Tag Archives: Washington Mystics

WNBA Today, 08/03/2013: Fowles and Cambage carry teams to victory in the paint; Lynx coast past Silver Stars again

 

Now we really know the WNBA has kicked back into gear after the All-Star break – three games last night, all of them missing superstars of the women’s game due to injury. Such is the WNBA in 2013. On to the Bullet Point Breakdowns to take a look at the action.

 

Los Angeles Sparks 89 @ Tulsa Shock 96

  • The late-breaking news before this one was that Los Angeles star Candace Parker was out due to a right wrist problem. Nothing seems to have emerged yet as to how or when she suffered the injury, and she was with the team, but Jantel Lavender started in her place. It’s unknown whether Parker will be available for LA’s next game on Sunday in Washington. Tulsa kept the same starting lineup that led them to three wins in their final four games before the break.

 

  • The opening possession of the game saw Glory Johnson go straight past Lavender with a drive from the elbow, while drawing a foul. It was clearly a screw-up from the LA defense (which is a little ridiculous off an opening tip). Nneka Ogwumike should’ve been on Johnson, with Lavender on Liz Cambage. But it illustrated an extra level of difficulty that the Johnson/Cambage pairing throws at defenses. A lot of teams in this league have relatively interchangeable post tandems, so switching when the opposing 4/5 combinations cross, or just picking up whichever is nearest in transition isn’t a problem. But Johnson and Cambage present such differing threats that teams may need specific defenders on each of them. It just makes post defense and interior rotation that little bit more complicated.

 

  • Lavender picked up a second foul moments later and went to the bench. Now LA had to handle Tulsa’s posts with Ogwumike and Ebony Hoffman.

 

  • It was Tulsa who got off to the quicker start. Most of their halfcourt sets start in the ‘horns’ formation, then roll into a high-low balance with Johnson at the elbow and Cambage in the paint after the point guard uses one of them as a screen. It’s not complicated, but it can be very effective. They were also playing much quicker than LA in the early going, looking to push and attack. The Shock have moved away from firing endless threes in recent games, driving more even when they can’t get the ball inside to their talented posts. It’s made them a more dangerous team, and leads to more fouls and free throws.

 

  • The other obvious change in Tulsa’s recent run of good form is that it’s coincided with Angel Goodrich coming in as the starting point guard. The move was forced when Skylar Diggins sprained an ankle and missed a game, but Goodrich hasn’t let her back in. Citing that as the reason for Tulsa’s upswing would be unfair to Diggins – the health of Cambage and increasing development of her pairing with Johnson has been key, and came at a similar time – but it’s hard to write it off as complete coincidence. Goodrich is an active little thing, she keeps them moving, and she knows how to run a team. Her confidence to score herself is slowly increasing as well, after she looked almost afraid to shoot early in the year. She’s also managed to play well enough defensively to prevent being exploited on that end despite her tiny stature. Diggins has struggled to adapt to the pro game, and still can’t finish in traffic for love nor money. The big-name rookie might get her job back eventually, but right now head coach Gary Kloppenburg is quite rightly sticking with what’s working and going with the rookie third-round pick.

 

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WNBA Today, 08/01/2013: Liberty pound Mystics in the paint as WNBA’s second half begins

 

After nearly a week with nothing to sustain us but All-Star festivities, real WNBA action got back underway last night with New York taking a trip to Washington. The vagaries of the WNBA schedule meant this was the first of four encounters for the conference rivals, and with the Liberty trying to chase down the Mystics (or Indiana) for a playoff spot it’s likely to be an important series. Win at least three of the four, and New York would probably be right in amongst the hunt for the postseason (plus they’d hold the valuable tie-breaker); lose at least three, and the second half of the Liberty season would likely be as disappointing as the first.

