Tag Archives: Washington Mystics

WNBA Today, 06/29/2013: A busted streak, two blowouts and a brick-fest for Friday night

 

Four games in the WNBA last night, but it wasn’t exactly a feast for the basketball fan. A couple of blowouts, a losing streak broken more by will than skill, and a messy slugfest to close out the evening. But there were still plenty of moments of interest. On to the Bullet Point Breakdowns.

 

Tulsa Shock 69 @ Indiana Fever 80

  • Indiana came into this contest looking to break a seven-game losing streak, and their chances were given a significant boost before tip-off with the news that Tamika Catchings was ready to play. Their leader and star player had missed two games due to lower back pain, but she was in the starting lineup for this one. Tulsa had the same starting five they’ve been working with lately, with a bonus of their own available off the bench. Big center Liz Cambage was in uniform and available for the first time since the end of May.

 

  • The game opened with Tulsa jacking endless threes – mostly bricks – while Indiana blew a series of layups. Neither was a surprise. Tulsa have taken far more threes than any other team in the league this season; Indiana are the only team in the WNBA shooting under 50% from inside 5-feet (the league average from that range is 56%).

 

  • While injuries have been the major factor in the Fever’s horrible start to the season, they also haven’t been helped by the introduction of the defensive three-seconds rule. As much as any team in the league, Indiana’s defense expects players to float towards help positions and bring double-teams whenever the ball goes down low. They aren’t committing a significant number of violations – it’s just that you can sometimes see the hesitation that the new rule has implanted in their minds. Playing ‘on a string’ defense where everyone shifts into the right position has become more difficult – or at the very least, distinctly different – with the new rule. And the Fever are still adapting.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/28/2013: Offense, offense everywhere in Mercury squeaker over Mystics

 

The opening days of the 2013 Phoenix Mercury season were a trip into WNBA Bizarro Land. Who were this passionless group, trying to play halfcourt basketball at a pedestrian pace? After three losses and an admittance from head coach Corey Gaines that he’d been an idiot – plus a minor injury to their rookie phenom that might’ve been a blessing in disguise – the Mercury have been rediscovering their identity ever since. With the return to high-paced, offense-focussed basketball they’ve found a lot more success, led by the renewed energy of superstar Diana Taurasi, who isn’t quite ready to hand this team over to Brittney Griner just yet. Last night’s sole WNBA game was the epitome of Mercury basketball – high energy, a scoreline that reached triple-digits, and some of the most pathetic and discombobulated defense you’re ever likely to see on a WNBA floor.

 

Of course, there was another team involved as well. The Washington Mystics came in at 4-4 after an unexpectedly bright start to the season, dampened a little by a three-game losing streak on their recent road trip. In the short time he’s been in charge, new head coach Mike Thibault has already generated an entirely different atmosphere around this franchise. It feels like they’re already moving in the right direction, even though the core group still features several players that were present under the previous regime. Thibault’s Connecticut Sun teams were 5-1 against Gaines’s Mercury over the last three years, so he clearly knows how to exploit Phoenix’s weaknesses, and the Mystics had already given them a scare last week when these teams faced off back in Arizona. They weren’t going to be afraid of the Mercury’s star names or the hype they’ve generated this year.

 

As in their last game against Los Angeles, Thibault went with veterans Michelle Snow and Matee Ajavon in the starting lineup, presenting Phoenix with a slightly different look from the one they faced the previous week. The backcourt of Ivory Latta and Tayler Hill looked really small against the Mercury, who currently start games with 6’0” Diana Taurasi as their shortest player. Ajavon is technically listed at two inches shorter than Hill, but her constant attacking mentality put someone on the floor from the start who would go at the Mercury. It made them seem less dwarfed by Phoenix’s starting lineup.

