Tag Archives: Chicago Sky

WNBA Today, 06/09/2012: Four Nailbiters and a Mess

Let’s get right to this: five games last night, including several tight ones (a couple of which never should’ve been remotely close at the end). And one game that left you thinking an early night would’ve been a better idea.

 

New York Liberty 76 @ Washington Mystics 70

  • Trudi Lacey made a change in her starting lineup, inserting Michelle Snow ahead of Ashley Robinson at center. Snow offers slightly more offense, without quite the defensive presence or instincts of Robinson. It’s much of a muchness, to be perfectly honest. The decaying corpse of Dominique Canty continues to start at point guard (not that Washington have glorious options to replace her with).
  • New York, as expected, kept the same starters that have led them to win their last two games. That meant Plenette Pierson had been ruled healthy enough to play, after missing nearly the entire second half of Tuesday’s game with some kind of injury (the Liberty are typically thoroughly unhelpful in regards to letting us know about things like that).
  • Unfortunately for New York, Pierson played less than three minutes of this game before subbing out, and stayed out for the rest of the night. It’s still hard to tell what the injury actually is – she didn’t seem to be clutching anything as she left the floor – but regardless of the ailment, losing her hurts this team. She’s their engine, their solid, reliable core. The Liberty have other post options, but none of them are as dependable or as mobile as Pierson.
  • Fortunately for New York, they’ve got a lot of confidence right now whoever’s out there – and they were playing the Mystics. It was already 11-6 when Pierson sat down, and the massacre snowballed for the entire first half. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/03/2012: A Barnburner and a Blowout

Two games this Saturday night in the WNBA, one a wild matchup with crazy comebacks and buzzer-beaters galore, the other a demolition that sent a fanbase into yet further despair. Guess which one we’re going to start with?

Atlanta isn’t usually a fun place to arrive on the second half of a back-to-back. All they want to do is run you out of the building, and less than 24-hours after scraping past the Mystics, you wouldn’t have blamed Chicago for letting this one slip away. That wasn’t how it played out.

It certainly looked like it was going that way in the early stages, though. Both teams opened with their usual starting fives, but Atlanta looked like the only team who’d shown up mentally in time for the tip. With their defense playing passing lanes aggressively, and Sancho Lyttle in particular snaking those long arms out to pick up a swathe of steals, the Dream ignited their running game in the opening quarter. And this team is hard to keep up with once they start rolling. Armintie Price and Lindsey Harding were the main beneficiaries, as fast break after fast break led to easy points for Atlanta, and even on the rare half-court possession they had so much momentum that scoring seemed easy. Chicago head coach Pokey Chatman called multiple timeouts to try to break the momentum, and sent in a host of reserves to see if they could do any better than her starters, but nothing was working. Amazingly, Atlanta’s lead hit 22 in the first quarter, and it seemed like a blowout of monumental proportions could be on the cards.

But just as quickly as Atlanta had turned on the afterburners and raced away from Chicago, the jet fuel ran out and the pace of the game died. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 06/02/2012: Four times the fun

The WNBA really isn’t being considerate of people like me when they put four or five games on the same night (or on the very occasional insane evening, six). Don’t they realise just how much watching, note-taking and writing that results in? Anyway, four games last night, and as always WNBAlien has coverage of all of them for you. As you might expect, we’re going Bullet Point Breakdown style, and trying to keep it moderately succinct.

 

Minnesota Lynx 85 @ Connecticut Sun 72

  • The slate opened with the big matchup of two undefeated teams. Minnesota started their standard five, with Taj McWilliams-Franklin having shaken off the back pain suffered in their last game. Connecticut promoted Kalana Greene back into their starting lineup to replace Allison Hightower, and had Tan White now fit enough to contribute off the bench.
  • Messy first quarter, too much sloppy play from the Lynx, too many bricks from the Sun. Monica Wright, off the Minnesota bench, was the only bright spot.
  • By halftime it was still tight, with Minnesota up 38-36. Massive discrepancies in key statistical categories were all balancing each other out. Connecticut were shooting only 31% to Minnesota’s 49%, thanks to far too many perimeter jumpers that wouldn’t fall. Minnesota were trailing 13-6 on the offensive glass, giving the Sun far too many second chances. And the Lynx had 12 turnovers to Connecticut’s 4. Minnesota have been disappointingly careless with the ball in a few games so far, but been good enough to play through it.
  • Maya Moore was having a wildly ineffective, desperately quiet game, just as she did last year in her only return to the state where she starred in college. Good thing Wright had stepped up to fill in. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/31/2012: Champs survive a scare

Because today’s column is already running late, we’re going Bullet Point Breakdown on both of last night’s games, and keeping it brief (compared to the usual diatribes, anyway). Tomorrow’s post will be significantly earlier, I promise.