 

The health of both sides was the same as it’s been for most of the year – Washington have a full eleven, New York have been at ten since Essence Carson tore her ACL. Mike Thibault continued with his veteran starting unit, but Bill Laimbeer made another switch for New York. He’s chopped and changed his lineup this year in search of a successful rotation, and this time it was rookie guard Kamiko Williams’s turn to start. She replaced forward Toni Young to start the game, but it wasn’t a return to the structure from the start of the year, when Williams was essentially the starting point guard. She played off the ball, with Cappie Pondexter continuing in her ‘lead guard’ role, and Katie Smith doing most of the additional ballhandling. Williams was essentially a role-playing wing, out there to play some defense and keep the ball moving, and not much else. Alex Montgomery’s increasingly been earning minutes in that role recently, but presumably Laimbeer wanted to keep her as part of his rotation coming off the bench. It’s one of the few things that’s been working for the Liberty lately.

 

However, it was New York that started this game the stronger. Or at least, it was Good Kara Braxton that exploded out of the blocks. She scored New York’s first five buckets of the game – without a miss – all on finishes right at the rim. It was a reminder of the Liberty’s success against Indiana in the ESPN2 game eight days earlier. They were finding their posts with deep position in the paint, creating easy chances right at point-blank range. Meanwhile, Washington were a clear contrast, settling for perimeter jumpers and failing to hit any. Their only response to Braxton’s barrage came on an offensive rebound and putback for Crystal Langhorne, when a Michelle Snow jumper missed so badly the ball dropped in Langhorne’s hands.

 

Thibault finally cried for a timeout with his team trailing 12-2 after barely four minutes of action, although Snow had already been dragged out of the game in the hope that Kia Vaughn could do a better job of handling Braxton. Out of that break, the Mystics finally got into their game by once again rediscovering their aggression. It’s been a key component of their improvement this season, but they still seem to forget it at times. Drive, create contact, then draw fouls or create better looks – simple. Monique Currie went first, and threw in a ridiculous runner, but it was Matee Ajavon who had the most success. Braxton taking a rest, and New York coughing up some of their trademark turnovers, also helped Washington into the contest.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/25/2013: Home is where the victors are, as WNBA hits midway point

 

Scattered through the afternoon and evening, yesterday saw three games in the WNBA, as we definitively hit the midway point of the regular season (102 games down, 102 to go). It wasn’t perhaps the most auspicious collection of games to reach that milestone, but there were one or two moments worth talking about. Let’s go to the Bullet Point Breakdowns.

 

Chicago Sky 78 @ Washington Mystics 82

  • Both teams began the game with their established starting lineups, although Mystics power forward Crystal Langhorne was reportedly a game-time decision due to back spasms.

 

  • Chicago pulled out to a big early lead in this game, largely by virtue of simply shooting much better than Washington. Despite Elena Delle Donne missing several jumpers, the Sky as a whole were much more successful in hitting shots. Sometimes it’s that simple. The Mystics were also bailing them out far too frequently with cheap fouls, helping Chicago build their lead. The advantage was as big as 21 points midway through the second quarter.

 

  • Washington got back into it in the same way they’ve been successful for most of the season – they became the aggressors. A step up in intensity on defense, and a more concerted attack mentality on offense from players like Langhorne, Monique Currie and Matee Ajavon quickly cut into the lead. After shooting three free throws in the opening 14 minutes of the game, Washington shot nine in the remaining 6 minutes before the break. The gap was down to nine at 44-35.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/22/2013: Shock’s dynamic duo impress again; Fever and Lynx keep winning

 

Yesterday was the third consecutive day of WNBA triple-headers, but it was a slightly more intriguing slate than the previous offerings. We had a rematch from Friday night, with two Eastern playoff contenders still trying to prove themselves in different ways. Tulsa were hoping to indicate that their recent upturn in form was more than just a fluke, facing an Atlanta team trying to arrest a recent slide. And finally, two of the three Western powers faced off, with a win streak and a new defense in the mix. This was a nice way to finish off the weekend.

 

Indiana Fever 65 @ Washington Mystics 52

  • Here we had our two potential Eastern playoff teams. With Connecticut looking terrible and New York floundering, most bets would probably be on both these teams making the postseason, but it’s far from a certainty at this stage. Washington lost narrowly to this Fever team on Friday, but the Mystics have been a significantly better team on their own floor this season. Indiana came into this game having won five of their previous six, and are in the process of turning around their season.

