Tag Archives: Connecticut Sun

WNBA 2012 Playoff Previews – Eastern Conference Finals: Connecticut Sun vs. Indiana Fever

Connecticut Sun (#1 seed, 25-9) vs. Indiana Fever (#2 seed, 22-12)

 

Regular season series: Sun won 3-1

06/08 @Ind: Sun 89-81

06/19 @Conn: Sun 88-85

06/21 @Ind: Fever 95-61

09/19 @Conn: Sun 73-67

—–

While Atlanta always threatened a late run, these teams have been the top two in the Eastern Conference all season long. So it’s only fitting that they should be fighting it out for a place in the WNBA Finals. As with the West, the two contenders had contrasting paths through the first round. Connecticut finished off New York in two straight games and were done by Saturday night. Indiana dropped the opening game at home, shook up their starting lineup, and fought their way back to win a deciding game on Tuesday night. Now they travel to Connecticut for Game 1 of this series, where the Sun have been lying back and waiting for their opponents to show up all week.

Despite Connecticut finishing higher in the standings, most of the statistical categories gave Indiana the edge over the course of the regular season. Not by much, but the Fever were ahead in both offensive and defensive efficiency, among others, across the year. But these aren’t going to be quite the same teams that we saw in the regular season. Connecticut spent the second half of the year muddling through with fill-in options in the post alongside Tina Charles, while she also battled injuries. Now regular starter Asjha Jones is back from her achilles problem, and looked impressive in the series against the Liberty. Charles still has those injuries, and she’s had a few shaky rebounding games which the pain has likely contributed to, but most of the time she’s her typical MVP-level self both in the paint and with her mid-range jumper. Dealing with those two is going to be the highest priority for Indiana.

However, the Fever aren’t the same either. Indiana head coach Lin Dunn will likely start out the series with the lineup which served her so well against Atlanta, which isn’t quite the same as the group she relied on through the regular season. Erin Phillips came in at shooting guard for Shavonte Zellous, which added a little extra ballhandling to the mix (plus Phillips used to play for the Sun and took a while extricating herself from the franchise, so she might be particularly energised for this opponent). But the key change came at center, where Erlana Larkins replaced Tammy Sutton-Brown. That move gave Indiana energy and activity in the paint, along with a natural rebounder who makes up for her lack of height with effort and positioning. If Larkins plays the same heavy minutes again in this series, Connecticut will undoubtedly try to attack her and utilise their size advantage in the paint. But Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle had several inches on her as well, and couldn’t accomplish anything much once the Fever started using Larkins heavily inside. This could be where the series turns – Indiana need Larkins’s activity and rebounding on the floor, but if Connecticut can exploit her it could force Dunn to go bigger. Sutton-Brown or even Jessica Davenport may have to take up minutes at center to offer true size. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/30/2012: Sweeping into the Conference Finals

After holding serve in the opening games, two higher seeds had the chance to close out last night and maximise their rest before the Conference Finals. But with the 1-1-1 format the WNBA now uses, both would be trying to finish things on the road. The lower seeds were just trying to keep their seasons alive.

The action started in San Antonio, although thanks to a Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert at the AT&T Center, the Silver Stars and Sparks were playing next door at the Freeman Coliseum. Game 1 was tight and could’ve gone either way in the final minutes, so San Antonio would’ve been confident that they could extend the series against a team they beat three times in the regular season.

Both teams stuck with the same starting lineups, although Becky Hammon began the game defending DeLisha Milton-Jones rather than Alana Beard. Despite Milton-Jones having an even bigger size advantage, that had proven a much safer matchup for San Antonio in Game 1. It worked out fine, and Milton-Jones had a fairly quiet afternoon.

However, San Antonio still struggled to stop Los Angeles from scoring throughout the first half. LA were pushing the ball down the floor, looking for quick offense, and Candace Parker wasted no time in attacking Jayne Appel in the low post. They kept driving right around the edges of the San Antonio defense, and the help wasn’t there quickly enough to cut anything off. LA were already up 17-8 midway through the opening quarter, when Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes made his standard move to bring Danielle Adams and Jia Perkins off the bench.

