Tag Archives: New York Liberty

WNBA Today, 08/09/2011: Sextuple Tuesday

Yes, six games tonight in the WNBA, as every team in the league takes to the floor. In honour of that (and the fact that there were no games yesterday), WNBAlien brings you some game notes and things to watch out for in all six contests.


Atlanta @ Washington, 7pm ET (ESPN3 in the US, LiveAccess in most other places)

This one could actually be pretty interesting. The Mystics have played some decent stuff lately, finally grabbing their fourth win of the year against New York on Saturday. They also keep claiming that they’re still chasing a playoff spot, and if they honestly believe that then this is one of the games that they have to win – Chicago and Atlanta are the obvious suspects to track down if they were to somehow pull it off.

Crystal Langhorne and Matee Ajavon have been carrying Washington of late, Ajavon especially exploding against New York, but they may struggle against Atlanta’s weapons. The Dream can match up with the Mystics’ speed, although after Armintie Price hurt her ankle in the last game they might be without the most natural option to guard Ajavon. An increasingly healthy Sancho Lyttle could make things difficult for Langhorne inside, but when she’s in the mood Lang can score against anybody. On the opposite side of the ball, Marissa Coleman’s defense may be improved from what it once was, but it’s still hard to see how she’ll keep up with Angel McCoughtry. The Mystics defense will have to be alive and offer Coleman a lot of help to keep McCoughtry quiet.

After two disappointing losses, Atlanta creamed Seattle on Sunday afternoon, and will be looking to carry that momentum on into this game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/07/2011: It’s a Kind of Magic

Two games in the WNBA on Saturday, one East, one West, and each featuring the worst team in the respective conference. So it was another night of blowouts and garbage time, right? Not so fast.

The Washington Mystics have been playing slightly better basketball lately. They’d lost nine of their last ten and sported a hideous 3-14 overall record coming into this game, but they keep coming close. In fact, their last four games were lost by seven, six, four and two points, in that order. Keep up the pattern, and barring an even more excruciating one-point loss, they had to finally win this one. New York broke their own pattern on Thursday, finally winning two games in a row for the first time in weeks. But they managed it by beating Chicago in one of the more hideous games the WNBA has seen in recent times, so we’re trying to forget that one.

Recent Liberty addition Kara Braxton was yet to join the team, although Sidney Spencer has already made her way to Phoenix, so New York were down to ten for this game. Washington’s injury issues are still the same – no Beard, no Currie. The first quarter set the scene for most of what was to follow – in other words, it belonged to Matee Ajavon. Continue reading →

WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade: Braxton moving again

For the second year in a row, Kara Braxton has found herself packing her bags just before the WNBA trade deadline. Less than 12 months ago she was brought in by Phoenix in the hope that she’d be the necessary final piece to win another championship, at the expense of a first-round draft pick. This time, they’ve given her away for the very last player on the end of the New York Liberty bench. What a difference a year makes.

Braxton is an enormously frustrating player. For someone with such a huge frame, she actually moves fairly well in the paint (although often not from one end of the floor to the other). She can be an efficient scorer inside, she’s got some range, and she’s not afraid to use that big body to fight it out for rebounds. But it comes at a price. While she’s been better in recent years, she was well known in her Detroit years for boneheaded errors that cost her team points, possessions and momentum. At times, she’s a turnover waiting to happen. It’s only so annoying because you can see frequent flashes of just how gifted she is, which makes the mistakes all the more disappointing. And that’s just the negatives on the floor.

Braxton missed Tuesday’s game in Minnesota due to a one-game suspension for ‘conduct detrimental to the team’. Exactly what that was still remains a matter of speculation, but some reports suggest she ‘mouthed off’ to head coach Corey Gaines. Reportedly she wasn’t at practice on Thursday, but there was no information as to whether she just didn’t show up, or if the team told her to stay away. It’s far from the first time that Braxton has had behavioural issues. She was thrown off the team at the University of Georgia after multiple suspensions for conduct issues. She’s been suspended twice in the WNBA, for a total of eight games, for DUI convictions. It’s left her with a reputation as something of a malcontent and headcase which can hardly be considered undeserved, and makes the recent events in Phoenix unsurprising. But they knew all this coming in. The Mercury traded for her despite all the baggage, considered her worth a draft pick that they knew was going to be mid-first round (eventually 7th overall, which became Kayla Pedersen), and then gave her a max-level contract extension through 2012. Either Corey Gaines’s skin has grown awfully thin, or there was more to this than a little mouthing off. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/04/2011: Hey kids, they’re not all like this, I promise

Double the fun in today’s column, as we tackle WNBA games from both yesterday and today. Camp day games on both coasts provided afternoon action over the last couple of days, and this piece will cover both of them. This evening’s battle between the top two in the West, San Antonio and Minnesota, is being saved for tomorrow’s piece.

