Nice article about Tina Thompson. The Comets played a wonderful game the other day and a lot of their best was played with Thompson in the lockerroom having her BROKEN finger tended to so she could return to help her team defeat the 5 game winning streak having undefeated at home San Antonio Silver Stars in overtime by scoring the game winning last second shot. For as hard as they fought it would have been a shame if they lost. That was one of the better games of basketball I have seen in a long time. Shame on me for doubting the Comets and thinking that would be a blowout. Little did I know I was listening to the sucky blow out dunked on by Candace Storm game.
http://www.wnba.com/features/player_rankings_080625.html
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Storm vs. Sparks-June 24, 2008
Nice to start the game off with a turnover. *rolls eyes*
I wish this game was on ESPN tonight although the Comets/SilverStars game is a good one. I am impressed by Houston of late.
24 second violation on the Sparks. Good D from LJ! I love it.
I wonder if Lisa secures her weave with SuperGlue when she plays Lauren.
Sounds like Swin has some more energy than she has had in the past few games. We need her to be more effective all over the court. We play much better when Swin is on for sure.
Tanisha coming in a bit early. I wonder if Agler is not impressed by someone's defense....Swin's it seems. I like the energy that T brings to the court. She is Tenacious T!!!!
I like it when Sue hits early 3's. It seems to be a good sign for how the rest of her game is going to go although with 2 early turnovers.....eek.
(Speaking of the Comets, which I am watching on TV while I have the radio on for the Storm game, it looks like the Comets are a team out to prove they are not as bad as their record indicates....they have something to prove. And lips aside, Tina Thompson is awesome, breaking her finger in the first round and then coming back in the second half and playing awesome.)
Looks like Lisa Leslie is putting on another class from her school of acting. Holding her back after Lauren "fouled" her. I put "foul" in quotes because half the fouls called on her opponents are probably from her Oscar worthy fake injury performances.
17-15 Seattle with their first lead....oops...that didn't last long. We have to figure out how to guard her better. She keeps burning us.
Cash-Swoopes-Bird-Gearlds-Ely: very interesting small lineup by Brian Agler here. Let's see how it pans out. Well it didn't last long really......LJ back in so we get bigger again.
End of a fast paced first quarter. We are up one after the first. I like our energy for this game.
24-21 Sparks up in a flip flopping game. Seems like we are well matched teams offensively and defensively. I mean I know everyone is all LA this and LA that but I think the Storm just needed some time to work out their kinks.
If I had a dime for every missed layup that Swin has had this year I would have a dollar at least. At least she has decided to be a shot blocker tonight.
28-24 Storm. Love that KG is on. Why can't she be on at home? The fans would love for Katie to be on at home. She just needs some confidence. Maybe Agler's little "pep talk" the other day got to the reserves.
(The SASS and Comets are going to OT....Tina's broken finger and all.)
Sue is having some trouble holding on to the ball tonight. I bet that is gonna effect the assist to turnover ratio. T just hit a three. I have always been a T fan but this year I am talking she should be a major contender for sixth man (along with Candace Wiggins/Alexis Hornbuckle) if she continues to play this way.
2nd 24 second violation for LA. Seattle is gonna climb up in the defenseive rankings for sure after tonight and last Friday. That is if they ever get any recognition from anyone in the league or the press. I love how Seattle NEVER gets any attention on WNBA.com. Like after our awesome win over the Fever they have all this stuff about LA and then in tiny tiny little writing on the bottom of the page it is like : Storm holds off Fever. Are you kidding me? A team makes another team have (4) 24 second shot clock violations in a game and that gets NO recognition.
35-33 Sparks up by 2 at the half in a REALLY fast paced game. I was just saying, "Its halftime already."
(Houston just won. There goes SASS's unblemished home record. And if you don't admire the game and work ethic of Tina Thompson after tonights game, you should have your head checked. Plus she shouted out to Barb Turner on live TV which I am positive that BT got a huge kick out of.)
I am thinking that Lauren needs to lay off the 3's for a while. She just is not knocking them down right now. I know shooters need to keep shooting but sometimes...it just isn't the time. She keeps taking these annoying inappropriate quick three's. Wow....2 minutes into the 3rd quarter and we get our 1st offensive rebound.
DeLisha and Lisa have been spending too much time working on their acting. I wonder if that is part of their practice. Faking injury to draw the offensive fouls.......Delisha has drawn 6 fouls. And I bet none of them were actually fouls.
45-41 Sparks. Marie Ferdinand-Harris is killing us. Hard to tell if it is because of the Lisa Leslie double team that she is capitalizing because the game is on the radio. But if the person you are using to double off of is on fire like that and the person you are doubling isn't making shots which Leslie isn't...STOP DOUBLING!
SHOCKER! We are being outrebounded tonight. I knew that would happen with Parker and Leslie (the number 2 and 1 rebounders respectively). That always hurts us especially when Yo gets into foul trouble.
