Tag Archives: Atlanta Dream

The Daily W, 07/17/2014

 

Atlanta Dream 75 @ New York Liberty 77

 

Lineups: Both teams started the same fives they’ve been using for a while, so Cappie Pondexter was healthy enough to play after missing most of the second half in the Liberty’s last game. According to the New York commentators, it was a groin problem that took her out then, possibly caused by overcompensating for the achilles issues she’s been fighting for much of the season. Natasha Lacy was available for New York for the first time after she replaced Chucky Jeffery on a seven-day deal earlier in the week (although she didn’t play). Swin Cash was facing the Dream for the first time since they traded her after barely half a season in Atlanta. DeLisha Milton-Jones – swapped for Cash – is out for the rest of the season after rupturing an achilles tendon.

 

Story of the Game: The first half was close, and the only time either side led by more than four points was when Anna Cruz hit the final shot of the half to give New York a five-point lead at the break. Perhaps energised by all the screaming kids packed into Madison Square Garden for the early tip-off, the Liberty played with a lot of energy and drive, matching Atlanta in the areas where the Dream often dominate teams. New York had just as much pace to their game, were far more successful on the offensive glass, and for once their supporting players stepped up. Tina Charles made a couple of nice plays, but was largely kept quiet by Atlanta’s length and the double-teams they sent down towards her. Pondexter showed a willingness to attack the basket, but couldn’t convert anything when she got there (and limped back to the bench at one stage in the first quarter). But Sugar Rodgers made shots and attacked the basket; Plenette Pierson was effective off the bench; Avery Warley-Talbert crashed the glass; Anna Cruz hit a few jumpers; and the combination of Alex Montgomery and Swin Cash made life difficult for Angel McCoughtry. For once the team effort around the superstars was carrying the Liberty.

Having Erika de Souza in foul trouble for much of the first half created problems for Atlanta, as did some horrible ball-stopping from McCoughtry at times, but they pieced together enough offense to stay right with New York in the opening 20 minutes. They opened the second half without McCoughtry absent for some unknown reason – she didn’t appear from the locker room until three minutes of the third quarter had already elapsed – and then New York proceeded to dominate most of the third period. Their energy and aggression was outworking the Dream. Pondexter drew de Souza’s fourth foul early in the period, sending her back to the bench, and making it easier for Charles to attack the rim rather than settle for her mid-range jumper. Rodgers continued to make plays, Atlanta couldn’t buy a bucket, and New York led by double-digits.

But basketball is a fickle game. Behind a couple of friendly calls from the officials, some missed Liberty jumpers and a little transition speed, Atlanta scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to tie up the game – and then we had a real fight on our hands. In a game where she finished with nine assists – so she was moving the ball to the right places at times – McCoughtry forced some horrible jump shots to kill several possessions down the stretch for Atlanta. But with Charles and Pondexter both fairly ineffective, New York couldn’t pull away.

Cruz hit a tough pullup jumper with 90 seconds left, on a play that looked like it was designed for Charles until she gave it up. Then Pondexter did a nice job containing Tiffany Hayes on a drive, but the offensive rebound was kicked back out and Jasmine Thomas nailed a three to tie the game again. Cash and Hayes had poor passes at either end for cheap turnovers before Pondexter went around staggered screens at the top of the arc and bricked a jumper with 12 seconds left. With the game tied, Atlanta didn’t call timeout, instead allowing McCoughtry to attack immediately. Montgomery tracked her down the lane, got a hand on top of the ball, and drew a jump ball rather than giving up a foul. McCoughtry tapped the ensuing toss too hard, and the ball went straight out of bounds, leaving New York five seconds to win it.

And however many shots she may have missed already, Pondexter is always going to want the game-decider in her hands. She inbounded to Pierson, took the handoff straight back, and banked in a jumper from 17 feet. Whether it was actually meant to hit the glass first, or she just got a little lucky, it didn’t really matter. With only 0.4 seconds left, Atlanta tried a lob pass to the basket for Hayes, but it was easily cut out and New York had their win.

 

Key Players: To the delight of Liberty fans everywhere, they had lots of key players for once. This is kind of the secondary option of how it’s supposed to work with the two superstars – some days they won’t hit, but they’ll still draw so much attention from the defense that the rest of the team can take advantage. Pondexter and Charles were a combined 10-36 from the field, but their teammates were 21-40, with Cruz, Rodgers and Pierson leading the way, while Cash and Montgomery played important defensive roles. It was a strong team effort, and could be a big win for the Liberty’s season. Of course, there’ve been so many false dawns for this team this year, so it could just be one good performance that’ll be quickly forgotten. New York play six of their next seven games on the road, where they’re 1-8 so far this year. Even in the East, if they go something like 1-6 over that stretch, their season may well be toast.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 07/15/2014

 

Los Angeles Sparks 90 @ Connecticut Sun 64

 

Lineups: As in recent games for both teams. Allison Hightower and Danielle McCray are still working their way back from their respective injuries for Connecticut so were still unavailable.

 

Story of the Game: All the talk around this game surrounded the Ogwumike sisters, facing each other for the first time in the WNBA. Both did indeed seem to have that extra spark of energy, and stretches of the first half felt like an energetic night in the Ogwumike back yard. Both were attacking the basket, both were finishing – often past or over each other – and both led their respective teams in scoring in the first half. LA also had Kristi Toliver looking for her own shot early and hitting a few, and were getting into the heart of Connecticut’s defense far too easily on simple middle-of-the-floor pick-and-rolls. But with some success on the offensive boards – even against the size of LA’s frontcourt – and just as many transition points as the Sparks, the Sun didn’t let the lead get too big in the first half and stayed in contention.

Until we hit the third quarter. Connecticut made a horribly slow start to the second half, with turnovers and missed Kelsey Bone layups scattering their offense. Meanwhile LA continued to pound the ball inside, finally using Candace Parker on the low block a little more, with Nneka Ogwumike and Jantel Lavender also taking advantage and transition speed adding cheap points on top. The resulting 17-4 run that opened the third quarter basically decided the game, and Connecticut were never in the contest from there on.

