#6 and then some

#6

Let's continue the countdown of the top nearly-a-decade women's basketball teams (as compared to Jake Curtis from Stanford Cardinal Basketball Examiner).

Jake-UNC
Jenn-OOOOOOO-klahoma! Where Stacey Dales and Courtney Paris playeddddd (<---sung to the obvious song)

Okay, okay...so I might get some slack from some people for putting OU ahead of UNC but like I mentioned in yesterday's post, UNC was the biggest disappointment for me. So much talent, no national title births, so many players in the WNBA. Enough about that. Onto some STATS!

Stacey Dales (2 time All-American from our neighbor, Canada) started the almost-a-decade and Courtney Paris (4 time All-American) finished the almost-a-decade. Start to finish, solid team. 2 Final Fours, 1 National Title game (2002, losing to my best team ever to be assembled, UCONN but we will get to that team later), five top 10 finishes, five Big 12 Titles. Oklahoma was solid.

Coach Sherri Coale has done amazing things with a program that was almost wiped away. In 1990 the University of Oklahoma came close to cutting the program (I mean this '-' close). As a side note: it was really inspiring to see the entire women's basketball community rally and wear ribbons to show their support of the women's basketball program at OU. Anyway, in 1996 OU took a chance and hired Sherri Coale as their head coach...her previous experience was high school. They averaged 100 people per game her first year. In 2009 they averaged 9,000 fans per game. So on top of their accolades of Final Fours, Championship games and All-Americans...they have a coach that gave the program a full make over. Well done, well done. I admit, as I sat at the Final Four in 2009 I looked at my friend and said, "Wow, I bet OU is glad they didn't pull the plug on this program!" Look for OU to continue to do well into the next decade.

WNBA
-Best of luck to Kara Lawson for a quick recovery from tendinitis in her right quadriceps muscle. Lawson was one of the first 8 players named to the US National Women's Basketball team. Training starts at the end of September and Kara should be back in time for that.

-Sue Bird (West) and Deanna Nolan (East) were named WNBA players of the week. Congrats to those two (Bird's second this year!).

Tight games tonight:
Seattle Storm @ New York Liberty (7:30 pm)
Phoenix Mercury @ Detroit Shock (7:30 pm)
Minnesota Lynx @ San Antonio Silver Stars (8:00 pm)
Connecticut Sun @ Sacramento Monarchs (10:00 pm)
Atlanta Dream @ Los Angeles Sparks (10:30 pm)

Liberty will beat Storm: Lauren Jackson is out with a stress fracture in her back (OUCH!). Not sure on when she'll be back. The Liberty want to "save face" for their poor season in front of their home crowd. They will spoil Bird's return to her home state.

Mercury, Sun win on the road; Silver Stars and Sparks win at home.

Looks like ZERO games are on TV despite 5 that any major television network could choose from. Looking at the ESPN TV lineup: professional women's basketball is not being shown because the 2009 World Series of Poker is on ESPN. I'm fine with tennis on ESPN 2, but poker is worthy of air time over women's basketball?! Of course poker gets more "watching audience" then women's basketball...it's on all of the time. Ugh....

#7 Top Almost a Decade Team and other Random News

Onwards with the countdown. We are up to #7 in the Top 10 Women's Hoops teams from 2001-2009.

Jake-Oklahoma
Jenn-UNC

But Jenn, really? UNC worthy of #7 after having two All-Americans and winning 4 consecutive ACC titles (2005-2008)? Yes, and this is why.

Wouldn't you think a team that dominated the ACC be a little better come tournament time? I belive that when UNC had their reign of ACC titles, the ACC was the toughest conference in the land, period. Duke, Maryland, NC State, Boston College, Florida State and UNC...all top caliber teams. UNC is notorious for having a top 5 RPI each year, so why didn't they succeed in the NCAA tournament?

They are an established program and one that should have done better then it did. They made it to 2 Final Fours, and 4 NCAA Quarterfinals. They finished in the top 10 only 4 times during the 9 years; finishing 1st in the final 2006 poll. UNC failed to make the 2001 tournament all together. Granted yes, the Final Four of 2006 was an ACC-fest (Duke, eventual Champion Maryland and UNC) but UNC had THE BEST team in that tournament yet they lost in the Semifinals to a team they had beaten by 11 points 4 weeks earlier (Maryland). Two All-Americans (Ivory Latta, Erlana Larkins) and other players that were worthy of the honor. During this time, they graduated several top players who are now playing in the WNBA. To me, UNC was the disappointment of the 2001-2009 nearly-a-decade-of-women's-hoops teams...and I'll argue that.

WNBA
The weekend had some good games that jumbled up the standings a little. The big shocker was Indiana Fever losing at home to Sacramento Monarchs...ouch! The Storm upended the Atlanta Dream but Atlanta hasn't proved it's worth on the road this season. What helped them (and Washington) was that the Sun lost their two games (Mercury and Sparks). Standings look like this now:

East:
Indiana Fever
Atlanta Dream -5.5
Washington Mystics -6.5
Chicago Sky -7.0 (tied with Connecticut Sun and Detroit Shock, Sky have head-to-head)

West:
Phoenix Mercury
Seattle Storm -2.0
Los Angeles Sparks -5.0
San Antonio Silver Stars -8.0 (tied with Minnesota Lynx but Silver Stars have the lead head-to-head)

Day-off for the Ladies tonight.

WNBA Rookie Report
It's that time of the week...Rookie Report

Angel McCoughtry (my pick, have I mentioned that?)
Last three:
20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals
16 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals
16 points, 1 board, 4 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers (against Seattle...come on, that's not too bad)

Totals: 52 points, 11 boards, 11 assists, 8 steals

DeWanna Bonner
Last three:
9 points, 7 boards, 1 steal, 1 block
13 points, 9 boards, 0 steal, 1 block (against LA, impressive)
11 points, 2 boards, 0 steal, 0 block

Totals: 33 points, 18 boards, 1 steal, 1 block

Shavonte Zellous
Last three:
12 points, 4 boards, 5 assists, 0 steal
12 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals
10 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

Totals: 34 points, 9 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Angel still gets my nod this week: not just the points but the rebounds and assists. She's still a big contributor to the success of the Dream.

#8 and other news

Let the Countdown Continue:
#8
Jake-Baylor
Jenn-Baylor

I agree with Jake on this one. While there could be argument that Maryland might fit here, it's hard for me to put Maryland on this list because they did not start to get consistently good until 2005. They are certainly the team to reckon with in the next decade but even with their 2006 win, they just haven't had the mustard all decade long. Baylor, on the other hand, has.

Baylor finished in the Top 10 in 4 seasons, Top 15 six season, they took advantage of their 1 Final Four and won the Championship in 2005, they made it to 1 NCAA Quarterfinal and only had 1 year of not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. They also had 2 All-Americans (Sophia Young and Sheila Lambert).