51-41 Sparks up. We can't really get anything going on the offensive end and we aren't really doing much except fouling on the defensive end. It would not be fair to say that they are on a run because their last 8 points are from free throws.
We need to get Lauren into this game. We need to go to Lauren. Have her work in the block and it is good almost every time. She wasn't the MVP for no reason.
Another missed layup by Swin Cash. I don't know what to say anymore about that.
Another question: Will the Seattle Storm EVER get over this horrible third quarter crap that has plagued us for the last 3 years? I am starting to think we should not even go into the locker room at the half anymore. We should just stay on the floor and keep playing until the other team comes back out again.
4 of 18 from the floor in the third quarter tonight.
Like that Agler has put all bench in and it is working out. We cut our 14 point lead to 8 with bench play. Looks like Agler's bench pep talk did some good.
Down 9 with 5 minutes left to play so good play from the bench but I would have liked to see the starters come back in when we were down 9 with 8 minutes left to play.
The starters came in for 2 minutes and have really done nothing and Agler is sending the bench back in. He is not impressed with the starters at all. I wish this game was on television because I would love to see how Agler is reacting. When he was miked in the one game we played this year I was impressed with how vocal he is. I am still on the fence about him but I like what he is doing tonight. Even if we lose this game which it appears we will, I like that he is taking the starters out and sending them a message. This team is going to have to learn how to win and win on the road effectively or we will be our usual out in the first round of the playoffs Storm which we have been since we won in 2004. I guess Brian Agler should not have let the starters go with only 90 minutes of practice....seems like they needed the practice as much as the bench.
Nice....Parker dunked on us too. I HATE losing to LA! I mean anyone but LA.
We blew this one big time. BIG time. We had them it was so close and we were contending. And we blew it.
Sadness.
I wanted us to win tonight to gain a game on San Antonio.
I wish this game was on ESPN tonight although the Comets/SilverStars game is a good one. I am impressed by Houston of late.
24 second violation on the Sparks. Good D from LJ! I love it.
I wonder if Lisa secures her weave with SuperGlue when she plays Lauren.
Sounds like Swin has some more energy than she has had in the past few games. We need her to be more effective all over the court. We play much better when Swin is on for sure.
Tanisha coming in a bit early. I wonder if Agler is not impressed by someone's defense....Swin's it seems. I like the energy that T brings to the court. She is Tenacious T!!!!
I like it when Sue hits early 3's. It seems to be a good sign for how the rest of her game is going to go although with 2 early turnovers.....eek.
(Speaking of the Comets, which I am watching on TV while I have the radio on for the Storm game, it looks like the Comets are a team out to prove they are not as bad as their record indicates....they have something to prove. And lips aside, Tina Thompson is awesome, breaking her finger in the first round and then coming back in the second half and playing awesome.)
Looks like Lisa Leslie is putting on another class from her school of acting. Holding her back after Lauren "fouled" her. I put "foul" in quotes because half the fouls called on her opponents are probably from her Oscar worthy fake injury performances.
17-15 Seattle with their first lead....oops...that didn't last long. We have to figure out how to guard her better. She keeps burning us.
Cash-Swoopes-Bird-Gearlds-Ely: very interesting small lineup by Brian Agler here. Let's see how it pans out. Well it didn't last long really......LJ back in so we get bigger again.
End of a fast paced first quarter. We are up one after the first. I like our energy for this game.
24-21 Sparks up in a flip flopping game. Seems like we are well matched teams offensively and defensively. I mean I know everyone is all LA this and LA that but I think the Storm just needed some time to work out their kinks.
If I had a dime for every missed layup that Swin has had this year I would have a dollar at least. At least she has decided to be a shot blocker tonight.
28-24 Storm. Love that KG is on. Why can't she be on at home? The fans would love for Katie to be on at home. She just needs some confidence. Maybe Agler's little "pep talk" the other day got to the reserves.
(The SASS and Comets are going to OT....Tina's broken finger and all.)
Sue is having some trouble holding on to the ball tonight. I bet that is gonna effect the assist to turnover ratio. T just hit a three. I have always been a T fan but this year I am talking she should be a major contender for sixth man (along with Candace Wiggins/Alexis Hornbuckle) if she continues to play this way.
2nd 24 second violation for LA. Seattle is gonna climb up in the defenseive rankings for sure after tonight and last Friday. That is if they ever get any recognition from anyone in the league or the press. I love how Seattle NEVER gets any attention on WNBA.com. Like after our awesome win over the Fever they have all this stuff about LA and then in tiny tiny little writing on the bottom of the page it is like : Storm holds off Fever. Are you kidding me? A team makes another team have (4) 24 second shot clock violations in a game and that gets NO recognition.
35-33 Sparks up by 2 at the half in a REALLY fast paced game. I was just saying, "Its halftime already."
(Houston just won. There goes SASS's unblemished home record. And if you don't admire the game and work ethic of Tina Thompson after tonights game, you should have your head checked. Plus she shouted out to Barb Turner on live TV which I am positive that BT got a huge kick out of.)