 

Key Players: Offensively, Parker had one of her quietest games of the season, only taking six shots. But the Sparks didn’t need any more from her. Ogwumike and Lavender were productive inside, the team as a whole hit enough jumpers and played good enough collective defense, and that eventually ran Connecticut out of the building. The Sun have now lost seven of their last eight, and haven’t been playing well for a while, but LA still had to show up and take advantage. For once, they did just that.

Chiney Ogwumike had a strong first half, but that was about it for any positive elements from the Sun. They fell apart in the third quarter, with their defense leaving big gaps through the middle and the offense stagnating against LA’s length. Their three primary guards – Alex Bentley, Katie Douglas and Renee Montgomery – combined to shoot 7-31, which didn’t leave them with much chance of staying in the game.

 

Notes of Interest: No one paid much attention to Sandrine Gruda until she threw an elbow into Briana Gilbreath-Butler’s gut late in the first quarter. Gruda used to be a Connecticut player, then decided she didn’t want to bother showing up to play for the Sun, then forced a trade to LA in the offseason. But with a four-year gap since she’d been seen in a Sun jersey, few people in the crowd seemed to remember – until she gave them something to boo about.

 

—–

 

Seattle Storm 60 @ Minnesota Lynx 77

 

Lineups: Seattle had what’s become their regular lineup in place, while Minnesota continued to play without Seimone Augustus or Rebekkah Brunson. It’s hoped that both could return soon after the All-Star break.

 

Story of the Game: The first half was reminiscent of the tight, low-scoring affairs we’ve gotten used to Seattle dragging the Lynx into. On the rare occasions that either team got the ball into the paint, both struggled to finish amongst all the defenders that collapsed on top of them to contest. That left both teams shooting a lot of jumpers, with Minnesota having to rely on a lot of those mid-range shots from their bigs that became so important in their previous clashes with Seattle this season. The Storm hit a few shots early on, and benefitted from a hot streak for Camille Little in the middle of the second period where she was successful inside and out, but spent most of the half bricking their own jumpers.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 07/13/2014

 

Atlanta Dream 93 @ Indiana Fever 74

 

Lineups: Considering they’ve been comfortably the best team in the Eastern Conference so far this season, Michael Cooper has decided it wouldn’t be wise to change his starting lineup after all, so Jasmine Thomas continues at point guard in the same group we’ve seen for most of the year. Off the bench, they had DeLisha Milton-Jones available for the first time after trading Swin Cash for her a few days ago. When healthy, Indiana seem relatively certain about four of their starters, but continue to play around at the small forward spot. This time it was Karima Christmas’s turn to be demoted, with Marissa Coleman coming back into the starting lineup. The Fever also had a little extra depth on their bench, with Lynetta Kizer back from the family funeral that caused her to miss one game.

 

Story of the Game: For the opening ten minutes or so, this was a very even, back-and-forth contest. The speed and energy of Indiana’s defense created offense in the opposite direction, as did the Fever’s ability to draw fouls and generate free throws with their driving attack – something they’d been good at this year even before Tamika Catchings returned. We also saw two examples of inside-out ball movement, started by Catchings, creating the catch-and-shoot three-pointers that Coleman should’ve been living off all season. But Atlanta were just as effective going the other way, running in transition at every opportunity, and dominating the offensive glass to create multiple second-chance opportunities. Often the activity and energy of players like Catchings and Erlana Larkins keeps Indiana even on the glass, but the length and athleticism of Atlanta can give them serious problems in that area. Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza are just so big compared to the Fever frontcourt.

It all started to go wrong for Indiana when they had to go beyond the top-six in their rotation (Christmas being relatively interchangeable with Coleman). Their offense lost all its movement and mobility without Briann January, Shavonte Zellous or Catchings on the floor, which also led directly into breakdowns at the other end, with the Dream feeding off Indiana’s misses and turnovers to generate offense for themselves. With unlikely players hitting from outside as well – Jasmine Thomas had barely made a shot for a month, and Celine Dumerc’s jump shot hadn’t made it through customs until last night – Atlanta utterly dominated the second quarter. Lin Dunn threw her starters back out once it quickly became apparent how badly the Fever reserves were being outplayed, but by then Atlanta’s momentum was away and rolling. A 20-1 run to open the second period created a 17-point Dream lead, and they’d pushed the gap to 21 by halftime.

Indiana put up a fight in the second half, but it was never quite enough. Again, they started well with their favoured group on the floor, but couldn’t quite manage to keep it going. They even showed some 3-2 zone to shake things up, something you rarely see from the Fever. To some extent it worked and they even managed to rebound better out of it than they had been from their man-to-man – something you rarely see from anyone.

But with the speed and driving tenacity of Tiffany Hayes continuing to be effective for Atlanta, plus de Souza’s size inside and more threes than the Dream ever expect to hit, Atlanta always had an answer. The gap never dropped below 10, and things got worse for Indiana when January limped out of the game with right knee pain after a collision late in the third quarter that was hard to pick out on video. She never returned, which also didn’t help the comeback effort.

 

Key Players: For once, Angel McCoughtry played a lot of minutes but was largely unproductive – and the Dream played some great stuff anyway. Hayes led the scoring with her kamikaze drives a constant source of danger (to both the scoreboard and her own limbs) with the offensive rebounding a familiar source of scoring for Atlanta as well – and the perimeter shooting an unfamiliar one. They shot 10-18 from beyond the arc, on shots that Indiana would likely have wanted them to take in the gameplan before tip-off. But Thomas, Dumerc, Hayes and Shoni Schimmel all shot well from outside, and presented yet another threat for a team that becomes virtually unguardable if they can shoot well from outside on top of everything else.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 07/09/2014

 

Connecticut Sun 71 @ Atlanta Dream 83

 

Lineups: No changes to the starters for either team from recent games. Connecticut had Briana Gilbreath-Butler available for the first time after signing her to a seven-day contract, made possible by the exception granted when Allison Hightower had arthroscopic surgery to clean out her knee. That’s expected to keep Hightower out for two-to-three weeks.

