I wasn't able to see the last few games of the playoffs so it's a little weird for me to be doing this. It seems almost unreal that it has ended and there's going to another long offseason to live through. I hate the offseason. It takes me a while to warm up to the Storm team the coaches have assembled and the end of the season comes too quickly for me. I know that, in a few months, big changes will be made and the Storm team I had lived and died with would be changed.
Contracts and the Storm Roster
On the Storm website, they have listed the contract status of our players from this year. Under contract for next year are Lauren, Betty, Wendy, Ashley, Barb and Tanisha.
Unrestricted free agents (meaning they can go to any team they choose to) are Janell Burse and Tiffani Johnson.
Restricted free agents (the Storm has the right to match any offer another team gives them) are Sue Bird, Iziane Castro Marques and Shaun Gortman.
Edwige is apparently a reserved player (which is something I've never heard of before), which means she can only negotiate with the Storm.
Out of all the people under contract, Tanisha seems to be the only one that might not be in a Storm uniform next year. Obviously, LJ, Betty, Wendy and Barb, provided they are healthy, will be there. Ashley should be there, given how much AD loves making post players better. She might also be useful considering JB and LJ want to play through their injuries during the WNBA offseason which makes it more likely that they'll be injured sometime during next season.
On the other hand, Tanisha, who is in her second year with the Storm, has been a nonfactor in most games. She'll kill minutes on the floor the moment either Sue or Betty need a rest, but she'll also make some bad turnovers. I can't remember how many times she's run the point, hold the ball forever, then try and drive to the basket. Most of the time, she loses the ball or gets called for the offensive foul. While I would like to give her another chance, I just think that that roster spot should go to someone else who can be more productive for us. Who knows, really. If she comes to training camp next year and significantly improves her game and her decision making, she could still get on. If she plays the way she has this year, however, I don't see her making the roster and I don't see her deserving a spot on the roster.
I've already posted about the need to re-sign JB so I won't go into details on this. Other teams' fans are giddy about the chance for JB to play for them. In recent articles, JB gave the expected answer of how she wants to stay in Seattle but she knows her agent is going to ship her around (or something like that). Frankly, I would hate it if she goes to another team, comes back to face us and kills us with the post moves she learned under OUR coach. I know this is an unfair way to think and she should really do what is best for her financially. However, it's something that I just can't help thinking about. I don't know much about our salary situation and if we can even afford to keep her but in recent comments by Anne Donovan, she seems to know that paying JB the max is something that is important.
As for Tiffani Johnson, I'm kind of torn. On one hand, I cringed and complained during the regular season whenever she'd play. Too many "I don't know what I'm doing" moments. All of a sudden, in the playoffs, she goes out there and becomes a consistent and threatening player. What on earth? I guess her experience really did matter because she stepped it up when it mattered the most. My question now is which is the real Tiff? Which one can we expect to see? Another issue is that she's been in the league for a really long time so she might command a higher salary than someone else fulfilling her role with less experience. The thing is, if she plays like she did during the regular season, then that extra money might not be worth it and we should just get a rookie or a second year player play that spot. I'm split on this one. I really don't know what's the right thing to do or what should be done.
Now on to the restricted free agents. Sue will most likely re-sign with the team. In fact, I don't see a reason why she won't be with the Storm next year. It's a scary thought, however, when you allow yourself to think about it. I mean, we can't even secure a back-up point guard. If she ever decides to leave the Storm then we'd start who exactly? Anyway, I don't think there's much of an issue here.
As for Izi, I'd be surprised if Anne doesn't offer her another contract. She's been inconsistent at times this year, but she's been incredible at other times. She split some of the starting time this season with Barb Turner and I actually liked what I saw. Izi is this fast player who can get those wide open shots and layups. This is great for a momentum push. When we need to get more physical, however, we can insert Barb into the line-up and have her push and post up. I think that re-signing Izi will give us great flexibility in that position. Also, you never know how Barb will turn out next year (See Tanisha Wright). If she regresses at any point and we don't have Izi, it will be ugly. Izi has said that she just wants to play in a place where she'll get her minutes. According to an article I read, she's been known to get frustrated when she doesn't get her minutes. Anne pulled her out of the starting line-up for awhile but then she regained it by the end of the year. I'm not sure what part this will play in her decision to come back or not. Last year, everyone was so high on Barb Turner so this may affect the decision on whether to offer Izi another contract. I mean, if they have so much faith in Barb and feel that she can start on a regular basis next year, they may just decide to let her go.
Shaun Gortman wasn't exactly a major player on the team last year when she was playing. But, boy, you really saw her importance when she went down. Different people just kept going off on us offensively. As she has stated, her best asset is her defense and this is something sorely lacking from the Storm team through the years. I'm not sure how much Shaun would get (based on years played, etc) so this may very well dictate whether she will be on the roster next year. I hope she recovers quickly from her ACL injury and gets back to her aggressive defense. If she can and she doesn't cost too much, I can see her on the roster next year.
I think Edwige will be on the team next year. She brings stability at the back-up point and may just be the answer to our cringe-filled prayers. Depending on the amount of good quality and low priced point guards available on the market next year, Edwige has the best chance of everyone on the bubble of getting on the roster by virtue of the fact that she's a true point guard who can actually shoot and make good decisions on the floor. On a personal note, I really really like Edwige and I wish to see her in a Storm uni.
On another note, Lauren Jackson is, in my opinion, making a very curious decision that could very well mean that she won't be playing next year in the WNBA. She's going to Korea to fulfill her supposedly million dollar contract there. It's a short season, I think. I just read that she's also looking to go to Russia after that and play until the middle of Storm training camp. Oh yeah, and there's the world championships squeezed in there where she'll probably be on the floor every minute of the game. I understand everything she has in plan except for that weird part about playing in Russia. Umm.....what happened to her injured shins and plantar fascitis? She's getting a very good deal in Korea which will give her the money she needs really. Of course, Russia has money as well, but she's putting herself at a very BIG RISK. She'll be playing year round now? This leads me to believe that she may be skipping next season. Let's face it. She's paid absolutely nothing to play in the WNBA. I hope not because then I wouldn't get to follow her play as much. Also, I hope she's not pushing herself too much. She just has to be cautious about her health.
Players' Offseason Plans
Again, this is courtesy of the official Storm website, which is absolutely, incredibly loaded with information. It's seriously the best team site I've ever seen.
Birdy's going to play in the World Championships where she'll be the starting point guard (YES!) and lead USA to another gold medal. I hope she racks up a lot of points and assists (as long as they aren't passes to Lisa Leslie....I wonder if we could somehow talk her into doing that). After that, she'll probably playing in Russia if she gets a passport (or something like that).
JB is going back to Prague instead of rehabbing her shoulder which bugs me to no end. It bugs me even more that I can see where she's coming from. She played really well there last year so I think she's gonna be a stud on that team.