Brief brilliance is the motto for Baylor, however, they have been consistent enough to bring in some of the top young talent our nation has to offer. Look for Baylor to be in the mix in 2 years.


In Other News

-Okay, so I know this is probably old news to a lot of people but it's something I've really had to think about. The Hartford Courant reported on August 8th that UCONN had 17 self-reported violations of NCAA rules. The women's basketball team had 7 of them. The University of Connecticut Athletic Department has kept a file of the violations and has reported each one. So I commend them for making the effort to do the right thing while also filing letters of admonishment into coaches folders. However, we all felt that Pat Summitt was to blame for the breaking up of UCONN/Tennessee rivalry (alleged recruiting violations when UCONN had Maya Moore up for her visit)...however that does not seem to be the case. It seems that UCONN did violate NCAA recruiting rules by scheduling a tour with ESPN studios when she came for her scheduled recruit visit. Okay, seems minor, right? It is minor but it's the principle of the fact that UCONN lied about it in the beginning. Eventually the truth came out that someone scheduled the tour.

Maybe Tennessee was over-reacting a bit but if UCONN went ahead and did that for Maya Moore, who's to say they didn't do something else? You can read the article here: UCONN Violations. I guess what leaves me to ponder is that it's great that UCONN self-reported rather then the NCAA finding out about the violations. On the other hand, is the NCAA being a bit to strict? I understand the importance of "silent periods" and "no contact" times when recruiting a player, the women's game has become a big business. Every time I hear about the NCAA penalizing a University because a player played 1 minute of professional basketball with a team in her native country (aka: Fresno State) it makes me wonder if the NCAA violations committee is a bunch of bitter adults who didn't quite make the varsity team as a Senior in High School. Come on, it's a tour of ESPN...what sports nut wouldn't want that?

WNBA

Indiana Fever extended their Eastern Conference lead to 5.5 games with the win over the San Antonio Silver Stars. Detroit Shock are being a spoilers and beat Atlanta Dream but with Connecticut Sun losing to Seattle Storm the standings for 2 & 3 remain the same. With the win, Detroit has sole possession of 4th place in the East. Phoenix Mercury knocked off LA Sparks so that moves the Storm a little further from the Sparks (3 games between them now).

Tonight:


Sacramento Monarchs @ Minnesota Lynx (8:oo pm)
New York Liberty @ Chicago Sky (8:30 pm, NBA TV)

Minnesota wins to make it a 1 game lead over San Antonio for 4th place and the Liberty beat the Sky to knock the Sky to 6th place in the East.

Top Teams: #9 and other randomness

To continue the top 10 teams of the 2001-2009 decade, we'll pick up at #9. I have to agree with Jake on this one, for one reason. While a fantastic team playing in arguably the most difficult conference (SEC), when it comes to the post season this team just slips a beat. But, they are consistent: consistently in the top 25 rankings (never missed one), never missed a NCAA birth and had a winning SEC conference record all 9 years.

Jake-Vanderbilt

Jenn-Vanderbilt

Vandy had 3 top 10 finishes, 2 NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal births, made every NCAA Tournament and had 1 All-American (Chantelle Anderson). Not only that, the Vanderbilt women's basketball attendance has skyrocketed over the past 9 seasons and they regularly sell out most of their home schedule.

Tomorrow--#8

WNBA News

Looks like Tulsa, Oklahoma will be the next stop for a WNBA team. Cameron/Box Sports announced yesterday that they have nearly 75% of funding needed for a team to take the court for the 2010 season. With Oklahoma City getting a NBA team, does this mean expansion (as they are claiming now) or a move for a team? While Seattle is safe for a few more years, anything can happen. The WNBA did sign a contract with ESPN/ABC extending the coverage through 2016 so perhaps the league isn't in as much trouble as I think. Perhaps the sponsored jerseys are a good idea. It works in NASCAR and overseas, so why not here? WNBA Tulsa has set up a little pitch video for those interested.

Games tonight:

San Antonio @ Indiana (7:00 pm, NBA TV)

Atlanta @ Detroit (7:30 pm)

Connecticut @ Seattle (10:00 pm)

Phoenix @ Los Angles (10:30 pm, NBA TV)

Game of the night...hmmm...2 of them. Atlanta will beat Detroit, Los Angeles will beat Phoenix.

Indiana and Seattle both win at home, Seattle pulls to within 1 game of Phoenix!

In Other News

In a week the 21st Summer Deaflympics will take place. I had no idea that this existed. Here is a nice article on a women's basketball player as she heads over to compete.

Ranking the Tops Teams of the Decade

As the decade comes to a close maybe it's time to rank the top 10 teams from 2001-2009. I stole this idea from Jake Curtis who writes about Stanford basketball for the Examiner. He has some interesting points to bring up about each team he selected and for the most part, I agree with his selections. Well start with #10, his selection and my selection.

Jake-Purdue
Jenn-Rutgers (maybe I'm biased BUT....)

Rutgers: 1 National title game, 1, Final Four, ranked in the top 10 final AP poll 4 times, #2 in scoring defense for three seasons, 1 Big East Tournament Title, 1 Big East Regular Season Title (13-0, undefeated record), 2 All-Americans (Cappie Pondexter, Epiphanny Prince). Okay, so they dropped out of the poll last season for what, 2 weeks? Who cares! Look at what they have accomplished. I'm not taking anything away from Purdue, excellent ball club but Rutgers is taking it to the next level. 10 years ago people did not even mention Rutgers for National Titles or teams that could make a run. Now that is all that you hear. No team ever wants to play Rutgers in the NCAA Tournament, just ask Auburn or Duke!

I understand the selection of Purdue but I just feel Rutgers is a little better. It all started in 1999 for the Boilermakers and they have been consistent ever since. They have made the NCAA Tournament every year except 1, won two Big 10 titles, AP Top 10 Final poll 4 times, 1 National Title birth and 1 All American (Katie Douglas). The difference is that the Big 10 has been up and down with talented teams and the Big East is always loaded with talented teams. I think that helps put RU a step above PU.

WNBA
No big upsets last night, well none that I didn't predict. I was shocked at the announcers saying that the Sparks are a "surprise". Really? Are you serious? Whatever...

Detroit Shock move into a 3-way tie for 4th in the East. Washington still holds the edge for the 4th spot but Chicago will rebound. They played a great 1st 20 minutes last night then seemed tired in the 2nd 20 minutes, well last 10 minutes really.

No games tonight...good thing because we wouldn't want ESPN to have to cut into a Little League baseball game for a women's professional sporting event (note sarcasm).

Rookie watch: Angel McCoughtry dropped in 20 for the Dream last night along with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 turnovers. Shavonte Zellous had 13 points for the Shock along with 1 board, 3 assists, 0 steals and 1 turnover. McCoughtry wins.