While Adams and Perkins offered extra offensive options for San Antonio, they didn’t make much difference to the direction of the game. LA were still knocking down shots with ease, and finding too much space against the Silver Stars defense. San Antonio tried switching to zone, but LA were playing smartly enough to find the holes, or they had Kristi Toliver to just shoot over it. They even played heavy minutes with bench players Jenna O’Hea, Jantel Lavender and Marissa Coleman on the floor, and two regular starters were enough to help carry that group along. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/28/2012: Playoffs tip-off with a snoozer and a shootout

After a long wait, finally the real games are underway. Last night saw the start of the 2012 WNBA playoffs, and after all the hoopla and horrified reactions to the draft lottery the night before, it was nice to get back to basketball. Let the games begin.

The postseason opened in Connecticut, where the 25-9 Sun hosted a New York Liberty team that backed into the playoffs despite a 15-19 regular season record. While ‘full strength’ might have been an exaggeration, both teams had all 11 players on their rosters available. Asjha Jones was in her familiar spot as Connecticut’s starting power forward, despite still shaking off the rust from missing a month due to her achilles injury. New York had Essence Carson in the backcourt alongside Cappie Pondexter, having only been cleared to play that morning after the leg injury picked up late in Saturday’s final regular season game.

The opening quarter was a sign of things to come for the rest of the evening. Both teams were living almost exclusively off jump shots. There was very little penetration into the paint, and few attempts to post up. New York were missing constantly, with Pondexter and Nicole Powell the primary culprits, but everyone joining in on occasion. Their only real success was coming on the offensive glass, where at least an occasional putback created a few points. Connecticut, however, were moving the ball a little better, and finding players in better position to score. It wasn’t all about creating their own shots, and the shooters had more space and rhythm to knock down their shots. The Sun have faced this Liberty team often enough to know where the holes are in the ‘white line’ defense, and kick outs or reverse passes were finding open teammates. Plus they were simply shooting better as a team, as they’ve done all year. The Sun led 23-13 by the end of the first quarter, and they’d really done nothing special to get there.

After the Connecticut lead reached 14 early in the second quarter, New York head coach John Whisenant called a timeout. Out of that break, finally, the Liberty fed the post, and Kia Vaughn had an easy layup. The next time down, Plenette Pierson drove for another straightforward finish at the rim. Apparently, Whisenant had reminded his team that you’re allowed to score from inside 15 feet. They also received a nice little boost from backup wing Alex Montgomery, with a steal and a three, which matched the energy Connecticut had gained from Tan White late in the first quarter. But the Liberty were quickly back to gunning away from the perimeter, and swiftly returned to being outshot by the Sun. That Connecticut led only 41-34 at halftime was down to Powell finally draining a pair of threes, and Pondexter actually drawing a couple of fouls late in the half.

The Liberty ask a hell of a lot from Pondexter, and sometimes it’s too much. She’s often the one standing around dribbling while whatever set the Liberty are supposed to be running plays out in front of her. Then she either gives the ball up and watches one of her less talented teammates miss, or is left with limited time to make something happen before the shot clock expires. But she also created many of her own problems in this game. With Allison Hightower, Danielle McCray or Tan White chasing her around the floor, Pondexter constantly settled for pull-up jump shots, usually while under tight pressure. In fact, she didn’t have an official shot attempt actually at the rim all night long (there were one or two where she drove and drew fouls, meaning the miss didn’t make the stat-sheet). That’s a credit to Connecticut’s defense, but Cappie’s one of the best offensive talents in the women’s game. She’s supposed to be able to create practically any shot she wants, whenever she wants it. An endless stream of bricks from outside isn’t going to cut it. Continue reading →

WNBA 2012 Playoff Previews – Eastern Conference Semi-Finals: Connecticut Sun vs. New York Liberty

Connecticut Sun (#1 seed, 25-9) vs. New York Liberty (#4 seed, 15-19)