 

Minnesota Lynx 79 @ Washington Mystics 77

  • Same starting fives as last time out for both teams, with Washington resisting the temptation to promote Matee Ajavon from the bench despite the fairly obvious fact that she’s their best guard. People worry too much about starting spots, anyway.
  • The first half was an absolute massacre, and made it look like this game would be about as newsworthy as some of Minnesota’s other blowout victories so far this year.
  • The Lynx were playing with speed and confidence, moving the ball up the court quickly and knocking down the open shot. Washington were struggling to create anything easy. There were some pretty offensive plays from Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Monica Wright, anything that didn’t go in was being hoovered up by Rebekkah Brunson’s typically voracious rebounding, and Minnesota just flat-out dominated. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/26/2012: Sun and Fever keep rolling; Liberty fears deepen

It was a Friday night triple-header this week in the WNBA, and seeing as the general opinion seemed to be positive last time we tried it, we’re going to tackle them Bullet Point Breakdown style.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 79 @ Connecticut Sun 83

  • San Antonio head coach Dan Hughes stuck with his itty-bitty starting lineup, With Danielle Adams at center and Jia Perkins the nominal small forward. Connecticut’s Mike Thibault changed things around a little, with Allison Hightower getting the start ahead of Kalana Greene on the wing. Renee Montgomery continues to come off the bench for the Sun (and isn’t very happy about it, according to local press).
  • Tan White is back practicing for Connecticut after her concussion, but didn’t play. Rookie Ziomara Morrison, who was supposed to help provide size and bulk to San Antonio’s interior, is reportedly limited by a finger injury but continues to dress and played very briefly.
  • Adams did a decent job on Charles early, despite the extra inches that the Sun center has on her. Adams can use her bulk to at least make it difficult for Charles on the low block.
  • At the other end, Charles had a few problems. She likes to play free safety a little bit, drifting in the paint to be able to offer help defense when her teammates need it. Against a lot of 5s that’s fine, but with Adams, if you sag back she’s just going to sit happily at the three-point line and fire away all day. The same problem occurred when Adams set screens for her guards, because Connecticut typically trap the ballhandler (or at least show hard with a ghost of a double-team) on pick and rolls. So Adams sets the screen, the guard’s defender and Charles slide over to challenge the ball, and if the guard can pass back to Adams she’s often wide open for a jumper. The defense depends either on a third defender rotating across to cover quickly, or Charles recovering in time to challenge the shot. Both of those are difficult to keep doing effectively. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/20/2012: First Impressions

Welcome to the first WNBA Today of the 2012 season. We’re going to be trying to keep the game recaps a little more brief this year, hopefully to the benefit of both author and audience. The idea is that there should be more analysis and impressions, without quite so much basic recapping of play after play and possession after possession. At least that’s the target. There might be a few kinks to work out.

We’re also going to try something new for the opening edition, which we’re calling WNBAlien Bullet Point Breakdowns. The content in BPBs will be pretty similar, but it separates it all out into nice easy chunks, and saves having to mould it all into a coherent article. This won’t be how every WNBA Today is presented all season, but especially on days with lots of games it may well make a regular return. Feel free to leave a note on whether you think it works. In fact, feel free to comment below about anything related to the articles or the WNBA, or drop a line to richardcohen123@yahoo.co.uk . You can also follow me on Twitter at @RichardCohen1, where you’ll find all kinds of pithy comments. Mostly about basketball.

On with the games, starting with Friday night’s opener in Seattle, and right through all seven of the weekend’s contests.

 

Los Angeles Sparks 72 @ Seattle Storm 66

  • A couple of surprises in the Sparks starting lineup, but they were less shocking when news emerged that Sharnee Zoll and Nicky Anosike were both suffering from knee injuries. The lack of real point guard options on the Sparks roster immediately came under the microscope, with Alana Beard and Marissa Coleman starting in the backcourt. Seattle were as expected, with Camille Little and Tina Thompson sharing the forward spots.
  • Seattle got out to a smoking hot start, because they were pushing the ball and looking for early offense within their sets. LA came out with a pretty dodgy looking 2-3 zone defense on several possessions and Ann Wauters murdered Candace Parker right in the middle of it. Continue reading →

2012 In-Depth WNBA Season Preview: Chicago Sky

PG: Ticha Penicheiro/Courtney Vandersloot

SG: Epiphanny Prince/Shay Murphy

SF: Swin Cash/Tamera Young/Sonja Petrovic

PF: Ruth Riley/Le’coe Willingham

C: Sylvia Fowles/Carolyn Swords

Significant additions: Cash and Willingham (trade with Seattle), Penicheiro (free agency from Los Angeles), Riley (free agency from San Antonio), Petrovic (trade with San Antonio)

Significant losses: Michelle Snow (free agency to Washington), Erin Thorn (free agency to Minnesota), Cathrine Kraayeveld (free agency to Atlanta), Dominique Canty (free agency to Washington).