 

The first real moment of intrigue in the game was less than three minutes in, when Taurasi was called for her fifth technical foul of the season. She was fouled by Ajavon while trying to get around a pick, and then caught Ajavon in the face/neck area while trying to brush her off with her off-arm. On its individual merits, it was a desperately soft call. But it’s something Taurasi does constantly whenever a defender is making any kind of contact with her, and she virtually never gets called for it. So maybe it was a little bit of karmic retribution that for once the action drew a penalty. Remember, a player’s 7th technical foul in a season (and 9th, 11th, 13th etc.) leads to a one-game suspension, so she’s already getting close. Although we have no idea how many of the five so far have subsequently been rescinded by the league.

 

So let’s talk about the Mercury’s defense. They have some problems on an individual level – Candice Dupree was abused by Crystal Langhorne for most of the night, Griner still isn’t entirely comfortable defending the pick-and-roll, and DeWanna Bonner seems to be getting picked off incredibly easily this season. But it’s the team-level elements that continue to be dismaying. They seem to change what they’re doing on a game-to-game basis, and once one tack proves to be a disaster, they switch everything up in the middle of the game and confuse themselves even further. They started this game with a noticeable aversion to switching on the defensive end, which defeats much of the purpose of having such a big lineup on the floor. One of the major advantages of a group like that should be that you can switch whenever necessary without creating particularly dangerous mismatches. But Washington kept running a play where a wing – usually Monique Currie with Bonner trying to chase her – would curl along the baseline around a staggered screen from both Mystics bigs. Bonner would get horribly caught on the picks, and no one else would bother to move out onto Currie, who’d be left wide open from 15 feet to shoot, drive, or pick her nose for five minutes while waiting for a defender to arrive. Later in the game, the Mercury started trying to trap the ballhandler on pick-and-rolls, which didn’t remotely work either because they’re not very good at it, and left the roller wide open because their rotations couldn’t cover the gaps left behind. It was terrible.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/24/2013: Nailbiters early, relative comfort late on quad-game Sunday

 

Four games yesterday in the WNBA, with a couple of nailbiters to liven up your Sunday afternoon, and then more relaxing fare to ease you off to bed. Isn’t it nice how the action sometimes fits to our needs? The Bullet Point Breakdowns cover it all for you below.

 

San Antonio Silver Stars 78 @ New York Liberty 77

  • After a quiet game in her first start of the season last time out, Shenise Johnson was moved back to the bench by San Antonio head coach Dan Hughes, with Shameka Christon reassuming the starting role. Once again, Danielle Adams started at center in the absence of Jayne Appel due to concussion. Becky Hammon was in the arena, but still in street clothes. New York’s first game in nine days saw the same starting group again, although Cappie Pondexter was wearing ‘Wicks’ on the back of her jersey to recognise former Liberty favourite Sue. It was a nice touch as part of the Liberty’s Pride celebrations, and Wicks was honoured at halftime.

 

  • San Antonio got out to a hot start, behind a constant barrage of jump shots. I lament their lack of interior scoring at times, but when they get rolling they can kill you from outside. New York looked like they’d unofficially extended their eight-day layoff to nine, and trailed 17-4 after less than four minutes of basketball.

 

  • The rest of the first half was about New York battling their way back into the game. The Silver Stars couldn’t stay that hot from outside, and when New York managed to avoid turning the ball over they were finding ways to produce. Plenette Pierson finished inside, Avery Warley made her debut as a member of the Liberty and quickly produced hustle rebounds and putbacks, Kelsey Bone showed off some nice passing vision out of the post, and by halftime they were only down 34-32. Despite a hideous 12 turnovers.

 

  • San Antonio play quick, aggressive defense, and they’re excellent at getting their hands into passing lanes, but this was far from the first time New York had suffered from turnover issues this season. They’re trying to force passes into gaps that aren’t there, especially with their constant efforts to run plays through their bigs either down low or at the elbow. Defenses know where they want to go, and balls get poked away. Cappie Pondexter, besides her shooting woes (36% from the field, 28% from three-point range), is also second in the league in turnovers. They ask her to do a lot so a high number is understandable, but we’ve seen too many drives into traffic with nowhere to go, or instances where she leaves her feet before desperately searching for someone to kick the ball to. The positive angle is that they’ve been winning games, despite a turnover rate higher than any WNBA team has managed since the league switched to a 24-second shot clock in 2006. If they can get the problem under control, who knows how good they might be. Head coach Bill Laimbeer’s comments after this game sounded like he’s reaching the end of his rope with rookie guard Kamiko Williams, so we may see someone new being given a chance to help out the backcourt soon.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/19/2013: Thompson turns back the clock to lead Storm past Mystics in OT

 

Just one game in the WNBA yesterday, and given that most basketball fans were a little distracted by some other event down in Miami, that was probably a good thing. The LiveAccess ratings probably weren’t great last night.