 

Story of the Game: The game was played at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavillion, due to a Microsoft convention forcing the Dream out of Philips Arena for much of July. The venue didn’t make much difference to the predictable direction of the game. As mentioned in yesterday’s preview, the contest was always likely to come down to which team could keep the other out of the paint, and Atlanta were significantly stronger in that area. Much of the first quarter went jumper-for-jumper, but the Dream started to pull ahead when they started finding a little pace in transition, and attacking the rim. Connecticut were still stuck firing away from outside.

The eight-point Atlanta lead at halftime was almost a positive for Connecticut – it felt like they’d been dominated to a significantly greater extent than that gap suggested. Atlanta’s ball movement and penetration, plus the vision and passing of players like Celine Dumerc and Shoni Schimmel, was creating good looks inside and piling up points in the paint for Atlanta. Connecticut were committing sloppy turnovers, failing to convert anything amongst Atlanta’s long arms on the rare occasions they did get inside, and staying remotely close only through hitting a few threes.

After a nasty landing late in the first half, Angel McCoughtry had gone off with a bruised elbow, but started the second half and immediately knocked down a jumper just to prove she was fine (an ‘elbow’ jumper, for those who enjoy irony). In the following minutes she added a transition layup, an offensive rebound into a putback, and a couple of nice passes for teammates to finish. At times, Atlanta are a prettier team to watch when Angel’s on the sidelines, because there’s a little more fluidity and teamwork to their play. But they’re almost always a more effective team when she’s on the floor, especially when she plays her part in the overall scheme rather than trying too hard to take over on her own.

Offensively, Connecticut were a little better in the second half. Alex Bentley hit a few shots, Chiney Ogwumike gave Atlanta more of a fight on the glass, and occasionally they even managed to finish in the paint. But they never could keep the Dream away from the rim, and Atlanta’s dominance became increasingly evident on the scoreboard. They coasted through the entire fourth quarter with a comfortable lead.

 

Key Players: McCoughtry helped kill the game in the fourth quarter, but overall it was a nice team effort from Atlanta. Sancho Lyttle and Erika de Souza did the work they needed inside, McCoughtry and Tiffany Hayes penetrated consistently from the wings, and the team finished with 24 assists on 33 buckets. Michael Cooper would probably like to see them get their turnovers more under control – they had 20 in this game, and continue to ‘lead’ the league in giveaways – but this was an illustration of the current state of the Eastern Conference. In theory this was the top two teams facing each other; in practice the top team is running well ahead of the remaining five.

For Connecticut, the backcourt of Douglas and Bentley hit some shots, and Ogwumike worked her butt off to give them something in the second half, but that was all the Sun had. They couldn’t slow Atlanta down, couldn’t keep them out of the paint, and the markedly more cohesive team ran away with the win.

 

Notes of Interest: Swin Cash gave Atlanta some solid minutes as the backup power forward in the first half, one of the few times that’s happened this season. Having someone else who can play a post spot that Cooper can rely on could be very important later in the season, especially if they pick up any injuries. It’s no coincidence that the teams atop the two conferences in the WNBA right now have been two of the healthier squads so far this season.

 

—–

 

Indiana Fever 78 @ Tulsa Shock 76

 

Lineups: Both teams started the same fives as in their previous games, which for Indiana meant the second appearance of Tamika Catchings for the season. The Fever are still figuring out their rotations with her back in the mix, but trying to fit your leader and superstar back into your team is a nice problem to have.

 

Story of the Game: As with the game above, the course of this game for most of the night was defined by one team repeatedly breaking down the opposing defense and getting into the paint, while the other was largely kept away from the rim. It was Indiana who consistently found their way into the soft center of Tulsa’s defense, and converted high-percentage looks to gain the advantage. They were looking for Shavonte Zellous inside, often on those dive plays from the corner I’ve talked about before, utilising her height advantage over Skylar Diggins or Odyssey Sims. The other primary weapon for Indiana in the first half was Catchings, already back in her familiar role playing pseudo-point guard at the top of the arc. Tulsa couldn’t stop her from driving into the paint, or occasionally dropping down to post up smaller defenders if Tulsa’s defense got switched up and she was faced with a guard. She also gives Indiana another passer and creator in transition, another area where they hurt Tulsa for much of the game.

Tulsa were hanging around in contention by hitting some of those shots they tossed up from outside, and putting in their usual work on the offensive glass. With Glory Johnson and Courtney Paris, the Shock don’t need much help on the boards, but Indiana’s defensive scheme opened up some extra space for them at times. The Fever were dropping double-teams down on Paris whenever she touched the ball inside, then trying to rotate and recover around the rest of the floor if the ball moved back out. They’re good at it – their switching and rotating is, for example, far smoother than the theoretically-similar-in-principle schemes that LA use – but all the movement often shifts players out of rebounding position. So second-chance points allowed Tulsa to stay within seven at halftime.

Indiana appeared to have taken complete control in the third quarter. Tulsa had some early success using slip-screens and pick-and-rolls to get the ball inside to their posts, but that soon dried up as the Fever started an endless procession to the free throw line. They hit a couple of jump shots, opened up by the amount of help Tulsa was now sending to try to close off the paint, but most of Indiana’s points came at the line when they drove into contact and drew whistles. They were 13-15 at the free throw line in the third quarter alone, and their lead ballooned as high as 15.

But given the way these teams have played this season – Indiana have blown a lot of leads, Tulsa tend to fight their way into close games – we shouldn’t have been surprised when the score tightened up again in the fourth quarter. Indiana stopped converting on their drives, or getting the calls from the officials, and the Shock crept back. It started with a pair of Jordan Hooper threes, and continued largely at the foul line. Maybe the referees had seen how imbalanced the foul count was in the third quarter and were evening it up a little, but there were also some dumb reaches from the Fever in the closing stages, and a couple of even dumber technicals from Zellous and Briann January. The game was tied up for the first time since the second quarter when Erlana Larkins overcommitted on a hedge on the perimeter, Diggins went by her, and fed Paris for a layup with 17 seconds left in the game.

