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WNBA Playoffs Game Thread

The San Antonio Silver Stars will look to solve the potent Phoenix Mercury offense in game 1 of their first round playoff series. Photo by Max Simbron

The San Antonio Silver Stars will look to solve the potent Phoenix Mercury offense in game 1 of their first round playoff series. Photo by Max Simbron

Day 2 of the WNBA Playoff's features the Fever @ Mystics and then my own Mercury @ Silver Stars

I wish I had more to say about the first game. Should be a good one? Yeah, I'm not sure about that. If Katie D is a healthy beast then there really should be no stopping the Fever. Of course, if I were a Fever fan I would be damn worried about how inconsistently my team has been playing.

As for the Merc / Silver Stars match....well, I've said my peace. And then some.

Now it's time to get it on and see what this Mercury team really has under the hood. I can tell you without a doubt that they've been holding back over the pas few weeks. Expect to see more coherent rotations, a quicker hook for players who's shots aren't falling and some nifty new sets that we've only seen a couple of times in the regular season. Coach Gaines has over 70 plays in his book and he's not been using more then the basic stuff of late.

Defensively, I have no idea beyond what Bridget talked about the other day. Less helping off the Stars front line and perhaps a mix of defenders on Becky to keep her off balance?

And of course the best defense is a good offense! At least that's what they teach in the Phoenix area schools.

Latin D will be running a Black and Silver themed game thread over at Pounding the Rock and Cheryl from Hoop Feed will be covering the game live. Be sure to check in with them throughout the evening.  I'll be back with a recap later tonight.

Have fun and join in!

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Comments

Fever off to a slow start?

I’m still in the office so I’m not seeing this game. What’s going on here?

Need to be watching the Fever game....

… but I will be here on the game thread with you tonight Stan…

Hey there.

Here’s my completely ridiculous game thread.

Only ridiculous

b/c you are a San Antonio fan...oops. Sorry. I swore of trash talking for this series!

Stan, you are free to trash talk here.

I’ll moderate.

Nothing better than unrestricted sports passion. ;)

Yeah. And you’d better get that trashtalking in early… when you still can. :)

Nah

you see I trashed talked all those Suns vs Spurs playoff series and….well you know how that turned out. I am trying something different. Nice

Kill 'em with kindness.

Man… those games really left a scar on you man.

That’s the good thing about rooting for a team like the Warriors that just keeps losing… never disappointed!

But at least you believed.

Fan faith is powerful…

no joke

Tim Duncan’s three keeps me up at night

Briann January

Looks like the rookie came to play. Actually, a good night for rookies on both sides. Marissa Coleman is helping keep Washington in the game and Christina Wirth was +19 (!) at last check.

That's my home girl!

Love Briann. What a great kid

Was about to dog

the Fever for letting the Mystics back into this one until Catchings went all MVP candidate …I’m just not impressed w/ either of these teams though despite so great individual talent

Any road win is a good win in the playoffs.

Especially in a best of 3…

Come on Indy

end this game already

I hate this overlap

How hard is it to schedule a few extra minutes between these games? grrrrr

Well it would be nice if they just didn’t start the other game until this one was over…don’t other leagues do that?

Good job Indy

now lets go Phx

Get that outa here!
I like that they have DT on Becky

hopefully she can contain Becky

Hey guys

Meet Max – Mercury photographer extraordinaire! This is the guy behind the camera taking all those great shots of the Merc

Heh, thanks Stan

and good to see SwishAppeal start in time for the playoffs

And in Argentina ESPN+ has people skying. I hate everyone.

dang

you cant see the game at all? That sucks. Time to move to Texas

Nothing could ever

compel me to move to Texas

I’ll try to watch it later from an archive. I usually find it somewhere. But I can’t watch it live, and that’s just sad. Losses are painful to watch.

At least I have the audio feed.

audio feed?

you’re stuck in the 80s. You got the feed pumping through an old boombox?

I’m old school. Really, really old school.

better than

just being old like me

Ketia Swanier for 3?

A couple of weeks ago she was turning down wide open shots

Let's not get too thrilled just yet

She’s streaky. A few weeks ago she was tossing up junk shots for no obvious reason.

yeah

she’s trying to do too much…which is really strange and out of character for her

You know that was a rough pick

when the WNBA refs actually called it properly

Well, Corey

hasn’t tightened his rotations so far in this series. So far, no reason to.

I was worried about the pace

but now we’re rolling.