 

The Seattle Storm came into this one off the back of a solid road win in Connecticut, but their guests aren’t the pushovers they’ve been in recent years. Five games into the season Mike Thibault had his Washington Mystics at 4-1, heady heights they could only dream about during the Trudi Lacey era. Both teams were as healthy as they’re going to get this season: the Mystics at full strength, while Seattle had ten available and Sue Bird on the Key Arena sidelines.

 

It’s fair to say that the first half wasn’t particularly gripping. Anyone who checked in during halftime of Heat-Spurs won’t have hesitated to go back to the NBA game when it resumed. Seattle did a nice job slicing into the Washington defense – as they had against Connecticut – which then led to some open threes when the Mystics overcompensated to protect the paint. Both Tina Thompson and Camille Little have the skill-set where they can score in the post, but if you lose track of them outside they can also knock down shots from beyond the arc. That duality hurt the Mystics in this game. Temeka Johnson was also shredding the Washington defense, with first rookie Tayler Hill and then veteran Matee Ajavon both struggling to contain her. She’s a little different from Sue Bird – she likes to push at every opportunity, and she’s often more me-first than Bird – but she’s settling in pretty nicely with Seattle as the temporary replacement for an icon.

 

So Seattle broke out to a 20-10 start in the first quarter, but the lead didn’t last long. The Storm generally do an outstanding job of protecting the paint and forcing teams to beat them from 15-feet and out, but the Mystics started hitting some of those shots. Crystal Langhorne decided that if they were going to give her the open jumper she was going to take it, and the other Washington posts joined in. Ivory Latta was being kept quiet by Tanisha Wright, but the Mystics had enough from elsewhere to work back into the game.

 

One moment of amusement arrived in the first half with the sight of Thompson battling with Emma Meesseman in the post. At barely 20, Meesseman is the youngest player in the league, while Thompson is quite literally old enough to be her mother and on the brink of retirement. Thompson largely came out on top – the rookie has never faced Tina before, and wasn’t quite ready for those deep threes – but there was one nice drive from the Belgian where she went by Thompson for a little runner in the lane. The generational passing of the WNBA torch, ladies and gentlemen.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/17/2013: Misery deepens for Fever, Shock and Sun while Angel keeps shining

 

After the single relaxing blowout on Saturday, the WNBA threw another quad-game slate at us on Sunday, with matchups staggered throughout afternoon. Once more, it’s a Bullet Point Breakdown to take a look at the key moments and topics raised by all four.

 

Indiana Fever 60 @ Washington Mystics 64

  • It never rains but it pours. With Katie Douglas, Erin Phillips, Jessica Davenport and Jeanette Pohlen all still sidelined for Indiana, rookie guard Layshia Clarendon joined them due to an ankle injury suffered late in their previous game. Karima Christmas moved into the starting lineup, and the Fever were down to eight healthy bodies again, with emergency addition Erin Thorn the only perimeter backup. Washington had everyone available.

 

  • It wasn’t a pretty first half. Both teams shot mid-30% from the field – which isn’t good in anybody’s book – and both fouled far too often on jumpshooters. Ivory Latta hit a couple from deep, while Crystal Langhorne amazingly didn’t take a single shot in the opening 20 minutes.

 

  • Indiana are still fighting, despite being understrength. Their smaller players were repeatedly hitting the deck as they dropped down on switches and fought with far bigger Mystics posts. Christmas isn’t a particularly skilled offensive player, but she’ll make little glue plays and come up with hustle stats that you don’t get from everyone. But they’re so thin, and the offensive weapons just aren’t there. It’s a little sad, after the fabulous playoff run just eight months ago.