Former Rutgers player Heather Zurich to play Overseas

2009 Rutgers graduate, Heather Zurich, has just signed a contract to play with Autocad-Amazone in the Netherlands. Zurich compiled a Rutgers win loss mark of 102-34 which included 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, 14 NCAA Tournament games, 2007 National Championship game and 2 Regional Finals. It's very nice to see that she got picked up to continue her career overseas. Best of luck to Heather!

A Goodwill Ambassador

Agnus Berenato, Pittsburgh women's basketball coach, did a little more then just relax on her brief summer break. Coach Berenato traveled overseas to speak with U.S. Troops stationed in the Middle East with a goal of bringing them hope and thanking them for their sacrifices. Along with 4 other coaches their goal is to boost "the morale and quality of life for deployed military personnel by providing entertainment from the home front." (post-gazette.com).

Berenato was joined by University of Louisiana-Monroe men's basketball coach Orlando Early, Virginia Military Institute men's basketball coach Duggar Baucom, Murray State men's basketball coach Billy Kennedy and Jacksonville State University assistant men's basketball coach Mike Smith. Coach Berenato feels honored and humbled to be the only woman chosen to take the tour.

I encourage you to read her journal entries. There are inspiring, funny and appreciative of what we have here in the USA.

WNBA
No games last night but a few good ones tonight.

Detroit @ Connecticut (7:00 pm)
Sacramento @ Atlanta (7:00 pm)
Chicago @ Los Angeles (10:00 pm, ESPN2)
Washington @ Seattle (10:00 pm)

I think Detroit will upend Connecticut; Atlanta, LA and Seattle win @ home.

**Rookie Report**
So most of the sites I've been looking at have DeWanna Bonner on top of the Rookie of the Year race and most have Shavonte Zellous in 2nd place. Angel McCoughtry is in third in many but I think Angel might just top Bonner (although very deserving of the honor as well) because Angel does a little more then Bonner. Angel brings the game to her and when she does that, she is able to get her teammates involved better. She is a big reason why the Dream sit nicley in 2nd place in the Eastern Division. Don't get me wrong, Bonner is great for Phoenix: she picked up her 5th double-double last week, but didn't play well against a team that she should have dominated: Washington Mystics. Bonner has 11.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game along with 21.6 minutes of playing time. Which brings me to Angel...and why she will win ROY.

I don't know what it is about Angel McCoughtry but as the season wears on she gets BETTER. She did this in college at Louisville too. Last three games she scored 73 points (23 against the Sparks on 8/23, 34 against San Antonio on 8/20 and 16 against Seattle on 8/15). Each game her minutes played have gone up so that means the Coach sees her contribution to winning as well! For the season she is averaging 11.8 points per game, 2.5 rebound per game and averages 18.8 minutes per game.

Phoenix has been on top all season long. Atlanta has not and because of Angel they have been able to claw their way up to the #2 spot in the East. Angel gets ROY.

Some well deserved recognition for Kay Yow

On November 19 at Madison Square Garden, the late Kay Yow (N.C. State women's basketball coach) will be recognized with the Lapchick Character Award. The award recognizes coaches who have shown the character traits and coaching skills of the Hall of Fame coach, Joe Lapchick. Coach Yow will be recognized along with John Thompason (former Georgetown coach) and Jack Curran. Coach Curran coaches at New York City's Archbishop Molloy High School where he has won more then 900 games, won five New York City Championships and has helped 500 students go onto receive scholarships to play college basketball. All three are deserving of this recognition.

This marks the second year these awards have been given out. The first year the recipients were: Pat Summitt, Dean Smith and Lou Carnesecca.

Coming in January 2010
ESPN will host the first women's basketball college GameDay. The event will take place prior to the Notre Dame/UCONN game in Storrs, Connecticut on January 16th. While I really like the idea and feel it's horribly OVERDUE, my concern is that they will not advertise enough and say the ratings were bad. Then they can say "hey, we tried but not luck." Media drives everything, let's get the media going about how good the show will be and not treat it like a side show.

WNBA News
If the playoffs started today:
West
(1) Mercury vs (4) San Antonio
(2) Storm vs (3) Sparks

East
(1) Fever vs (4) Mystics
(2) Dream vs (3) Sun

Since they are not starting today and there are 8 games left, here is a quick break down:
West

• Mercury-3 Home, 4 Road. They have the best road record in the WNBA (8-5) so they will stay on top.
• Storm-4 Home, 4 Road. 10-3 at home, better then the Mercury but are 5-8 on the road. They have a winning streak of 2 games but it doesn't matter. Sparks might just take over 2nd place because...
• Sparks-6 Home, 2 Road. Winning streak of 5, are 7-4 at home. And they have their two X factors back: Parker and Leslie.
• Silver Stars-4 Home, 3 Road. They were in the title game last year but will barely hang on to 4th place in the West. They are just over .500 playing at home.

East

• Fever-4 Home, 4 Road. Best home record in the league, 12-1. They'll win the division by 7 games.
• Dream-2 Home, 6 Road. 4-7 on the road, uh oh. Dream will hang onto 2nd place...barely. Most of the team members have been in this position before and heck, Angel McCoughtry just had some bigtime NCAA tournament games.
• Sun-3 Home, 5 Road. Their 4-8 Road record is what keeps them in 3rd place. They have Detroit, New York, Chicago, Connecticut and Washington to contend with (in no particular order).
• Mystics-3 Home, 4 Road. 8-6 @ Home, 5-6 Road....hmm. They are playing in New York and personally I see the Liberty (and Shock) as party spoilers. Chicago sneaks up and takes 4th place from the Mystics because the Mystics just can't finish games! (I'm telling you, it's too many Duke players!)

Should be an exciting finish to the season!

Schedules: Colleges Releasing Schedules

Today marked another Top 25 school releasing their 2009-2010 hoops schedule, be in non-conference. Rutgers has a tough schedule ahead of them, and it would've been tough with Epiphanny Prince but it looks even harder without her! They open up November 15th @ home against Stanford. Yes, the same Final Four team...that one. The one with the lights out shooting point guard that missed 3/4 of last season, JJ Hones. And the one with preseason Wooden Award Candidate, Jayne Appel (who just finished a stint with USA Women's Basketball). But hey, anything can happen right? RU will play 14, 2009 NCAA Tourney teams, many of them from their own conference. My non-conference upset of the year...Prairie View A&M beats RU. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke's biggest win in school history!