DeWanna

just got lost on that one

She's still a rookie

so it’s ok. I can’t wait to see her develop some offense, and maybe some coordination.

It's also the downside

of GAines try everything for a little bit of time defensive strategy. Too many things going on…too easy to get lost

You’re almost forcing me to start talking about the rookie of the year race with that comment. PShizzy… I don’t want to fight Stan on the first day of SwishAppeal… ;)

CP Clutch

I swear there’s only a couple of NBA players I would rather have the ball in their hand w/ the clock winding down.

Kobe. Nash. Granger…Cappie

No love for Durant?

He’s a killer.

Wait, you forgot KD

but added Granger? what team is he even on?

not yet

maybe next year he’ll be on the list

Manu.

yes

If he’s healthy

Well, of course. Which he has been for years, before a really crappy year… But I’ve had many pre-Spurs years to enjoy him. :)

Some one tell me

not to be worried yet

Don’t worry yet… you know this team has these awesome spurts…

Right but we need to stop

digging ourselves into a hole in the first half. However, we seem to spring back in the 3rd. Hey Stan, maybe we should ask for halftime access. That speech must be amazing.

Crossley still shooting well. Bless my ears.

I'll say this

I bagged on Tangela Smith all year for her defense but she’s playing a lot better tonight

Defensive rotations are really off for Pho right now…

Off? try

non existant

defense is over rated

this is Phoenix basketball. Rope-a-dope. They want you to think you can score for a little while so you let your defense slack and then it’s too late

Got it.. thanks for informing me…

I hate it

but what can I do, move to Texas?

Not an option.

We should be nice to Texas though… there has to be something good about it…right?

BBQ?

oil?
Austin is supposed to be nice

And have you ever been to that River Walk? It’s nice..for a night of debauchery.

Other states have good BBQ

Nebraska has better beef. Actually, Argentina has excellent beef, no?

Argentina does have excellent beef… man… no Texans to help me out, huh?

Hey, that’s the city of the team I root for, man… ….never mind, carry on.

Or rather, the state where that city is. You know what I mean.

At some point this post season

 Willingham is finally going to be benched for Taylor

I'm still surprised

we don’t go with Ohlde Taylor DT Cappie and Temeka

They are afraid

of losing certain players who would be…upset by that move but you didn’t hear that from me

I seriously love Sofia Young

Like, don’t tell my wife but she’s amazing

And Becky isn’t even shooting well… Be afraid?

No need to fear

Dewanna is scoring. DT and Cappie haven’t even warmed up yet. They’ll come through in the third, watch

Great pass by VJ! wow...

or…terrible D by Pho

ROY

with the nice put back

She's on a run
Angel who?
You and my new

best friend Scotter!

I was just having fun.

I understand taking Angel for ROY. They’re both in good situations for their abilities. Neither would be doing as well on the other’s team.

Why are you encouraging him Scotter? WHY? :)

Bonner 6WOTY…Angel ROY

Nice play by DT and Penny

That’s the Penny I want to see. Aggressive to the rim

What aspects of P Taylor’s game have fallen off during her hiatus?

Honestly I didn't see her play before this year

but she has these moments where you can see she can take her defender 1 on 1, but she won’t. I think it’s a mindset. I even say that about DT though, whom I did see play last year. Last year DT was straight thuggin, working the post and going to the basket. Now she’s working her midrange jumper

I think her

lateral speed is less and just timing…but I also think her role is different now. If she were starting and getting more minutes she’d look better

Tell me that DeWanna

hasn’t changed this game?

I will.

As soon as you tell me that Angel is the more versatile player.

more versitile?

your just kidding me right

Offensively… like she can actually put the ball on the floor and take it to the basket… and pass…

Defensively, Bonner is better on help, Angel on ball…

REBOUNDING

look at all those extra possessions DB gets. Angel is obviously the better offensive player but DB is can do more things on the floor to help her team

Let’s return to an earlier question: who would you rather have with the ball in their hands with the clock running down?

Really, I think it’s almost a wash… I say Angel, but Bonner has a good argument.

Grant Hill and Jason Kidd won co-rookie of the year…. I think this year is appropriate for that…

Bonner definitely 6WOY though… McCoughtry was not a very good bench player…

Ruth blocking Bonner? Awesome.

foul!

she pushed her in the back w/ the off hand. More cheating from the Black and Silver… More hard nose defense by the Black and Silver

If MJ can get away with that…

finish that sentence

…then Ruth will make the HoF?