I am thinking that Lauren needs to lay off the 3's for a while. She just is not knocking them down right now. I know shooters need to keep shooting but sometimes...it just isn't the time. She keeps taking these annoying inappropriate quick three's. Wow....2 minutes into the 3rd quarter and we get our 1st offensive rebound.
DeLisha and Lisa have been spending too much time working on their acting. I wonder if that is part of their practice. Faking injury to draw the offensive fouls.......Delisha has drawn 6 fouls. And I bet none of them were actually fouls.
45-41 Sparks. Marie Ferdinand-Harris is killing us. Hard to tell if it is because of the Lisa Leslie double team that she is capitalizing because the game is on the radio. But if the person you are using to double off of is on fire like that and the person you are doubling isn't making shots which Leslie isn't...STOP DOUBLING!
SHOCKER! We are being outrebounded tonight. I knew that would happen with Parker and Leslie (the number 2 and 1 rebounders respectively). That always hurts us especially when Yo gets into foul trouble.
51-41 Sparks up. We can't really get anything going on the offensive end and we aren't really doing much except fouling on the defensive end. It would not be fair to say that they are on a run because their last 8 points are from free throws.
We need to get Lauren into this game. We need to go to Lauren. Have her work in the block and it is good almost every time. She wasn't the MVP for no reason.
Another missed layup by Swin Cash. I don't know what to say anymore about that.
Another question: Will the Seattle Storm EVER get over this horrible third quarter crap that has plagued us for the last 3 years? I am starting to think we should not even go into the locker room at the half anymore. We should just stay on the floor and keep playing until the other team comes back out again.
4 of 18 from the floor in the third quarter tonight.
Like that Agler has put all bench in and it is working out. We cut our 14 point lead to 8 with bench play. Looks like Agler's bench pep talk did some good.
Down 9 with 5 minutes left to play so good play from the bench but I would have liked to see the starters come back in when we were down 9 with 8 minutes left to play.
The starters came in for 2 minutes and have really done nothing and Agler is sending the bench back in. He is not impressed with the starters at all. I wish this game was on television because I would love to see how Agler is reacting. When he was miked in the one game we played this year I was impressed with how vocal he is. I am still on the fence about him but I like what he is doing tonight. Even if we lose this game which it appears we will, I like that he is taking the starters out and sending them a message. This team is going to have to learn how to win and win on the road effectively or we will be our usual out in the first round of the playoffs Storm which we have been since we won in 2004. I guess Brian Agler should not have let the starters go with only 90 minutes of practice....seems like they needed the practice as much as the bench.
Nice....Parker dunked on us too. I HATE losing to LA! I mean anyone but LA.
We blew this one big time. BIG time. We had them it was so close and we were contending. And we blew it.
Sadness.
I wanted us to win tonight to gain a game on San Antonio.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Storm vs. Fever June 20th, 2008
Good overall effort last night from our team. We still cannot get it together and play 4 solid quarters of basketball but overall I felt we were just bound and determined not to lose last night. I would like to see that kind of spirit and intensity every night.
Tanisha was an awesome spark for us on both ends of the floor last night and that is what I like to see from her. I was paying very close attention and Katie Douglas did not score while Tanisha was defending her. She seemed very frustrated by Tanisha's defense. It seems like Agler puts her in on the hard to defend quick players. So far this year, T has frustrated the hell out of Cappie Pondexter, Lindsey Whalen and now Katie Douglas. I like to see her progress as a player and I like serving up some big plates of crow to all the Tanisha haters out there.
We were outrebounded again but not by the huge margins we have in the past which is an improvement. Swin was a rebounding machine last night. I like to see her be aggressive on the boards. She is a good jumper and gets a lot of heights and I think it gives her an oppurtunity for the put back. If I could say anything, I think Swin did miss a few easy layup like put backs. Now whether she was fouled or not, I cannot say. I felt the refs last night were inconsistent on what they called. Luckily for the Storm this game, most of the inconsistencies went in our favor this time. As we all know, that is not how it normally goes.
Turnovers were a definite keyto the game for both teams as well. We took care of the ball really well and they did not. We capitalized on their turnovers (25 points off 22 turnovers) and they did not score a single point off our turnovers and that is huge. If you turn the ball over and can recover on the defensive end and get a stop, that is wonderful and the Storm did that tonight. I think they must have worked on our transition defense because I felt it was something we struggled with.
I look forward to the LA game with us having 2 days off because as everyone has pointed out, we are 5-0 when we have had 2 days rest. Also I hope that Swin gets in double figures because when she reaches double figures, we are undefeated.
BEAT L.A.!
Tanisha was an awesome spark for us on both ends of the floor last night and that is what I like to see from her. I was paying very close attention and Katie Douglas did not score while Tanisha was defending her. She seemed very frustrated by Tanisha's defense. It seems like Agler puts her in on the hard to defend quick players. So far this year, T has frustrated the hell out of Cappie Pondexter, Lindsey Whalen and now Katie Douglas. I like to see her progress as a player and I like serving up some big plates of crow to all the Tanisha haters out there.