Rest of the non- conference schedule:

November:

15 Stanford

17 Kean

19 Boston College

22 at Georgia

26-28 at Paradise Jam, Virgin Islands

26 vs. Southern California

27 vs. Mississippi State

28 vs. Texas

December:

3 Temple

5 at Princeton

7 Florida (Jimmy V Classic)

10 Prairie View A&M

13 vs. Tennessee (Maggie Dixon)

20 Central Connecticut State

30 at George Washington

Stanford has also released their schedule, complete schedule that is, for the 2009-2010 season. Their big games are back to back home contests, 12/15 against Duke and 12/19 against Tennessee. Then they travel across the country to take on UCONN (rematch of Final Four Semi-Final) on 12/23. Other then that, they have the usual tough Pac-10 conference schedule. And if I hear one more commentator talk about how "weak the Pac-10 is", I think I might just drive to their location and slap them. Arizona, Washington is back, USC, UCLA...come on people! Give the West Coast some respect.

Tennessee released their schedule last week. I miss the UCONN/UT game...bring it back! Tennessee plays Baylor in the season opener State Farm classic game, I am anxious to see how Britney Griner (Baylor, Freshman) does against the defense of Tennessee. I would HATE to be Baylor in that game though. Let's be honest, do you THINK Tennessee is going to lose their first game of the season after losing in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament (for the first time ever) last year? I think not. Other notable games, 12/6 home against Texas, neutral site against Rutgers (although it is NYC, practically a home game for Rutgers), 12/19 @ Stanford, 1/17/10 vs Vanderbilt, 2/8/10 @ Vanderbilt. The SEC is always tough but look for Tennessee to rebound from last season.

Many of the other top schools have yet to release much of anything. I know it's early but I'm itching for some college hoops.

WNBA Stuff

-The Phoenix Mercury look to clinch a playoff spot tonight. They take on the Washington Mystics in Phoenix. Game time is 10:00 pm. If Phoenix wins, this will be their 4th straight win over the Mystics. If Washington wins, they can move into a tie with Chicago for the coveted 4th place in the East.

-The Mystics will be playing six of their final 9 games on the road...yuck. They are 4-7 on the road this season.

-Connecticut Sun travel to play the New York Liberty for a Friday night game. Breast Cancer Awareness night at the Garden. Game time is 7:30 pm (NBA TV). Connecticut is without their leading scorer, Asjha Jones. She is out for 2 weeks with a sore Achilles' tendon. Connecticut is looking to beat the Liberty twice in 1 week (they won 74-69 on Wednesday).

-Liberty have allowed 87 points per game and have scored a league low 72.6 points.

-Los Angeles Sparks are on a tear, they've won their last 3 games. They visit the San Antonio Silver Stars tonight (10:00 pm, NBA TV). The Sparks are pretty motivated as they haven't won in San Antonio's house in more then 3 years.

-Sparks win...take 4th place in West, Sparks lose, fall 1.5 games back. The two teams meet 2 more times next month. Playoff fever tonight in San Antonio!

Shout out to Halle Berry

Halle Berry showed her support for the Los Angeles Sparks as she attended the August 19th game against the Minnesota Lynx. She had on her personalized "sparkles" Sparks jersey, check it out (photo courtesy of WNBA.com)...

In other news:

-Former Rutgers star and WNBA player, Sue Wicks, was on Rachel Maddow. Check her out...pretty good stuff (12 minute video). Video

-Bilqis Abul-Qadir will be the first player in NCAA Division 1 women's basketball to play for a top tier team in full Muslim dress. She is a 5'3" guard who broke Rebecca Lobo's Massachusetts scoring record. Nice article on here, click here.

What would happen if...

A bit of a deviation from women's hoops but an important topic to discuss, and frankly, I'm annoyed.

What would happen if a strong, athletic woman could regularly dunk a basketball? What would the media do to them? I bet you they would run around and say "She has to be a 'he'." Would they ask for the same "gender test" that South African runner Caster Semenya has to undergo? According to a statement released by the Associated Press on August 20, 2009, "Her dominating run came on the same day that the track and field's ruling body said she was undergoing a gender test because of concerns she did not meet requirements to compete as a woman." Hmmm, "did not meet requirements to compete as a woman"? What exactly does that mean? The typical stereotyping that occurs when female athletes are extraordinarily good at their chosen sport? Oh, but it seems to be as the AP also states "Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build, and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender." Wow.

Here is a little background on Caster: She is 18 years old and was born near Polokwane, South Africa in the rural village of Ga-Masehlong. She lived in the village until she was ready for high school when she moved in with her Grandmother who lived in the village of Seshego (2001 census: 121,000), in the northern province of Limpopo. She grew up with no running water or electricity. Caster played soccer and loved to run while growing up. Maybe we should look at who she is rather then what she is.

There is one article that seems to try to be sensitive about the subject and really blames the IAAF and the South African Track & Field organization for letting this become such a hot topic. A good article on the topic can be found here. It's a very sad case and I feel terrible for this 18 year old woman. Just think, it could easily happen in any sport but why always women?! Maybe they should start checking the male gymnasts and male figure skaters! Even the IOC (who is tough on EVERYTHING) does not perform gender testing anymore. Wake up IAAF, get with the program.

Party Spoilers
WNBA.com has a good article on playoff party spoilers. I agree with all but Washington. They can't finish a game, they can't finish a game with a 1 point lead or a 25 point lead. Without Marissa Coleman....just don't see them being a spoiler. You can read the article here. I can't help but smile when I think about Atlanta and how far they've come. I agree with them that Chicago and Atlanta will make the cut. But Indiana will keep their lead and win the East. Phoenix looks strong, nice to see them come together as Seattle has FLOPPED. Phoenix vs Indiana...now that's a final series I like!

And now for something completely different...

Some interesting news and notes (thanks to my recently received Coaching Women's Basketball magazine):

• Cappie Pondexter: 105 games to reach 2,000 points and 400 assists. That is the third fastest behind Diana Taurasi (104 games) and Cynthia Cooper (90 games). Not bad company...DT will go down as one of the greatest and Coop just got inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Congratulations Cappie!
• Lauren Jackson: Became the third player in WNBA history to reach 500 blocks. She is joined by Margo Dydek and Lisa Leslie. And...she is the youngest to reach the mark (28 years and 56 days). On Saturday, August 15 she became the fourth player to hit 5,000 points (and the youngest to do it).
• Deanna Nolan: On June 28th became the 18th player to reach 3,500 points.

Honoring a Legend

This Friday, August 21, the New York Liberty will be the host for what will be an annual Kay Yow "United We Fight" Breast Cancer Awareness Night. Donate now by clicking here. Each year in February is the Think Pink Zone where college teams host events to help donate money to the Kay Yow Foundation and it is nice to see the WNBA doing their part as well.

