Tag Archives: Los Angeles Sparks

WNBA Today, 05/27/2012: Mercury downed in the desert, and the D.C. Debacle

Regular readers will have picked up that we typically look at the previous day’s games in chronological order. If you tipped off first, you go first in the column, unless there’s a very good reason. Well guess what, last night’s exploits count as a damn good reason. The abominable excuse for a basketball game that was Washington’s encounter with Tulsa is relegated to the end of this piece; LA’s trip to Phoenix is promoted by default.

Despite the athleticism of LA’s stars and the typical entertainment value provided by the Mercury’s offense, it was an oddly uninvolving and unexciting first half in the desert. So we’ll skim over most of it. Both teams stuck with the same starters they’d used in their previous games, Diana Taurasi in the lineup again despite playing very limited minutes against Tulsa due to her hip injury. LA still haven’t done anything about the lack of depth caused by the injuries to Sharnee Zoll and Nicky Anosike.

There wasn’t much pace to the game, despite how Phoenix like to play and LA’s athletes. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/25/2012: Sparks ask questions, Lynx provide answers

Just the one game in the WNBA last night, but it was a fascinating clash between a reigning powerhouse and a fresh new challenger looking to prove themselves. Of course, the bizarre thing is that it’s the Minnesota Lynx who now sit on top of the pile with a target on their backs, while the Los Angeles Sparks are trying to knock them off their perch. This is not your mother’s WNBA.

Both teams started as expected, Minnesota with their standard five and LA with Kristi Toliver keeping her spot in the backcourt. Center Nicky Anosike remains unavailable due to a knee injury for LA, and with Sharnee Zoll done for the season they’re currently working with only nine healthy players. Minnesota are at ten with Amber Harris still nursing an ankle sprain.

The opening stages were about what you’d expect, with the Lynx playing their typical efficient game and the Sparks riding Candace Parker for all she was worth. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 05/24/2012: Are You Worried Yet?

I hate overreacting to early season results. Plenty of teams start off slowly and gain steam, and in a competition where a ridiculous two-thirds of the league makes the playoffs, finishing well in September can mean a lot more than starting hot in May. But barely a week into the WNBA regular season, some fans in Seattle and New York are showing signs of panic. And if you’ve watched their performances so far, frankly it’s not hard to understand why.

The Liberty faced Minnesota on Tuesday night, in their second ‘home opener’ (their first home game was shifted back to Madison Square Garden due to scheduling conflicts, so this was the first 2012 game in Jersey at the Prudential Center). For the few fans that showed up – and we’re talking a Mystics-sized crowd – it wasn’t pretty. Last year’s champs toyed with them for a while, batting them around like a kitten trying to decide what to do with a tasty little morsel it’d found in the garden, before pouncing to finish them off. The 80-62 final scoreline didn’t accurately represent how close the score had been through much of the game, but it was a fair reflection of the gap between the performances.

Now I was the one cautioning New York fans against panicking following their 0-2 start in back-to-back openers against Connecticut. And I hold to my basic view from the weekend – there’s talent on this roster, and I think they’ll win some games. But my definition of ‘some’ is starting to trend downwards. 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: Los Angeles Sparks

PG: Sharnee Zoll

SG: Alana Beard/Kristi Toliver/April Sykes

SF: DeLisha Milton-Jones/Marissa Coleman

PF: Candace Parker/Nneka Ogwumike/Ebony Hoffman

C: Nicky Anosike/Jantel Lavender

Significant additions: Carol Ross (new head coach, formerly an assistant with Atlanta), Ogwumike (college draft), Beard (free agency from Washington), Coleman (trade from Washington), Anosike (trade from Washington), Zoll (free agency after being out of the league), Sykes (college draft)

Significant losses: Ticha Penicheiro (free agency to Chicago), Tina Thompson (free agency to Seattle), Noelle Quinn (trade with Washington), Jenna O’Hea (with Australian National Team preparing for the Olympics), Natasha Lacy (trade with Washington), LaToya Pringle (trade with Washington)

—–

After several years of mediocrity and inconsistency, the very least we can say about the Sparks heading into 2012 is that they’re interesting. There are so many questions, sub-plots and unknowns surrounding this team that it’s going to be fascinating to see how it all works out. If new head coach Carol Ross can pull all the pieces together, and they stay largely healthy throughout the year, they have the potential to be a powerful and dangerous group. However, even the most devoted Sparks fan has to admit, there’s also the potential here for everything to come crumbling down around them. Continue reading →

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Los Angeles Sparks

Current roster certainties and virtual certainties:

PG: Sharnee Zoll

SG: Alana Beard/Kristi Toliver

SF: DeLisha Milton-Jones/Marissa Coleman

PF: Candace Parker/Nneka Ogwumike/Ebony Hoffman

C: Nicky Anosike/Jantel Lavender

Fighting for the final roster spot: Ashley Shields, Khadijah Rushdan, Tyra White, Darxia Morris, anyone another team cuts who can vaguely play the point

———-

New coach, several new players, and hopefully for Sparks fans, the start of a new era in LA. The combined shambles under Jen Gillom and Joe Bryant last season has been consigned to history, and the reins have been handed over to former Atlanta assistant Carol Ross. As a nice little bonus for Ross, the Sparks beat the odds and ended up with the #1 pick in what most people saw as a one-player draft (at least they did once Griner, Delle Donne and Diggins chose to stay in school). That allowed LA to add Stanford’s Nneka Ogwumike, an extremely talented forward who should be able to help immediately. Eventually, they also accomplished the important task of re-signing centerpiece star Candace Parker to a new contract. Continue reading →

Grading the Trade: On a Wing and a Prayer

The Los Angeles Sparks trade Noelle Quinn to the Washington Mystics for Marissa Coleman.