 

  • Washington were as healthy as ever, but slightly worryingly Indiana guard Erin Phillips sat this one out. She missed the Fever’s first 11 games of the season with a meniscus tear in her knee, but had returned to play in their last three. Apparently she was kept out of this one as a precautionary measure due to some recent knee pain. Hopefully she just needed a little rest, because her return has been an important boost for Indiana.

 

  • If we wanted to be nice and generous about the opening stages of this game, we could call it a defensive battle. More accurately we could say that neither team could make a shot to save their lives. Everyone missed every kind of shot you could imagine, and Washington led 9-8 after the opening quarter. One shot was made in the opening 21 attempts of the game.

 

  • Washington got some solid interior defense from backup post Emma Meesseman after Crystal Langhorne picked up early fouls and had to sit. That was nice to see, because the main area that was concerning about Meesseman coming to the WNBA was whether she could handle the physicality of this league. She always looked a little lightweight to me in Europe. Indiana are one of the smaller interior teams in the league, but they’re as physical as anyone. She stood up to the fight.

 

  • Indiana started to pull away in the second quarter by virtue of actually hitting some shots. Not many, but Tamika Catchings and Karima Christmas made enough to make an impact, considering Washington still couldn’t score. Lin Dunn and her staff have done a nice job of re-shaping Indiana’s defense to keep it as effective as ever under the new defensive three-seconds rule. They had some problems earlier in the year, caused as much by all the injuries as anything else, but they’re back up to their previous heights now. The low-post double-teams that they used to bring with a weak-side defender along the baseline have essentially disappeared – because that second defender used to loiter in the paint so she could arrive quickly, and the new rule makes that tough to get away with. Their double-teams are now coming from the more traditional high defender on the strong side, but the activity, recovery and teamwork of their defense continues to make it very successful. Washington’s Crystal Langhorne had absolutely no impact on this game due to the double-teams and defensive pressure.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/20/2013: Fever and Shock struggle to narrow wins; Lynx dominate again

 

A triple-game night in the WNBA yesterday, featuring two games that were predictably tight, and one that was a predictable blowout. Sometimes, in a general sense, it’s not hard to see what’s coming. But the devil’s in the details, so let’s go to the Bullet Point Breakdowns to take a closer look.

 

Washington Mystics 70 @ Indiana Fever 77

  • The same lineups we’ve come to expect from these teams lately began the game. The only new health note was that backup forward Jessica Breland was available again for the Fever.

 

  • Neither team led by more than five points in a first half that never quite took off. Indiana kept Crystal Langhorne very quiet, but were hurt by some poor transition defense and some effective driving from Matee Ajavon and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt. The Fever shot extremely poorly – one of those days where they desperately needed Katie Douglas and/or Jeanette Pohlen to be healthy so they could knock down an outside shot or two – but compensated with unusual success on the offensive glass and their usual series of steals. Indiana led 32-31 at halftime.

 

  • The Fever began the second half without much energy, and Washington took advantage. The Mystics scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and dominated much of the period. Indiana’s defense has remained solid despite their injuries this season, but all the ins and outs have left them without quite the same level of chemistry and communication they’ve had in previous years. Two wide open Kia Vaughn layups in the third quarter highlighted that, along with Breland’s rustiness after her injury. Also, Washington simply hit more shots from the perimeter than the Fever. After an 0-5 first half, Shavonte Zellous had finally discovered her shooting tough for Indiana, but she wasn’t getting much support. Between Ajavon, Vaughn, Michelle Snow and Ivory Latta, the Mystics were finding ways to build a lead.