Going along with this theme is something else you might not know about. Two former Tennessee Lady Vols Assistant Coaches (well, now 1 and the UCLA Head Coach) have an annual "Cruisin' for A Cause" ride. Holly Warlick and Nikki Caldwell strap on their helmets and go on a long-haul motorcycle adventure to raise funds for the Kay Yow Foundation. Back in May of this year, Nikki and Holly, along with thousands of other riders, went on a four state loop (Knoxville, TN, down to New Orleans, LA via Mississippi then back up through Alabama to Knoxville, TN). This was the third year they have done such a ride and they have already raised nearly $100,000. They do have a kick off weekend and a day long trip knows as the "TaTa Ride". Ahhh, a sense of humor!

Holly and Nikki have also started the Champions for a Cause non-profit organization. There they bring together basketball, bikes and breast cancer to bring awareness to this disease. Check out their website for more information.

USA Women's Basketball

The first 8 members have been named to the 2009-2012 USA Women's Basketball squad.

-Seimone Augustus

-Sue Bird

-Tamika Catchings

-Sylvia Fowles

-Kara Lawson

-Candace Parker

-Cappie Pondexter

-Diana Taurasi

Can they just give us the Gold Medal? Think about it...it's a 12 player roster so add: Maya Moore, Tina Charles...so that's 10. Long shot: Epiphanny Prince, Alexis Gray-Lawson. Or just take the 2009 UCONN women's hoops team and put them on the floor. They'll beat ANYONE.

WNBA Games Tonight:

Seattle @ Detroit (7:30 pm)

Phoenix @ Chicago (8:00 pm)

Washington @ Los Angeles (10:00 pm)

Shaken, Not Stirred

So the standings have been shaken in both conferences. Primarily the East but man, some upsets in the West have really made things interesting. Atlanta continues their climb and beat the Seattle Storm, 88-79; Silver Stars beat the Mercury 106-89; Liberty beat Mystics 60-59. So what does this mean? This means that those teams that were plagued by poor coaching and injuries are finally coming together.

The Atlanta Dream are only in their second season but the hiring of Marynell Meadors as General Manager/Head Coach was a phenomenal move for the Dream. Last season they struggled as the team tried to gel and the organization tried to figure out just what the WNBA was all about. They finished the season 4-3o. During the year you could see that they were trying to figure out what they needed; the traded for Ivory Latta and Iziane Castro Marques to go along with the nice core of players who make up most of the 2009 team. In 2009 they had the first pick and snagged Angel McCoughtry. The also had the fortune of snagging Chamique Holdsclaw, who came out of retirement, Michelle Snow, Coco Miller and traded for Armentie Price. Now they have a quick and explosive team that is gelling (are you gellin'?) at the right moment. The result? A catapult into 2nd place in the East, 1/2 game ahead of Connecticut and Chicago. With Washington faltering in the second half again (I think there are too many Duke players on that team. Many of them the same ones that could not finish out the 13 point lead in the National Title game in 2006), Atlanta might just pull it off and hang tough and earn a #2 going into the playoffs. Although I see Chicago picking it up along with Connecticut, so maybe Atlanta will get a #4 but heck, they are playing top ball right now...when it counts!

So perhaps the Mercury loss is nothing more then everything going right for San Antonio, but I'm not a believer in that. Don't get me wrong, when teams hit on all cylinders they can be unstoppable but hello, this is the Mercury they are playing against. So yes, the Silver Stars matched the record for most points scored in the first half of a game (61, set by Seattle just over 2 years ago). I just wonder where the defense is for the Mercury, something I've complained about in the past. The Mercury forced only 8 turnovers and had 19 turnovers, above their average of 12 a game. The Silver Stars took advantage. Hopefully the Mercury can rebound and play their "A" game for the rest of the year.

The Liberty are finally playing smart ball. They've changed their offensive structure from an outside dominant game to a penetrate to the basket, shoot/pass. It's made a world of difference. The Liberty have gone 3-4 in the month of August with nice wins over the Sparks and Mystics. They've shown two things they haven't previously in the season: #1 they can hold onto win tight games and #2 when they get a lead they can hold on (be it barely) to get the win. They had a 19 point lead over the Mercury in July and LOST. In August, they've lost to teams that are really starting to kick it into gear: Atlanta (by 6), Detroit (by 12), Seattle (by 1) and Chicago (by 11). So I see a lot of improvement in their game and their attitude. They will continue to improve and might make some noise and knock off some teams that are trying for a playoff spot. I could see the Liberty being the "Party Spoiler" this season.

No games tonight...a fun story tomorrow.

An inspiring story...and other news

I was very shocked and saddened to read about University of Tennessee Sophomore Amber Gray having a stroke. She went in for arthroscopic surgery on her left shoulder to repair her posterior capsule and labrum (basically she tore her rotator cuff and needed it fixed). After her July 2nd surgery, while still in the hospital, she had some complications. An unrelated brain aneurysm occurred which began to hemorrhage thus causing a stroke. Amber was then flown to a hospital near her home in Ohio. A 12.5 hour surgery snipped the aneurysm and saved her life.

On August 11, 2009, Ms. Gray walked out of the rehabilitation center. When asked by a reporter if she thinks she will play basketball again, she said "Of course I do". I have no doubt in my mind that this 19 year old woman will play basketball again for the Tennessee Lady Vols. I wish her well and her story is very inspiring as she continues to grow stronger and stronger each day. To read the story, click here.

This isn't the first bit of illness effecting teams this summer. University of North Carolina forward, Jessica Breland, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in late May. She is still undergoing chemotherapy treatments and it is still unclear if she will be able to play this season.

Best of luck to both women as they continue to recover.



Shout out to Teresa Edwards!


August 12, 2009, Teresa Edwards was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame. Wow, it took this long to recognize her feats? Are you serious? She is the most decorated Olympic basketball player in the WORLD, not the U.S.A. but the WORLD. She has four gold medals and one bronze medal (1984, 1988, 1996, 2000-Gold, 1992-Bronze). She is the only 5-time Olympic hoops player in the U.S.A., and there are only two others that have played in 5 Olympic Basketball competitions in the world (and the only female I might add). And get this; she is also one of only three U.S. Olympians to win gold in four different Olympic Games, former teammate Lisa Leslie and sprinter Carl Lewis. Only five other non-U.S. athletes have accomplished that feat. Oh, and on top of that she is a super nice woman that loves the game. Currently she is passing her knowledge onto WNBA players as she is an Assistant with the Minnesota Lynx.


Some more info:


--Youngest (1984, 20 years old) and oldest (2000, 36 years old) U.S. women’s basketball player to win an Olympic gold medal


--Member of the historic 1996 U.S. Olympic Team and 1995-96 USA Basketball Women’s National Team that compiled a combined 60-0 record and was named the 1996 U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Basketball Team of the Year
--USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year a record four times (1987, 1990, 1996, 2000)
--Took Olympic Oath on behalf of all Olympic competitors at 1996 Opening Ceremony

Congratulations to Teresa Edwards. LONG, LONG overdue. (And in my humble opinion, that entire 1996 Women's Basketball team belongs in the Hall of Fame. Look at what they did to the face of women's basketball!)

