Tag Archives: Washington Mystics

WNBA Today, 08/19/2011: A New York state of desperation

There were three games in the WNBA yesterday, but one turned out to be the game of the night by some distance. So we’re going to concentrate on the top contest and worry about the others later. After blowing out league-leading Minnesota in their previous game, Connecticut headed into last night on a high. Having won 10 of their last 13, they were looking upwards with hopes of chasing down Indiana, rather than worrying about what was going on behind them. Despite being just one place lower in the Eastern standings, and only 2.5 games behind the Sun, things haven’t been quite so rosy for New York of late. They finally scraped a win over Washington on Tuesday night, but three losses in four prior to that and some tired-looking performances had left them glancing over their shoulders at Atlanta and even Chicago. A win over Connecticut would’ve provided a much needed fillip, and resurrected faint hopes of catching the Sun for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It also had the potential to reassure players and fans alike that they were going to make the postseason in the first place.

The pre-game news for New York wasn’t good. Quanitra Hollingsworth was still in street clothes due to her ankle sprain, limiting the Liberty’s post options for the second straight game. Joining her on the bench was Nicole Powell, out due to a bone bruise or a left-knee contusion, depending on which injury report you wanted to listen to (they’re essentially the same thing, just phrased differently). Powell hasn’t had the greatest of seasons to say the least, but losing your starting small forward rarely increases your chances of victory. Essence Carson replaced her in the starting lineup. The Sun had everyone available, and stuck with the same starting five that they’ve used throughout their 10-3 run.

The first half was nip and tuck all the way, without either team managing to take control. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/16/2011: Liberty stop the rot; Fever keep rolling

Nothing happened in the WNBA on Monday, but there were five games Tuesday night so I figured I’d offer a little quick-fire coverage for once. We’re going to look at the games featuring Washington in New York and Indiana in San Antonio in this piece, with tonight’s other three games coming in tomorrow’s article. Apologies for the fact that this piece will only truly be released on August 16th for those on the US West Coast. Or maybe Alaska. It’ll be a nice little taster for you over breakfast if you only found it the following morning.

So first up, the latest round between the Washington Mystics and the New York Liberty. All four meetings between these two teams have occurred within the last three weeks, and tonight’s game was the third in the space of eleven days. They were probably sick of the sight of each other. After losing their last two encounters with the Mystics, both at home, New York desperately needed to win this one. They were starting to fall away from Connecticut for second-place in the Eastern standings, and dropping perilously close to the likes of Atlanta and even Chicago behind them. More simply, you’re just not supposed to lose to the freaking Mystics three times in a row. Once is pretty bad, twice is a nightmare. Three times would’ve been verging on the ridiculous. Washington are essentially playing for pride at this point, but they’ve been showing a fair amount of it lately, with some decent performances. Playing spoiler with the pressure off can be fun.

The starting fives were the usual groups for these teams, but New York’s bench was a little shorthanded. Quanitra Hollingsworth, who’s been doing a solid job as Kia Vaughn’s backup at center (and lately stealing some of her crunch time minutes as well), was out with an ankle sprain. She’s listed as day-to-day. That put extra pressure on the remaining post players – starters Vaughn and Plenette Pierson, recent addition Kara Braxton and emergency option Ta’Shia Phillips – to produce.

The early stages made it look like New York were determined to avoid that third straight defeat to the worst team in the East. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/14/2011: Sun rise; Fever warm; Storm rained on

Okay, before we look at last night’s games, first the really important news. Tomorrow is the WNBA’s trade deadline. After that there’ll be no longer be the possibility for LA to dump their vets, or Kara Braxton to be traded again, or practically every GM in the league to sit around doing nothing whatsoever. Oh wait, they can carry on doing that last one. Outside of free agent pickups, they’ll be stuck with what they’ve got when the clock runs out tomorrow night. Considering Braxton-for-Spencer alone makes this one of the more eventful periods leading up to a deadline in recent seasons, I’m not expecting a flurry of movement in the next 24 hours. But you never know.

I know I say this a lot, but we really are going to skate through yesterday’s games with more speed than usual. I promise. Plus the analysis is going to become briefer as we work our way through the games, because the games became progressively less competitive. First up, Connecticut hosted Washington, which despite featuring second vs. last in the Eastern Conference, was ultimately the closest game all day. The starting fives were the same as usual, and Danielle McCray even managed to open the game well enough to stay on the floor rather than being benched inside the first two minutes, as has often been the case recently.

The entire first half was nip and tuck. Connecticut were cold from outside early on, which allowed Washington to develop a 17-10 lead, but that quickly disappeared once McCray and Tina Charles hit a couple of shots. From there, no one could break away, and the scoreline was repeatedly tied or separated by only a single point. The Mystics were hot from downtown, with Marissa Coleman and Kelly Miller especially firing away and hitting more than they missed. Even power forward Crystal Langhorne knocked down her first triple of the season. Connecticut couldn’t find any consistent offensive rhythm, but created enough turnovers and scrambled enough points to stay right in the contest. In fact, the Sun led 44-43 at halftime, a surprisingly high-scoring game for these teams.