Izi is also going to the World Championships and then she'll probably play in Europe as well. With as many players going to Europe, maybe I should backpack around Europe to see them play. It shouldn't be too hard, right?
Shaun is going to spend her offseason rehabbing her knee. I hope everything goes well with it.
Lauren is going to the World Championships, where she will absolutely school Lisa Leslie (okay, I added that part). I'm a little conflicted here. I'd like to see LJ get gold for Australia, finally. On the other hand, I don't want Sue to lose her first tournament as the starting PG. She'd be crucified for it, I have no doubt. Anyway, I'm leaning towards cheering for the US just because I became a Birdy fan before I became an LJ fan. It's a loyalty thing although I switch allegiances every few minutes. After that, she's going to Korea and then, apparently, Russia. Russia?? Sigh...I don't understand at all.
Tiff is also playing overseas but she doesn't know where yet.
Edwige, to my great surprise, turned down the French National team to rest up after years of all year basketball. I kinda thought we'd have four Storm players there but I guess not. She'll be in Russia soon enough though, playing for Samara.
Betty is playing overseas in a league with a short season. I should really do my research and see which leagues these are.
Wendy is gonna be rehabbing and she might be coaching again but it depends on her rehab. I'm sooo excited to have her for all 34 games next year instead of the five this season. I still think she was that one injury that really prevented us from getting further.
Ashley is playing in Kazan, Russia.
Barb is also playing overseas, although, as with most players, she's unsure of what team she'll join.
Tanisha is going to Israel.
Now that everyone is going their separate ways, I guess it's time to officially say good bye to the 2006 Storm Season. It's been a rollercoaster ride for sure that made me cheer and weep at practically the same time. Although this is the second year we've made an exit in the first round, I'm proud of the Storm and all that they've accomplished this season. In fact, I'm even prouder to be a Storm fan. Right now, I'm filled with sadness as I look at the long offseason and I think of the changes that are going to be made to the team. I've said that I've grown to love everyone that's put on a Storm uniform. Even if I know that some people really shouldn't be on the team next year, I'd still feel sad. On the other hand, I'm excited about next season and I know that it's going to be another great season.
2006 SEATTLE STORM
SEEING IS BELIEVING.
Now on to the 2007 Season.
GO STORM!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
My Trip To Ottawa
Monday- August 21
My sis and I got up extremely early and got to the station where we needed to buy our tickets at about 9:00. I had stupidly decided to bring my laptop and stuff my bag with way too many shirts and socks. It turned out that we had to walk a LOOONG way just to get to the bus stop. It was all the way on the other side of the highway. I was there, trudging under the hot Toronto sun, cursing the entire situation. I was literally just dragging my bags over the walkway. On the way, this old lady passes by me and speeds off as I struggled with my heavy bags. It was so embarrassing. When we finally got to the bus stop, I told my sister that this must be my penance and since I had completed it, Sue Bird's nose couldn't possibly be broken. It turned out, later on, that it wasn't broken. Hehe. Cool stuff.
We got to Ottawa at about 5 pm. The hotel, although it wasn't our first choice, was actually very nice. It was located at ByWard Market, which is this place chock-full of restaurants, which was excellent for us. Our first dinner there was at Zak's Diner, which served burgers and stuff.
We tried to look around the little stalls around the restaurant but then it was pretty late and there were lots of beggars approaching us, which kind of freaked me out. They were very polite but it was just a little scary to be in a strange land, looking like a tourist and everything.
Tuesday- August 22
We wanted to get a Grey line tour with a hop on and hop off bus. When my sister called the place and asked for a pick up, they said it's near enough to walk to it. So off we went, trekking through Canada's capital, past the Parliament and everything. It was NOT near at all. We sat through one full tour of the bus so we could decide where to go. Then we took the next one out to the War Museum. Interesting enough, it was the same tour guide that took us the second time and she was saying the exact same lines as she did earlier. It was hilarious. I guess if you give these tours everyday, you'd come up with a script in your head and just stick with it.
I LOVED the War Museum. It had everything from pictures, to sound bites and actual objects. On the exterior of the museum, spelled out in small windows is the Morse code for "Lest we Forget". Also, it is shaped like a bunker to make it more realistic. At the end of the exhibits, there was this part about what would you do and what you are willing to stand up for. It was very well done. It wasn't meant to inspire people to go to war all of a sudden and support their country. In fact, in some sense, I felt it was promoting peace and avoidance of war. It was also a tribute to those who have given their lives to give Canada and Canadians what they have today. There were even cards there where you could write to officials to tell them what you thought. They had words and quotes on the walls that were inspiring. It was a moving museum, especially given all the conflicts in all parts of the world nowadays.
After this, we went to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Stables. There's this thing called the "Musical Ride" where the Mounties and the horses put on a show. It's kind of like dancing, except with the Mounties on their horses. We didn't see the dance or anything but we saw the stables where they kept these horses. It was pretty neat because these horses were all picked carefully. You have to be a certain color, height, weight, etc. in order to be considered. When we got back on the Grey Line bus, we decided to sit at the top of the open-air double decker bus. She was on the side and I was beside the aisle. As we were passing this park, the tour guide says, "Ooh, careful of the branches there." The bus was too near some trees and the people on our side of the bus were going to get hit by the leaves. Miraculously, everyone in front of us gracefully batted the leaves out of their way. They didn't even looked fazed by it. By the time it got to my sister, she tried to bat them away, but the leaves just kept coming and she ended up yelping and battling with the branches with both arms, swinging madly. Hehe. We couldn't stop laughing on the way home.
That night, my sis and I walked to Parliament to catch the Sound and Light Show projected onto the walls of the Central block of Parliament. It was the most incredible thing ever. There were hundreds of people seated on the bleachers, on the ground, even standing. The images themselves were impressive, but it was made even more impressive with the exterior of Parliament backing it up. Sometimes, they'd just have this huge flash of light illuminating the entire exterior of Parliament with a different color which just made everyone gasp. At the end of the show, they played the Canadian National Anthem as images flashed across it. It was truly inspirational. I know I'm not Canadian or anything, but at that point, you couldn't help but fall in love with the country.
Funny stuff on the way home. My sis and I were moving along with the throng of people leaving the show. No one was pushing or anything, and my sister and I were walking pretty fast. It was about 9:30 already and we wanted to be off the streets as early as possible. All of a sudden, behind me, I hear an "Oh, Fudge!!!" and a thud. I turn around to see who on earth had fallen and see my sister on the ground. I know this may seem bad that I'm laughing, but if you know my sister, she's the clumsiest person in the world. Not a trip goes by without her falling somewhere. I was concerned initially, but she got up pretty quickly and we moved to the side of the sidewalk to let her gather her composure. People were really nice and stopping and asking her if she was alright. They were genuinely concerned about her. She later told me that she hadn't tripped over anything on the road or it wasn't slippery. She just felt herself falling and then she fell. She left with only a bruise, thankfully and we had something interesting to laugh about all night long.