But maybe the return of Catchings really is going to help the Fever avoid some of these late game collapses. They put the ball in her hands up top, running their unusual off-balance horns set. Typically your two posts are at the elbows, but because Catchings – the nominal power forward – is handling the ball they use January as a de facto ‘post’. Catchings entered the ball to Larkins, then made to use January as a screener in the opposite direction – a very standard move from that set. But Catchings quickly reversed course, hopped inside Johnson down the lane instead of curling towards the wing, took the feed from Larkins and finished the layup. It was either a lovely play-design, or a very smart off-the-cuff cut from Catchings. Either way, it gave Indiana the lead with under six seconds left.

As usual, Tulsa gave Diggins the ball up top on their final possession, and she penetrated. But Catchings slid across to help and cut her off, Larkins slid across behind her to cover Johnson when Diggins dumped the ball off, and Johnson could only fling up a tough hook that never came close. Another play that Indiana might well not have made if Catchings wasn’t back in the mix.

 

Key Players: It might have been her second game since returning, but this was Catchings’s real comeback show. She finished 8-14 for 23 points, 11 boards, four assists and two blocks. She got some help from Zellous in the scoring column, and a little bonus production from Layshia Clarendon off the bench. Plus Larkins put in her usual work in the paint on the defensive end, while released from having to be as much of a scoring threat as they’ve needed from her for most of the season. But it was Catch’s show, and she made the plays at the end to make sure it wasn’t in vain.

Credit Tulsa for somehow finding a way to be in the game at the end, despite being outplayed for most of the night. Diggins was the primary scorer, as usual, but they struggled to break down Indiana’s defense and find space inside, which made scoring difficult. At least they did a better job of sagging inside and leaving most of the open looks for Indiana late in the game out on the perimeter, which the Fever helpfully missed. Even if they’re pretty open, giving up good looks around the arc is better than conceding layups and free throws. Hooper had a nice game again with her three-point shooting a significant threat. She’s looking like a bit of a steal as a second-round pick.

 

Notes of Interest: Remember when we thought Tulsa might’ve fixed their problems in close games? Recent results – losing five of their last six by three, three, six, two and two points respectively – would suggest that they might’ve just fluked a couple of wins. They still can’t close games out, and their interior defense is still decidedly suspect. Same old problems.

 

—–

 

Los Angeles Sparks 72 @ Minnesota Lynx 83

 

Lineups: Seimone Augustus was still out for the Lynx due to left knee bursitis, so Monica Wright continued to fill in. Los Angeles stuck with Kristi Toliver and Alana Beard as their backcourt, leaving Armintie Herrington and Lindsey Harding to come off the bench. They also had Candice Wiggins available for the first time since their opening game of the season, returning from her own knee surgery.

 

Story of the Game: LA took too many shots that Minnesota would want them to take in the first quarter – jumpers from outside by anyone other than Toliver – but between hitting some of them and an endless supply of offensive rebounds, LA stuck with the Lynx. The Sparks even led for a while in the opening period. But the Lynx offense was too much for LA to cope with once Minnesota got rolling in the second quarter, and it became something of a layup line for the Lynx. Their unselfishness and movement off the ball was finding space amongst LA’s defense and piling up points. Tricia Liston had her best half in a Lynx jersey off the bench, making plays with passes, cuts and screens as well as hitting her typical threes. Janel McCarville and Lindsay Whalen linked up – in both directions – for several nice plays. And there was always Maya Moore as an outlet option to convert at the rim and provide points. Her jump shot was off for most of the night, but when she got to the basket she was as reliable as ever. Minnesota used her size to attack LA inside whenever one of their smaller defenders was on her, rather than someone like Candace Parker.

But between Jantel Lavender hitting her mid-range jumper, the offensive rebounds, and Parker hitting several threes, the Sparks were only down by six at halftime. And then a very shaky third quarter for Minnesota handed the initiative to LA. The Sparks came out in a zone defense to start the second half, which didn’t actually work at all and was forced back into a man-to-man after a few possessions where the Lynx got wide open looks. But it at least accomplished the intended effect of throwing Minnesota off their rhythm a little. They lost their momentum, LA started picking up points through Nneka Ogwumike running the floor hard and some of the transition game that the Lynx had kept in check for most of the night, and the Sparks moved into the lead. LA produced much better ball pressure in that third quarter, which made it much harder for Minnesota to initiate their offense. LA weren’t exactly dominating when they had the ball, but when you hold your opponent to eight points in a quarter, good things will happen.

But it didn’t take long for Minnesota to reassert themselves in the fourth quarter. Cheryl Reeve woke her team up, demanded better effort on the glass, and pulled her offense even further away from the basket – which opened up space behind to get to the rim. The Lynx always run a lot of their offense through their bigs in the high post. McCarville is most well-known for her passing, but the others often do similar jobs. They came higher and higher in the fourth quarter, while the perimeter players slashed past and around them, taking passes from the bigs and slicing to the rim for great chances to score. LA, whose help defense isn’t great at the best of times, didn’t know how to cope. They couldn’t clog the paint because they were chasing the ball and the opposing players out beyond the three-point line. So they just kept leaving huge spaces for the Lynx to exploit behind their defense.

Meanwhile at the other end, LA were tossing up a lot of jumpers and no longer hitting any of them. Play long enough against the Sparks, and that’ll usually happen eventually. Minnesota are well-drilled to know who the primary threats are, so Parker and Toliver were under pressure most of the night, and Parker didn’t touch the ball anywhere near enough in the fourth quarter. A 16-3 Lynx run covered most of the fourth, and the Sparks faded away with more of a whimper than a fight.

