Tag Archives: Tulsa Shock

WNBAlien Special – Grading the Trade: Mercury swap starting PG for 4th-worst player in WNBA

Okay, so the headline is a little bit reductive. But for those who believe in John Hollinger’s PER statistic, that’s precisely what happened yesterday when the Phoenix Mercury traded Temeka Johnson straight up for Andrea Riley of the Tulsa Shock. Of the 121 players who appeared for at least 150 minutes in the WNBA last season, Riley rated 118th. And for those who’ve read my columns over the last year or two, you’ll be aware that 118th might actually be slightly higher than I’d rank her. So what on Earth possessed the Mercury to make this move?

In fairness to Phoenix, Johnson hasn’t exactly been lighting it up herself for the last couple of years. After arriving as Kelly Miller’s replacement in 2009 and playing her part in the charge to a championship, TJ’s effectiveness has diminished in the last two seasons. While she retained her starting spot, she was often sat on the bench in crunch time when head coach Corey Gaines went to bigger lineups, and her scoring average dropped three full points to only six per game in 2011. And that’s before we even consider her matador brand of defense, which occasionally stood out even among the deplorable Mercury team defense as especially poor. However, her shooting averages have remained pretty decent, especially compared to the likes of Ketia Swanier and Alexis Gray-Lawson who were coming off the bench behind her. Plus Johnson was always a veteran option who knew what her coach wanted and how the team was supposed to be playing on the floor. Search back a couple of years and you’ll read a swathe of comments from the likes of Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter about how much they loved playing with a true point guard who knew how and when to get them the ball. Johnson’s game really hasn’t changed much since then – the roster’s simply weakened around her while their competition has improved.

Don’t expect many comments from Mercury players about Riley’s ‘true point guard’ skills in 2012. If she even makes the roster. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/12/2011: East finally shakes out as regular season comes to a close

Sunday was the final day of the WNBA regular season, and there were still issues to be decided. Most importantly, the seeding and resulting first-round matchups in the Eastern Conference were still up for grabs, but the remaining games all carried some level of interest. Records were broken, a scoring title was won by the narrowest of margins, and we finally discovered who the hell would be facing whom in the postseason. Not a bad way to finish out the preamble before the real fight begins on Thursday night.

The opening game of the day, tipping off four hours before anyone else, was in Connecticut. Both the Sun and their visitors, New York, had every reason to go all out for the win. A Connecticut victory would confirm them as the #2 seeds, bringing with it the first round home court advantage that was vitally important to a team coming into this game with a 14-2 home record (and just 6-11 on the road). A New York win would’ve given them a chance to sneak into second place as well, although they would then be reliant on Atlanta beating Indiana in the game later in the afternoon. A loss for the Liberty would mean third or fourth, again depending on the later result. Regardless of the winner here, at least one team would be hanging on what happened in Indiana, but ignoring the permutations it was essentially like any other sporting event – win good, loss bad.

After a long ceremony to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, which can’t have helped the concentration levels of the players, the standard starting fives took the floor. Maybe the teams cooled down after such a long gap was created between their warm-up and the tip-off, because the first quarter wasn’t pretty. 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, 09/08/2011: Merc set the stage for tomorrow night; Lynx can’t stop winning

There were two games in the WNBA tonight, one completely meaningless to both teams, and one involving Tulsa on the road. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the dog days of the WNBA regular season.

Let’s start with the game that at least remained vaguely relevant to how the season might play out. Phoenix hosted Tulsa knowing that they needed to take care of business before their crunch matchup with Seattle tomorrow night. A win would tie the Mercury in the standings with the Storm. If they could follow up with a win in Key Arena, then beat a Minnesota team with nothing to play for on Sunday, they’d steal home court advantage in the first round from Seattle. Also, mathematically, San Antonio could still catch Phoenix for the #3 seed, and a win tonight would take care of that small possibility. Tulsa, being Tulsa, had nothing to play for but pride and that fourth win of the season that would allow them to avoid the worst record in WNBA history.