 

  • The Fever double-teams were hassling Langhorne whenever the ball found her down low, but there was a clear effort from the Mystics to get her involved offensively in the second half. In her early years it would’ve been easier to keep her quiet, but these days she can step outside and hit a mid-range jumper or drive from the elbow. That at least got her into the game in the second half.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/09/2013: Merc off the mark, Mystics pull an upset, and more OT misery for Shock

 

Yesterday was a strange day of basketball. We had the underperforming preseason favourites playing without their prized rookie due to injury – and finally winning a game. Then the Western champs of the last two years barely showed up for their first road game, after looking dominant at home. And finally a tight contest that went to overtime and still managed to be painful to watch. All on the day that ESPN debuted their vertigo-inducing Ref-cam. Let’s get to the games.

 

 

Phoenix Mercury 82 @ Indiana Fever 67

 

  • The big news before tip-off was that Brittney Griner was out with a sprained left knee, continuing a long line of nationally televised WNBA games where star players were on the sidelines for one reason or another. Mercury head coach Corey Gaines told a story after the first quarter about Griner being examined 25 minutes before tip-off and the doctor saying it “wouldn’t be wise for her to play”, but after so much nonsense and disinformation from the Mercury organisation over the last couple of years, it barely seems worth listening. Inevitably, conspiracy theories immediately began springing up among the fans – including the idea that Gaines is so incompetent at working out how to use Griner, he just decided to sit her. That seems distinctly unlikely, but hey, if watching the team play without her leads to improvement when she returns, maybe it was a stroke of genius.

 

  • Alexis Hornbuckle was out as well with her own ankle sprain, leaving Gaines to push Briana Gilbreath into the starting lineup. That was another level of embarrassment for second-year point guard Samantha Prahalis, who was expected to be the starting point guard (and did indeed start their first two games before being benched). Now Prahalis couldn’t even make the starting group with two more rotation players in street clothes.

 

  • Indiana, of course, had their own considerable injury problems. Katie Douglas’s back had taken her out of this game, alongside Erin Phillips, Jessica Davenport and Jeanette Pohlen. The signing of Erin Thorn added a little extra depth, but they’re struggling for useable bodies at this point.

 

  • The positive angle for Phoenix was that without Griner they could stop worrying about how to integrate her into the team and the offense, and find a way back to their old run-and-gun style. It didn’t really work for most of the first half. Indiana helped them out by missing a swathe of layups, and rookie guard Layshia Clarendon continues to look like she needs more development before being anywhere near ready for the role she’s being asked to play, but the Fever still scrambled their way out to a 38-30 lead late in the first half. The Mercury were whining endlessly to the officials, with Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree both picking up technicals, but the only place they were on top was the glass. Otherwise, they looked like a cross between the poor team of the first three games, and the mess we saw last season.

 

  • But instead of losing their composure, the bitching and moaning about perceived slights from the referees appeared to ignite the Mercury. At least that attitude, especially from Taurasi, shows a level of energy and investment that hasn’t really been in evidence in previous games. They finally looked like they gave a crap. A 7-0 run took them in at halftime down by just a point.

 

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WNBA Today, 06/08/2013: Pleasant homecoming for Thibault as injuries continue to take their toll around the WNBA

 

A quad-game night in the WNBA on Friday, which means we’re keeping things bare bones and going straight to the Bullet Point Breakdown.

 

Washington Mystics 66 @ Connecticut Sun 62

 

  • The story for this game was supposed to be Mike Thibault’s return to Connecticut, the franchise he led for nearly a decade. That was overshadowed slightly by the Sun’s injury woes. Already struggling to plug the gap left by Asjha Jones skipping the season, Renee Montgomery (ankle sprain) and Tan White (broken finger) are now expected to miss several weeks. Making things worse, star guard Kara Lawson also missed this game with a sore back. That pushed Natasha Lacy – their 11th woman a couple of games ago – into the starting lineup.