I broke my promise to my sis and checked out the Storm game online. Bad enough that I broke my promise, but they lost the game too. Yuck.
Wednesday- August 23
We took in the Museum of Civilization first. It was a pretty good museum, but I'm not really interested in learning about how the Aboriginal people lived back then and their jewelry and stuff. It was really well done, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. My sis loved it though. During lunch, we ended up eating in this way overpriced place with average food because we didn't know there was a cafeteria in the museum. I was alright walking all over the place before, but I got injured sitting down for lunch. Weird, isn't it? I sat down without any pain and when I stood up, the back of my left knee hurt like crazy. It was buckling and I couldn't straighten it out very well. It hampered me for the rest of my trip.
After that, we went to the Aviation Museum. I LOVED that place. They had tons of aircrafts all over the place and even a display on engines and everything. I think I took the most pictures here. Of course, I was forced to limp through displays. Sigh. Anyway, it's not like I'm a huge fan of aircrafts or anything, but I do love looking at them and marvelling at how they are designed and all. We went to the gift shop and my sister said I could get a model toy plane. This sounds kind of childish but ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted model cars and planes. I'd never get them, of course, by virtue of being a girl. I went in all excited until I saw two little boys deciding which toy to get. I was hit by my self-conscious side and decided against it. One day, I will really get over my fears of how I look to other people.
Thursday- August 24
In the morning, my sister and I went to Parliament Hill to catch the changing of the guards. It was a pretty amazing experience. They started off with the guards parading from Rideau Hall, which is where the governor-general's house. They march their way onto Parliament Hill with a marching band and everything. There's this whole big ceremony thing that, frankly, I didn't understand very well but it was visually amazing.
After that, we took a tour of Parliament. We chose the Centre block to tour. We saw places like their library, the Senate room and the House of Commons. The architecture is amazing. The entire place just feels like it came out of a storybook. Everything was so grand.
We walked to the Supreme Court after that for a picture. Of course, this was with me limping all the way. After that, my sister took pity on me and said we could WALK all the way back to the hotel so I could REST my achy knee. The walk was torture, really. It kept buckling in pain and I kept stopping to grab my sister's arm. It got me thinking about what my favorite athletes have to go through when they play in pain. I mean, LJ plays with shin splints and she's moving all over the place. I was shuffling along with a majorly less severe injury and I was whimpering all the way. Yeah, I'm such a baby.
We got to the hotel and rested for about two hours. Actually, it was only supposed to be for an hour, but my sister fell asleep while watching this Court TV show. We had to drag our butts out of bed because we were both so lazy but my sister really wanted to see the art gallery.
We walked to the National Gallery (actually, I staggered there). We got to see this special exhibit of Emily Carr artwork. She's this famous Canadian artist whose works concentrate on nature and totem poles. Seriously speaking, she's an amazing artist. I'm not very sophisticated, however, so I was yawning my way through some inspirational works. The thing I don't get with art galleries is that everyone thinks they need to be as quiet as mice in there. Even I was whispering. It adds to the stiffness of the place for me, which makes it less exciting for me. Anyway, there was this guy in the wheelchair who saw me limping around the place, wincing and grabbing my leg every now and then. He kindly comes over to me and informs me that they have free wheelchairs downstairs that I could use since I looked like I was really hurt. It was really nice of him and he was genuinely being helpful but I was a little embarrassed because it wasn't like I was really injured in the true sense of the word. We went to all the other galleries including one on Aboriginal art. My favorite part was the European art section. I guess I just like the more traditional works. There was this section on contemporary art, and while I appreciate their creativity, some of them were just crappy. They had blocks stacked high. Another one was just a piece of rope. Anyway, it was funny because I was just thinking how weird and dumb some of the things were when we passed by this dude who said out loud "It's amazing what some people will call art." My sister and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, especially after his mom shushed him all horrified.
We ate at Fat Tuesday's, went home and watched UFC on TV. Yeah, I got to see my Storm scores and my sister got to see her UFC. We both got what we wanted.
Friday- August 25
Greyhound screw us up. They sold us a ticket from Toronto to Mississauga. When we got to Toronto after a looong trip, they said that there were no more buses going to Mississauga. My sister and I had to drag our heavy bags to the subway, to the GO Bus, and finally to a Mississauga Transit bus just to get home. I was swearing under my breath how I would sue Greyhound until they had no more money for gas. Hehe, I was pretty steamed.
It was an awesome trip. It was fun on every level and it's good to just hang with my sister especially since I'm leaving for university in a week. Ottawa is a place I recommend everyone visit. It's culturally stimulating and the leisure activities aren't so bad either.
My sis and I got up extremely early and got to the station where we needed to buy our tickets at about 9:00. I had stupidly decided to bring my laptop and stuff my bag with way too many shirts and socks. It turned out that we had to walk a LOOONG way just to get to the bus stop. It was all the way on the other side of the highway. I was there, trudging under the hot Toronto sun, cursing the entire situation. I was literally just dragging my bags over the walkway. On the way, this old lady passes by me and speeds off as I struggled with my heavy bags. It was so embarrassing. When we finally got to the bus stop, I told my sister that this must be my penance and since I had completed it, Sue Bird's nose couldn't possibly be broken. It turned out, later on, that it wasn't broken. Hehe. Cool stuff.
We got to Ottawa at about 5 pm. The hotel, although it wasn't our first choice, was actually very nice. It was located at ByWard Market, which is this place chock-full of restaurants, which was excellent for us. Our first dinner there was at Zak's Diner, which served burgers and stuff.
We tried to look around the little stalls around the restaurant but then it was pretty late and there were lots of beggars approaching us, which kind of freaked me out. They were very polite but it was just a little scary to be in a strange land, looking like a tourist and everything.
Tuesday- August 22
We wanted to get a Grey line tour with a hop on and hop off bus. When my sister called the place and asked for a pick up, they said it's near enough to walk to it. So off we went, trekking through Canada's capital, past the Parliament and everything. It was NOT near at all. We sat through one full tour of the bus so we could decide where to go. Then we took the next one out to the War Museum. Interesting enough, it was the same tour guide that took us the second time and she was saying the exact same lines as she did earlier. It was hilarious. I guess if you give these tours everyday, you'd come up with a script in your head and just stick with it.