We were outrebounded again but not by the huge margins we have in the past which is an improvement. Swin was a rebounding machine last night. I like to see her be aggressive on the boards. She is a good jumper and gets a lot of heights and I think it gives her an oppurtunity for the put back. If I could say anything, I think Swin did miss a few easy layup like put backs. Now whether she was fouled or not, I cannot say. I felt the refs last night were inconsistent on what they called. Luckily for the Storm this game, most of the inconsistencies went in our favor this time. As we all know, that is not how it normally goes.
Turnovers were a definite keyto the game for both teams as well. We took care of the ball really well and they did not. We capitalized on their turnovers (25 points off 22 turnovers) and they did not score a single point off our turnovers and that is huge. If you turn the ball over and can recover on the defensive end and get a stop, that is wonderful and the Storm did that tonight. I think they must have worked on our transition defense because I felt it was something we struggled with.
I look forward to the LA game with us having 2 days off because as everyone has pointed out, we are 5-0 when we have had 2 days rest. Also I hope that Swin gets in double figures because when she reaches double figures, we are undefeated.
BEAT L.A.!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Interesting.....
Becky Hammon is the second most popular search on MSN.com. I was talking to my girlfriend the other night and I was predicting that Becky Hammon was going to be the next Dixie Chicks. I am just doing a little Angie Dixon prediction here. I hope that it does good things for women's basketball. Start shooting that documentary now, Becky, so it can be a movie later on. The Republicans are coming after you. They need something to focus on to divert the attention from their ineptitude and the rising gas prices which are ALL their fault.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Let Down
That game tonight was a let down bummer. I felt so much like we almost had it. We were chasing the dragon for sure.
The rebounding just killed. It seemed like the Storm couldn't get their hands on a ball under the basket. I am actually suprised we weren't out-rebounded by more because it sure felt like it. We need to do something about the rebounding, especially with Yo out. Someone on Stormfans.org brought up a good point that we should go for Wilnett Crocket. Santos and Pascalau just don't have the athleticism of the rest of our team. Crockett has that bigger grittiness on the inside and goes heavy to the boards. You sort of need a board grabbing general on the inside and Yo is perfect for that. But then you see how much it hurts you when the General is not in the paint banging the boards. If A-Rob could develop more confidence, she could be that. Her wingspan is enormous. She boxes out like a champ but she gets silly fouls. She gets lost on defense sometimes. In college she went heavy to the boards and was always a presence on the inside. Pat Summit wouldn't have had it any other way.
Pleased to see us go 15-16 (93.8%) from the stripe tonight. FREE throws can sometimes make or break you and you have to make them. Especially on the road. Making your free throws on the road can be huge, especially in games down the stretch and that is something we have not been able to do yet.
I like our defense except on the rebounds. We sort of collapse. We look confused then and some teams capitalize on that. That is precisely what happened with the Sun tonight. Our defense would collapse on the rebound, they kick it out for a 12-16 footer or a three. That is how BT got to us tonight. What BT does for the Sun is what we need Katie Geralds to do for us.
Overall, I wanted us to at least be unstoppable at home so this game just leaves me feeling sad. Being really good at home can be really helpful down the road, just ask the Celtics.
The rebounding just killed. It seemed like the Storm couldn't get their hands on a ball under the basket. I am actually suprised we weren't out-rebounded by more because it sure felt like it. We need to do something about the rebounding, especially with Yo out. Someone on Stormfans.org brought up a good point that we should go for Wilnett Crocket. Santos and Pascalau just don't have the athleticism of the rest of our team. Crockett has that bigger grittiness on the inside and goes heavy to the boards. You sort of need a board grabbing general on the inside and Yo is perfect for that. But then you see how much it hurts you when the General is not in the paint banging the boards. If A-Rob could develop more confidence, she could be that. Her wingspan is enormous. She boxes out like a champ but she gets silly fouls. She gets lost on defense sometimes. In college she went heavy to the boards and was always a presence on the inside. Pat Summit wouldn't have had it any other way.
Pleased to see us go 15-16 (93.8%) from the stripe tonight. FREE throws can sometimes make or break you and you have to make them. Especially on the road. Making your free throws on the road can be huge, especially in games down the stretch and that is something we have not been able to do yet.
I like our defense except on the rebounds. We sort of collapse. We look confused then and some teams capitalize on that. That is precisely what happened with the Sun tonight. Our defense would collapse on the rebound, they kick it out for a 12-16 footer or a three. That is how BT got to us tonight. What BT does for the Sun is what we need Katie Geralds to do for us.
Overall, I wanted us to at least be unstoppable at home so this game just leaves me feeling sad. Being really good at home can be really helpful down the road, just ask the Celtics.
Some Good Press...
Here is an interesting article from the WNBA website. Always like good press for the women's game.
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/bob_ryan_blog/2008/06/the_game_youre.html
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/bob_ryan_blog/2008/06/the_game_youre.html
The Real Deal.....