 

  • The viewers had plenty of problems with this one as well. It was the first game this season to suffer under ‘technical difficulties’ on WNBA’s LiveAccess, and there are still only 15 minutes of game time available via the archive (frustratingly the first 15 minutes of the second half – so the closing stages are cut off). So there aren’t going to be a lot of details in this review.

 

  • After what looks from the numbers to be a pretty ugly first half (the Sun led 30-29 at the break), Connecticut managed to claw out a lead that reached 10 points midway through the third quarter. They were still up by 9 in the middle of the fourth when Thibault called a timeout. He’d been trying the post combination of rookie Emma Meesseman and star forward Crystal Langhorne, which led to some difficulties in checking Tina Charles. Meesseman tried her best, and the Mystics sent plenty of help, but it illustrated some of the reasons why Thibault’s been reluctant to use that pairing in previous games. Veteran center Michelle Snow came back into the game at that timeout, and the Mystics ran off a 15-2 streak in the final 6:20 of the game – Charles didn’t take a single shot in that entire stretch.

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WNBA Today, 06/03/2013: Shots still falling for Sky; sky already falling for Mercury?

 

Three games on Sunday in the WNBA, but for once they were generous enough to spread them out for us and avoid any overlap. Bullet Point Breakdown time for all three:

 

Atlanta Dream 73 @ Washington Mystics 63

 

  • For once, both teams involved in a WNBA game were essentially healthy. Tiffany Hayes continued to start for Atlanta, but Armintie Herrington was available off the bench after missing their last game due to illness.

 

  • There was sloppy basketball from both teams early on, with misplaced passes and blown layups on either side. Crystal Langhorne won the early skirmishes at the power forward spot over Sancho Lyttle with hustle rebounds and a nice backcut, but that was about all that worked for Washington.

 

  • Barely five minutes into the game, the pattern for most of the afternoon began to take hold. Washington were so desperate to push the ball and find quick offense that they were making mistakes and turning the ball over. It’s a cardinal sin against Atlanta, who desperately want to force turnovers and ignite their running game. Even off Mystics misses they were simply beating Washington down the floor for easy opportunities – an unforgivable failing in transition defense. Atlanta were up 9 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 15 in the second.

 

  • The silver lining in the first half for the Mystics was the performance of Belgian rookie Emma Meesseman. She made some hustle plays on the glass and showed off her range by hitting a couple of jumpers from mid-range. At barely 20 years old, Meesseman would still have a year or two of college development left if she was American. As long as she keeps showing up, she could be a useful part of Washington’s future. That said, Thibault seemed reluctant to play Meesseman with Langhorne, presumably worried about the defense they’d put up without a true center. So giving Meesseman extended minutes kept Langhorne off the floor. And this team is rarely going to win games without Langhorne playing a key role for most of the game.

 

  • Atlanta had 12 points off 14 Mystics turnovers in the first half, a ridiculous and suicidal number for Washington. The Dream also had a 16-0 advantage in free throw attempts. Hence the 13-point Atlanta lead.

 

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WNBA Today, 05/28/2013: Griner dunks but Mercury demolished, while Mystics squeak past Shock

 

Memorial Day was a big holiday for the WNBA this year. While the season may have begun for the diehards on Friday night, Monday was the launchpad for the vaunted ‘Three to See’ on national television. ESPN2 rolled out the red carpet for Skylar Diggins in Tulsa’s home opener, followed by the professional debuts for Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne. It didn’t all go quite according to the anticipated script, but there was some entertaining basketball along the way. Oh, and a couple of dunks. We mustn’t forget the dunks.

 

First up, Diggins’s Shock hosted the Washington Mystics, making their first appearance of the 2013 season. That meant the 4th overall pick from this year’s draft was involved as well as the top three, with Tayler Hill immediately slotting into the starting lineup for Mike Thibault’s Mystics. Matee Ajavon was late arriving to training camp due to overseas commitments, which may have played into the decision to start Hill, but it also allows them to use Ajavon in a similar sixth woman role to the one Renee Montgomery performed for Thibault in Connecticut. Offseason acquisition Kia Vaughn got the start at center ahead of veteran Michelle Snow.

