Imagine you've got multiple championship rings, and you suddenly find yourself with a completely new team, a new bunch of teammates, new coaches, new colors....and you haven't been traded or left via free agency! Then it all happens for a second time, only this time you are traded. And somehow through all these changes, you find yourself in the familiar place you love, the Playoffs!
This is the bizarre summer of 2010 of Kara Braxton, who finds herself now poised for the Western Conference finals as a crucial part of the Phoenix Mercury. From Detroit to Phoenix, with a side trip through Tulsa...to quote Jerry Garcia, what a long, strange trip it's been!
I had a chance to talk to Kara as she was preparing for her first WESTERN conference final after seeing several with Detroit.
Head women’s basketball Coach Geno Auriemma and Jonathan, the UConn Husky mascot — both in corn maze form, will be on display this Saturday at Lyman’s Orchards in Middlefield, Connecticut.
The pride of Connecticut — inspired by the UConn Women’s amazing unbeaten basketball experience — will be available for visitors to enjoy on over two miles of footpaths carved into a four-acre cornfield maze. Open to the public aturday, the program continues through Oct. 31.
Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Rutgers alumnae saved the day for the New York Liberty, as Cappie Pondexter led the way with 30 points, while Essence Carson and Kia Vaughn came off the bench to add 11 and 13 respectively in the Liberty's series-clinching 77-74 win over the Indiana Fever. Katie Douglas led Indiana with 24 points, while Tamika Catchings had 21 points, six boards, and three steals.
For free-range rotini, bad manners, snazzy ties, cute kids, and a lot of screaming, join your intrepid and sleep-deprived blogger after the jump.
While Dishin & Swishin had fun with Jayda Evans (http://www.swishappeal.com/2010/8/30/1658205/dishin-swishin-the-roundtable) on her All-WNBA team picks, she was right on the MVP and Coach of the Year awards, as tonight in Seattle Lauren Jackson will receive her 3rd MVP award and Brian Agler his first COY award.
The Key wasn't going to be rocking enough? :)
It's certainly not unreasonable to assume that the Western Conference Finals will be a clash of styles.
"I think it's gonna be really entertaining, definitely great TV," said Seattle Storm center Ashley Robinson. "I think with us, definitely, when our defense is on, we're on. When their offense is on, they're on. So it's either we're gonna play good defense or they're going to play good offense -- it's whoever is going to be best at what you do. So it really is important to impose your will on them."
Nevertheless, there's a reason why they were down 18 points at halftime to the Mercury at KeyArena on July 27 -- the second quarter was an unmitigated disaster, easily among the Storm's worst quarters at home of the entire season at home.
Although the Storm insist that the regular season is behind them and that it is irrelevant to the playoff series in front of them, the game late July game stands as as important not only because it shows that the Mercury are more than capable of playing with the Storm at KeyArena and perhaps even stealing a game. However, it also represents a pattern that has plagued the Storm this season in their darker moments.
When the Mercury were at their best against the Storm in July, they forced the Storm away from the things that normally make them effective, they rebounded well, got out in transition, and the Storm simply didn't catch up. The Mercury switched in and out of zone, and with 6'4" Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner guarding Storm point guard Sue Bird and mixing double with single coverage on center Lauren Jackson, the Mercury simply kept the Storm off balance.
For ten minutes.
The challenge is doing it for longer than 10 minutes. Yet after seeing the Mercury figure out defense for a brief period of time in July and then seeing them do it for longer periods of time against the San Antonio Silver Stars in the first round last week, it's reasonable to say that the Mercury are more capable of defense than people might assume.
Who: New York Liberty vs. Indiana Fever
What: The only first-round series to stretch to three games is finishing up tonight in The Garden. New York won 85-73 in Game One, Indiana pulled out a 75-67 win in Game Two and now it's down to the rubber match. The series winner will meet the Atlanta Dream in the Eastern Conference Finals, with a chance to play either Seattle or Phoenix for the 2010 title.
Where: Madison Square Garden - New York, New York 7:30 p.m. est || NBA TV || LiveAccess
No surprise that Tina Charles won ROY. It was the biggest no brainer award of the year. However, it does fit in the recent trend of ROY winners.
I don't mean the unanimous vote, that's rare. Only Candace Parker in 2008 had gotten the award unanimously before. The ROY vote is almost never close. Only once has it been decided by fewer than a dozen votes; in 1998 it was Tracy Reid 20, Korie Hlede 18, Ticha Penicheiro 7. Most often it's like last year's vote, a clear winner with one or two others distantly behind; Angel McCoughtry 30, DeWanna Bonner 9, Shavonte Zellous 2.
No, the trend I'm talking about is the award going to players selected at or near the top of the draft. There was no ROY award given in 1997. In the next six seasons, the award went to the #1 overall pick only once (1999 Chamique Holdsclaw). It went to players selected outside the top five picks twice (1998 Reid #7, 2000 Betty Lennox #6). In recent years it's been the opposite. Three straight, and four of the last five, have gone to #1 overall picks. Only one of the last nine has gone to a player selected outside the top three (2005 Temeka Johnson #5).
This suggests that WNBA GMs have gotten better at scouting and drafting. If I had to pinpoint a cause, I'd say it was the entrance of Bill Laimbeer into the league as GM of the Shock. He snagged 2003 ROY Cheryl Ford at #3 in his first draft, stole Kara Braxton at #7 two years later, and changed the way other GMs evaluated talent by killing them in lopsided trades (Elaine Powell, Plenette Pierson, Katie Smith, etc.).
NOTES: No #2 pick has won ROY, or seriously contended for the award. Reid at #7 in 1998 is the lowest pick to win.
The Seattle Storm met with NBA legend Bill Russell last Thursday while preparing for Game 2 of the first round.
Swin Cash seemed to be the most struck by the meeting, tweeting about it after the meeting last week. An additional quote from her that wasn't posted in the link above:
"It was always just about winning to the point where it was almost a gift and a curse, I guess, because that's all he was just driven about at that point in time...At the end of the day, I've always said that I want people not only to remember me as someone that gave back to the community and was a good basketball player, but that I was a winner. And not a lot people can say that throughout their careers so I hope that I can be able to say that when I get finished playing. "