(thanks to teamusa.org for those amazing numbers)

WNBA News
Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky traded some players. The Dream sent 2008 first round draft pick Tamera Young to the Sky for fellow 2007 first round pick Armintie Price. Who wins? The Dream, man! Price was the 2007 Rookie of the Year and has been on the bench for the Sky. She'll start playing right away. Oh man, the Dream are really coming together.

Indiana Fever lost another starter, Ebony Hoffman. She has some tendinitis in her left ankle. Not sure how long she'll be out, probably day-to-day. Hopefully Tammy Sutton-Brown will recover quickly and get back into the lineup.

Other News
Leon Barmore WILL return to his Assistant Coaching position at Baylor. He really contemplated staying retired but has decided his heart is still in the game. I mean, seriously, would anyone turn down the opportunity to coach Brittney Griner? Article here.

And an interesting bit of trivia:
What two teams played the first intercollegiate women's basketball game?

Give up??? How about Stanford and Cal...who would've thought? April 4, 1896 at the Page Street Armory in San Francisco, CA. Final score: 2-1 Stanford. Nice article on the game.

Home Court Advantage? I think not...

Tuesday nights games proved to be bad news for the home teams. Usually home court is to your advantage because you know the surroundings and yes, the fans are there to support you. So where was the love last night for Los Angeles, Washington and San Antonio?! Say what? All three home teams lost? Two of them had the bottom feeders winning.

The Los Angeles Sparks were shocked by the New York Liberty, 65-61. This is the first time I can say that the Liberty looked like a solid team, all season long. Something that has plagued the Sparks all season is their turnovers, they had 18 of them last night. And the Liberty was actually able to take advantage of those turnovers. Plus, the Liberty stopped relying on the ineffective perimeter game and took the ball inside. Gee, what happened? The Liberty outscored the Sparks 32-20. The Sparks out rebounded the Liberty, but only 35-30 and with the added Sparks turnovers, well, that would probably balance out to a 4 point Liberty win. Shameka Christon had 11 points and Loree Moore had 10 for the Liberty but the other players were close to double digits so that certainly helped in the victory. Tina Thompson looked a little lost at times in the paint, very uncharacteristic but credit to the Liberty defense. Anytime she got the ball there was a hand attacking it. She finished with 9 points and 6 boards. Lisa Leslie had 12 points and 5 boards. Candace Parker had a double-double, 11 points and 11 boards. The inside defense for the Liberty was relentless, both Thompson and Leslie led the team in turnovers with 4 (Thompson) and 5 (Leslie). So with the loss the Sparks remain 1 game back from San Antonio, thanks to Sacramento beating them last night. And I would just like to comment on Los Angeles sports teams: Why don't the fans show up until nearly half-time? Is that a "California" thing?

Sacramento Monarchs won easily, 90-73, over the San Antonio Silver Stars. The difference? The Monarchs had 37 rebounds, to San Antonio's 27. That played well for the Monarchs as they outscored the Silver Stars in the paint 42-20. The Monarchs were led by Rebekkah Brunson who hit for 19 points and 9 boards. Your All-Star Nicole Powell had 17 points, Scholanda Robinson had 13 points and coming off the bench, the spark plug, Kara Lawson had 12 points. Ticha Penicheiro had 11 assists for the Monarchs as she just kept pounding the ball inside for easy buckets. The Silver Stars had 27 points in the first quarter then scored 46 over the next three. They only hit 20 points in a quarter once, that was the first quarter. Sophia Young and Vicki Johnson both kept the scoring going for the Silver Stars but they were about it for them, scoring 14 and 12. The Silver Stars keep faltering, they've lost 4 of their last 6 games. What needs to happen? It just seems like they are not clicking on all cylinders and playing as a team, together. With the Sparks right behind them, look out Silver Stars!

The final game had the Detroit Shock win over the Washington Mystics, 81-77. This game was tight from the start but an explosive 35 point fourth quarter by the Shock put the Mystics down. It seems that the Mystics play 33 minutes of a game, they forget about the last 7 minutes, you know, when the clock is ticking to the end of the game! The Mystics had a 12 point lead at one point but squandered it and allowed the Shock to make a nice comeback for the win. I'm sure this gives the Shock a lot of confidence for the rest of the season. Perhaps the difference was the resurgence of Deanna Nolan. She dropped in 23 points for the Shock. Taj McWilliams had 17 points and that rookie nobody is talking about, Shavonte Zellous from Pittsburgh, had 16 points. What else helped the Shock? The return of Cheryl Ford starting to play to her potential. 10 points and 10 boards, 6 boards on the defensive end. The Mystics were led by Alana Beard with 17 points and Crystal Langhorne had 15 points. Nobody seemed to take charge for the Mystics on the rebounding side of the game and that ended up hurting them in the end!

So in conclusion, home team advantage is not an advantage at all. Not when you are 13 games from the end of the WNBA season and the standings are to tight to call! Let's keep up the great games, let's have a few more upsets...it makes the game more interesting!

Tonight's Games
None at all! Day off for the ladies.

Lisa Leslie hits 6,000

How much of an impact has Lisa Leslie had on women's basketball? Do you really have to ask? Or do I just have to say this, "6,000 career points in the WNBA, the first one to do it". She hit an eleven foot jumper with 11.9 seconds to play in the 2nd quarter to reach this milestone. She is also the career leading rebounder with 3,214 after last night game (and yes, she technically has 6,010 after last night's game as well). I would argue she is one of the best female basketball players ever. Yes, even better then Ann Meyers and Nancy Lieberman. Lisa is the real deal, completely the real deal. If her knees could hold on any longer I'm sure she would hit 10,000 points. So CONGRATULATIONS, Lisa. The best to put on a uniform (and she has a great book too!)

On top of hitting that milestone, the Sparks beat my Fever 75-63 on Monday night. The Sparks outscored the Fever in each quarter except the 3rd quarter. For some reason it seems that Fever just could not get going despite 11 steals and causing the Sparks to turn the ball over 16 times! Tamika Catchings put in 15, Katie Douglas had 16 and rookie Briann January (who nobody is talking about but is having a great rookie year) had 10 points. But when you have Lisa Leslie scored 21 and Candace Parker hitting for 14....it is tough to keep up.

Indiana still has a nice lead in the East, still up by 5.5 games over Washington & Connecticut. The Sparks are still 1 game behind the Silver Stars, but look for them to take over the 4th place spot this week as they play the Mercury on Thursday and the Sparks play the Monarchs on Friday. By the weekend they will be tied for 4th place, I'm certain of that.

Tonight's Games
Three games tonight:
Detroit @ Washington (7:00 pm)
Sacramento @ San Antonio (8:00 pm)
New York @ Los Angeles (9:00 pm, ESPN2)

Washington, San Antonio and Los Angeles will be winners....

