunes, it was Phoenix. For the Mercury, this was the perfect opportunity to finally break their dismal run against the Storm. They’d suffered a poor loss of their own in LA on Friday night, but in general had improved since the trade that dispensed with Kara Braxton. Plus without Lauren Jackson, Seattle don’t have a low post presence who can punish them like Jantel Lavender did on Friday.

Sad news for the Storm further increased Phoenix’s chances of victory. Tanisha Wright’s mother died on Friday, so she was understandably absent dealing with family matters. That pushed Katie Smith into the starting lineup for Seattle, shortening the bench of a team that already receives precious little from their reserves. The positive news was that Lauren Jackson warmed up with her teammates and reportedly looked strong, but that wasn’t going to help them in this game. LJ still isn’t quite ready to return to game action.

Regardless of their missing players and poor recent performances, Seattle came out firing and relishing the opportunity to face Phoenix’s ‘defense’ just as much as usual. Continue reading →