The first move of the WNBA free agency signing period turned out to be a trade that would’ve been perfectly legal back before free agency started. LA and Washington decided that their underperforming backup wings might do better if they swapped them around, so Noelle Quinn and Marissa Coleman both face a change of scenery next season. Given how they played in 2011, it probably can’t hurt.

Continue reading →

WNBA Free Agency List & Analysis: Los Angeles Sparks

Unrestricted Free Agents: Ticha Penicheiro, Tina Thompson

Restricted Free Agents: Candace Parker

Reserved: Natasha Lacy, Jenna O’Hea, LaToya Pringle

As with Chicago, LA’s biggest piece shouldn’t be too complicated. Parker gets the max for as many years as she’s willing to sign for (the maximum is four years when re-signing or extending your own players, three years otherwise). She’s not going anywhere.

The golden oldies are interesting cases. Ticha Penicheiro has only been signing one-year deals for ages now, so she’s a free agent yet again. The legs might not go quite as fast as they used to, and her scoring remains virtually non-existent, but there are still plenty of teams who’d love to have a point guard like her who knows how to run a team. Given that they still haven’t found her successor (Kristi Toliver, Noelle Quinn and Natasha Lacy all seem better off as wings), that list of teams who’d love to have her still includes LA. Seeing as Penicheiro still hasn’t played a single WNBA season outside of California, they’re probably favourites to re-sign her, but they’ll have competition. Tina Thompson has looked disgruntled and miserable for much of the last couple of years in LA, and had an ugly 2011 season. With plenty of other options at power forward, and the #1 pick in the draft (expected to be yet another 4 in Nneka Ogwumike, unless someone unexpected declares), the Sparks don’t really need her any more. There’s always the chance that she’ll retire, and her legacy might earn her another year or two in LA from mercurial GM Penny Toler, but part of me wouldn’t be surprised if Thompson’s playing somewhere else in 2012. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/10/2011: Liberty keep Sunday interesting and assorted other contests

Before the excitement of the Western Conference home court decider between Phoenix and Seattle last night, the East had some fun of its own. Considering I’ve already printed the resulting playoff scenarios, I’m sure you already know the result of Indiana’s trip to New York. But after covering every single game of the WNBA regular season for its first 97 days, I’m certainly not going to skip any with only three days remaining. Which means you not only get the Fever’s clash with the Liberty in this piece, but the three completely meaningless games that have also taken place over the last couple of days. If nothing else, I’m at least a completist.

Indiana seemed primed for New York to take advantage of last night. The Fever had nothing to play for, having sealed the #1 seed in the East days earlier. They’d lost their starting point guard to a nasty-looking ankle sprain in their last game (that’s the second starting point guard, after the first one blew out her knee a couple of months ago). They had no real reason to care about this game. New York, on the other hand, still had plenty to fight for. Opening the game in fourth place in the East thanks to Atlanta’s recent winning habit, two wins in their last two games had the potential to bump the Liberty as high as 2nd in the conference. That would obviously come with the added bonus of home court advantage in the first round, and after a slow start in their new home out in Jersey, the Liberty have settled in and entered this game 11-5 at the Prudential Center. After spending practically all year chasing after Indiana and Connecticut in the standings, sneaking into second on the final day of the regular season would be a nice bonus heading into the playoffs.

Third-string point guard Shannon Bobbitt took Phillips’s place at the point for Indiana – Phillips is expected to be ready for the playoffs, but there’s no point risking that ankle until then. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/07/2011: Becky’s a beast; Indiana seal the East

It’s about time the playoff picture in the WNBA was given at least a little clarity. Last night, San Antonio had the chance to complete the final eight, by mathematically eliminating Los Angeles with a win on the Sparks’ own floor. Tonight, Indiana had the chance to seal the #1 seed in the East with a win over basement-dwellers Washington. At least then the maths would become slightly easier.

San Antonio went into last night’s matchup with a two-game edge on Los Angeles. An LA win would’ve tied the season-series between the teams, and given the Sparks the edge in the next tie-breaker (conference record). They’d still have needed the Silver Stars to slip up in one of their remaining games against Washington and Tulsa, but it would’ve piled the pressure on San Antonio. However, the Silver Stars had actually produced a couple of decent performances in the last week, achieving comfortable wins over Connecticut and Phoenix before falling to Seattle. LA, on the other hand, had lost three of their last four and were still playing defense that could’ve been generously described as ‘rubbish’. San Antonio must’ve arrived at Staples Center feeling they had every chance to cement their postseason spot.

The expected starting fives opened the game, which meant Kristi Toliver remained at shooting guard for LA, and the 5’8” Jia Perkins at pseudo-small forward for San Antonio. With Tina Thompson, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker out there as LA’s frontcourt, Perkins had to guard one of them, and the Sparks were noticeably trying to take advantage of that mismatch in the early stages. It was usually Thompson that they were trying to force-feed, and she’s at least four inches taller than Perkins, but as Jia showed in battling Swin Cash last week she’ll put up a fight against anyone. The first time LA tried it, the possession blew up in their face when Perkins tipped the ball and created a turnover; the second time Thompson had an easy finish. Of course, the opposite side of the coin was that Thompson had to chase Perkins around at the other end, which was never likely to turn out well. Perkins nailed a three in the early going, and she was wide open when she took it.

Continue reading →