Notes about games tonight:
Detroit is on a 3 game road swing against Eastern Conference teams: Washington, Hot-Lanta and Indiana.
Washington is looking for a season sweep of Detroit.

San Antonio has only won back-to-back games twice this season. That plays well for Sacramento but the Monarchs have lost 5 in a row to the Silver Stars in the regular season and they have the worst record in the WNBA (ouch).

New York has lost 6 of 7 but almost beat the Storm over the weekend (losing 70-69). Shameka Christon is in a shooting slump and when the entire team is in a slump, losing your only consistent scorer hurts. Los Angeles is has the league's best scoring defense and limits their opponents to under 72.6 PPG. That doesn't work well for the Liberty who are 1-11 when scoring under 73 points.

I fell asleep...and I had a very good DREAM.

What is up with the Dream? They beat San Antonio last night, 92-84. It was a tight game throughout, 18 lead changes, but Atlanta really played well in the 4th quarter to capture the 8 point win. I would just like to say I am so happy for Chamique Holdsclaw. She is such a great player that had some bad luck and to see her rebound so nicely is just a happy story. She was the team leader with 21 points for the Dream and the team has one 4 in a row. FOUR in a row! I really like this team, it's a collection of great players that compliment each other so well. I had them out of the playoffs until next season but look out, they are coming on strong now! They only had 10 turnovers in the game and forced San Antonio into 18! They scored 50 in the paint, showing that Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle are really catching their groove. Michelle Snow and Angel McCoughtry each dropped in 11. Just a great game; multiple double digit scorers, protected the ball, got the rebounds. If they keep playing like this, look out Chicago, Atlanta is taking your seat!

The Sparks won a big game in the West, they beat Seattle by 4 in Overtime. Noelle Quinn had a career high 23 points in the game (8 in overtime) to help the Sparks knock off Seattle (who have lost 2 tough games in a row). Even though Katie Gearlds might not be the bigtime player for the Storm, losing her for the next four weeks is big. It's been confirmed that Gearlds tore her posterior cruciate ligament in her left knee Tuesday night against Phoenix. She does so much off of the ball that losing her will hurt the Storm. But, the Storm are resilient, they will rebound. With the LA win and San Antonio loss, the Sparks have pulled to within 1 game of 4th place in the West. The Sparks are on a roll, they had 4 players in double digits; Lisa Leslie came back and had 15 points, Candace Parker had 18 points. They out-rebounded the Storm by 11 (42-31) but they still can't hold onto the ball (14 turnovers, 4 by Parker). Where did the Storm go? I know it was a close game but it seemed like in the end it seemed like the usual that showed up for them: Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson. Someone else needs to step up in the final moments to help this team come together.

Tonight's Games
So we have a few good ones:
Detroit @ Washington (7:00 pm)
Connecticut @ Minnesota (8:00 pm)
New York @ Sacramento (10:00 pm)

Washington, Minnesota and New York will win (first win under Donovan).

Other News:
The Tuesday announcement that Sacramento Monarchs/Indiana Fever forward Yolanda Griffith has retired brought a sense of sadness to me. I always felt that Yo-Yo was under-rated as a player. I mean, she did play on 2 Olympic Gold Medal teams (2000, 2004) but I never felt she really got the respect she deserved. Perhaps it is because she didn't play for media friendly teams? Or perhaps she's just a quiet woman on and off the floor. You know, the player that scores 30 points and you go, "When did that happen? Where was I?" She's also the type of player that gets things done without the ball, she can pass and defend. I would always say that I would never drive to the hoop if Yo-Yo was standing there.

She had originally signed to play for the University of Iowa in 1989 but had to remove herself from her signed contract due to the birth of her daughter. She went to Junior College and eventually transferred to Florida Atlantic University (a Division II school) where she graduated in 1993. From there she played overseas in Germany and in 1997, she finished as the top scorer and rebounder in the EuroLeague, averaging 24.7 points and 16.0 rebounds per game. In 1997 she was the ABL's first pick in the players draft going to the Long Beach Stingrays. She was the 1997-1998 ABL Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the All-ABL first team. She finished second in MVP voting to Natalie Williams (her future 2000 Olympic team mate). She scored 1,133 points for the ABL, in 2 season!

Her 11 year WNBA stats tell the story:

• 2nd in rebounding in the WNBA with 2,444 (second to, you guessed it, Lisa Leslie)
• 4,238 points
• 323 blocks
• 2005 WNBA Champion
• 1999 second overall draft pick (from the ABL)
• WNBA MVP & Defensive Player of the Year Award winner in 1999 (her first year in the WNBA)
• seven-time WNBA all-star
• not counting this season, she started every game except 1 in her 11 year WNBA career
  

Right now she is the Assistant Coach for Indiana and her expertise will come in handy for the team. Best of luck to you in the future, Yo-Yo, your game will be missed.

How the West is Won

It's only fair that I give a shout out (and it's a long one from where I live) to the West Coast teams in the WNBA. This is all taken from player analysis and my observations as the season has rolled on (note: all stats and records are as of the All-Star break).

I think it's a much tighter race in the West then the East, at least I think the play among all of the teams is better matched. Here is how I see it unfolding and how the 1st half of the year went down.

Phoenix Mercury:
(13-5, 1st place)
Phoenix has been playing great ball but they falter at odd times. They've lost 2 of 3 this season to Minnesota (easily beaten I might add) which is not a superior team to the Mercury, perhaps Gillom knows the style since that was her team? Who knows. But it seems the Lynx have their number so let's hope they draw the Sparks in the playoffs. Still, Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi continue to show that they are true leaders and "the real deal" when it comes to this team. They are clutch, strong and do not want to lose, ever. Another thing about the Mercury is that they have my Rookie of the Year, DeWanna Bonner. Bonner has showed her skills and ability to adapt to playing conditions very well. She is the missing link to the inside game of the Mercury, if they can get another solid post player then the Mercury will be unbeatable. Even though Penny Toler hasn't played, I just don't see her having the impact they might be expecting her to have. She is coming off of a major surgery (ankle reconstruction) and she just hasn't played in game situations all season long. Look for Toler to be put into the lineup by mid-August, if not by then....hmmmmm....look for 2nd place for the Mercury.

Seattle Storm:
(11-6, 2nd place)
The Storm have been playing very well and seem to be the strongest team going into the All-Star break. They are super talented and with Swin Cash healthy, they have added a very athletic dimension at the 3 spot. Brian Agler is a great coach and he will continue to help this team get better. Between Cash, Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Camille Little, look for the Storm to take over 1st place in the last few weeks of the season. They have played great ball together and have stayed healthy which has helped them to build a solid team relationship. Okay, so they don't lead in any stat categories and it's all Mercury in 7 out of 18 categories the WNBA follows but this Storm team is on a mission. Oh yes, and they have a point guard that doesn't take "no" for an answer. Storm won't make the finals, but they'll win the West division.