Given that they were playing the Shock, Phoenix took a couple of risks with their lineups. Penny Taylor stayed in her warmups all night, resting due to the back spasms she aggravated in the Mercury’s last game. The hope is that she’ll be fit to play tomorrow against the Storm, and once again DeWanna Bonner took her place in the lineup. It also became evident as the game went along that Mercury coach Corey Gaines was trying to use his entire roster and balance out the minutes, keeping everyone as fresh as possible to face Seattle. Tulsa began the game with what’s become their standard starting five in recent games. That left rookie center Liz Cambage coming off the bench again, despite the combined 50 points she’s scored in 55 minutes against the Mercury across three games so far this season.

Tulsa got off to a decent start, with Andrea Riley looking willing to penetrate for once rather than jack up threes from so far outside she can barely see the basket. The Shock kicked up a gear when Cambage entered the fray less than four minutes into the game. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/05/2011: Eastern race takes center stage

So after Saturday took a stab at clearing up the Western Conference playoff picture – and got nowhere – Sunday was the turn of the East. Mathematically Chicago were still in with a chance of making the postseason, but realistically this had already become a fight for seeding. After Connecticut’s blowout win over Indiana on Friday night, the Sun had moved just half a game behind the Fever at the top of the East. New York were only a game further back, and Atlanta a game behind them. With just eight days left in the regular season, practically any final order was still possible, and with all four playing on Sunday any of them could make a move if someone slipped up. At the same time, all four were playing in separate games, so there was potential for the same thing to happen as Saturday – everyone wins, or everyone loses, and the status quo remains. And for the calculator fans out there, yes, the four-way tie is still a possibility.

The first game to tip off was in Atlanta, where Tulsa provided the opposition. After winning 14 of their last 19 games, the Dream may be in fourth place but they’re looking a dangerous threat in the postseason. However, before they became too concerned with seeding, they still needed one more win to officially confirm that they’d seen off Chicago and made the playoffs. A home game against Tulsa seemed like the perfect opportunity. The Shock may have finally won a couple of games, but this is still the weakest team in the league with very little to play for. Pride, and the one extra win necessary to avoid the worst record in WNBA history is about it. That’s a nice team to see on your schedule when you’re looking to clinch a spot in the postseason.

Good news for Atlanta, as center Erika de Souza returned to the starting lineup after missing a couple of games due to an ankle sprain. I guess the walking boot she’d been wearing was largely precautionary. Without wishing to rain on the Dream fans’ parade, however, I do want to mention one potential hitch in Atlanta’s plans for another assault on the playoffs. The FIBA Americas Tournament takes place in Colombia from September 24th to October 1st. This year it isn’t just a continental championship, but also the regional qualifying tournament for the London 2012 Olympic Games. The winner qualifies for the Olympics, and the teams in 2nd/3rd/4th will head to the additional Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year. The dates are right in the middle of the WNBA playoffs, and both de Souza and Iziane Castro Marques are Brazilian. I’ve heard nothing from the players or the Dream about what the plans are, but even if they left at the last possible moment to reach Neiva for the start of the tournament, they’d miss games 2 and 3 of the Conference Finals, and probably game 1 of the WNBA Finals (assuming Atlanta advanced that far). That’s if they’re willing to forgo any preparation time with the Brazilian team whatsoever. So she might be healthy, but the Dream could be losing their starting center sometime soon anyway. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 09/03/2011: Who Wants it More?

So having looked at Connecticut’s demolition of Indiana and Tina Charles’s ‘assisted’ triple-double in yesterday’s column, we now switch our attention to the three other games from last night. Unlike that contest between teams still fighting for playoff seeding, the three remaining games ultimately had real meaning for only one of the teams involved in each game. And guess which side came out on top in all three? Desire and need tends to be a key deciding factor when you hit this stage of the season.