 

  • The final moments of the third were difficult for Indiana, and it looked like they might be letting the game slip away. Zellous went down holding her right leg, raising fears that they might have suffered yet another injury to a key player. Then Catchings picked up a technical foul after complaining vociferously about the lack of a call when Ruffin-Pratt shoved her out of bounds during the fight for a rebound. Then Lin Dunn added another tech on top for bitching about that. Latta had just made three free throws after Larkins ran through her on an outside shot, and sank two more freebies for the technicals. Indiana were a little lucky to be as close as 62-55 at the end of the third.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/17/2013: Youthful bench boosts Mystics past Silver Stars

 

Just one WNBA game last night, and it was between two teams that have a lot in common. Washington and San Antonio both have well-respected, experienced WNBA coaches in Mike Thibault and Dan Hughes. They’re two of the few WNBA teams that go deep into their bench, using 9 or 10 players every night, regardless of the scoreline. Both squads have worked extremely hard for everything they’ve gotten this season, fighting for wins despite not necessarily having the most talented options in the league. But then there are the key differences. Like many teams this year, San Antonio have been hit hard by injuries, with stars Sophia Young and Becky Hammon ruled out for the entire season. It’s left them shorthanded, and trying to survive as best they can. Washington are that rare WNBA squad that’s been virtually intact from opening day, and remained that way. Thibault talked about not having true superstars on his roster at the start of the season – and maybe it’s true that Ivory Latta and Crystal Langhorne don’t quite reach the level of Hammon and Young – but with depth, health and markedly improved team performance, they’ve had significantly greater success than San Antonio this year.

 

Having beaten the Silver Stars back in Texas just last week, the Mystics came into this game as favourites. Sitting at 7-7, Washington also had the chance to go above .500 this far into a season for the first time since 2010 – when they finished top of the Eastern Conference. Both teams were effective early, with the first eight shots of the game all dropping, but it was Washington who then made a push. Generating the majority of their offense from the pick-and-roll, they were making the right play, finding the open player, and knocking down shots. Simple, but effective.

 

There was also an early influence from something I’ve talked about before with the Mystics – their willingness to drive and create contact. San Antonio do a lot of their offensive work from range, leaving their point production to ebb and flow depending on whether they can hit jump shots. Washington take plenty of mid-range jumpers as well, but they don’t just drive when there’s an open lane. They drive with the intention of getting fouled, and scoring too if the opportunity presents itself.

 

San Antonio shot their way back into the game in the first quarter, also generating points on a couple of nice backdoor cuts and through Danielle Adams on the low block as the first half progressed. But Washington reestablished their lead through another aspect of this team that’s becoming almost their trademark – the consistent effectiveness of their bench. Thibault isn’t quite bringing them in via hockey-style line changes, but it’s not far off. Frequently it’s five-player bench lineups that are making an impact for the Mystics. Nadirah McKenith, Tayler Hill, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Emma Meesseman and Kia Vaughn have formed a unit that doesn’t need to be supported by any starters, and increasingly leave Thibault wondering whether his starters deserve to return. In this game they provided solid defense to keep San Antonio firing away from outside, the increasingly confident McKenith joined Ruffin-Pratt in attacking the basket off the dribble (although both have shown they’ve got some range as well), and Meesseman was her usual steady self while knocking down her mid-range jumper. The group’s success is even more impressive considering Vaughn is the only one of the five who isn’t a rookie – these kids had no idea what the WNBA was about until a couple of months ago. They’re playing with no fear, and often leaving the Mystics better situated in games than they were when the starters sat down. The only problem Thibault has is finding minutes for everyone who deserves them.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/13/2013: Sky overcome one-woman team in Connecticut, while Mystics’ depth holds off San Antonio

 

Once again, yesterday saw a pair of WNBA games on the schedule, with the action tipping off in Connecticut where the Chicago Sky were the visitors. It’s games like this where the Sky have to continue proving that they’re a legitimately improved team from previous years. They’d won five of their last six, and they were visiting a struggling, understrength team – it’s a contest they should have gone into confident of success, but the kind of game they’ve blown in previous years. Even sitting pretty in second place in the East, there are still plenty of scars from all the years of failure. They’re still working to consign those memories to history and become a real power in this league.