Storm home game tonight. I love watching LIVE home games. It is like you are a part of it. I want to cry during the starting line up. (sometimes I do.) I am so into the game that I cannot contain myself. My gf and I have to stand in the absolute last row even when we have 4th row tickets because we feel the need to stand half the game, which we should just start buying last row tickets....they are cheaper and we are not very rich.
My gf says all this proves maybe we should both be coaches or something. I would love to be a middle school basketball coach. Teaching little girls how to play the game at that age when they are just discovering what they really like to do. That is when I got into basketball. I was 13. That's when my love affair started. And I could take them to Storm games. How fun would that be? Showing them professional women's basketball would be awesome. That is another part of the reason I have such love for this years Storm team. I grew up watching the career of Sheryl Swoopes. I loved her game and then when she had the courage to come out, I loved her even more. (for obvious reasons) To finally have her on MY side, is awesome. Every year I love each Storm team for different reasons. And this year is no different. This team is slow to get going but I think they are going to start lighting it up as some of these other teams cool down (Minnesota/Conneticut). Just like Phoenix is going to heat up too. That was not some easy-schmeezy victory we had against them. They are a good team capable of playing some beautiful basketball. I love the run and gun game. It is exciting. While the same can be said about running your plays and getting beautiful plays off of them, it is also nice to let the players play a lot on instinct. That is why Phoenix is hot and cold. We are so hot and cold right now. But then you see this awesome basketball played. As soon as this Storm team develops the ability to play like that all the time, watch out! I just keep thinking about the 2004 team. It wasn't like at the beginning of the season everyone was saying, "We are gonna win the championship this year." But this year, I am thinking....we could win this. Anyone could this year and it could be us. We are a good team. We can play good basketball. And we are going to tonight.
GO STORM!!!
My gf says all this proves maybe we should both be coaches or something. I would love to be a middle school basketball coach. Teaching little girls how to play the game at that age when they are just discovering what they really like to do. That is when I got into basketball. I was 13. That's when my love affair started. And I could take them to Storm games. How fun would that be? Showing them professional women's basketball would be awesome. That is another part of the reason I have such love for this years Storm team. I grew up watching the career of Sheryl Swoopes. I loved her game and then when she had the courage to come out, I loved her even more. (for obvious reasons) To finally have her on MY side, is awesome. Every year I love each Storm team for different reasons. And this year is no different. This team is slow to get going but I think they are going to start lighting it up as some of these other teams cool down (Minnesota/Conneticut). Just like Phoenix is going to heat up too. That was not some easy-schmeezy victory we had against them. They are a good team capable of playing some beautiful basketball. I love the run and gun game. It is exciting. While the same can be said about running your plays and getting beautiful plays off of them, it is also nice to let the players play a lot on instinct. That is why Phoenix is hot and cold. We are so hot and cold right now. But then you see this awesome basketball played. As soon as this Storm team develops the ability to play like that all the time, watch out! I just keep thinking about the 2004 team. It wasn't like at the beginning of the season everyone was saying, "We are gonna win the championship this year." But this year, I am thinking....we could win this. Anyone could this year and it could be us. We are a good team. We can play good basketball. And we are going to tonight.
GO STORM!!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Storm Vs. Comets-SOC during game
As if it isn't hard enough to get media coverage for the Storm, tonight the small life line we have to the Storm is comprimised as the radio broadcast is not working. Thank goodness for Dick Fain calling the game via phone or I might have needed to be medicated because WNBA.com is not even covering this game well either. There are not even any stats available to me to analyze and that is super frustrating.
As horrid as their shooting has been tonight, it is nice that we aren't even farther out of this game. I suppose it helps that we are playing a team who is 1-7, but they are also a team who gave us a really hard time on our turf just a few weeks ago. They are bruisers, these Comets and they are going to foul a lot. We have to make our FREE throws. I accentuate the FREE because that is what they are, free points.
To only be down 4 points shooting 29 percent from the field is amazing. This bad shooting bug needs to quit following us around. I would just like us to be warm. All this smoking hot and then freezing cold is going to make me need to be medicated. Last night's game being a good example. That one just killed my already bitten to the nubs fingernails.
Perhaps it is good this game isn't on the television because I don't think it would be pretty to watch for fans of either team, 29 percent from the field for the Storm and 34% from the field for the Comets. Being outrebounded (25-13) by the Comets is not helping us either. I am not the most accurate statistician off the cuff, but I am pretty sure we are undefeated when we outrebound our opponent.
29-25...what an ugly score. Might be one of our weakest offensive games of the season. If we can steal a win, that is exactly what it would be a steal. If we played like this against pretty much any other team, we would be hopeless. 8 of 30 from the field so far......not pretty. One thing I have noticed sometimes is that the Storm plays to their competition a lot. They did that last year as well. I really wish they would play more consistently because that is why I think that the Storm gets overlooked as often as they do. In a lot of discussions about the best teams in the WNBA, the Storm isn't even mentioned and I don't think that is fair at all. Partly I believe that is because Lauren doesn't get enough credit for her play either.