 

Key Players: Moore was Minnesota’s leading scorer, although she needed 23 shots to pick up her 30 points. Until a couple of important shots late in the game, she didn’t hit much from outside and sometimes seemed to be forcing the ball up in search of her jump shot. But with Whalen, McCarville, Wright and others helping out, the Lynx scored 52 points in the paint and had 27 assists on 33 baskets. Apart from the third quarter where they lost their way, it was a consummate team performance that took apart one of their regular rivals.

Outside of the 20 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second-chance points, LA didn’t have much of a night. Parker’s scoring was propped up by the three triples she managed to hit in the first half, but otherwise she was ineffective whether at small or power forward. But even in a game where they shot only 34% from the field, it’s the defense that continues to let them down. The Lynx broke them down all too frequently, and looked far better prepared for what they knew was coming from the Sparks than LA did to stop them. In the end, with Minnesota working hard enough to keep LA out of transition, the Sparks couldn’t create enough points to keep up with all the holes in their own defense.

 

Notes of Interest: Minnesota’s single possession of zone defense to start games (or halves, or occasionally out of timeouts) is backfiring a little this season. Much as its pointlessness entertains me, they’ve given up some wide open looks with that zone this year (Parker drilled a three to open this game, and LA got easy chances on the couple of other possessions where the Lynx tried the zone). Reeve may want to junk the idea entirely.

Reeve did provide some extra entertainment of her own between the third and fourth quarters, with a Popovichian interview with Rebecca Lobo where Reeve walked away before the second question could even be asked. She was that disgusted with how her team had been rebounding. On maybe her neck was tired from craning it to look Rebecca in the eye.

 

—–

 

League News

 

The All-Star starters were announced during ESPN2’s double-header last night, with few surprises but one or two ridiculous choices. Shoni Schimmel and Cappie Pondexter are the guards in the East, with Elena Delle Donne, Angel McCoughtry and Tamika Catchings in the frontcourt. Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins are the West guards, with Maya Moore, Candace Parker and Brittney Griner filling out their frontcourt spots. Schimmel’s obviously a bit of a reach in terms of deserving her place, and makes it largely because she’s such a fan favourite rather than because her play has been worthy of inclusion – although the East guards don’t offer a lot of obvious selections. Catchings being voted in is a little comical, considering she hadn’t played a single game until Saturday. But the fans got who they wanted, and now the coaches get to pick the reserves. My article covering who I feel should make the teams will be coming up later this week.

 

—–

 

Today’s Games

 

Washington @ Chicago, 12.30pm ET

Seattle @ Phoenix, 3.30pm ET

New York @ San Antonio, 8pm ET

 

The Daily W, 07/06/2014

 

San Antonio Stars 71 @ Indiana Fever 70

 

Lineups: San Antonio were as expected, with Danielle Adams continuing to start ahead of Sophia Young-Malcolm at power forward, but the big news was among Indiana’s starters. Tamika Catchings made her first appearance of the season after recovering from her back problem, and went immediately into the starting lineup in place of Natasha Howard.

 

Story of the Game: Indiana were in charge in the first quarter, energised by the return of their leader and star. Catchings looked strong and mobile, making plays with her defense and her ability to attack the paint and draw help defenders on offense. Rather than forcing her to cover Danielle Adams and deal with her occasional physical post-up moves, Indiana smartly put Catchings on Jayne Appel, which allowed her to roam more defensively and make plays without taking a pounding inside. Her jump shot looked flat and rusty, and the Fever kept a tight rein on her minutes during the game, but otherwise Catchings seemed in pretty good shape.

All afternoon, Indiana went after Becky Hammon with whoever she was trying to guard. Danielle Robinson can cope with slightly bigger opponents, but the Stars still have a very small starting perimeter and try to hide Hammon as much as possible on defense. The Fever used players like Shavonte Zellous and Marissa Coleman to post-up Hammon or go by her, and eventually forced San Antonio into their zone defense just so that they could keep Hammon on the floor. The second quarter was earlier than Dan Hughes usually resorts to his zone, but it turned out to be a productive switch for the Stars. Indiana moved the ball well to shift the zone around, and clearly knew what they were supposed to do against it, but still had far more problems creating good looks than they’d had against the man-to-man. With Indiana’s bench players failing to produce as they had in recent games, San Antonio came into the game in the second quarter, started hitting some shots, and eventually took a narrow lead into halftime.

While neither team was particularly effective offensively in the second half, it was Indiana who eventually managed to inch out a lead. They rarely converted anything when they broke down the zone and got to the rim, but decent three-point shooting from Karima Christmas, Shavonte Zellous and Briann January helped them pull in front. They’ll get better, cleaner looks out there now, purely because of the attention that Catchings draws from opposing defenses. With just over five minutes left in the game, Indiana led by 13 points and seemed to be in control – while Hughes was going nuts on the sideline and drawing a technical for his screaming.

But then Hughes finally found a lineup that worked – bigger on the perimeter, with Robinson, Kayla McBride and Shenise Johnson; slightly more mobile inside, with Young-Malcolm and Adams playing together – and Indiana’s problems closing out games resurfaced. The Fever lost any offensive rhythm, and committed several turnovers, while San Antonio ran off those giveaways and used Adams as a focus inside and out when they were running halfcourt sets. 14 straight points, capped by two free throws by Robinson after a desperately soft foul call, gave San Antonio a one-point lead with 22 seconds left in the game.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 07/02/2014

 

San Antonio Stars 74 @ Connecticut Sun 71

 

Lineups: Same again for both teams, with Danielle Adams and Alyssa Thomas continuing to retain their spots ahead of former starters Sophia Young-Malcolm and Allison Hightower. Thomas was in a face-mask after breaking her nose in practice the day before.

 

Story of the Game: An utterly forgettable first half saw Connecticut lead for most of the 20 minutes, but not by much. The advantage they had was that a significant portion of their points were coming at the rim, by running out in transition or working on the offensive glass. San Antonio were relying more on jumpers, which typically produce a lower rate of success even with the shooters on the Stars roster.