I LOVED the War Museum. It had everything from pictures, to sound bites and actual objects. On the exterior of the museum, spelled out in small windows is the Morse code for "Lest we Forget". Also, it is shaped like a bunker to make it more realistic. At the end of the exhibits, there was this part about what would you do and what you are willing to stand up for. It was very well done. It wasn't meant to inspire people to go to war all of a sudden and support their country. In fact, in some sense, I felt it was promoting peace and avoidance of war. It was also a tribute to those who have given their lives to give Canada and Canadians what they have today. There were even cards there where you could write to officials to tell them what you thought. They had words and quotes on the walls that were inspiring. It was a moving museum, especially given all the conflicts in all parts of the world nowadays.
After this, we went to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Stables. There's this thing called the "Musical Ride" where the Mounties and the horses put on a show. It's kind of like dancing, except with the Mounties on their horses. We didn't see the dance or anything but we saw the stables where they kept these horses. It was pretty neat because these horses were all picked carefully. You have to be a certain color, height, weight, etc. in order to be considered. When we got back on the Grey Line bus, we decided to sit at the top of the open-air double decker bus. She was on the side and I was beside the aisle. As we were passing this park, the tour guide says, "Ooh, careful of the branches there." The bus was too near some trees and the people on our side of the bus were going to get hit by the leaves. Miraculously, everyone in front of us gracefully batted the leaves out of their way. They didn't even looked fazed by it. By the time it got to my sister, she tried to bat them away, but the leaves just kept coming and she ended up yelping and battling with the branches with both arms, swinging madly. Hehe. We couldn't stop laughing on the way home.
That night, my sis and I walked to Parliament to catch the Sound and Light Show projected onto the walls of the Central block of Parliament. It was the most incredible thing ever. There were hundreds of people seated on the bleachers, on the ground, even standing. The images themselves were impressive, but it was made even more impressive with the exterior of Parliament backing it up. Sometimes, they'd just have this huge flash of light illuminating the entire exterior of Parliament with a different color which just made everyone gasp. At the end of the show, they played the Canadian National Anthem as images flashed across it. It was truly inspirational. I know I'm not Canadian or anything, but at that point, you couldn't help but fall in love with the country.
Funny stuff on the way home. My sis and I were moving along with the throng of people leaving the show. No one was pushing or anything, and my sister and I were walking pretty fast. It was about 9:30 already and we wanted to be off the streets as early as possible. All of a sudden, behind me, I hear an "Oh, Fudge!!!" and a thud. I turn around to see who on earth had fallen and see my sister on the ground. I know this may seem bad that I'm laughing, but if you know my sister, she's the clumsiest person in the world. Not a trip goes by without her falling somewhere. I was concerned initially, but she got up pretty quickly and we moved to the side of the sidewalk to let her gather her composure. People were really nice and stopping and asking her if she was alright. They were genuinely concerned about her. She later told me that she hadn't tripped over anything on the road or it wasn't slippery. She just felt herself falling and then she fell. She left with only a bruise, thankfully and we had something interesting to laugh about all night long.
I broke my promise to my sis and checked out the Storm game online. Bad enough that I broke my promise, but they lost the game too. Yuck.
Wednesday- August 23
We took in the Museum of Civilization first. It was a pretty good museum, but I'm not really interested in learning about how the Aboriginal people lived back then and their jewelry and stuff. It was really well done, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. My sis loved it though. During lunch, we ended up eating in this way overpriced place with average food because we didn't know there was a cafeteria in the museum. I was alright walking all over the place before, but I got injured sitting down for lunch. Weird, isn't it? I sat down without any pain and when I stood up, the back of my left knee hurt like crazy. It was buckling and I couldn't straighten it out very well. It hampered me for the rest of my trip.
After that, we went to the Aviation Museum. I LOVED that place. They had tons of aircrafts all over the place and even a display on engines and everything. I think I took the most pictures here. Of course, I was forced to limp through displays. Sigh. Anyway, it's not like I'm a huge fan of aircrafts or anything, but I do love looking at them and marvelling at how they are designed and all. We went to the gift shop and my sister said I could get a model toy plane. This sounds kind of childish but ever since I was a kid, I've always wanted model cars and planes. I'd never get them, of course, by virtue of being a girl. I went in all excited until I saw two little boys deciding which toy to get. I was hit by my self-conscious side and decided against it. One day, I will really get over my fears of how I look to other people.
Thursday- August 24
In the morning, my sister and I went to Parliament Hill to catch the changing of the guards. It was a pretty amazing experience. They started off with the guards parading from Rideau Hall, which is where the governor-general's house. They march their way onto Parliament Hill with a marching band and everything. There's this whole big ceremony thing that, frankly, I didn't understand very well but it was visually amazing.
After that, we took a tour of Parliament. We chose the Centre block to tour. We saw places like their library, the Senate room and the House of Commons. The architecture is amazing. The entire place just feels like it came out of a storybook. Everything was so grand.
We walked to the Supreme Court after that for a picture. Of course, this was with me limping all the way. After that, my sister took pity on me and said we could WALK all the way back to the hotel so I could REST my achy knee. The walk was torture, really. It kept buckling in pain and I kept stopping to grab my sister's arm. It got me thinking about what my favorite athletes have to go through when they play in pain. I mean, LJ plays with shin splints and she's moving all over the place. I was shuffling along with a majorly less severe injury and I was whimpering all the way. Yeah, I'm such a baby.
We got to the hotel and rested for about two hours. Actually, it was only supposed to be for an hour, but my sister fell asleep while watching this Court TV show. We had to drag our butts out of bed because we were both so lazy but my sister really wanted to see the art gallery.
We walked to the National Gallery (actually, I staggered there). We got to see this special exhibit of Emily Carr artwork. She's this famous Canadian artist whose works concentrate on nature and totem poles. Seriously speaking, she's an amazing artist. I'm not very sophisticated, however, so I was yawning my way through some inspirational works. The thing I don't get with art galleries is that everyone thinks they need to be as quiet as mice in there. Even I was whispering. It adds to the stiffness of the place for me, which makes it less exciting for me. Anyway, there was this guy in the wheelchair who saw me limping around the place, wincing and grabbing my leg every now and then. He kindly comes over to me and informs me that they have free wheelchairs downstairs that I could use since I looked like I was really hurt. It was really nice of him and he was genuinely being helpful but I was a little embarrassed because it wasn't like I was really injured in the true sense of the word. We went to all the other galleries including one on Aboriginal art. My favorite part was the European art section. I guess I just like the more traditional works. There was this section on contemporary art, and while I appreciate their creativity, some of them were just crappy. They had blocks stacked high. Another one was just a piece of rope. Anyway, it was funny because I was just thinking how weird and dumb some of the things were when we passed by this dude who said out loud "It's amazing what some people will call art." My sister and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, especially after his mom shushed him all horrified.
We ate at Fat Tuesday's, went home and watched UFC on TV. Yeah, I got to see my Storm scores and my sister got to see her UFC. We both got what we wanted.