ROY Jump Shot

That’s great… she is an amazing athelete…Gruda can get up too…

2nd quarter stats...

Mercury managed to stay in this game despite shooting 34% in the 2nd to SA’s 42%…..

PHO’s 50% oreb% probably helped…

1 turnover (PHO) between the two teams.. .I’d say a pretty good game…

3 pt shooting was part of the difference in the 2nd quarter though: Phoenix 1 for 6, SAS 3 for 5

high scoring game

favors Phx…that depth really coming in handy

So I was watching Game 3 of the Bulls/Knicks series in 1994 on NBA TV today.

That game is memorable for a Derek Harper/Jo Jo English fight that spilled several rows into the stands right in front of David Stern’s seat. And for Pippen refusing to enter the game when the last shot was drawn up for Kukoc, and then Kukoc hit the game winner with Pippen on the bench. As a Bulls fan that one full season without MJ was one my favorite seasons.

Anyway watching the game I realized that Corey Gaines was on my TV screen playing for the Knicks sporting quite a bit of hair. He played his only 4 playoff games in that series. Thanks to Derek Harper getting thrown out of the game for fighting and the suspension.

Ah my Knicks. The good old days

when you could play defense legally. Now everything is a handcheck.

Wow… I didn’t even realize that…

And I didn’t realize that was all one game…

Gotta get a pic of Gaines from that game somewhere…

I had forgotten that fight took place in the same game as the Pippen/Kukoc stuff as well.

The fight took me by surprise. Probably as a result of trying to erase the memory of Jo Jo English playing the playoffs.

Don't worry --

somewhere Jo Jo is smiling proudly that he has been remembered…

Some one needs to

level Diana so she gets pissed off and starts making those shots

10 and 4 isnt bad

we need Cappie to turn it up, she was 1-5 in the first half

Is Willingham one of the most underrated players in the league?

 Or do I just notice her when she’s doing well…

underrated as in fans not talking about her much…

no

she’s not that good….she’s can finish but she is not a good defender or rebounder

she

does have very nice foot work and good touch around the basket but I don’t like the way she plays…not enough fight

look right ther

how does she not get that rebound?

And Stan knows a ‘not good defender and rebounder’ when he sees it.

that's Phx basketball baby!
Very underrated offensively

but her defense and size sorta balance that out

TJ needs to calm down...
If we can keep itclose, and our 3s start falling

We can win. But we may want to consider rebounding.

Possibly… it’s been successful for basketball teams in the past…

I just don't like

the way Phx is playing…too soft. Not enough intensity or urgency. Bring. Back. Bonner.

Ya, wasn't she our leading scorer

off the bench?? She needed to at least start the second half

Still is leading scorer…. :/

Well they’re not getting out in the open court much..and SAS is getting back well… PHO forcing bad shots…

TJ has taken 2 bad ones early in this quarter…

VERY stagnant in the half court…

it's a cumulative effect

when teams hit their threes, it slows down our offense. but misses mean long rebounds and fast breaks

An outside observer, it's seemed like

they have too much depth for the team’s own good. Having Taylor back is great, she’s ridiculously underrated because of her efficiency, but it gives Gaines too many balls to juggle if everyone stays in the rotation. There aren’t many coaches good at handling deep rotations.

agree

I think he’s got to tighten it up….more Taylor, Bonner and Ohlde. Less Smith and LeCoe

So… no one’s rooting for the Stars? :)

Neutral observer...

I’m actually one of those crazy people that thinks Hammon deserves strong consideration for MVP….

Hear hear, Q. How is the MVP decided in the W?

media voting

each city w/ a team gets two votes for select media and then there’s 10 or so votes for national media types like Michele Voepel and Nancy Lieberman

Hm. I wonder how the whole “playing for the Russian NT” thing will affect Becky’s chances, this year and in the future.

Can someone twitter Corey

let him know he has some timeouts he can use, ya know, to break the momentum?

Yes

more of Ohlde in the post. It will open up the perimeter for DT and CP and PT

wow nice roll

and good call by the commentator: they should play Ohlde instead of Lecoe

YES

BENCH WILLINGHAM

The crazy thing is I'm not afraid for the Mercury right now...

they still haven’t had their spurt…

I am VERY afraid

San Antonio saps my faith

We might need to raise money for some therapy for you.

that is no joke

Duncan for three!!! ahhhhhh

You're right

It’s funny but coming back too early, like in the third, can be a problem, because we let teams back in. A 4th quarter comeback almost makes more sense, and makes for a more exciting game

When Taurasi decides to take over...

