Tonight is a pretty important night here in WNBA land. Minnesota Lynx play at Los Angeles Sparks and Connecticut Sun play at Atlanta Dream. It's important because....
-the Atlanta Dream can start to complete their turn around from last season by clinching a playoff spot in their friendly confines of Philips Arena. If they beat the Sun (which I think they will) the Dream will certainly be living a dream.
-The Minnesota Lynx can keep their hopes alive by staying alive in the playoff hunt with a win at Los Angeles. IF the Lynx can win and win again on Sunday (saying the Silver Stars beat the Storm Saturday) they are in the playoffs. How can they be if they are tied with the Silver Stars? You know, that recreational head-to-head thing....Minnesota has the edge over San Antonio.
Check out the games! The more viewers the better...
Connecticut Sun @ Atlanta Dream (7:00 pm)
Minnesota Lynx @ Los Angeles Sparks (10:30 pm, NBA TV)
Washington Mystics
So if the Mystics make the playoffs the "Walking with Dinosaurs" show will kick them out of the Verizon Center. They will have to go 30 minutes north to College Park, MD...where there is train service but it's kind of a pain to navigate. Of course this is not the first time a pro team has had to reschedule a playoff game. Just this past NHL season the Pittsburgh Penguins had to reschedule their game with the Washington Capitals because of a Yanni concert. Not like it mattered because my Pens won but still...dinos and Yanni kick pro sports out of their own arena? Who exactly has banners hanging in the rafters? I rest my case....
Showing posts with label Minnesota Lynx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minnesota Lynx. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
There can only be 1
It should be no surprise to anyone which team is considered #1 in the "nearly-a-decade" list (my comparison to Stanford Basketball Examiner writer Jake Curtis' top 10 teams). If you are surprised, did you live under a rock for most of the decade?
Jake-UCONN
Jenn-UCONN
-4 National Titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2009)
-2 additional Final Fours (2001, 2008)
-Failed to make the NCAA Elite Eight only one time (2005)
-39 victories in both 2002, 2009 (I would argue with anyone that the 2002 UCONN team is the best ever to be put on a floor)
-Won fewer then 30 games only once in the 9 years
-2 Undefeated seasons (2002, 2009)
-Finished in the top 10 final standings all 9 years (#1 in 5 of those seasons)
-7 Regular Season Big East Champions (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009)
-6 Big East Tournament Championships (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009)
-7 (yes 7) 1st Team All Americans: Svetlana Abrosimova 2001, Swin Cash 2002, Sue Bird 2002, Diana Taurasi 2002-2004, Tina Charles 2009, Renee Montgomery 2008, 2009, Maya Moore 2008, 2009.
-3 Wade Trophy National Player of the Year Awards: Sue Bird, 2002; Diana Taurasi, 2003; Maya Moore, 2009
Enough said....
WNBA
Minnesota Lynx picked up a very important win over the Detroit Shock last night. If the Shock had won they would've clinched a playoff spot but now they have to wait another game. The Lynx scored 9 straight points to pull out the 3 point victory. The win puts the Lynx tied with San Antonio Silver Stars for 4th place in the West. San Antonio holds the tie-breaker head to head and they both have 2 games remaining.
I think it's time, with the talent so diversified in the WNBA, that if teams tie for a playoff position they play 1 game to determine the standings. None of this recreational league head to head stuff. A good example would be the Sparks. Say it was between the Sparks and a team they played twice early on in the season. The Sparks were without Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie for a good portion of the beginning of the season. Now they are on fire. Is it fair and right to not have them in the playoffs when they are playing better ball then a lot of teams just because they didn't win their head-to-head? Go to a 1 game playoff, let the ladies lay it on the floor, let the PLAYERS decide who gets into the playoffs not a statistician.
Games Tonight:
New York Liberty @ Detroit Shock (7:30 pm, NBA TV)
Indiana Fever @ Chicago Sky (8:00 pm)
San Antonio Silver Stars @ Sacramento Monarchs (10:00 pm)
Phoenix Mercury @ Seattle Storm (10:00 pm)
Big games for Detroit and Chicago. If Detroit wins, they clinch a playoff spot. Liberty are playing pretty well now, if Katie Smith is out again for Detroit (back) then look for the Liberty to delay the Shock their playoff berth.
Chicago is 11-4 @ home and as we've seen, the Fever just are not playing well on the road. Look for the Sky to win and gain sole possession of that 4th place playoff spot.
Jake-UCONN
Jenn-UCONN
-4 National Titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2009)
-2 additional Final Fours (2001, 2008)
-Failed to make the NCAA Elite Eight only one time (2005)
-39 victories in both 2002, 2009 (I would argue with anyone that the 2002 UCONN team is the best ever to be put on a floor)
-Won fewer then 30 games only once in the 9 years
-2 Undefeated seasons (2002, 2009)
-Finished in the top 10 final standings all 9 years (#1 in 5 of those seasons)
-7 Regular Season Big East Champions (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009)
-6 Big East Tournament Championships (2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009)
-7 (yes 7) 1st Team All Americans: Svetlana Abrosimova 2001, Swin Cash 2002, Sue Bird 2002, Diana Taurasi 2002-2004, Tina Charles 2009, Renee Montgomery 2008, 2009, Maya Moore 2008, 2009.
-3 Wade Trophy National Player of the Year Awards: Sue Bird, 2002; Diana Taurasi, 2003; Maya Moore, 2009
Enough said....
WNBA
Minnesota Lynx picked up a very important win over the Detroit Shock last night. If the Shock had won they would've clinched a playoff spot but now they have to wait another game. The Lynx scored 9 straight points to pull out the 3 point victory. The win puts the Lynx tied with San Antonio Silver Stars for 4th place in the West. San Antonio holds the tie-breaker head to head and they both have 2 games remaining.
I think it's time, with the talent so diversified in the WNBA, that if teams tie for a playoff position they play 1 game to determine the standings. None of this recreational league head to head stuff. A good example would be the Sparks. Say it was between the Sparks and a team they played twice early on in the season. The Sparks were without Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie for a good portion of the beginning of the season. Now they are on fire. Is it fair and right to not have them in the playoffs when they are playing better ball then a lot of teams just because they didn't win their head-to-head? Go to a 1 game playoff, let the ladies lay it on the floor, let the PLAYERS decide who gets into the playoffs not a statistician.
Games Tonight:
New York Liberty @ Detroit Shock (7:30 pm, NBA TV)
Indiana Fever @ Chicago Sky (8:00 pm)
San Antonio Silver Stars @ Sacramento Monarchs (10:00 pm)
Phoenix Mercury @ Seattle Storm (10:00 pm)
Big games for Detroit and Chicago. If Detroit wins, they clinch a playoff spot. Liberty are playing pretty well now, if Katie Smith is out again for Detroit (back) then look for the Liberty to delay the Shock their playoff berth.
Chicago is 11-4 @ home and as we've seen, the Fever just are not playing well on the road. Look for the Sky to win and gain sole possession of that 4th place playoff spot.
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