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.
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It's about time for the Liberty. If only they played as well as they did last week against the Sparks all year long. I guess getting rid of Fatty Patty has really helped the team.
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