 

Historically, Connecticut have been one of those powers. But with Mike Thibault gone, Asjha Jones taking the year off, and a variety of injuries in their backcourt it’s been a rough season so far for the Sun. The positive for this game was that they had one of those guards back, with Kara Lawson in uniform after missing their last four games with a bruised knee. Iziane Castro Marques was still starting at off-guard, but Lawson was ready to play from the bench.

 

By the time Lawson made her first appearance – after barely three minutes of action – the Sun were already trailing 12-0. It was an ugly, ugly start for Connecticut. As has become the pattern for them, if Tina Charles touches the ball anywhere near the rim, double and triple-teams instantly surround her. If she successfully kicks the ball out to a teammate, they invariably clank a shot off the iron. And more often than not, Charles becomes frustrated with that process down low, so she drifts further and further away from the basket to receive the ball. For a post, she’s a pretty good jumpshooter, but they’re lower percentage shots and result in very few drawn fouls. It’s been an ineffective way to try to win games this season.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/11/2013: Flying Fowles lifts Sky past Mystics; sloppy Mercury upset by Silver Stars

 

We had a pair of early tip-offs in the WNBA yesterday, as thousands of kids descended on arenas in Chicago and Phoenix for their yearly Camp Day games. Sometimes players struggle to wake themselves up time to perform in these games, but it’s always nice if they end up as watchable contests – we have to encourage the next generation of WNBA fans to keep coming back.

 

The first game was in the Windy City, where the Washington Mystics were the visitors. For once, both teams had healthy rosters, with Tamera Young returning from the ankle injury that kept her out of the Sky’s last game to give Pokey Chatman a full bench to utilise. The Mystics reached two significant marks with recent wins – Mike Thibault went past Van Chancellor on the all-time WNBA coaching wins list, and the franchise equalled the highest win-total from the Trudi Lacey era. With 22 games still to go. Now they can just concentrate on continued improvement.

 

While much of the talk last season around the Sky surrounded Epiphanny Prince’s breakout year, and most of the discussion this year has been about rookie starlet Elena Delle Donne, one important player used this game to remind everyone that Chicago already had a superstar before either of those two arrived – Sylvia Fowles. Big Syl was aggressive and active from the very start, running the floor hard, fighting for position in the paint, and leaping after every rebound. While she’s put up pretty solid, consistent numbers this season, too many times she’s been performing relatively quietly while rarely touching the ball in Chatman’s largely predictable offense. This was the Fowles we always want to see, a dominant presence at both ends of the floor who demands the ball inside, or just goes and gets it on the offensive glass. All this despite playing through a bone bruise on her foot and still recovering from a recent ankle sprain. Maybe she needs to be slightly injured even more often, if this is the result.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/07/2013: Sparks blowout, Charles blow-up, and Thiabult breaks a record

 

Pretty typical trio of WNBA games this Saturday – another blowout in Los Angeles, another serious-looking injury, another disappointing night for Connecticut and Tina Charles, and a game that was virtually unwatchable until the final couple of minutes. Sometimes, we end up with exactly what we should’ve expected – the interesting part is how we got there. On to the Bullet Point Breakdowns to take a look.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 66 @ Los Angeles Sparks 93

  • It was all change for San Antonio at the start of this one, but in a good way. Four new starters began the game, with Becky Hammon, Jayne Appel, Shenise Johnson and DeLisha Milton-Jones all returning from injury. Johnson and DMJ had only missed the loss in Atlanta, but Appel had been sorely missed for five games since suffering a concussion in practice. Hammon, the team’s leader for years now, was making her first appearance all year after breaking a finger in preseason. Shameka Christon was out after hurting an ankle in their last game against Atlanta, but four in, one out seemed like a positive exchange.