Today also finally brought us a trade, with Phoenix’s Kara Braxton and New York’s Sidney Spencer swapping teams. Check back in a couple of hours for a WNBAlien Grading the Trade special on that transaction.

—–

Yesterday lunchtime in Los Angeles, thousands of screaming kids descended on Staples Center to see the Sparks face the Connecticut Sun. Having lost five of their last six games, the sole victory being over an equally dreadful Chicago club, LA must’ve been hoping to draw some inspiration from their young, enthusiastic fans. The only other source of hope was Connecticut’s frequently poor form on the road, but recent wins in New York and Chicago have suggested they might be improving in that area. Overall, the Sun had won five of their last six games coming in and will have fancied their chances against a Sparks side that have looked shambolic in recent weeks.

Despite the run of terrible performances and constant need to find help off his bench, LA coach Joe Bryant stuck with the same starting five that have opened every game since he took over. Loyalty is a nice thing to see in a coach, but sometimes it can go too far. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/03/2011: With a Rebel Yell…

Those of you who hang around certain online portals for WNBA arguing – also known as message boards – may well have read my bitching about this year’s WNBA national TV schedule before the season even began. I had one central complaint. The game of women’s basketball doesn’t have many stars. Not true stars that are known by an average sportsfan, rather than someone who specifically follows the women’s game. Over four years at the University of Connecticut, Maya Moore became one of those rare crossover personalities. Your average American man in the street, who watches the NFL, NBA, some MLB and gets into the NCAA during March Madness actually knew who she was. Even Bill Simmons gave her some credit in his columns and podcasts during the NCAA tournament of her senior year.

So when the Minnesota Lynx won the lottery, and everyone in the World knew they’d be taking Maya, it would’ve made sense to put the Lynx on ABC or ESPN as soon as possible, right? Carry the fans over, pull in people who remember her from UConn and see if you can draw people to the pro game via your shiny new star. Apparently not. The national TV schedule came out, and the Lynx appeared once. And not only was there just a single appearance, we were going to have to wait until August for that game to take place. Sportsfans have short memories – you’re not going to create much carry-over attention when Moore hasn’t been in the public consciousness for over four months. Stupid. Anyway, last night Maya Moore finally made her debut on national television in a Lynx jersey. Surprise, surprise, it seems like she enjoys the spotlight. If only this game had taken place months ago.

Of course the night wasn’t just about Moore. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/31/2011: Are they still zebras if they don’t wear stripes?

Don’t you hate when it’s impossible to discuss a basketball game without talking about the officials? I try to leave them alone whenever possible, because I fully accept that it’s a damn hard job, and that even when you do it well no one gives you any credit. Refereeing any basketball game is difficult; officiating at the professional level is exponentially harder because of the increase in speed and physicality. But I’m sorry, you just can’t fully discuss Saturday’s games without mentioning the zebras (I know they don’t wear stripes in this league. Tough. I like the nickname). Well you can’t fully discuss two of the games, anyway. As ever, Tulsa contests could be refereed by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Little Mermaid without much difference to the outcome.

The first game of the night was in New York, where Phoenix were the visitors. We probably could’ve guessed that this would be a tough game to marshal. After forcing a trade to New York prior to the 2010 season, Cappie Pondexter’s matchups with her former team have been a little spicy to say the least. She was thrown out of the first encounter last season for her part in a fracas, and then channelled her energy more positively to shoot the Merc off the floor in the second meeting. Beyond the history with Pondexter, Mercury games frequently end up chippy. Diana Taurasi and head coach Corey Gaines both bitch about every call, and Taurasi constantly creates contact at both ends of the floor. It can’t be fun for the refs. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/29/2011: Ever decreasing circles, WNBA-style

Five games yesterday in the WNBA, and there were fewer points scored in each contest as we went along. It’s a good thing there weren’t any more games or we might’ve ended up with a soccer score. With so many games I’ll be keeping it reasonably brief today – or at least brief by my standards – so let’s get underway. (Editor’s note (yes that’s me as well, humour me): I intended to keep it brief. Level of success is questionable.)

Camp day for San Antonio meant Phoenix were tipping off at 9.30am as far as their fans back home were concerned. Players don’t tend to enjoy these extremely early starts either. The Mercury at least had the benefit of facing the Silver Stars without Danielle Adams, who was in a walking boot and using a crutch after her right toe injury suffered in the Tuesday’s game. Considering she put up 16 and 22 points in the two previous games between these sides this season, that should’ve been a significant bonus for Phoenix.

The Mercury played the first quarter like they still wanted to be in bed. Too many sloppy turnovers and defense that was leaving perimeter scorers like Becky Hammon far too open. San Antonio happily took advantage, Hammon had 13 by the end of the first and Diana Taurasi capped off a grumpy opening period with her fifth technical foul of the season (remember, numbers seven, nine, eleven etc. carry one-game suspensions). Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/24/2011: Where Trade Winds Might Blow, Eastern Edition

I’m intending to write another installment of ‘Your WNBA Questions Answered’ soon, so send in your queries about anything relating to the league via email, twitter, comments at the end of this piece or anywhere else you can get ahold of me. The first edition was here, if you want some idea of what sort of issues I tackled last time around. Anything about the league or the women’s game is welcome.