Someone needs to drive at Michelle Snow and get her some more fouls to get her out of the game because she is KILLING us on the boards. I knew our rebounds would suffer tonight with the loss of Yo but I did not think it would be this bad. Hopefully our bench can give us a little bit of a push. I have loved the energy that Shyra and Tanisha have been providing. I would like to see that from Katie too. I thought she might come around this season but I am still waiting. I am not going to give up on Katie yet. It is almost like she gets stage fright because in shoot around very often, I will count her shots made in a row and before games she will knock down 30 shots in a row and then in the game be cold as ice.
41-37....thank goodness for Lauren and Tanisha....but of course the ice water running through Tina Thompson's lipstick wearing veins had to hit a three. Then we turn it over and they score and it is back to a 9 point lead. I am seriously going to need some blood pressure medication I think.
What is with the missing free throws? We have missed 7 free throws and we are down 8 points. Do the math. Last night also, we would have been in the game if we had not missed our free throws. Thank goodness the Comets can't hit a free throws either.
It must really suck when you only have 7 turnovers and your opponent has twice as many as you and you are down by 9. Comets 51-Storm 42 at the end of 3. If we could snap this cold shooting, we can win this.
Traveling call on Lauren...yeah I am sure she traveled in the paint when her team is down 9. Yes, the MVP of the league last year traveled....I don't think so. Sometimes I think it is a good thing that police officers walk the officials off the court. After that lame last minute call on Lauren last night and the no call rip off of Sue that led to the Becky Hammon layup last night, it is not suprising that Seattle is chippy and frustrated with the officials tonight. Maybe I am biased but I have never been thrilled with the overall officiating in the WNBA and I personally think that the refs are biased against Seattle and Lauren in particular.
All I can say is thank god the Comets can't shoot free throws (8 of 14 for 57%). If they made their free throws, we would be packing our bags already. Now if we could only rebound.
53-46, only down 7. We can beat them off the dribble so if we can keep this up tempo game going, we can wear them down. The question is if we have enough gas in our tank to do it. I certainly hope so. Playing Houston is always physically difficult and then the bad shooting just takes the gas out of your tank too.
Michelle Snow has 5 fouls now and just left the game. Lauren has a lot of sucess with Jackson against Mistie Williams so they should most definitely get the ball to Lauren. (Which should be our game plan at this point anyways.)
I LOVE YOU TANISHA WRIGHT....thank you for that 3. There are most definitely some Tanisha haters out there but I am not one of them at all. I love the energy and spark that Tanisha provides and her defense is definitely underrated. I love Tanisha right now.
Sounds like the Storm is running out of gas....only 2 minutes left if they can just get a little push, we will win this game. Come on ladies!!! You can do it!
59-55 with 1:35 left. DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! Yes! Gotta stop!
WHAT? Tina Thompson shot the ball after the buzzer for a 24 second shot clock violation and her shot was blocked and they call it a 3! WTF? The referees are just ridiculous in this league I swear. Seattle cannot get a break tonight from this referee crew.
63-58 with 59 seconds left. 2 possession game......these down to the wire buzzer beater style games are not good for my ulcer. I am sure it is not good for the poor Storm either.
63-60 with 18 seconds left and KG at the line..........Katie misses.....LJ with the rebound tie up with Mabika and they jump it up. The official threw the ball ABOVE Mabika's head. This is horrific. The referees in the WNBA are a joke. An absolute joke. If there was some sort of avenue to complain about referees and demand that they watch the game, they should have to do it tonight. These referees should have to sit and watch this game duct taped to chairs with their eyelids super glued open. Now Agler has a technical foul and I don't blame him one bit. This has been a travesty.
Devastating loss....just as Dick Fain is saying, this is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. 68-60 the final and I wanna kill some referees. If only there was a Wii game where you could shoot WNBA referees. I would be shooting me some Roy Gulbeyan, Amy Bonner, and Shelley Nakasone right about now.
As horrid as their shooting has been tonight, it is nice that we aren't even farther out of this game. I suppose it helps that we are playing a team who is 1-7, but they are also a team who gave us a really hard time on our turf just a few weeks ago. They are bruisers, these Comets and they are going to foul a lot. We have to make our FREE throws. I accentuate the FREE because that is what they are, free points.
To only be down 4 points shooting 29 percent from the field is amazing. This bad shooting bug needs to quit following us around. I would just like us to be warm. All this smoking hot and then freezing cold is going to make me need to be medicated. Last night's game being a good example. That one just killed my already bitten to the nubs fingernails.
Perhaps it is good this game isn't on the television because I don't think it would be pretty to watch for fans of either team, 29 percent from the field for the Storm and 34% from the field for the Comets. Being outrebounded (25-13) by the Comets is not helping us either. I am not the most accurate statistician off the cuff, but I am pretty sure we are undefeated when we outrebound our opponent.
