#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.