Friday- August 25
Greyhound screw us up. They sold us a ticket from Toronto to Mississauga. When we got to Toronto after a looong trip, they said that there were no more buses going to Mississauga. My sister and I had to drag our heavy bags to the subway, to the GO Bus, and finally to a Mississauga Transit bus just to get home. I was swearing under my breath how I would sue Greyhound until they had no more money for gas. Hehe, I was pretty steamed.
It was an awesome trip. It was fun on every level and it's good to just hang with my sister especially since I'm leaving for university in a week. Ottawa is a place I recommend everyone visit. It's culturally stimulating and the leisure activities aren't so bad either.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Damn WNBA Playoff Results August 20
Connecticut- 68
Washington- 65
* Don't know...don't care right now. I should have put something down before the Seattle game.
* Oh yeah, Connecticut wins.
* Connecticut vs. Detroit in the eastern conference finals
Los Angeles- 78
Seattle- 70
* On one hand, I should be glad that the Storm was the only lower seed to win one game. On the other hand, they lost this game in such an unbelievable way.
Let me break this down for you. Seattle was up by 7 at the end of the half. I thought, hmm...okay, Seattle is a mature and experienced team, they should be able to hold on and produce a sweep.
Let me also say that Sacramento is resting right now and IF we win Game 3, they'll have a major, major advantage over us. Lauren Jackson is going to have to play major minutes on Tuesday and then play again on Thursday, this time at home where they're under pressure to win.
Let me say, that we were outscored 26-15 in the third quarter. Unbelievable. Part of me is chastising myself for being so negative right now towards the team, but I can't help it. They let themselves lose this game because of their turnovers and ugly mistakes.
Now what? Sue Bird may have broken her nose again. Lauren Jackson is going to limp off the floor again, except this time there's no positives from a win cheering her up. Betty Lennox is battling some kind of injury. And, oh yeah, they have to play LA again on Tuesday when everyone else is resting.
I love this team, and no amount of negativity I am expressing here should get you to think otherwise. But this was dumb. I hope they win the next game, but they've given LA a chance now. In my opinion, they've dug their own grave. I just hope they stay out of it and push LA in instead.
I was so annoyed by what was happening, I actually started cursing in my head in Filipino.
I don't want to go into stats too much, but there's this one unforgivable stat. Lauren Jackson only had 4 shot attempts. What the fuck? Seriously.
On one hand, Betty Lennox scored the most points, which is good. On the other hand, she had more than double the shot attempts of everyone. She shot 7-19. I really shouldn't be criticizing her but this seems to me to be a reversal to the old Betty who just used to jack up shots.
Tanisha Wright: I'm sorry, but I'm thankful that she only had about 2 minutes on the floor (where she promptly turned the ball over).
As a Sue Bird fan, my mind is switching from being annoyed by the loss and being worried about her nose. Not again, please.
Anyway, game 3, for a berth in the Western Conference Finals is on Tuesday.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
Washington- 65
* Don't know...don't care right now. I should have put something down before the Seattle game.
* Oh yeah, Connecticut wins.
* Connecticut vs. Detroit in the eastern conference finals
Los Angeles- 78
Seattle- 70
* On one hand, I should be glad that the Storm was the only lower seed to win one game. On the other hand, they lost this game in such an unbelievable way.
Let me break this down for you. Seattle was up by 7 at the end of the half. I thought, hmm...okay, Seattle is a mature and experienced team, they should be able to hold on and produce a sweep.
Let me also say that Sacramento is resting right now and IF we win Game 3, they'll have a major, major advantage over us. Lauren Jackson is going to have to play major minutes on Tuesday and then play again on Thursday, this time at home where they're under pressure to win.
Let me say, that we were outscored 26-15 in the third quarter. Unbelievable. Part of me is chastising myself for being so negative right now towards the team, but I can't help it. They let themselves lose this game because of their turnovers and ugly mistakes.
Now what? Sue Bird may have broken her nose again. Lauren Jackson is going to limp off the floor again, except this time there's no positives from a win cheering her up. Betty Lennox is battling some kind of injury. And, oh yeah, they have to play LA again on Tuesday when everyone else is resting.
I love this team, and no amount of negativity I am expressing here should get you to think otherwise. But this was dumb. I hope they win the next game, but they've given LA a chance now. In my opinion, they've dug their own grave. I just hope they stay out of it and push LA in instead.
I was so annoyed by what was happening, I actually started cursing in my head in Filipino.
I don't want to go into stats too much, but there's this one unforgivable stat. Lauren Jackson only had 4 shot attempts. What the fuck? Seriously.
On one hand, Betty Lennox scored the most points, which is good. On the other hand, she had more than double the shot attempts of everyone. She shot 7-19. I really shouldn't be criticizing her but this seems to me to be a reversal to the old Betty who just used to jack up shots.
Tanisha Wright: I'm sorry, but I'm thankful that she only had about 2 minutes on the floor (where she promptly turned the ball over).
As a Sue Bird fan, my mind is switching from being annoyed by the loss and being worried about her nose. Not again, please.
Anyway, game 3, for a berth in the Western Conference Finals is on Tuesday.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
I'm going to Ottawa!
Woohoo! My sister and I are going to Ottawa this week for five days. It's supposed to be a really cool city. We're going to see the Parliament and other government buildings, which can help me visualize where I want to be in ten years. It might just make all those late-night study sessions I'm already preparing myself for worth it. I'm going to miss Game 3 (which won't be played if my Storm can beat LA today) and the first game of the Western Conference Finals (which I won't really care about if the Storm lose Games 2 and 3). But I'm bringing my laptop so I might be posting some stuff about those games. I won't listen though, or watch. I think my sister would kill me if I even mentioned spending a night in Ottawa trapped in our hotel room with the game blaring. In fact, I know she would.
I decided to drop my anthropology class and take an economics class instead. So now I have both Wednesday and Thursday completely free but I have a hell day on Tuesday with three classes. All my heavy classes are on Tuesday. I have my two political science courses and an economics course I'm determined to do well in. It's a non-specific course, which means it will be mostly theoretical and issue-centered. I wouldn't have taken it had it been focused on the mathematical and statistical aspect of economics.
Anyway, time to pack.
By the way, the Seattle game's going on right now....hmmm....:)
I decided to drop my anthropology class and take an economics class instead. So now I have both Wednesday and Thursday completely free but I have a hell day on Tuesday with three classes. All my heavy classes are on Tuesday. I have my two political science courses and an economics course I'm determined to do well in. It's a non-specific course, which means it will be mostly theoretical and issue-centered. I wouldn't have taken it had it been focused on the mathematical and statistical aspect of economics.
Anyway, time to pack.
