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.
Showing posts with label Mercury. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercury. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Where oh Where Have the Mercury Gone?
I have to start this blog out this way rather then talk about my predicted game of the night being that and more! Complete shocker in Hot-lanta last night as the Mercury were HANDILY defeated by the Dream, 106-76. This is the biggest win in the Dream's young franchise history and will go down as their biggest win of the year, regardless of if they beat the rest of the teams on their schedule. Why? Because the Mercury have two in the top 3 in scoring and have the highest field goal & free throw percentages as well as points per game averages, assists and blocks! Okay, so where do the Dream stand in comparison? As a team, not that far behind them....2nd to the Mercury in PPG. But a big category that the Dream lead the league in is rebounding and as many great coaches have stated, "Rebounding wins Championships".
Angel McCoughtry stepped it up and dropped 17 on the Mercury, Iziane Castro Marques had 16 and Ivory Latta also chipped in with 16. Latta has really stepped up her game over the last 3 contests which means to me that maybe she has gotten her stroke back and is playing smarter basketball. I admit, I wrote her off but I have no problem saying that I could be wrong on her. Way to help your team, Ivory! A great game for Atlanta and hopefully a learning experience for the Mercury, who don't return home until August 8 against the Fever.
Which brings me to....the game of the night. The Fever beat the Sun in OT, 94-85. Katie Douglas was sure not to have a repeat performance like the last time these two teams met. Douglas put in 32 points, shooting nearly 50% from the floor for the game. Tamika Catchings came up big, like she always does, and tied the game up for the Fever with with 11.6 left in regulation. She got fouled but missed the free throw, Lindsay Whalen missed a shot at the other end to send the game into OT. The Fever just took over in the OT session, outscoring the Sun 10-1. The game of the night was just great, too bad it was not on national television. The media needs to be more involved in broadcasting games, when will the stigma end that women's games are boring? I am sorry, I have digressed...that rant is for another day.
In other games, the Liberty were a total disappointment and fell to the Mystics, 78-75. But so close you say? No, the game was a blowout and Washington got a little lazy and stopped playing their game, I also think Alana Beard was on the bench too long but who am I? Anyway, the Liberty looked awful until about mid-way through the third quarter when they finally woke up and realized they were playing in a basketball game. It's about time for some changes in that organization.
Sacramento beat the Silver Stars, I predicted the Silver Stars to win but I had a weird gut feeling that the Monarchs were going to beat them (don't ask my why). It was another OT thriller with Becky Hamon hitting a one-handed shot (so awesome) with 17 ticks to play in regulation. In OT the Monarchs went on and outscored the Silver Stars 14-6 to take the victory. DeMya Walker played a great game (nice to see her doing well after her numerous knee injuries...and she's a Jersey girl) and scored 14 points for the Monarchs.
The only game that jumbled the standings up a bit was the Atlanta game. With the win the Dream are tied in 4th with Chicago Sky (they meet up on August 8th in Atlanta). Seattle is only 2 games back on Phoenix now so look for them to make a run, you can never rule out our Pacific Northwest team.
Only one game tonight: Minnesota Lynx @ Detroit Shock. Look for Minnesota to beat Detroit for the first time in 5 years in Detroit. Detroit has lost their last 4 at home which could be motivation but even without Seimone Augustus, look for the Lynx to win at Detroit.
Angel McCoughtry stepped it up and dropped 17 on the Mercury, Iziane Castro Marques had 16 and Ivory Latta also chipped in with 16. Latta has really stepped up her game over the last 3 contests which means to me that maybe she has gotten her stroke back and is playing smarter basketball. I admit, I wrote her off but I have no problem saying that I could be wrong on her. Way to help your team, Ivory! A great game for Atlanta and hopefully a learning experience for the Mercury, who don't return home until August 8 against the Fever.
Which brings me to....the game of the night. The Fever beat the Sun in OT, 94-85. Katie Douglas was sure not to have a repeat performance like the last time these two teams met. Douglas put in 32 points, shooting nearly 50% from the floor for the game. Tamika Catchings came up big, like she always does, and tied the game up for the Fever with with 11.6 left in regulation. She got fouled but missed the free throw, Lindsay Whalen missed a shot at the other end to send the game into OT. The Fever just took over in the OT session, outscoring the Sun 10-1. The game of the night was just great, too bad it was not on national television. The media needs to be more involved in broadcasting games, when will the stigma end that women's games are boring? I am sorry, I have digressed...that rant is for another day.
In other games, the Liberty were a total disappointment and fell to the Mystics, 78-75. But so close you say? No, the game was a blowout and Washington got a little lazy and stopped playing their game, I also think Alana Beard was on the bench too long but who am I? Anyway, the Liberty looked awful until about mid-way through the third quarter when they finally woke up and realized they were playing in a basketball game. It's about time for some changes in that organization.
Sacramento beat the Silver Stars, I predicted the Silver Stars to win but I had a weird gut feeling that the Monarchs were going to beat them (don't ask my why). It was another OT thriller with Becky Hamon hitting a one-handed shot (so awesome) with 17 ticks to play in regulation. In OT the Monarchs went on and outscored the Silver Stars 14-6 to take the victory. DeMya Walker played a great game (nice to see her doing well after her numerous knee injuries...and she's a Jersey girl) and scored 14 points for the Monarchs.
The only game that jumbled the standings up a bit was the Atlanta game. With the win the Dream are tied in 4th with Chicago Sky (they meet up on August 8th in Atlanta). Seattle is only 2 games back on Phoenix now so look for them to make a run, you can never rule out our Pacific Northwest team.
Only one game tonight: Minnesota Lynx @ Detroit Shock. Look for Minnesota to beat Detroit for the first time in 5 years in Detroit. Detroit has lost their last 4 at home which could be motivation but even without Seimone Augustus, look for the Lynx to win at Detroit.
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