Tipping off simultaneously with the Fever-Sun game, Atlanta and Washington had both flown south for the second half of a home-and-home series. I guess that’s one way to avoid giving either team an advantage on back-to-backs. After a great run of results, including consecutive wins over Indiana, losing on Thursday night in Washington was a disappointment for the Dream. You’re not supposed to lose to lottery teams when you’re fighting for playoff position. In fact, that was the second time they’d lost to Washington this season, so dropping another game to the Mystics would’ve been slightly ridiculous, considering Washington have only won six games in total all year. Meanwhile, the Mystics have nothing to play for, but obviously proved the night before that they’re still capable of playing the spoiler.

Washington coach Trudi Lacey reinstated Matee Ajavon into her starting lineup in place of Kelly Miller, after Ajavon proved a key element in dragging the Mystics to their win the previous night. It didn’t make much sense when Lacey benched her, so why should we expect any particular reasoning behind re-promoting her? The Dream were still without Erika de Souza, although her wardrobe is obviously more extensive back in Atlanta than it is on the road, because she’d gone from a t-shirt and shorts on Thursday to a little black dress for Friday. Well, probably not that ‘little’ considering 6’6” Erika was wearing it, but you know what I mean. Atlanta commentator Bob Rathbun said that de Souza told him she was hoping to be ready to play against Tulsa on Sunday, which is good news for the Dream. She was still in a walking boot though – and the opponent is Tulsa – so don’t be surprised if they hold her out for another game. Alison Bales continued to deputise.

The first half progressed more along the lines of how Atlanta would expect a game against Washington to go. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/31/2011: Postseason positioning still a perplexing puzzle

As you near the end of any regular season in a sports league, some games naturally don’t mean an awful lot. The WNBA is no exception, but thanks to tight standings in both conferences most of the teams are still fighting for something as we head into the final two weeks of the season. Still, there are certainly some games that aren’t as important as others right now, so even I’m intending to limit the depth of coverage on certain matchups. Of course, we’ve seen how that’s gone throughout the course of the season, so let’s just be thankful that there aren’t any Tulsa-Washington games left on the schedule. I’d probably have found some reason to write 2,000 words about it.

The key New York-Chicago contest from last night was covered in yesterday’s column, but taking place hot on the heels of that one was Indiana‘s visit to Atlanta. With the tip-offs only 30 minutes apart, Atlanta obviously didn’t know that Chicago would lose to the Liberty and drop two games behind them in the standings, so this was a crucial game for them coming in. Even given that Sky loss, Atlanta’s place in the postseason was hardly a mathematical certainty, so they need to keep fighting for every win they can lay their hands on. The Dream have also been on such a streak lately – 12 wins in 16 games – that they’ve crept up on the other Eastern Conference playoff teams. They entered this game just half a game behind New York, and 2.5 behind Connecticut. Rising above the fourth seed that seemed their highest target a few short weeks ago is no longer beyond the realm of possibility. Indiana have had some troubles lately, losing to LA on the road and then Atlanta on their own floor when these teams met on Saturday. Minnesota are almost out of sight for home court advantage throughout the playoffs, and Connecticut have pulled within 1.5 games for the top spot in the East. More to the point, this Dream squad is a potential first-round playoff matchup for the Fever, and they’d lost both previous games against Atlanta this season. You don’t want to head into a playoff series with a dismal recent record against your opponent.

The starting fives were the same as Saturday, the same as they’ve been for both clubs for a while now. The intriguing aspect of the opening minutes was that Atlanta had clearly come out with an effort to ‘hide’ Angel McCoughtry on defense. She suffered with foul trouble in both of Atlanta’s previous contests with Indiana, and played limited minutes as a result, so the Dream had her on Tangela Smith and Sancho Lyttle stepping out to cover Tamika Catchings. It was a smart move by the Atlanta coaching staff, but not exactly a positive statement about McCoughtry’s ability to play smart or avoid trouble on her own. Considering Angel’s defensive reputation, you shouldn’t have to hide her on a more limited offensive player.

The most positive aspect of the early stages for Indiana was that Katie Douglas looked interested. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/29/2011: Playoff race intensifies with quintuple feature

As the WNBA approached the final two weeks of the regular season, the five-game slate on Sunday carried significant importance for a variety of playoff battles. We’ve got teams fighting for position, teams struggling to even reach the postseason, and one or two still showing enough pride to battle it out for victories when their fates have been sealed for weeks. The final positioning was clear as mud before Sunday, and pretty similar by the end, but for individual teams these games are becoming vitally important to the success – or failure – of their 2011 seasons.