—————

Okay, so the first half of the WNBA season is over, the All-Star game is done and dusted, and there aren’t any games until Tuesday. Also, while contracts may have just become guaranteed, we still have three weeks to go until the trading deadline. Those who’ve followed the WNBA in previous seasons will know that this doesn’t exactly tend to herald a hive of activity around the league. The biggest move last year was the trade that sent Kara Braxton to Phoenix, helping them reach the Western Conference Finals only to get swept by Seattle. Which is probably exactly what they’d have achieved if they hadn’t traded for Kara Braxton. The year before, a Tamera Young/Armintie Price swap was the highlight. We have to go back to 2008 and Detroit’s move for Taj McWilliams-Franklin to find a deadline-week move that had a legitimate effect on the destination of the championship, but that trade at least illustrates that they can happen.

So I thought I’d utilise this brief pause in the season to take a look at what teams need, what they have to offer, and who might be most active in calling around for an extra piece over the next few weeks. There isn’t a single team in the league without any holes, so you never know what might happen. Eastern Conference teams today, Western Conference tomorrow, tackling the teams in order of the current standings (just as a break from my typical alphabetical order). Feel free to comment in the space below the article if you’ve got any better ideas – some of the WNBA’s GMs could use all the help they can get.

 

Indiana

The most obvious place that the Fever might be looking for help is at point guard. With Briann January out for the season after her ACL tear, they’ve been using backups Erin Phillips and Shannon Bobbitt for the last few weeks. Phillips has gotten most of the minutes, and has been doing a pretty decent job. Her shooting’s been markedly better than January’s, and her turnovers are significantly lower, but her assists are far lower than January’s as well. Even taking just her games as the starting point guard, Phillips is only at 3.4 assists per game. She isn’t a natural point, and she isn’t as comfortable in the offense as January was. Katie Douglas, who was shooting the lights out early in the year, has dropped off noticeably since Phillips replaced January, and that’s not a coincidence. Douglas has to create more herself now, and there are fewer easy shots available for her. Still, Phillips makes up for a lot of that with her own shooting.

The fact is that Indy are unlikely to find an upgrade on Phillips on the open market. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/20/2011: Keeping the Dream alive, and other WNBA stories

Three games yesterday in the WNBA, and we’re back to more camp days so they were scattered throughout the afternoon and evening. Doesn’t this league realise that it disrupts my whole pattern when they play games so early? Frankly I think that packing arenas with thousands of screaming kids should come a distant second to pleasing me, but apparently the WNBA disagrees.

Forced to drag themselves out of bed for an early tip yesterday were Atlanta, coming off the back of their fourth win of the season on Saturday against Chicago, and their visitors Indiana. The Fever had lost two in a row after their seven-game win streak came to an end, so whether they were playing at 2 in the afternoon or 3 in the morning, they would’ve been keen to get back to winning ways.

Indiana head coach Lin Dunn made a couple of switches to her starting lineup in the hope of bringing some fresh energy to her group, inserting guard Shavonte Zellous for ‘power’ forward Tangela Smith, which in effect moves Tamika Catchings to the four in place of Smith. She also re-benched center Jessica Davenport for Tammy Sutton-Brown. Both were interesting changes to make against Atlanta especially. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 07/18/2011: It ain’t over till it’s over

In theory, there were three WNBA games played yesterday. In practice, there were maybe 75 minutes or so of basketball actually worth talking about. One barely watchable blowout that will only be remembered for the halftime ceremony and for clashing with the women’s World Cup soccer final; one painfully dull blowout that somehow became a game; and one game that was actually a competitive contest from start to finish. So let’s start with the game where both teams actually showed up for all 40 minutes.

After having their seven-game winning streak broken by Minnesota on Friday night, Indiana travelled to Connecticut looking to start up a new winning run. The Sun were undoubtedly happy to be back on their own floor, considering Friday’s win in New York was just their second road victory of the season. In contrast, they’ve won every home game they’ve played so far this year. Tangela Smith retained her starting spot at power forward for Indiana despite missing the entire second half of their last game, while Danielle McCray started ahead of Kara Lawson for the second straight game for Connecticut.

It’s early days for the McCray/Kalana Greene starting partnership on the wing for the Sun (and head coach Mike Thibault does like to mess around with his starters from game to game), but for the first couple of games it’s added some pep to their lineup. Lawson is usually out there just trying to keep everything under control in the early stages of a game, putting up the occasional three if she’s left wide open. McCray is a more athletic, speedier player who’s less concerned with control, and more interested in attacking. Continue reading →