By the way, the Seattle game's going on right now....hmmm....:)
Saturday, August 19, 2006
WNBA Playoff Results August 19
Detroit- 98
Indiana- 83
* Detroit sweeps Indiana. Argh. Where was Indy when I needed them? :(
* Funny note. Tully Bevilaqua guaranteed a win for Indiana in this second game. Apparently it got to the Detroit players and they were pretty fired up about it. This would have been cooler had Tully and the Fever actually done it. Alas, they've fallen short.
* Well-attended game. Thankfully. Detroit fans pull through. It sucks to watch a TV game where the stands are empty. It makes all the non-believers and haters snicker and pat themselves on the back.
Sacramento- 92
Houston- 64
* Sacramento sweeps Houston.
* What on earth has happened to the Comets? Someone on a message board pointed out that Houston has so many veterans on their roster. Inexperience can't be an excuse. They should have enough experience to know when to step it up. Simply unbelievable really. Blowouts in both games. I can't believe us Storm fans were scared of facing the Comets. Holy cow, maybe we should have. At least, the Comets that have shown up for the past two games.
* Sacramento's playing well and IF Seattle can get past LA, it would be extremely frightening to play them.
* Dawn Staley has played her last WNBA game. I wish she'd gotten at least one more game out of this (if the Comets had pushed it to three games). I haven't been a WNBA fan as long as the rest but I'll still miss what she brought to the game.
Detroit 2-0 Indiana * Detroit wins
Connecticut 1-0 Washington
Sacramento 2-0 Houston * Sacramento wins
Los Angeles 0-1 Seattle
Tomorrow, my Storm take on LA to try and sweep them right out of the playoffs.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
Indiana- 83
* Detroit sweeps Indiana. Argh. Where was Indy when I needed them? :(
* Funny note. Tully Bevilaqua guaranteed a win for Indiana in this second game. Apparently it got to the Detroit players and they were pretty fired up about it. This would have been cooler had Tully and the Fever actually done it. Alas, they've fallen short.
* Well-attended game. Thankfully. Detroit fans pull through. It sucks to watch a TV game where the stands are empty. It makes all the non-believers and haters snicker and pat themselves on the back.
Sacramento- 92
Houston- 64
* Sacramento sweeps Houston.
* What on earth has happened to the Comets? Someone on a message board pointed out that Houston has so many veterans on their roster. Inexperience can't be an excuse. They should have enough experience to know when to step it up. Simply unbelievable really. Blowouts in both games. I can't believe us Storm fans were scared of facing the Comets. Holy cow, maybe we should have. At least, the Comets that have shown up for the past two games.
* Sacramento's playing well and IF Seattle can get past LA, it would be extremely frightening to play them.
* Dawn Staley has played her last WNBA game. I wish she'd gotten at least one more game out of this (if the Comets had pushed it to three games). I haven't been a WNBA fan as long as the rest but I'll still miss what she brought to the game.
Detroit 2-0 Indiana * Detroit wins
Connecticut 1-0 Washington
Sacramento 2-0 Houston * Sacramento wins
Los Angeles 0-1 Seattle
Tomorrow, my Storm take on LA to try and sweep them right out of the playoffs.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
Friday, August 18, 2006
WNBA Playoff Results August 18
Connecticut- 76
Washington-61
* Bad crowd in Washington. I'm sure the numbers won't show it but it was so empty on TV. I feel so bad about this.
* Connecticut wins, duh. I don't know though, maybe if Washington upsets Connecticut and we manage to get to the finals, we'd have a better chance to win.
Seattle- 84
Los Angeles- 72
* Aah.....this feels great. I'm literally on Cloud 9 right now. It's 1:15 AM, I have a long trip tomorrow, and I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight. I LOVE this team.
* Scary stuff again in the third quarter (rolls eyes). Maybe we should just stop playing that quarter or stop calling it the third quarter. Anything, really. But the fourth quarter saved us. The Storm played great in the fourth, you know, when it really mattered. YES!
* The crowd was incredible. I might be biased, but I saw all four games so far and Seattle's was the only one that looked full. The Mystics game awhile ago was so empty, it was scary. It's scary as a WNBA fan of course. Kudos to Storm fans for coming out and supporting your team. Unbelievable. I LOVE Seattle fans.
* Clayton Bennett was at the Key. He was in some kind of suite talking when they showed him. I guess it's good that he came and he saw the Key as full and crazy as that. He's probably not getting emotional but he could be going..."hmm, there could be profit here".
Stat time: (Sorry, I can only do this during the Seattle games)
Betty Lennox had 8 points, 2 Steals, 7 Assists and 3 rebounds. Really good numbers from Betty. In the first half she struggled with scoring and I was starting to get nervous but then she hit this one three and I immediately felt relieved. I don't even care she only had 8 points. 2 Steals and 7 Assists? I'd take this everyday. Congrats to Betty for recognizing open people and doing what she needed to do when her shot wasn't falling. I'm not her biggest fan but I can say that she's been doing so much for the team since she got here. She was only 3 of 10 from the field, but, man, those seven assists make me a believer.
Sue Bird had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. She was really shooting it well in the first half, then she kind of cooled off in the second. Bleh. Okay, she missed practically everything in the second half except for her free throws. Nonetheless, if she can make her shots in any half, she adds a scoring threat for the Storm. It was cool to see her and LJ so happy after the win.
Lauren Jackson had 22 points, 2 blocks, 2 Steals, 2 assists and 9 rebounds. I swear she's the MVP this year. She got to the line 8 times, which was awesome. Basically, LJ just dominated like only LJ can. Best of all, she only played 28 minutes! Heck, we beat LA without LJ going over 30 minutes. Woohoo. Now go sit down and rest for Sunday. Don't even walk anywhere.
Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points, 2 steals, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She had some key plays down the stretch (steals and rebounds) and sealed the deal for us at the free throw line. She didn't shoot the ball really well or very much, but she did what she needed to do. I'm very impressed with her down the stretch when she made those steals and rebounds. Pure heart and intensity.
Janell Burse had 17 points, 1 block, 1 steal and 1 rebound. Ok, that one rebound thing surprised me a bit. But she was really scoring at will for us. It was so important for us to pound it into the paint and not just give the ball to LJ. JB shot well and scored a lot of points for us. I loved seeing JB at the end too when she hugged LJ. She was all excited and happy. Aww....okay, now JB, about that contract for next year....=)
Tiffani Johnson proved everyone, myself included, wrong by putting up a tremendous game. What the hell? Where has this been all year? Whatever, as long as it stays for the rest of the playoffs. I am so sorry now for doubting you pretty much all year. 10 points, a block, an assist and 4 rebounds. I guess experience really does count in the playoffs. Who would have thought? After I kept questioning Anne Donovan for wanting so many veterans.