The third quarter was thoroughly dominated by San Antonio. When they’re in full flow they’re a lovely team to watch on offense. Endlessly unselfish, always willing to give up a good shot for a great one, they took apart a Connecticut team that looked like they’d taken a nap at halftime and not woken up in time for the restart. Becky Hammon, Danielle Robinson and Kayla McBride were the key players doing the scoring, moving the ball beautifully and exploiting Connecticut’s overplaying defenders by getting in behind them. With everyone on the floor a threat to score, bar Jayne Appel, San Antonio have the luxury of not having to run plays for anyone in particular. They can put all the pieces in motion, watch the defense bend or break, and then take whatever gap opens up. Connecticut both left shooters open and gave up lanes to the basket in the third quarter, and San Antonio moved ahead by double-digits.

But it wasn’t quite over. Katie Douglas played the central role in dragging Connecticut back into the game, attacking the basket on drives rather than settling for jumpers. San Antonio had become a little too one-on-one offensively, losing the team flow from earlier, and a Kelsey Bone layup eventually tied the game with under three minutes to play.

Then it was San Antonio’s turn to bounce back. They scored the next seven points of the game, on a rare Appel post move, a McBride three off a nice staggered-screen play drawn up by Dan Hughes in a timeout, and then free throws once Connecticut started fouling to extend the game. At the other end, San Antonio’s 3-2 zone had the desired effect of slowing the Sun down, forcing a 24-second violation. Then Bone barreled over Young-Malcolm on a post move for another turnover, and the Stars were back in charge. Between Hammon, Robinson and McBride they were 8-8 at the foul line in the closing moments, helping San Antonio hold on despite some late threes from the Sun.

 

Key Players: The perimeter trio of Hammon, Robinson and McBride did most of the work for the Stars, especially in their push in the third quarter. That’s two wins out of two for San Antonio since losing Jia Perkins to her hamstring injury, both featuring strong performances from the remaining perimeter players. It’s a small sample-size to this point, but they’ve stepped up when they needed to without the usual burst of scoring from Perkins off the bench.

Douglas and Bone were the main weapons for Connecticut, although Bone would’ve been more efficient if not for several missed layups. It was a disappointingly quiet night for Chiney Ogwumike, and she’s had a couple of those lately. It’s always hard for rookies to keep playing to their absolute potential throughout their first professional seasons. They’re not used to playing this often, or against this level of competition night-in and night-out.

 

Notes of Interest: Bone was drawing a double-team from the Stars in the low post, which was interesting. There aren’t too many players around the league who gain that kind of respect, but clearly Bone’s offensive game is starting to earn it for her. The defensive end is still where she needs to put in the most work.

 

—–

 

Tulsa Shock 74 @ New York Liberty 90

 

Lineups: As expected for both teams. Riquna Williams didn’t even travel with the Shock due to her knee problem. Anna Cruz was playing with strapping on her left hand after dislocating a finger during New York’s previous game.

 

Story of the Game: The opening stages were a joy to behold for Bill Laimbeer and Liberty fans – this was the Tina Charles that they’d been waiting for all season. Charles was in the low post, demanding the ball, and then making aggressive moves towards the basket rather than drifting away from it. That led to baskets, fouls, free throws, and general positive outcomes for New York. Tulsa made things a little easier by trying to single-cover her most of the time, but the effort and method of attack was all Charles.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 07/01/2014

 

Connecticut Sun 65 @ New York Liberty 67

 

Lineups: Both teams used the same starting lineups we’ve seen in recent games. So Allison Hightower continues to come off the bench for Connecticut since returning from her knee problem.

 

Story of the Game: This was not an offensive showcase, by any means. Credit the defenses to some extent, but basically both teams struggled to hit shots all afternoon. Connecticut in particular had problems knocking down anything from more than two feet, but compensated to some extent by working harder than New York in transition and on the offensive glass. It was a little embarrassing for the Liberty how often Connecticut produced layups simply by beating their opponents down the floor.

After her first ever zero-point game in the WNBA on Friday night against Chicago, Cappie Pondexter still wasn’t afraid to let fly, and hit a few shots in the first half. Also, with the addition of Charde Houston and incremental development of Sugar Rodgers, for the first time it seemed like New York had a bench group that might help them rather than lead to a collapse. It all balanced out to a fairly even first half.

New York crept ahead by as many as nine points in the third quarter, without seeming to do anything particularly special. Connecticut still couldn’t hit a shot unless they were right at the rim, so breakaways and offensive rebounds remained their only forms of attack with any real success. Tina Charles was drawing all kinds of attention whenever she touched the ball in the low post, but still not seeing enough of it down there. New York need to realise that even if she doesn’t score, when the ball reverses out of there they’ll generally get great shots. They often seem to start games and second halves by looking for her inside, and then she drifts away as the play progresses. But she did at least produce a few finishes for the Liberty to help the offense in the second half.

With Katie Douglas and Alex Bentley finally starting to make a few shots – Douglas’s first bucket came on a deep three when New York ignored her, and she almost seemed to shoot out of disgust – Connecticut made it a game in the fourth quarter. It was a one-point game for almost the entire last two minutes, while both sides traded misses. A dismal ‘play’ from Connecticut in the final seconds saw Bentley go nowhere, eventually reverse the ball to Douglas, who had to force up a three that never had a chance. After Anna Cruz added a free throw for New York, another Douglas heave was nowhere near at the buzzer, and New York had clung on.

 

Key Players: Pondexter and Charles led the scoring for New York with 14 apiece, without either playing particularly well. Plenette Pierson and Rodgers had productive appearances off the bench. But the game was won with their team defense and the awful shooting from Connecticut.

Chiney Ogwumike finished 8-14 for 22 points and 17 rebounds, including 8 offensive boards. Between her and Kelsey Bone the Sun thoroughly outworked New York on the glass and in running the floor, but it just wasn’t quite enough without their teammates being able to hit anything from outside. Ogwumike herself repeatedly turned down the mid-range jumpers that New York were offering her all afternoon. She’s extending her range – as all posts working under Anne Donovan are generally tasked to do – but for now she’s much more comfortable doing her work right around the rim.