The first game to tip off was in San Antonio, where fans, players and coaches alike must have been growing increasingly worried over recent weeks. Having lost five in a row, and nine of their last eleven, a team that led the Western Conference in the opening weeks of the season is now under threat of missing the playoffs. LA’s loss at home to Tulsa on Friday night had helped them out, and maintained the gap at 1.5 games, but the fear remained. Considering Sunday’s visitors were Minnesota, that fear was well-warranted. Winners of their last four, and 22-6 overall, the Lynx were one game away from officially sealing the top seed in the Western Conference. Three games clear of Indiana, home court advantage throughout the playoffs isn’t far away either. They’re not the team you want to see step off the plane when you’re fighting for your playoff lives.

As ever, the Lynx opened with their typical starting five, while Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes kept faith with his recent lineup starting Danielle Robinson at the point. The rookie speedster has started their last couple of games, and the change has failed to snap their losing skid, but Hughes shows no signs of switching back to veteran Tully Bevilaqua. The scoreline stayed reasonably close throughout the first half, but managed to be simultaneously frightening for the Silver Stars. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/27/2011: Playoff chase still has some Shocking twists

Okay let’s face it, the big WNBA event of Saturday night came late in the evening, when many saner people than I had already gone to bed. But we’re going to build up to it, Shock fans (oops, spoiler alert). Every game yesterday had at least some level of playoff implications, so it’s not like we can just ignore all the basketball that went before in favour of those few final seconds. However much we might want to.

Having already covered the Phoenix-Connecticut matchup in yesterday’s column, next up was San Antonio’s trip to face Minnesota. While the Lynx are still playing to mathematically win the West and seal home court advantage throughout the playoffs, their regular season is already winding down. Everyone knows they’ve won the conference, and they’ve got a couple of games on Indiana for home court. Their last few matchups are more about preparing for the playoffs than anything else. The situation in San Antonio is a little different. Having lost eight of their last ten, the Silver Stars were only 1.5 games ahead of LA for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West heading into this one, and the gap seems to have been decreasing by the day. A road game against the Lynx obviously wouldn’t be your first choice to turn a spiralling record around – in fact it might be just about last on this list this year – but it’s dire straights for San Antonio at this point. They need to scrap for any possible win they can find, and if they can snatch a couple in unlikely places it’ll be an added bonus.

Helping the Silver Stars out for this game, Danielle Adams was finally back in uniform after missing 11 games due to her mid-foot sprain. Bear in mind that Seattle went 10-10 without Lauren Jackson, while LA went 5-10 without Candace Parker – San Antonio were even worse, at 3-8 without Adams. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/25/2011: In Shock to nobody, Storm win

Well you can’t blame me for posting this one a little late. No games on Wednesday in the WNBA, and just the one late, late game on Thursday. And what a glamour matchup it was. Oh no, wait, it was Tulsa on the road. A masterful piece of scheduling by the WNBA once again. At least their hosts, Seattle, have Lauren Jackson back to add a little interest and excitement to the contest. A win in this game would pull Seattle into a virtual tie with Phoenix for second place in the Western Conference. A win for Tulsa would break a 19-game losing streak and send everyone watching into shock.

Both teams kept faith with the same starting lineups that they’d used in the last couple of games. For the third game in a row since her return, Lauren Jackson scored the opening points, this time on a little catch-and-shoot jumper in the lane (while being fouled). She’s like a nice little security blanket for Sue Bird – the first option and the final option on a possession if there’s nothing else available. As a whole, the first quarter resembled the early stages of Tulsa’s game against Minnesota on Tuesday – Seattle looked comfortably the better team, but not all that interested or invested and without a great deal of energy to start the contest. As a result, a Tulsa team that was knocking down a few shots from outside and has generally been playing with a little more composure lately hung around, and Seattle only led 18-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was ugly. Ug-ly. Continue reading →