29-25...what an ugly score. Might be one of our weakest offensive games of the season. If we can steal a win, that is exactly what it would be a steal. If we played like this against pretty much any other team, we would be hopeless. 8 of 30 from the field so far......not pretty. One thing I have noticed sometimes is that the Storm plays to their competition a lot. They did that last year as well. I really wish they would play more consistently because that is why I think that the Storm gets overlooked as often as they do. In a lot of discussions about the best teams in the WNBA, the Storm isn't even mentioned and I don't think that is fair at all. Partly I believe that is because Lauren doesn't get enough credit for her play either.
Someone needs to drive at Michelle Snow and get her some more fouls to get her out of the game because she is KILLING us on the boards. I knew our rebounds would suffer tonight with the loss of Yo but I did not think it would be this bad. Hopefully our bench can give us a little bit of a push. I have loved the energy that Shyra and Tanisha have been providing. I would like to see that from Katie too. I thought she might come around this season but I am still waiting. I am not going to give up on Katie yet. It is almost like she gets stage fright because in shoot around very often, I will count her shots made in a row and before games she will knock down 30 shots in a row and then in the game be cold as ice.
41-37....thank goodness for Lauren and Tanisha....but of course the ice water running through Tina Thompson's lipstick wearing veins had to hit a three. Then we turn it over and they score and it is back to a 9 point lead. I am seriously going to need some blood pressure medication I think.
What is with the missing free throws? We have missed 7 free throws and we are down 8 points. Do the math. Last night also, we would have been in the game if we had not missed our free throws. Thank goodness the Comets can't hit a free throws either.
It must really suck when you only have 7 turnovers and your opponent has twice as many as you and you are down by 9. Comets 51-Storm 42 at the end of 3. If we could snap this cold shooting, we can win this.
Traveling call on Lauren...yeah I am sure she traveled in the paint when her team is down 9. Yes, the MVP of the league last year traveled....I don't think so. Sometimes I think it is a good thing that police officers walk the officials off the court. After that lame last minute call on Lauren last night and the no call rip off of Sue that led to the Becky Hammon layup last night, it is not suprising that Seattle is chippy and frustrated with the officials tonight. Maybe I am biased but I have never been thrilled with the overall officiating in the WNBA and I personally think that the refs are biased against Seattle and Lauren in particular.
All I can say is thank god the Comets can't shoot free throws (8 of 14 for 57%). If they made their free throws, we would be packing our bags already. Now if we could only rebound.
53-46, only down 7. We can beat them off the dribble so if we can keep this up tempo game going, we can wear them down. The question is if we have enough gas in our tank to do it. I certainly hope so. Playing Houston is always physically difficult and then the bad shooting just takes the gas out of your tank too.
Michelle Snow has 5 fouls now and just left the game. Lauren has a lot of sucess with Jackson against Mistie Williams so they should most definitely get the ball to Lauren. (Which should be our game plan at this point anyways.)
I LOVE YOU TANISHA WRIGHT....thank you for that 3. There are most definitely some Tanisha haters out there but I am not one of them at all. I love the energy and spark that Tanisha provides and her defense is definitely underrated. I love Tanisha right now.
Sounds like the Storm is running out of gas....only 2 minutes left if they can just get a little push, we will win this game. Come on ladies!!! You can do it!
59-55 with 1:35 left. DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE! Yes! Gotta stop!
WHAT? Tina Thompson shot the ball after the buzzer for a 24 second shot clock violation and her shot was blocked and they call it a 3! WTF? The referees are just ridiculous in this league I swear. Seattle cannot get a break tonight from this referee crew.
63-58 with 59 seconds left. 2 possession game......these down to the wire buzzer beater style games are not good for my ulcer. I am sure it is not good for the poor Storm either.
63-60 with 18 seconds left and KG at the line..........Katie misses.....LJ with the rebound tie up with Mabika and they jump it up. The official threw the ball ABOVE Mabika's head. This is horrific. The referees in the WNBA are a joke. An absolute joke. If there was some sort of avenue to complain about referees and demand that they watch the game, they should have to do it tonight. These referees should have to sit and watch this game duct taped to chairs with their eyelids super glued open. Now Agler has a technical foul and I don't blame him one bit. This has been a travesty.
Devastating loss....just as Dick Fain is saying, this is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. 68-60 the final and I wanna kill some referees. If only there was a Wii game where you could shoot WNBA referees. I would be shooting me some Roy Gulbeyan, Amy Bonner, and Shelley Nakasone right about now.
The Evolving Western Conference
A lot has been said about the slow start of the 2007 WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury this year. In an interview before the game today between the Detroit Shock and Phoenix, Bill Laimbeer said that he believes that this year will be a match up between his Shock and Phoenix again. While that could be a possibility, I think a lot of people are not giving credit to the difference in quality in the Western Conference this year versus last year. I think that coupled with the loss of Penny Taylor are some of the reasons why Phoenix is not topping the conference this year.