 

Notes of Interest: Essence Carson didn’t make it off the bench at all, drawing her first ‘Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision’ for a long time. While Anna Cruz and Alex Montgomery have started to become more effective offensively as role players, the complete lack of production from Carson this season has been a major problem for New York. She was meant to be the third wheel for Pondexter and Charles, even if she wasn’t entirely back from her ACL tear. Instead she’s gotten progressively worse, and finally fallen off the end of the rotation. Hopefully she rebounds next year.

 

—–

 

San Antonio Stars 73 @ Washington Mystics 65

 

Lineups: Dan Hughes changed up his lineup for the first time in a while, with Danielle Adams supplanting Sophia Young-Malcolm in San Antonio’s starting lineup. Adams has been finishing plenty of games ahead of Young-Malcolm, but it still sends something of a message to remove the veteran from her long-established starting spot. Coming off her own ACL tear, Young-Malcolm hasn’t been as poor as Essence Carson in New York, but there hasn’t been that much in it. The Stars were also without key reserve Jia Perkins, who’s out for at this road trip after straining her hamstring in the game against Atlanta on Thursday night. Washington opened with the same group we’ve seen in their recent games, and had Kara Lawson available again off the bench after missing one game due to dehydration/flu.

 

Story of the Game: The main difference for much of this game was simply shooting. Emma Meesseman produced some points early for Washington, while Ivory Latta drives and Stefanie Dolson finishes added on later in the first half, but San Antonio consistently out-shot them from the perimeter. The ball movement to create the looks for the Stars was pretty good, but having people like Becky Hammon who are a threat to drill threes as soon as they cross half-court was the key element. She had four triples in the first half, three of them from so deep that normally you wouldn’t worry about the player letting fly. But Becky Hammon isn’t exactly a ‘normal’ player, even in the midst of – for her – a pretty mediocre season.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 06/27/2014

 

Atlanta Dream 81 @ San Antonio Stars 79

 

Lineups: Both sides went with the starting fives we’ve come to expect. Matee Ajavon played for the first time in weeks for Atlanta off the bench, albeit very briefly. Swin Cash didn’t play at all, but as far as anyone reported that was only a coach’s decision

 

Story of the Game: San Antonio started so poorly that Dan Hughes called a timeout after only 70 seconds of play, and subbed out four of his starters. Danielle Robinson was the only player to escape the cull. Having made his point, he sent them all back in three minutes later. Regardless of which group was in the game for the Stars, Atlanta were the team playing with pace and energy early on. They were repeatedly finding their way right into the heart of the San Antonio defense, and converting at the rim. Erika de Souza was the main threat in the paint, but Sancho Lyttle was an option as well, with Angel McCoughtry making her presence known as always by attacking off the dribble.

San Antonio came back into it largely by figuring out their own offense, rather than improving their defense. Once they started playing with more mobility and creating good looks at the offensive end, it slowed down Atlanta’s offense because they had to pull the ball out of the basket. It’s much harder to run when you can’t get stops. Shoni Schimmel’s wide open three at the first quarter buzzer summed up how the Stars had played defense – but it only extended Atlanta’s lead to seven points, rather than the blowout that looked imminent in the early moments. The pattern continued in the second quarter, where San Antonio continued to slide back into the game by hitting shots and finding their own gaps in Atlanta’s defense, draining much of the Dream’s momentum. Atlanta were up by just three at halftime, despite shooting 51% from the field.

But the Dream reasserted themselves in the third quarter, and took control of the game again. San Antonio had gotten stagnant on offense, leading to breakdowns and turnovers. Apart from occasional forays by Danielle Adams, the Stars really don’t have a threat in the paint that they can toss the ball to for a good look inside, which means that when they stop moving their offense can end up looking horrible. They also got painfully outworked on the glass in the third quarter allowing Atlanta to push their lead back out to double-digits. The only things that even kept San Antonio within shouting distance were a couple of Jia Perkins threes, aided by some shoddy transition defense from the Dream. The shine was taken off that when Perkins appeared to pull her right hamstring in the waning seconds of the period, while simply dribbling the ball upcourt. Considering Shenise Johnson has already missed several games this season with hamstring problems, it makes you wonder whether the Stars stretch properly before games.

This game looked pretty much over, and appeared to be drifting to a conclusion as the perimeter of Celine Dumerc, Shoni Schimmel and Tiffany Hayes offered energy and creativity that extended Atlanta’s lead to 14 midway through the fourth quarter. But once Angel McCoughtry came back in, and the Dream started firing quick, forced shots and acting like their work was done for the night, the Stars made a charge. Most of the comeback came on threes from Shameka Christon, hitting one of her all-too-rare hot streaks from outside. Becky Hammon nailed a triple as well, and had a trademark spinning layup in the closing seconds. Christon’s third three in the final two minutes made it a one-point game, but with just two seconds left on the clock. Hayes went 1-of-2 at the line, but without timeouts San Antonio had to try to push the length of the court to answer. Robinson was fouled by Dumerc (with Atlanta’s foul-to-give) to slow her down, and then her heave came after time expired on the ensuing inbounds (and wasn’t close anyway). The Stars had run out of time, and Atlanta had just barely clung on.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 06/23/2014

 

Tulsa Shock 105 @ Chicago Sky 99 (OT)

 

Lineups: Same starting groups for both teams, although Riquna Williams was available again for Tulsa off the bench. She didn’t play much after two hideous turnovers late in the first quarter – both on pathetically lazy underarm ‘passes’. Maybe she wasn’t really ready to play, although the problem looked like it was more in her head than her knee.

 

Story of the Game: The defense in the opening stages of this game was flat-out embarrassing at both ends of the floor. Chicago were repeatedly giving up dribble penetration right into the heart of their defense; Tulsa’s rotations to cover after simple picks and passes were desperately slow or occasionally nonexistent. It provided a lot of points for the national audience on ESPN2, but some dismal viewing for the basketball purist.