Minnesota Lynx:
(10-7, 3rd place)
I like the Lynx, I like that they are playing well without Seimone Augustus and they are really playing as a team. Sure, they've lost some games that they shouldn't have, but who hasn't? Charde Houston nailed it on the head, "...our sense of togetherness. The fact that we stayed together and supported each other. We understood that whatever we do we can’t do it alone or expect one person to carry the team. The fact that every night a different person is able to step up for our team shows the amount of talent that we have.” With that attitude, don't be surprised to see the Lynx hanging onto the 4th spot in the West. Jen Gillom is a great coach and leader. She has done a fantastic job with the Lynx. Oh yes, and they have that other great leader, Candice (that's Candice with an 'i') Wiggins.

San Antonio Silver Stars:
(7-8, 4th place)
The Silver Stars are loaded with talent, they just can not get it all working on the same cylinder. They are a great team, top to bottom, but returning so many players from a Finals team and not being in 1st place is a disappointment. They do not start strong and that has hurt them. It usually takes the team a few minutes to find the flow of the game, but what has saved them is their ability to defend, get steals and easy buckets. However, as the other teams improve, the Silver Stars must get better in the 1st quarter to stay in the playoff race. I see them finishing a CLOSE 5th place.

Los Angeles Sparks:
(4-9, 5th place)
What? 5th place? The Sparks? Wait, they didn't have Candace Parker in the beginning and she is just getting back into playing form. Leslie is out with a knee injury which has really hurt the Sparks on the inside (which I would just like to say that I feel awful that she has this injury and it has prevented the fans from giving her a proper send off as she retires this year). Tina Thompson is an amazing player and she can handle the post spot but it's tough to do when you are the ONLY post. But, look for the Sparks to sneak into 3rd place in the West, make the playoffs and give Lisa a chance at another crown (although the Mercury will take them down in the 1st round, oh well).

Sacramento Monarchs:
(4-15, 6th place)
The Monarchs have played a lot of tight games but ended up on the losing end of the game. The positive is that they have been playing games tight since the beginning of the season! Eventually they will get on the winning end of a 4 point game, I just don't think it will be soon enough for the playoffs. The Monarchs have been plagued by injuries as well and they are starting to all come back together but I just don't think they will improve ten-fold over the other teams that are improving. Courtney Paris just hasn't played up to the potential the Monarchs thought she would (is everyone surprised by this? I'm not...and you can call that a challenge to prove me wrong). They need another big post player to help Nicole Powell and DeMya Walker. Give them time, I think with a few tweaks they will be good again...just not this season. 6th place finish for the Monarchs.


So that's my take on the West....

Upcoming Games: (game times ET)
San Antonio @ LA (3:00 pm)
NY @ Detroit (7:00 pm)
Phoenix @ Seattle (10:00 pm)

LA over SA, NY beats Detroit by 5. Game of the night: Phoenix vs Seattle. Seattle just raised a #6 jersey banner with the name "Fans" on it....it's hard to play there and Seattle wants to chip away at the Mercury lead. Seattle by 10.

A Weekend of Madness

It's sad to me that there is little mention of the WNBA in the media. Living in the New York area it's more about Eli and Sanchez (Giants/Jets) and writer's predictions of the upcoming NFL season. There is barely even a mention of the WNBA on ESPN and it seems to be talked about with the attitude of "we have to talk about the games". They usually pick one game, show 2 highlights, show scores for the other games and pretty much read off of the same screen I am reading off of. They also always seem surprised if a player scores over 20 points, but that's besides the point. Anyway, there were some excellent games over the weekend and I'm here to talk about them (as best as I can because the coverage is non-existent).



Saturday

I think you could safely say that there were 5 close games on Saturday. The largest margin of victory was the Mercury winning against Lynx by 13 points. The rest of the games were 12 point (Sky over Sun), 6 points (Dream over Liberty) and two with 3 point (Sparks over Monarchs and Storm over Silver Stars). These were big games this weekend in the standings.



The Sky are now only a 1/2 game back on the Sun; Seattle stayed 2 back on the Mercury; the Sparks pulled to within 1 game of the Silver Stars (and the all important 4th place). The West is seriously tight from first to fifth while my Fever keep pulling away in the East.



Sunday

Fever won on the road at Washington; Sun beat Detroit in the city that Ford built then abandoned. The Sun are now tied for 2nd place with the Mystics since Connecticut won and Washington lost.



Upcoming Games

Monday is a night off for the teams but Tuesday will showcase the bottom feeders of the East battling to see who stays in the basement; the top two in the West and a great game between 4th and 5th in the West (Silver Stars hold that 1 game lead on the Sparks!).



Other news

I read an interesting article on how the WNBA has really improved its game over the last 13 seasons. It is an interesting article about the tweaking of the league that has certainly helped the game. There is a mention of attendance up but not matching that of 1998, oh yes, when the economy was BOOMING. And there is no mention of the NBA attendance being down. Of course there has to be some sort of comparison between men and women, rather then just show stats from WNBA 1997 and WNBA 2008, they want to compare two entirely different animals. But here's the interesting part: they aren't that far off in the categories they chose to evaluate AND they failed to mention that the men's game is 8 minutes LONGER then the women's game. The author provided a nice little table:
NBA WNBA
Field-goal percentage
45.9 42.7
Possessions per 48 minutes
91.7 92.1
Points per 100 possessions
108.3 98.3
Avg. points per team, per game
100 77.3



What the author fails to realize is that the women's game is similar to, I would say, mid-late 1990s NBA game. If you look at the stats there, the Chicago Bulls had a team field goal percentage of 45.1% in 1997-1998. This is the ridiculously talented Chicago Bulls and the entire WNBA league is only 3% off that pace? Come on people! If you really want to compare apples to bananas (no pun intended, or is there...) then the WNBA is doing extremely well considering they play fewer minutes then the men and their stats are nearly identical. 2% points is like making 10 more shots per game. And the women have more possessions then the men per 48 minutes (ahem, it's 40 for the women) because they actually play defense. Certainly the points are lower but that's changing, the same Chicago Bulls averaged 96.7 points per game. THOSE Bulls, the Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Harper, Kerr Bulls! Also, the women play far less games then the men in a regular season, so who is to say that is not a factor. By the end of the season you can watch the final score totals increase in the WNBA as the teams get more familiar with each other. Oh yes, and one final note: let's not forget that the big stars of the WNBA play 10-11 months out of the year. I'd like to see some of the NBA stars do that.



So while the league is young you are clearly seeing the effects of the improvement of the game, coaches and travel teams by the women that are entering the WNBA. As the players get stronger, faster and better those numbers will match the NBA. But hey, I didn't know it was a comparison game.



To read the article, click here.