Connecticut came out for the second half with a clear mandate to pound the ball inside with Charles. She wasn’t scoring much, but she was drawing repeated fouls, including Langhorne’s fourth of the game inside the first minute of the third quarter. Whenever you can force the other team’s best player to the bench, something’s going right. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/13/2011: Sometimes, prayers are answered

Who knew that the basketball gods were WNBAlien readers? The day after I give in, admit defeat and ask for close games over any kind of tedious blowout, they deliver with three nailbiters. They even spaced the schedule out nicely so that the games didn’t clash. Do you think they only deal with basketball, or would the same powerful beings respond if I asked for Megan Fox?

While I wait for Megan to arrive, let’s take a look at last night’s games. Forgive me if I gloss over the first 35 minutes of most of them – we’ve got a lot of crunch time to deal with today. The opening game of the evening was in Washington, where the Mystics had returned to their familiar style of finding a way to lose against Atlanta on Tuesday night. Yesterday the visitors were New York, who were looking for revenge after losing in the same arena less than a week earlier. When you’re fighting for playoff position, you’re not really supposed to lose to the worst team in the East once, never mind twice.

There was nothing much in it for most of the first quarter as the teams felt each other out, but late in the first and running into the second, the Liberty made a push. It was mostly on threes that they built their advantage, with rookie Alex Montgomery knocking down a couple, Leilani Mitchell adding one and then Nicole Powell joining in. In the face of the barrage, Washington lost their rhythm and started turning the ball over, which only made it more difficult to halt the tide. New York led 34-21 by the middle of the second period.

Matee Ajavon, the primary perimeter weapon for Washington most of this season, had been kept quiet to that point. Directly up against former college teammates Cappie Pondexter and Essence Carson, you never know quite how a player is going to respond to facing people who know her game inside and out. Continue reading →

WNBA Today, 08/11/2011: Everybody’s Still Playing!

On to the second-half of Tuesday night’s WNBA sextuple-header. Apologies to the fans that had to wait until I got to their team – there are only so many hours in the day, even for me. Plus, y’know, abject laziness tends to play a part too.

Atlanta and Washington went into their game on Tuesday night as technically the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference, although the Dream only sat behind Chicago on percentage points. The comments to the press from Mystics brass about still making a playoff push were pure PR spin, but if they had even a miniscule belief that it was possible this game was a must win. Chasing down Chicago and Atlanta was only ever going to be possible if they won all their remaining games against the those teams. After blowing out New York on Saturday, the Mystics also should’ve been heading into this game with renewed confidence that they were capable of winning games. Coming off their own overwhelming win over Seattle on Sunday, the Dream were hardly lacking in belief either.

After spraining her ankle in the game against Seattle, Armintie Price was replaced by Coco Miller in Atlanta’s starting lineup. Price was in uniform, but stayed on the bench – for the time being. Continue reading →

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 →

WNBA Today, 07/30/2011: Ohhh, we’re half way there…

You know we’ve hit the meat of the WNBA season when a day with only two games feels like a nice, relaxing, easy evening for me. I’m also reliably informed that while last weekend may have been the official mid-point of the season in terms of date, last night’s games took us to exactly halfway through the schedule. 102 games down, 102 to go. Then the playoffs, of course. And WNBAlien just keeps on ticking.

The basketball gods even made it ridiculously easy to choose which game to focus on last night, offering up one tight contest and one overwhelming, comprehensive blowout. Considering the first game was top vs. bottom in the East, while the second featured last season’s champs against the current Western leaders, you might’ve thought the latter would’ve been the close one. You’d have been about as accurate as a Nicky Anosike fadeaway.

Aw, that’s a little unfair. 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, 07/27/2011: They’re back!

So the WNBA was finally back last night, with the first proper games since last Thursday. Weird how five days can feel like so long in the middle of the season when the offseason lasts nearly eight months. Anyway, even I feel like five games in one piece is a bit much to cover, so we’re going to split this up. The entire Western Conference played last night, but the five teams that still matter were encompassed by three games. So this column will cover those three contests, and tomorrow I’ll get to the East. It means Washington and Tulsa are in the wrong half, but at this point I barely consider them to count. It’s a five-team race on either side, and everyone outside of delusional Mystics front-office personnel knows it. On to the games.

The opening matchup last night was San Antonio‘s trip to Washington. So we had one team that had gone through all the hoopla of hosting the All-Star Game in previous days, and one that spent the weekend messing with their roster. The starting fives were the same as usual for both teams, but Washington had recent pickup DeMya Walker in uniform coming off the bench. Karima Christmas and Ta’Shia Phillips are both gone, as you probably know by now, but Alana Beard and Monique Currie are still in street clothes, leaving the Mystics currently down to nine.

Or eight, depending on your perspective. It’s hard to tell if Nicky Anosike’s head is actually in Washington yet. Her shooting touch certainly isn’t. Continue reading →