It didn’t get a great deal better as the game wore on, although the teams tried to cover up their holes. After Roneeka Hodges had been smoking hot from outside to open up a lead for Tulsa, Allie Quigley starting draining threes for Chicago to turn it around. It helped that the Shock were barely bothering to even recognise she was on the floor, never mind defend her. Chicago led by 10 at halftime.

The Sky had Jessica Breland back in top form, being left in far too much space and adding some one-on-one moves to the free throw line jumper she’s been hitting all season. Pokey Chatman also got her team to start overwhelmingly collapsing into the lane to cover for the dribble-penetration. If you drop five defenders into the paint whenever anyone even looks like being beaten off the dribble, at least there’ll be a lot of traffic in the way when they try to get to the hoop.

With Skylar Diggins pushing the offense, and Glory Johnson picking up some scraps in her battle with Breland, Tulsa kept hanging around in range in the second half. They couldn’t quite get enough stops to complete the comeback, until the last few seconds of regulation. Jordan Hooper hit a three for Tulsa, Johnson finished off a nice feed from Diggins, and then Johnson drove from the elbow through contact for a three-point play with 19 seconds left. That tied up a game that Chicago had led for every second since early in the second quarter. It also picked up Breland’s fifth foul. Chicago had a chance to win it, but Epiphanny Prince’s pullup jumper off a high Markeisha Gatling pick was short, and Breland’s putback attempt hit the side of the backboard. Extra basketball.

Continue reading →

The Daily W, 06/21/2014

 

New York Liberty 64 @ Atlanta Dream 85

 

Lineups: Same again for both teams. So recent additions to the starting lineup in New York, Alex Montgomery and Avery Warley-Talbert, retained their spots ahead of Essence Carson (poor performance) and Plenette Pierson (semi-injured). Atlanta continue to start Jasmine Thomas at the point, sliding Shoni Schimmel and Celine Dumerc in during the course of the game.

 

Story of the Game: By some distance, this was the most comprehensively we’ve seen a team approach New York with a “someone other than your stars must beat us” attitude this season. Every time Cappie Pondexter used an on-ball screen, the two defenders involved both went to her, trapping the ball out of her hands. Similarly, double-teams dropped down on Tina Charles whenever she touched the ball inside, although she had trouble converting anything all night even when she got shots up before extra defenders arrived. Atlanta trusted their defensive rotations and help behind the traps to cover the gaps, and understandably felt they were better off conceding good looks to Montgomery, Warley-Talbert, Anna Cruz and the other role players – rather than letting Pondexter or Charles carry the offense. Other teams have beaten New York without being quite so overt in their efforts to limit New York’s stars, but essentially the plan worked. Pondexter kept passing, Charles either missed or disappeared, and Atlanta moved in front.

Angel McCoughtry drove much of Atlanta’s offense in the first half, although once again she was a little too focussed on her own scoring. But she was attacking the rim, always giving the Dream an option offensively if nothing else presented itself. They had better energy than New York, better ball movement, and their defensive intensity fed into their offense, which has always been the case when Atlanta are at their best. Aneika Henry had another strong half as well, in what’s becoming a legitimate three-post rotation, rather than Sancho Lyttle, Erika de Souza, and hoping you can find some rest for that pair. Atlanta led by 14 at halftime, despite dismal outside shooting. They were getting to the rim and the free throw line more than often enough, while dominating the glass, and the Liberty couldn’t keep up.

Both teams went deep into their benches in the second half, when Atlanta’s lead was rarely threatened. These teams are on very different paths at the moment, with Atlanta winning their sixth straight while New York lost their eighth in nine games. It was pretty easy to tell which was which from their confidence levels and performance on the floor.

 

Key Players: McCoughtry led Atlanta’s scoring, but needed 19 shots for 18 points, and was benched in the second half when Michael Cooper seemed to tire of her selfishness as much as I did. She finished with six assists, which shows how far her game has come in the last couple of years – she still makes passes and finds her teammates, even when it feels like she’s hogging the ball a little during the play. In years past, she’d have had one assist in a game like that, on an airball that the scorer generously counted as a pass.

Tiffany Hayes had fantastic energy throughout the game, throwing herself around the court as usual. It’s not a real Hayes game unless she hits the floor at least four or five times – which unfortunately leads to too many problematic little injuries. But for now, she’s settling into her starting role, bringing the same fire that she used to add from the bench. It’s Schimmel who’s taken on that sixth woman role now, and she had some of her typical highlight-reel passes, while shooting pretty poorly.

New York had nothing much offensively from anyone, although Montgomery shot pretty well when she occasionally let fly. We’d see more teams approach playing them this way – with an overwhelming focus on defending Pondexter and Charles – if the Liberty were playing well enough for opponents to feel they needed to bother adapting that heavily.

 

Notes of Interest: While it would’ve made little difference for this game, it’s hard to understand why Charles and Pondexter are ever on the bench at the same time. This is a team built around two stars, with other players essentially told they’re supporting acts from the start. Surely it’s possible to stagger the rest for Charles and Pondexter so that one of them is always on the floor to help her teammates? They seem to rest simultaneously for stretches of every single Liberty game.

 

—–

 

Washington Mystics 65 @ Minnesota Lynx 75

 

Lineups: There was good news for Minnesota before tip-off, with Seimone Augustus returning to the starting lineup after missing a game due to bursitis in her left knee. The Mystics started the same group that we’ve seen in recent games. Washington’s Tayler Hill has now had her baby, and is apparently expected to return before the end of the season – but obviously was still unavailable for this game. Minnesota are down to just one player still out due to preseason knee surgery, with Rebekkah Brunson still on the sidelines.

 

Story of the Game: Augustus didn’t look like someone worrying about knee pain, with a three and a spinning drive into the lane in the opening minutes. Maya Moore joined in the scoring and the Lynx took control of the game late in the first quarter and early in the second. A stretch of three cheap Washington turnovers, while Minnesota hit three jumpers at the other end before rounding it off with a transition layup, left the Lynx up by 17.

Continue reading →