—–

Big changes in Chicago, as head coach/GM Pokey Chatman proved that you can get a lot done in the offseason even when you’re in Russia coaching a different team at the time. In her first year in charge last season, the Sky were ultimately just as mediocre as they’ve been for their previous four season, and missed the playoffs yet again. The endless turnovers and poorly chosen shots drove Chatman nuts, so she’s kept her young backcourt and a couple of backups – along with, of course, superstar center Sylvia Fowles – and brought in a swathe of veterans with winning pedigrees to build around them. It’s a gameplan that makes a lot of sense, and has many people predicting big things for the Sky in 2012. At the very least, the Sky will be hoping to finally make their debut appearance in the WNBA postseason. Continue reading →

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Chicago Sky

Current roster certainties and virtual certainties:

PG: Ticha Penicheiro/Courtney Vandersloot

SG: Epiphanny Prince/Shay Murphy

SF: Swin Cash/Sonja Petrovic/Tamera Young

PF: Le’coe Willingham

C: Sylvia Fowles/Ruth Riley

Fighting for the final roster spot (or maybe to beat out Young, Murphy or Petrovic): Carolyn Swords, Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, Felicia Chester, Shey Peddy

———-

Well, being in Russia coaching Spartak Vidnoje certainly didn’t hinder coach Pokey Chatman’s WNBA activity this offseason. They made a big splash early, turning the #2 overall pick in the draft into Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham in a deal with Seattle. The addition of proven veterans continued in free agency, as point guard Ticha Penicheiro and center Ruth Riley were both brought into the fold. Chatman also made a deal with San Antonio for the rights to Serbian forward Sonja Petrovic, who’s been playing for her at Spartak, and even she could be a useful addition if she can adapt to the WNBA game.

The Sky have lost the likes of Erin Thorn, Dominique Canty and Michelle Snow from last year’s squad, but the players they’ve added give the roster a much stronger, deeper look. Continue reading →

WNBA Free Agency List & Analysis: Chicago Sky

Unrestricted Free Agents: Dominique Canty, Cathrine Kraayeveld, Michelle Snow, Erin Thorn

Restricted Free Agents: Sylvia Fowles, Shay Murphy, Tamera Young

Reserved: None

Obviously the big name on the Sky’s list is Sylvia Fowles, but when you’re an obvious max-money player and a restricted free agent it’s just a matter of how many years the player signs for (barring a Pondexter/Dupree/Harding-style trade demand). After Big Syl it all becomes a little bit tricky.

Chicago made the first big move of the offseason with their recent trade with Seattle, acquiring Swin Cash and Le’coe Willingham for the #2 pick in the upcoming college draft. Bringing those two pieces into the mix puts some of their free agent pieces in different situations. With Cash the presumptive starter at small forward, the Sky can afford to be a little more cagey with Shay Murphy and Tamera Young, who both filled that spot at times last year. They’d probably like to keep both around, but if someone else wants to sign either to an overpriced offer-sheet then they might let them walk. Neither has really proven themselves worthy of tying up any meaningful cap space. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade: Storm Blows it Up

The Seattle Storm got 2012 off to a surprising start in the WNBA on Monday, sending Swin Cash, Le’coe Willingham and a late-second round pick in the 2012 draft (#23 overall) to Chicago for the #2 overall pick in that same upcoming draft. It’s been pretty apparent for a while that Seattle needed to freshen up their roster and get younger, but this was still a somewhat shocking way to open up the offseason transactions. Two key parts of your rotation for a pick in what’s generally seen as a weak draft class – for a coach/GM who’s shown no interest in using any young, inexperienced players in recent years – is a bold step. Time will tell whether it’s one step back to eventually move two forwards, or just a hop in the wrong direction.

Cash didn’t have a great season in 2011. She went through long stretches where she wouldn’t have hit water shooting off the side of a boat, and the 41% three-point shooting she discovered in the Storm’s 2011 championship season disappeared entirely. But she was still a strong defender, a physical presence who could defend the perimeter and fight down low on switches, and occasionally her scoring touch returned, leaving her overall 2011 numbers at nearly 40% from the floor and right around her career average of 13 points per game. At 32 years old, and with a chequered injury history, she’s probably starting the downslope of her career trajectory, but there’s a good few years left on those legs. Big, true small forwards aren’t easy to find in this league – just look how long Chicago have needed one, for example – and the Storm could have serious problems replacing her. Continue reading →