 

Regular season series: Connecticut 4-1

05/19 @NY: Sun 78-73

05/20 @Conn: Sun 92-77

06/15 @Conn: Sun 97-55

08/16 @NY: Liberty 79-66

08/18 @Conn: Sun 85-74

—–

On paper, this is the most one-sided matchup in the first round. Even more than Minnesota-Seattle in the West. Connecticut have been atop the Eastern Conference virtually all season long, and despite some injury issues still managed to win 8 of their final 11 games. Based on most of the advanced metrics, New York shouldn’t even be in the playoffs – they were behind the Chicago Sky in practically everything besides wins. So in looking at this series, you almost inevitably find yourself searching for places to offer hope for New York. Because on the face of it, this should be a blow out.

One potential positive for the Liberty is that Connecticut have some injury issues where you’d expect to find their advantage – in the post. Asjha Jones has only played twice since the Olympics due to an achilles injury, and while she looked pretty good in those two brief appearances, she may not be ready to produce at her previous levels. Tina Charles only took one game off to rest multiple niggling injuries, and has otherwise continued to play through any discomfort. The Liberty post corps of Plenette Pierson, Kara Braxton, Kia Vaughn and DeMya Walker is going to have to fight hard and make it a physical contest with Jones and Charles, because based on consistent level of performance this season they’re outmatched. Charles is a legitimate MVP contender, a skilled finisher inside with range out to 18-feet, and she constantly piles up rebounds. Jones has built up a nice chemistry with Charles over the last few years, and they work well together. Jones gives them an extra scoring threat who can stretch the defense, and as long as she’s fully recovered a more mobile defender than backup Mistie Mims. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/23/2012 & 09/24/2012: Final weekend wraps up regular season

You can look at this article two ways. Either it’s a bumper edition to celebrate the conclusion to the 2012 WNBA season, covering a whole weekend of action all in one go. Or the games were so meaningless and such a constant procession of tedious basketball that I’m getting them all out of the way in the most expedient way possible. It depends on whether you’re a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty kind of person. Either way, below you’ll find (mercifully brief) coverage of all six games played on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, bringing the regular season to a close.

Check back over the next few days for WNBAlien’s postseason awards, and in-depth previews of all four first-round playoff series. Plus, of course, there’ll be the usual analysis of every playoff game once the postseason begins on Thursday night, right through to the WNBA Finals.

 

Tulsa Shock 74 @ New York Liberty 91

  • Plenette Pierson was back in New York’s starting lineup, after the one-game absence where she was replaced by DeMya Walker. The Liberty’s crack broadcasting crew provided no information on why she was benched, or showed any awareness that it had even occurred. Tulsa were unchanged again.
  • Based on their rotation, New York took this game surprisingly seriously. Head coach John Whisenant was essentially treating it like any other regular season game. Based on how they played for most of the first half, the players couldn’t have cared less. Their rotations were slow, they were beaten down the floor in transition, and the offense looked half-hearted. Tulsa were both 7-15 from three-point range in the first half, and leading in points in the paint. The Shock led 50-40 at halftime, but New York’s performance barely merited even that.
  • And then in the second half, the Liberty decided to play. There was much better defensive pressure on the ball, that led to some transition opportunities, and finally they were awake. New York also showed more willingness to play inside-out in this game than we’ve seen in several recent contests. They were channeling some offense through Pierson and Kia Vaughn, rather than constantly relying on Cappie Pondexter and Essence Carson to do everything from the perimeter. They won’t have a prayer against Connecticut in the first round without at least making the Sun’s posts work on the defensive end, so that needs to continue next week. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/20/2012: Injury question marks linger as Eastern leaders complete season series

Just one WNBA game last night, and sadly it would’ve been a lot more interesting if it had taken place a few weeks earlier. It was the final clash of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, and the first time Connecticut and Indiana had faced each other since June. However, at this stage, the game meant virtually nothing. The teams were already locked in as the #1 and #2 seeds respectively in the East, so the only thing left to play for was home-court advantage against certain Western opponents in theoretical WNBA Finals matchups next month. Plus any small mental edge a win over your closest Eastern rival might create.

