Tag Archives: Tulsa Shock

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, 06/04/2012: So many games, so little time

There aren’t any six-game days on the WNBA schedule this year, which at least goes some small way towards keeping me sane. Yesterday, however, was one of several occasions where we get the next-best thing – one day, five games. That’s a lot of basketball, and a lot of writing. So we’re going game-by-game, chronological order, Bullet Point Breakdown-style, and hoping you all find something mildly entertaining in there somewhere.

 

Washington Mystics 86 @ Connecticut Sun 94

  • The teams came out in the ‘wrong’ uniforms (Connecticut road, Washington home), in a desperate attempt to sell a few road jerseys to the Sun fans.
  • Same starting fives as prior games for these teams, Matee Ajavon and Renee Montgomery still being used by their respective teams as bench energy despite typically playing starter minutes.
  • It wasn’t exactly gripping stuff in the first half. The Sun have more confidence than the Mystics these days, especially on their own floor, and it showed at times. But the only player they had who could offer any scoring punch at all was Tina Charles. The lack of offensive support she received meant the half drifted along with the Sun up 5 or 6 points most of the way.
  • Charles really was outstanding though, showcasing all the different ways she can score. Jump hooks, offensive boards for putbacks, running the floor for layups, mid-range jump shots – she’s got it all. 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, 05/30/2012: Jesus, Kristi! Superstar.

Kristi Toliver’s a polarising figure at the best of times. Gunners with little conscience often are, and when they come along with an attitude it only makes things worse. Last night was an illustration of precisely why she hasn’t been a regular starting guard in her first three WNBA seasons – especially a point guard – before she showed exactly why she’s such a tantalising talent. Oh, and there were some other players out there as well.

The Tulsa Shock came into Los Angeles last night at 0-3, and off the back of one of the ugliest games you’ll ever see against Washington on Saturday night. But new head coach Gary Kloppenburg seems to be on his way to achieving what Nolan Richardson spent the best part of two years making a mess of. Klopp knows his team doesn’t have the offensive talent of other squads in the league, but he’s got speed and quickness, a roster he can rotate without too much drop-off, and he’s got them playing high-energy, annoying defense. This is a hell of a lot closer to ’40 Minutes of Hell’ than Richardson ever got his Shock squads to play.

However, the early stages weren’t pretty for Tulsa. Continue reading →

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, 05/24/2012: 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: Tulsa Shock

PG: Temeka Johnson/Ivory Latta

SG: Riquna Williams/Jene Morris

SF: Scholanda Dorrell/Karima Christmas

PF: Kayla Pedersen/Glory Johnson/Jennifer Lacy

C: Chante Black/Lynetta Kizer/(Elizabeth Cambage)

Significant additions: Gary Kloppenburg (new head coach, former Indiana assistant), Johnson (trade with Phoenix), Robinson (free agency from San Antonio), Johnson (college draft), Williams (college draft), Morris (free agency after being out of the league), Black (missed last season through injury), Kizer (college draft).

Significant losses: Tiffany Jackson (pregnant, will miss entire season), Elizabeth Cambage (training with Australian National Team and will miss first half of season), Sheryl Swoopes (free agent, unsigned), Amber Holt (cut), Andrea Riley (trade with Phoenix)

—–

At least now we can give the Shock fans some hope. There’s some light at the end of the tunnel. A hint of spring peeking its head up from the end of a long, cold winter. Because Nolan Richardson is no longer in charge, and the Shock hierarchy finally went out and found someone with a history in the WNBA who just might know what he’s doing. A long-time WNBA assistant coach, most recently for several years in Indiana, Gary Kloppenburg takes the reins and can begin the long road back to contention for this franchise. No one’s saying this team are going to be good, not yet. In fact, player for player this roster might even be worse than last year. But you have to start somewhere, and you have to start heading in the right direction. The Shock look like they might finally be doing that. Continue reading →

WNBA Offseason Overview/Preseason Preview: Tulsa Shock

Current roster certainties or virtual certainties:

PG: Temeka Johnson/Ivory Latta

SG: Scholanda Robinson

SF: Kayla Pedersen

PF: Glory Johnson

C: (Elizabeth Cambage)

Fighting for so many freaking spots it’s not even funny: (in alphabetical order) Vicki Baugh, Chante Black, Karima Christmas, Shanna Crossley, Amber Holt, Lynetta Kizer, Jennifer Lacy, Jene Morris, Riquna Williams.

———-

Well here’s the bright side – the Shock finally hired a coach who might know what he’s doing. Respected Indiana Fever assistant Gary Kloppenburg takes over, and all you can say is good luck Klopp. The first move he made was positive, sending loose cannon Andrea Riley (who could easily have been cut anyway) to Phoenix for veteran point guard Temeka Johnson. Any upgrade in talent is a good thing when you’re as bad as this Tulsa team was last year.

Unfortunately, a lot of things haven’t gone Klopp’s way early in his tenure. Continue reading →

WNBA Free Agency List & Analysis: Tulsa Shock

Cored: Deanna Nolan

Unrestricted Free Agents: Jennifer Lacy, Betty Lennox, Sheryl Swoopes

Restricted Free Agents: Amber Holt

Reserved: Abi Olajuwon

I’ve said it over and over again, so it won’t be a surprise to hear it one more time – this team just needs talent. It doesn’t matter where, although they have bigger holes at some spots than others, they just need as many players as they can find who are true WNBA quality and are willing to sign and play for the Tulsa Shock. Bringing in Indiana assistant Gary Kloppenburg as their new head coach looks like a good move, introducing someone who knows the league and the women’s game to a franchise that desperately needed that infusion. He already turned Andrea Riley into Temeka Johnson, so they would seem to be heading in the right direction.

As with last year, and even after acquiring Johnson from Phoenix, the Shock basically have more cap space than they know what to do with. They’ll probably keep Amber Holt, even though I’m yet to see much real WNBA talent from her in the four years she’s played in the league. Jennifer Lacy can fill out a post rotation, so they might give her another deal (although as with Holt, I wouldn’t go much past the minimum, even with all that cap space to burn). It’s probably time for Betty Lennox to retire and stay retired. Sheryl Swoopes may be a different story, after suggesting she at least has a little gas left in the tank last season. Continue reading →