 

The Shock were down another player, after already starting the season shorthanded. Nicole Powell and Tiffany Jackson-Jones were already out with injuries since the preseason, and Candice Wiggins joined them in street clothes after tweaking her ankle in Saturday’s loss to Atlanta. Point guard Angel Goodrich slid into an all-rookie starting backcourt alongside Diggins. On the bright side, giant center Liz Cambage was ruled healthy enough to start the game, replacing Kayla Pedersen in the lineup.

 

The first play of the game was a heartening sight for Shock fans, with a high-low hook up between Glory Johnson and Cambage. If all goes to plan, that could be Tulsa’s starting frontcourt for the next decade. The quicker they can start building chemistry and learning to read each other, the better.

 

There was clearly a focus on getting the ball in to Cambage down low from the Shock early on – which makes a lot of sense when you’ve just added a 6-8 behemoth with decent touch to your post attack. It worked pretty well when they found her in good position, and she simply gives them something very different to attack defenses with. It’s no longer just small guards trying to break people down and make something happen. It’s still a work in progress though. Cambage isn’t fully fit, and the offense sometimes gets bogged down while they’re desperately looking for her and not even considering anything else. She also sometimes seems to drift out of games if she isn’t actively involved in the play going on. So much of defense, especially for centers, is being in the right place to help, so concentration is key and something she’ll need to improve. The officials are still working out how referee her as well. She’s gangly and a bit awkward, and when she turns into defenders her elbows tend to be at head height of her opponent. Her fault and an offensive foul, or simply tough luck on the defender? It’ll probably vary from night to night.

 

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2013 WNBA Season Previews: Washington Mystics

 

PG: Ivory Latta

SG: Matee Ajavon/Tayler Hill

SF: Monique Currie

PF: Crystal Langhorne/Emma Meesseman

C: Kia Vaughn/Michelle Snow/Jessica Moore/(Quanitra Hollingsworth to arrive later)

(plus two of Gs Shay Peddy, Nadirah McKenith and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, pending a final cut)

 

Significant gains: Ivory Latta, Kia Vaughn, Tayler Hill, Emma Meesseman (maybe), and Mike Thibault on the sidelines.

Significant losses: Trudi Lacey (well they ‘lost’ her and it was significant, right?), and over half the terrible roster from last year.

 

It was good news/bad news for the Mystics after last season’s excruciating crawl to 5-29 was finally over. The horrible news came quickly, when the lottery dropped them from the highest chance of landing Brittney Griner to #4 in what most saw as a three-player draft. But then Connecticut decided they’d had enough of solid seasons and consistently being pretty good under Mike Thibault, and gave him his walking papers. After two years of Trudi Lacey, resulting in a combined record of 11-57, Washington fans would’ve given their right arms for ‘solid’ or ‘pretty good’. So Thibault got the job, and a mild sense of optimism returned to the Mystics. The situation is similar to Tulsa’s last year – no one’s expecting miracles, and not even necessarily a playoff challenge. But they finally feel like someone competent’s in charge of the operation, and they’re moving in the right direction. It’s a positive step.

 

It’s hard to turn over an entire roster in one offseason – and not necessarily advisable, even when the team’s awful – but Thibault’s done what he could. He found an upgrade at point guard, signing Ivory Latta as a free agent to replace Jasmine Thomas (who was traded away). Latta will give them an extra scoring threat in the backcourt, and simply speed up the offense with her attacking mentality. The jump in the draft from the Thomas trade led to a subsequent trade with New York for Kia Vaughn, who deepens the post options. Then there was Tayler Hill, a guard taken with that 4th pick they ended up with in the lottery, who offers another backcourt scoring option and the potential to become a key piece. Finally, under the radar, 20 year-old Belgian post Emma Meesseman went as the 19th pick in the draft and could be a steal if she adapts to the WNBA and develops. She could have trouble with the physicality of the WNBA to begin with, but she’s skilled and long, with some range on her shot. And the Mystics have time to wait for her to grow.

 

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