Bleh nights for the other benchies though. I love Barbara Turner, but can anyone tell me what has happened to her game recently? She started out so strongly in the season. She's been fading...I really really want to know if anyone knows an explanation for it. Hang in there, Barb. Tanisha Wright is also worrying me, except, unlike Barb, she isn't a rookie. It can't be some kind of rookie slump from playing for so long. She's just been struggling like hell. At this point, I'm not sure if she's going to be on the team next year. It just seems like she's forcing it a bit. On another note, Anne said in an interview that she's probably going to use Ashley Robinson a lot because of the match-ups. Umm...she played the last 28 seconds. Maybe she was pulling LA's leg? Or maybe Tiff just played so damn good, she couldn't be taken out of the game.
Seattle was the only home team able to win. Hehe...good job Storm.
Now they go to LA. La's only lost two games at home this year. Yikes. The good news? One of those losses was to an LJ-less Seattle. I hope they can do it.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
Detroit 1-0 Indiana
Connecticut 1-0 Washington
Sacramento 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 0-1 Seattle
Washington-61
* Bad crowd in Washington. I'm sure the numbers won't show it but it was so empty on TV. I feel so bad about this.
* Connecticut wins, duh. I don't know though, maybe if Washington upsets Connecticut and we manage to get to the finals, we'd have a better chance to win.
Seattle- 84
Los Angeles- 72
* Aah.....this feels great. I'm literally on Cloud 9 right now. It's 1:15 AM, I have a long trip tomorrow, and I doubt I'll be getting any sleep tonight. I LOVE this team.
* Scary stuff again in the third quarter (rolls eyes). Maybe we should just stop playing that quarter or stop calling it the third quarter. Anything, really. But the fourth quarter saved us. The Storm played great in the fourth, you know, when it really mattered. YES!
* The crowd was incredible. I might be biased, but I saw all four games so far and Seattle's was the only one that looked full. The Mystics game awhile ago was so empty, it was scary. It's scary as a WNBA fan of course. Kudos to Storm fans for coming out and supporting your team. Unbelievable. I LOVE Seattle fans.
* Clayton Bennett was at the Key. He was in some kind of suite talking when they showed him. I guess it's good that he came and he saw the Key as full and crazy as that. He's probably not getting emotional but he could be going..."hmm, there could be profit here".
Stat time: (Sorry, I can only do this during the Seattle games)
Betty Lennox had 8 points, 2 Steals, 7 Assists and 3 rebounds. Really good numbers from Betty. In the first half she struggled with scoring and I was starting to get nervous but then she hit this one three and I immediately felt relieved. I don't even care she only had 8 points. 2 Steals and 7 Assists? I'd take this everyday. Congrats to Betty for recognizing open people and doing what she needed to do when her shot wasn't falling. I'm not her biggest fan but I can say that she's been doing so much for the team since she got here. She was only 3 of 10 from the field, but, man, those seven assists make me a believer.
Sue Bird had 15 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds. She was really shooting it well in the first half, then she kind of cooled off in the second. Bleh. Okay, she missed practically everything in the second half except for her free throws. Nonetheless, if she can make her shots in any half, she adds a scoring threat for the Storm. It was cool to see her and LJ so happy after the win.
Lauren Jackson had 22 points, 2 blocks, 2 Steals, 2 assists and 9 rebounds. I swear she's the MVP this year. She got to the line 8 times, which was awesome. Basically, LJ just dominated like only LJ can. Best of all, she only played 28 minutes! Heck, we beat LA without LJ going over 30 minutes. Woohoo. Now go sit down and rest for Sunday. Don't even walk anywhere.
Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points, 2 steals, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. She had some key plays down the stretch (steals and rebounds) and sealed the deal for us at the free throw line. She didn't shoot the ball really well or very much, but she did what she needed to do. I'm very impressed with her down the stretch when she made those steals and rebounds. Pure heart and intensity.
Janell Burse had 17 points, 1 block, 1 steal and 1 rebound. Ok, that one rebound thing surprised me a bit. But she was really scoring at will for us. It was so important for us to pound it into the paint and not just give the ball to LJ. JB shot well and scored a lot of points for us. I loved seeing JB at the end too when she hugged LJ. She was all excited and happy. Aww....okay, now JB, about that contract for next year....=)
Tiffani Johnson proved everyone, myself included, wrong by putting up a tremendous game. What the hell? Where has this been all year? Whatever, as long as it stays for the rest of the playoffs. I am so sorry now for doubting you pretty much all year. 10 points, a block, an assist and 4 rebounds. I guess experience really does count in the playoffs. Who would have thought? After I kept questioning Anne Donovan for wanting so many veterans.
Bleh nights for the other benchies though. I love Barbara Turner, but can anyone tell me what has happened to her game recently? She started out so strongly in the season. She's been fading...I really really want to know if anyone knows an explanation for it. Hang in there, Barb. Tanisha Wright is also worrying me, except, unlike Barb, she isn't a rookie. It can't be some kind of rookie slump from playing for so long. She's just been struggling like hell. At this point, I'm not sure if she's going to be on the team next year. It just seems like she's forcing it a bit. On another note, Anne said in an interview that she's probably going to use Ashley Robinson a lot because of the match-ups. Umm...she played the last 28 seconds. Maybe she was pulling LA's leg? Or maybe Tiff just played so damn good, she couldn't be taken out of the game.
Seattle was the only home team able to win. Hehe...good job Storm.
Now they go to LA. La's only lost two games at home this year. Yikes. The good news? One of those losses was to an LJ-less Seattle. I hope they can do it.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!
Detroit 1-0 Indiana
Connecticut 1-0 Washington
Sacramento 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 0-1 Seattle
Thursday, August 17, 2006
WNBA Playoff Results August 17
Detroit-68
Indiana- 56
* Detroit wins on the road. Yikes, wake up Indiana. I'm cheering for Indiana all the way (see post entitled Detroit Thugs...umm Shock). The Shock just irk me. They won today though.
* If anyone else watched this game, can someone confirm just how empty the building looked. I mean, it SOUNDED loud, but there'd be heaps and heaps of empty seats. Indiana has been doing so well this year, but their attendance hasn't really increased. It's a little sad and frustrating because I think they have great players who can connect with the fans really well. I hope the attendance was a lot more than I guessed it to be. I mean, first round and it's the only game played at Indiana in the first round. Unless Indy fans expected them to advance to the second round, it should be packed.
* GO INDIANA!! Concentrate on that one game at Detroit first. Once you get that win, just take that momentum to the third game. On the bright side (for you guys only), the Storm won the first game against Houston last year and then lost the next two at home. Ugh...bad memories. Oh well, anything to get you guys to beat Detroit.
Sacramento- 93
Comets- 78
* Road win for Sacramento. Scary win as well. It was pretty much a blowout. Oh well, maybe the Storm would be more likely to win against Sacramento than Houston. IF we get past LA. I can't take this. Now I know why I never became an athlete. Too much stress and pressure.