Indiana were the more cautious team, although they probably didn’t have much choice. The starting Fever backcourt of Briann January and Shavonte Zellous both took hard knocks in their previous game against Minnesota, and had gone home to rest and be assessed for concussion symptoms. Hopefully that’s precautionary, and they’ll both be available for the playoffs. Erin Phillips and Jeanette Pohlen moved into the starting lineup. Connecticut had Danielle McCray missing due to a sprained MCL, but continued to use even some banged up players, with both Tina Charles (groin) and Allison Hightower (wrist) playing through pain. They also had Asjha Jones back from her achilles injury and ready to play for the first time since the Olympics, although Mistie Mims continued to start at power forward.

While there was some limiting of minutes as the night wore on, especially by the Fever, neither team seemed to hide any quirks of their systems for a potential Eastern Conference Finals. Presumably they feel like they know each other so well by this point that there’s little point in keeping things under wraps. Rather than staying pure vanilla, both team used multiple defenses within the first quarter. Indiana opened in their standard man-to-man, switching constantly, and including the baseline double-teams which Tina Charles would have to deal with throughout a playoff series. Then we saw their 2-3 zone, which is flexible enough to sometimes look like a 3-2, when one corner defender rotates up high enough to challenge on the wing. Connecticut had their base man-to-man (which tries not to switch as often as Indiana’s), but also showed their bizarrely flexible defense where everyone seems to float, which is hard to define as a man-to-man or zone. They’ve used that mostly when going small with McCray at power forward in previous games, but tried it with standard lineups against Indiana. Both teams spent a lot of time in basic 2-3 zones as the night wore on, saving energy and keeping things simple. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/17/2012: Sunday, bloody awful Sunday

Welcome to the new, little-publicised WNBA event: Unwatchable Sundays! Oh alright, that’s a touch harsh. We had an impressive upset to start, and an exciting finish to close, but wow was there a load of dross in the middle. The 2012 WNBA regular season isn’t so much limping to its conclusion as it’s crawling there on its hands and knees, begging for mercy. The playoffs are now only 10 days away, thankfully.

 

Tulsa Shock 80 @ San Antonio Silver Stars 70

  • San Antonio came into this game with lingering hopes of catching the Los Angeles Sparks for 2nd spot in the West and home court advantage in the first-round (although those hopes have been fading since LA started winning a few games). Tulsa have been playing for nothing but pride for quite some time now, but some decent performances have illustrated that they’re still fighting for wins, not ping-pong balls.
  • The central issue in this game all afternoon came down to our old favourite cliché: “it’s a make or miss league”. Tulsa shot well from outside, racking up threes consistently; San Antonio fired away just as often, and kept missing. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.
  • I had the benefit of watching this game via archive rather than live, so having already seen the boxscore and noticed the significant discrepancy in three-point shooting, I kept a close eye on that aspect of the game. There really wasn’t one particular way that Tulsa created their three-point shots. There were a few on drive-and-kicks, which you’re always going to give up occasionally in San Antonio’s typical defensive schemes, where the wing defender is expected to shade in and help protect the lane if necessary. There were a few where defenders went under ball-screens, and the Tulsa shooter simply fired away with the space that created (arguably preventable by the defense if the post shows harder or if you fight over the screen, but they were hardly major breakdowns). And there were a couple which just came off solid ball movement or players moving well off the ball and finding space. There wasn’t one horrible, noticeable failing in the Silver Stars’ defense. They just got lit up.
  • Although this game did send me off looking for team stats on opponents’ three-point shooting percentage, and San Antonio are the worst team in the league in that category. So maybe there is a more systemic issue – all the help necessary to contain opponents in the paint and somewhat fix their rebounding issues may have led to too much room on the perimeter. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/15/2012: Two potential Finals previews, two mismatches, and one running (unfunny) joke

There were five WNBA games last night, but we’re going to split them into three very distinct categories. Firstly, there were two matchups that could’ve been previews of the WNBA Finals coming up in October. Then we’ve got two games which were won by playoff teams against squads that were either seriously understrength or just aren’t very good. Then there’s a final game which I refuse to waste more than a few words on seeing as one franchise is taking the concept of quitting on a season to a whole new level. As you might expect, the level of detail in the coverage is going to decrease significantly as we progress through this column.