…there’s really not much an opponent can do…

I know... and I understand she wants to be more of a team player

but sometimes you just need to impose your will.

exaclty

time for her or Cappie to step it up

They can be 10 points ahead. :)

3rd quarter stats...

PHO shot 33.3% in the 3rd…SAS 41.2%

0-5 from 3…

Handling business on the offensive boards…

An evenly played quarter… and if PHO could get anything going from the outside they’d have a good chance…

OR again… if DT decides to just go to the bucket every time, I’m not sure who could stop her…

missed 11 3's in a row

that’s just horrible

and somehow with one three (finally)

we cut the lead to 3… wow

that floor is cursed
ATTN: Corey Gaines

Notice how Dan Hughes called a timeout when we got to within one possession to tie?

That’s called a momentum killing time out. Try it some time.

You and your interventionist basketball strategy...

He’s just waiting for the game to adjust itself…

I can only think of a handful of coaches that can let it ride

Phil Jackson (a few rings tend to give people the impression you know what you’re doing), Pop (San Antonio is a system team. They know it by now), maybe a few others…

It is a VERY good thing

I don’t play for this team. I have NO faith when it comes to SA. I wouldn’t even want to be there covering the game

This is all setting the game up for Sophia’s 3-point dagger at the buzzer. Called it!

anyone but

TIM DUNCAN

There we go Penny

if she and DT can go thug we can do this

See, when Penny goes thug

good things happen. Even if it was a broken play

I refuse to believe that Phx will win this game
are you

reverse jinxing?

shhh

That’s alright. LatinD threw the big jinx on the Stars. This is a done deal.

It was a reverse reverse jinx.

I have an idea

What if you start saying positive things about SA? Maybe that will reverse the curse?

7 assists for VJ. Veteran savvy.

the oldest player in the WNBA

is younger than me. ugh

Hey at least you're younger than

Brett Favre.

Of course, so are pyramids… methusela…Earth… etc

my arm is healthier too

At least you’re younger than Wayne.

If Lawson-Wade is getting orebs...

You might as well just leave the court…

Ladies and Gentlemen

your next NBA referees

*shudders*

I can’t wait for one of them to get bitched at by the likes of AI and Ron Artest

What's the record for

jump balls in a game?

NBA: like 12

WNBA: bout 89

Is that Cappie getting warm?

plzkthx

Ummmm....

OK….

Someone explain the last 30 seconds to me…

Why no foul?

Did we just burn 31 seconds to get

2 points, which we gave back on a foul….

YES!

good game for the Silver Stars

they played harder and make their shots

Seriously, I still think you’re going to run us out of the gym at home. But now we’ve got a chance.

Ok so now he calls a time out?
exactly

and what’s with Cappie going crazy like they won?

Are the Mercury really smiling?

Ya, the thought it was a 3 pt lead instead of a 4 I guess

so let’s see… the team didn’t manage the clock well and didn’t understand what the score

wonder who to blame for that?

Why no huddle footage here to explain what Gaines told the team?

BTW have I mentioned

how much I hate that the home team has to go on the road for the first game? Who came up with that?

Just for you Stan.

do you really think I am going to click that?

Yes, you should. I think it is the perfect sound bite.

Nice one, boss.

Do they display the score

on some kind off “board” in lights in that arena. SMH…

No, they can't afford that

or letting home teams start at home… what’s that called again?? home… court.. something

Is math a

required skill in basketball? It would seem so

Sophia Young

was great – it seemed she couldn’t miss anything in the fourth. I do not know why anybody but her from stars was taking the shot.

And yes, I was surprised by Mercury’s tactics at the end – letting stars to shoot at the end of shot clock, not that I’m complaining…

Indeed

she is amazing

Well, guys, I had fun. Thanks for letting me hang in here. I’ll come back. :)

Yes, maybe you'll see

DT or Cappie show up. Might be useful.

I think I had enough of that duo in the regular season…

lets see

Taylor and Bonner combine for 33 while Willingham and Smith have 10. Who’s getting the minutes?

Good thing

The Office starts tonight….even better thing that I never expected to win in SA

well guys

great inaugural game thread for Swish Appeal….be back on Saturday.

Imma gonna watch some Office then re watch that last quarter then try and write something coherent about this game….thx

Run and GUn

I dont think any team can run and gun in san antonio’s arena cuz its so dark. lol
it seems so depressing and slow

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