 

  • The Sparks have been dominant at home this season, but San Antonio kept pace with them through the first 15 minutes of action. There were far too many turnovers at both ends of the floor, with LA in particular giving the ball away too cheaply and allowing San Antonio to run back at them. All the returning players looked in pretty good shape for the Silver Stars, with Hammon sliding into the backcourt alongside Danielle Robinson like she’d never left. Appel was maybe a little rusty, but she gave them the physical presence inside and on the glass that had clearly been missing in recent games. San Antonio also created space and mismatches with their movement and off-ball screening, leading to the switches that LA’s defense always falls back on. When Kristi Toliver ends up trying to guard Danielle Adams under the basket, something’s gone wrong.

 

  • Then disaster struck for San Antonio. Driving along the baseline, Hammon’s left leg buckled and went out from under her. There’s been no official diagnosis yet, but she had to be carried from the floor and everyone fears the dreaded ACL tear – something Hammon’s suffered before, although it was the other knee and a decade ago. We can only hope for the best when she undergoes further examination back in San Antonio.

 

  • The Silver Stars didn’t noticeably fall apart due to Hammon’s injury. Obviously, they’re used to playing without her at this point, and she hadn’t even done that much during her 12 minutes on the floor. But a Milton-Jones jumper put them ahead 24-21 seconds after Hammon was carried off, before LA ran off an 18-5 push before halftime that eventually became 26-5 when you included the start of the third quarter. More than anything else, the death of San Antonio’s offense led to the Sparks’ steak, with perimeter jumpers bouncing off and turnovers allowing LA to push. The Silver Stars also struggled all afternoon to handle the athleticism and activity of Nneka Ogwumike, who was involved in the LA offense from early in the game and kept her momentum rolling through the entire contest. While Appel could at least put a body on Candace Parker inside, without Sophia Young the Silver Stars didn’t really have an answer for Ogwumike.

 

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WNBA Today, 07/01/2013: Blowouts and pain, as injuries and defense dominate Sunday’s action

 

After two games that failed to catch fire on Saturday night, Sunday featured three matchups in the WNBA. And it’s fair to say that if you’re reading this to find out what you missed – you didn’t miss much. But don’t go away just yet. There were one or two moments of interest as the league finished off its June schedule, so check out the Bullet Point Breakdowns below for the details.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 67 @ Atlanta Dream 93

  • With Atlanta sitting pretty at 9-1 before this game, it’s fair to say they’d have been strong favourites over visiting San Antonio (3-6) even if both had been using the same squads they’ve had available for most of the season. But when news emerged before the game that DeLisha Milton Jones (medial tibial stress syndrome – shin splints) and Shenise Johnson (sprained right knee) would be joining Becky Hammon, Sophia Young and Jayne Appel on the sidelines for the Silver Stars, it became even more of a mismatch. That’s basically five of their top eight players – similar to the injury list that’s led to Indiana’s horrendous start to the 2013 season.

 

  • There was an atmosphere of inevitability around this game from the opening tip-off. Atlanta broke out to an 8-1 lead, and ultimately led for the entire afternoon. The Dream were racking up their usual pile of steals and breaks in the first quarter, leading to a lot of layups, and only their own sloppiness with the ball limited their lead. There were 16 turnovers between the teams in the first quarter.

 

  • When her head’s locked into the game – and to be fair, that’s been the case for the majority of this season – Angel McCoughtry is an outstanding offensive leader for this team. She’s shown off her scoring talents and ability to get to the rim or draw fouls during her time in the WNBA, but she’s exhibiting more of a willingness to pass this season. She seems to be showing a greater appreciation of the fact that if two (or more) defenders are challenging her, then there’s a teammate wide open somewhere to dump the ball off to. It makes her a nightmare to defend, and she’s one of the primary candidates for league MVP so far this year.

 

  • McCoughtry’s also leading the league in steals, but she can be a remarkably frustrating defender. There are only so many times you can get away with standing around and whining or pouting after an offensive breakdown, while your teammates are playing 4-on-5 defense at the other end. She does it repeatedly, and it’s not cute. She also gambles constantly – but that’s pretty much intrinsic to the Dream defense, so it’s usually acceptable – and often loses track of her man so just randomly double-teams instead. She’s got great instincts for the ball, and incredibly quick hands – it’s just the basic stuff that sometimes breaks down.

 

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