 

Minnesota Lynx 66 @ Indiana Fever 64

  • For the third straight game, Minnesota were without star shooting guard Seimone Augustus due to a sprained right foot. It still seems like a precaution more than anything to worry about. The Lynx have virtually everything sealed up in terms of home-court advantage, so there’s no need to rush her back. Monica Wright once again deputised, while Indiana had their regular starting unit in place.
  • Indiana have been rolling lately, winning 10 of 12 since the Olympic break, but they’ve beaten a lot of poor teams or sides mired in losing streaks over that stretch. This was a chance to really test themselves against one of the best. The opening minutes didn’t look good, as jump shot after jump shot clanked off the iron for the Fever, and even on rare drives they were failing to convert. Point guard Briann January attacking Lindsay Whalen was the only option offering any success.
  • Meanwhile, Minnesota started quickly behind transition baskets and Rebekkah Brunson’s mid-range jumper. This was the first time we’d seen Indiana face the Lynx since Tamika Catchings’s full-time move to power forward, which created a direct matchup between her and Brunson. Each obviously creates problems for the other – Catchings has perimeter skills that make it hard for Brunson to cover her; Brunson is a bruiser inside and frequently a demon on the boards. Early on Brunson had the edge.
  • Indiana finally started to make some shots as the opening quarter progressed, with January and Catchings both connecting from outside. Katie Douglas was still ice cold, which allowed Minnesota to maintain their lead. Once again, this has become the fear for Indiana – if their shooters go cold for a night from outside, can they create enough offense via any other route to survive?
  • The defenses were active and dangerous for both teams, but Indiana’s continued to break down slightly more frequently as the first half progressed. They were switching constantly, but also pushing into passing lanes and trying to cut off entry passes. A team like Minnesota was smart enough to use that against them, and reverse passes or backdoor cuts found gaps behind the Fever defense on several occasions. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/13/2012: Four blowouts and a windbag

It’s fair to say that last night was not exactly an evening of WNBA basketball for the ages. Four games, all ending in double-digit margins, three of them featuring teams who would love the 2012 season to just end. While the fourth game involved a team missing its entire starting backcourt. It was a night of blowouts and minimal excitement, and Carolyn Peck. Yeah, if you missed it, I wouldn’t worry too much.

 

Washington Mystics 62 @ New York Liberty 75

  • This game was yet another repeat of countless other Mystic appearances over the last couple of years – enough fight in them to make it competitive for a while, but not enough quality or composure to play a full 40 minutes.
  • For the first three quarters, Washington were in this. They spent most of the first half trailing by 5 or 6 points, with Cappie Pondexter dominating the ball even more than usual for the Liberty. Monique Currie was aggressive going to the rim, constantly creating layups or free throws, and Noelle Quinn hit a couple of shots from outside. Against a New York team that looked a little anxious, and was sometimes playing too quickly for their own good, that was enough to be within 37-34 at halftime.
  • It was still all Currie for Washington in the third quarter – by the end of 30 minutes she had 22 points with only one bucket that wasn’t either at the rim or from the foul line. Fortunately for New York, Currie’s opponent at small forward – Nicole Powell – was having one of her rare effective scoring nights, with 15 points of her own on a perfect 5-5 from the floor. Considering Pondexter was receiving little help from anywhere else, it was a good thing for New York that Powell’s offense had decided to show up for once.
  • In fact, the recent additions to New York’s starting lineup – Essence Carson and Kara Braxton – who’d been moved into the starting unit precisely to provide more offense, were benched for virtually the entire fourth quarter. Braxton played less than 9 minutes all night. Instead, it was Leilani Mitchell and Kia Vaughn given the opportunity to help New York home.
  • And despite a 55-55 tie heading into the fourth quarter, it was ultimately very comfortable for the Liberty. Vaughn kept knocking down her mid-range jumper (and the Mystics kept leaving her wide open to take it), Plenette Pierson was linking up with Pondexter and sliding to the rim to finish (Washington struggled to cover the pick-and-roll and slip-screens all night long), and that was enough. Currie cooled off in the fourth quarter, and no one else could buy a basket for the Mystics. That was it. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/10/2012: Sunday afternoon’s for basketball too