In the off season, the Western conference had an extreme makeover. The Sparks got Lisa Leslie back from maternity leave and then drafted Candace Parker. Minnesota has perhaps the best group of rookies playing on the same team this league has seen. Seattle did a major overhaul and now has the veteran All Star lineup. Then you have your other Western conference teams who can never be counted out. With Ann Wauters added to their lineup and the ticking timebomb that is Becky Hammon, the Silver Stars are always a threatening team to face. When you look at the West and you look at playing any team out here, there are going to be difficult games with excellent defense played and stellar offenses to defend.
Phoenix may have been tops last season but their team was different and they were playing in a different conference. I have all the faith in the world that sooner or later when they have gotten their Paul Ball offense and 3-1 rover defense honed to perfection, they will be back in prime fighting position. Granted it is only the beginning of the season but with every Storm game I watch, I am always thinking about what our position is and what our position is going to be. I am concerned with all of our intra-conference games because I am always thinking in terms of the playoffs and home court advantage. I feel like the WNBA season is so short and so much can happen with all of the talent in this league that I really feel like it is any woman's game.
In the off season, the Western conference had an extreme makeover. The Sparks got Lisa Leslie back from maternity leave and then drafted Candace Parker. Minnesota has perhaps the best group of rookies playing on the same team this league has seen. Seattle did a major overhaul and now has the veteran All Star lineup. Then you have your other Western conference teams who can never be counted out. With Ann Wauters added to their lineup and the ticking timebomb that is Becky Hammon, the Silver Stars are always a threatening team to face. When you look at the West and you look at playing any team out here, there are going to be difficult games with excellent defense played and stellar offenses to defend.
Phoenix may have been tops last season but their team was different and they were playing in a different conference. I have all the faith in the world that sooner or later when they have gotten their Paul Ball offense and 3-1 rover defense honed to perfection, they will be back in prime fighting position. Granted it is only the beginning of the season but with every Storm game I watch, I am always thinking about what our position is and what our position is going to be. I am concerned with all of our intra-conference games because I am always thinking in terms of the playoffs and home court advantage. I feel like the WNBA season is so short and so much can happen with all of the talent in this league that I really feel like it is any woman's game.
Buttercup's Basketball History 101
It started in 1993. I had not really watched the Bulls that much except for the playoffs of 1992-93 season. I wanted to see what all the hype was about, the Bulls. The first game I watched I was hooked. I saw talented athletes playing excellent basketball and I was hooked. After the Bulls won the championship and Michael Jordan retired, I was shocked. I wondered how the Bulls would play without him. Everyone always said the MJ was the Bulls and I didn't buy it. Scottie Pippen was an amazing player, the Bulls had finally gotten Toni Kukoc to come over from Croatia, and they retained the core of their championship team minus MJ. I still believed in my Bulls and they almost did it. If Hue Hollins hadn't made that horrific call that stunned my little 13 year old soul, that could have been the year for the Bulls. That team had so much heart and so much to prove and I believed in them. Since then, my love of basketball has never waned. EVER.
I started watching any basketball that was on television and that is how I found Pat Summit and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. I was amazed at her ability to mold these women into wonderful basketball players and how she has continually won championship after championship year after year. The more I watched women's basketball from the NCAA to the WNBA and the more men's basketball became full of loud mouthed thugs and less about playing the game, I never looked back and became a full on women's basketball supporter and I stopped supporting the NBA. I could not believe how much money these men were getting paid to run up into stands and beat up fans, to rape chamber maids, to bitch about winning championships and demanding trades. I could not watch it anymore. It tainted the men's side of the sport forever to me.
I am always talking about the Seattle Storm (my hometown team). I am always searching for any women's basketball game I can watch. WNBA.com is my homepage. I analyze statistics. I can often be found forcing friends who could care less about basketball to watch games with me and I will be teaching them how to box out or defend in the low post. I love to blog. For weeks my girlfriend, Julianna, has been on me to start a basketball blog. Perhaps maybe she is sick of hearing me talk about it all the time or she thinks I really have a knack for it. I guess we'll find out.
I started watching any basketball that was on television and that is how I found Pat Summit and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. I was amazed at her ability to mold these women into wonderful basketball players and how she has continually won championship after championship year after year. The more I watched women's basketball from the NCAA to the WNBA and the more men's basketball became full of loud mouthed thugs and less about playing the game, I never looked back and became a full on women's basketball supporter and I stopped supporting the NBA. I could not believe how much money these men were getting paid to run up into stands and beat up fans, to rape chamber maids, to bitch about winning championships and demanding trades. I could not watch it anymore. It tainted the men's side of the sport forever to me.
I am always talking about the Seattle Storm (my hometown team). I am always searching for any women's basketball game I can watch. WNBA.com is my homepage. I analyze statistics. I can often be found forcing friends who could care less about basketball to watch games with me and I will be teaching them how to box out or defend in the low post. I love to blog. For weeks my girlfriend, Julianna, has been on me to start a basketball blog. Perhaps maybe she is sick of hearing me talk about it all the time or she thinks I really have a knack for it. I guess we'll find out.
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