Paying no heed to the opening Sunday of the NFL season, there were five WNBA games on the slate yesterday. But we’ll get to those in a moment – unusually, there’s been some moderately worthwhile news emerging from our league over the last 24 hours.

Firstly, as announced by Cindy Brunson at the WNBA’s Inspiring Women Luncheon (and then first reported by Mel Greenberg via @womhoopsguru), the WNBA draft lottery will be televised by ESPN for the first time on September 26th. That’s much earlier than they’ve held the lottery before, but it should help build some buzz for the league heading into the playoffs. The extra interest this year obviously surrounds the 2013 graduating class that’s led by Baylor center Brittney Griner, with Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins considered pretty nice consolation prizes. It’s good to see both the League and ESPN showing that they’re invested in coming up with new ways to draw people into the WNBA, and get them talking about its potential.

The WNBA also announced today that they’re bringing back the concept of involving fans in the Most Valuable Player Award voting. It’s something they tried in 2008 when Candace Parker won the award, but there’s been a little more thought (and significantly more sense) put into the idea this time. Four years ago the fan voting was weighted as 25% of the overall vote, with the media balloting accounting for the remaining 75%. This time, the entire fan vote will count equal to one media member, with the results sliding in alongside the 41 individual voters. So rather than 25%, the fans’ opinions will be worth about 2.4% this time around. That’s a much better idea, if they really want to give the great unwashed a hand in the MVP award. Many of the media who are given a voice may not actually watch enough games for my taste, but the MVP shouldn’t be allowed to become just a popularity contest. Even I will take the media over the general populace in a vote like this. If you want to join in, you can vote daily here.

In less pleasing news for the WNBA, Mechelle Voepel at ESPN.com published a piece last night revealing that Kayla Pedersen and Temeka Johnson have both missed games recently due to yet another staph infection hitting the Tulsa Shock. It’s the third time in three years that Tulsa players have suffered from staph issues, and it’s not something that paints the franchise or the league in a nice light. It’s also slightly disappointing in the way it highlights the obvious lies that get spouted by teams and the league in relation to injuries. Pedersen was out with ‘flu-like symptoms’, and then just out with no explanation; Johnson had an ‘ankle/abdominal injury’. All of that might be true, but it’s also obviously an attempt to fudge reality.

While Voepel was revealing that unsavoury news on ESPN’s online portal, the TV branch was messing around with their schedules. In case you were expecting to see the Seattle @ Indiana game on ESPN2 on Wednesday night, be aware that you’ll now need either NBA TV or LiveAccess to see that game. Instead, ESPN2 will now be showing the far less interesting Connecticut @ Phoenix game several hours later. The Sun have also already stated that star center Tina Charles will be staying home from that game to rest hip and groin injuries, and recover from general fatigue.

And having got all that out of the way, let’s take a look at the basketball that was actually played yesterday.

 

Minnesota Lynx 81 @ San Antonio Silver Stars 62

  • While San Antonio are back in one piece after center Jayne Appel returned on Friday, Minnesota began this game with star guard and leading scorer Seimone Augustus in street clothes. She was out due to a sprained foot suffered against Atlanta a couple of days ago (although she had been ready to go back into that game, so it’s unlikely that it’s particularly serious). Monica Wright replaced her in the starting lineup. Continue reading →