* I didn't watch this game so I can't tell whether or not it was a well-attended game.
* I don't know who I'm rooting for here. This has heavy implications on us so I'm not trying to think about it. It's even dangerous to look ahead to the second round.
Detroit 1-0 Indiana
Connecticut 0-0 Washington
Sacramento 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 0-0 Seattle
Indiana- 56
* Detroit wins on the road. Yikes, wake up Indiana. I'm cheering for Indiana all the way (see post entitled Detroit Thugs...umm Shock). The Shock just irk me. They won today though.
* If anyone else watched this game, can someone confirm just how empty the building looked. I mean, it SOUNDED loud, but there'd be heaps and heaps of empty seats. Indiana has been doing so well this year, but their attendance hasn't really increased. It's a little sad and frustrating because I think they have great players who can connect with the fans really well. I hope the attendance was a lot more than I guessed it to be. I mean, first round and it's the only game played at Indiana in the first round. Unless Indy fans expected them to advance to the second round, it should be packed.
* GO INDIANA!! Concentrate on that one game at Detroit first. Once you get that win, just take that momentum to the third game. On the bright side (for you guys only), the Storm won the first game against Houston last year and then lost the next two at home. Ugh...bad memories. Oh well, anything to get you guys to beat Detroit.
Sacramento- 93
Comets- 78
* Road win for Sacramento. Scary win as well. It was pretty much a blowout. Oh well, maybe the Storm would be more likely to win against Sacramento than Houston. IF we get past LA. I can't take this. Now I know why I never became an athlete. Too much stress and pressure.
* I didn't watch this game so I can't tell whether or not it was a well-attended game.
* I don't know who I'm rooting for here. This has heavy implications on us so I'm not trying to think about it. It's even dangerous to look ahead to the second round.
Detroit 1-0 Indiana
Connecticut 0-0 Washington
Sacramento 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 0-0 Seattle
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Seattle Storm vs. Los Angeles Sparks Playoffs Round 1
Dates of Games:
Game 1-- August 18 Friday Key Arena
Game 2-- August 20 Sunday Staples Center
Game 3-- August 22 Tuesday Staples Center
2006 Season Series
May 21 at Key Arena
Storm- 90
Sparks- 67
June 28 at Staples Center
Storm- 75
Sparks- 67
July 30 at Key Arena
Storm- 70
Sparks- 71
Starting Matchups
Guards:
Storm- Sue Bird and Betty Lennox
Los Angeles- Temeka Johnson and Tamara Moore
* Bird averages 11.4 PPG, 1.8 SPG, 4.8 APG, 3 RPG
* Johnson averages 8 PPG, 1.5 SPG, 5 APG, 3 RPG
* Lennox averages 13.7 PPG, 1.06 SPG, 2.1 APG, 4 RPG
* Moore averages 6.1 PPG, 0.97 SPG, 1.9 APG, 2.1 RPG
Forwards:
Storm: Iziane Castro Marques and Lauren Jackson
Los Angeles: Jessica Moore and Mwadi Mabika
* Castro Marques averages 7.2 PPG, 0.68 SPG, 1.4 APG, 2.1 RPG
* Moore averages 4.3 PPG, 0.65 SPG, 0.7 APG, 2.9 RPG
* Jackson averages 19.5 PPG, 1.7 BPG, 0.80 SPG, 1.6 APG, 7.7 RPG
* Mabika averages 8.5 PPG, 0.59 SPG, 1.5 APG, 2.0 RPG
Center:
Storm: Janell Burse
Sparks: Lisa Leslie
* Burse averages 11.1 PPG, 0.93 BPG, 0.63 SPG, 0.8 APG, 6.6 RPG
* Leslie averages 20 PPG, 1.68 BPG, 1.5 SPG, 3.2 APG, 9.5 RPG
Bench:
Storm: Tiffani Johnson, Edwige Lawson-Wade, Ashley Robinson, Barbara Turner and Tanisha Wright
Sparks: Doneeka Hodges-Lewis, Chamique Holdsclaw, Murriel Page, Tiffany Stansbury, Christi Thomas and Lisa Willis
Analysis:
Lisa Leslie puts up incredible numbers as you can see. Everyone says she carries the team and I totally agree. I didn't put up the bench players numbers, but if I had, you'd see that LA's bench is more productive than Seattle's because of Chamique Holdsclaw who averages about 15 PPG. The problem with LA is that it can rely on Lisa Leslie way too much. In fact, she's the only match-up here that I can say will be better than Seattle's.
The guards of Seattle are more productive and are more active than the guards of LA. Advantage goes to Seattle.
The forward match-up has to go to Seattle. When Izi plays to her potential, she owns Jessica Moore. She's quick and explosive. Lauren Jackson is obviously also above Mwadi Mabika especially since Mabika is having a "down" year statwise.
The center match-up goes to Los Angeles, pretty much by default. As much as I don't like Lisa Leslie and I love Janell Burse, she will win this battle. See, this is me being unbiased.
The problem for LA lies on the fact that they expect Leslie to do all the scoring for them. More often than not, they pass her the ball and just let her get to work. You can't depend solely on one player to win a game for you, even if she is putting up huge numbers this year. It just won't work because the other team is going to scout you and is going to limit the amount of good looks you get at the basket. What will end up happening, since she is so used to being forced to make a shot, is that she will take a bad shot. The Storm, with Izi and our speedy guards (heck, even LJ can be fast down the court), will run the transition game.
The Storm, in order to be able to beat LA, have to do the following:
1. Watch game tape and figure out a way to guard Chamique Holdsclaw. Don't let her get her 15 PPG. By doing so, the onus of scoring will be solely on the shoulders of Lisa Leslie. I think we can contain her as much as we can. We won't prevent her from scoring, but we can keep it under control.
2. Work on rebounding. I don't want to see any misses from Leslie come back down to her for an easy putback. The Storm have to prevent this because it prevents them from getting out and running and it's a hell of an emotional downer when that happens.
3. The running game. I think the Storm need to practice their transition SO THAT THEY WON'T MAKE STUPID ERRORS RUNNING THE BALL. No turnovers during breaks. Controlled aggression in a sense. I forgot which game it was I listened to when we'd get the ball on the break only for a bad pass out of bounds, a blocked shot (apparently someone was right behind them), a missed layup or stepping out of bounds. This will kill us. I have no doubt, if the Storm had to go to a half-court set, that we can get our points. So can LA, however. The difference has to be in our ability to run the ball.
4. Bench production. This has been quite sad, honestly. I'm not saying this to dog our players, because I cheer for them as much as anybody does. This is the playoffs, however, and the Sparks bench has Chamique Holdsclaw. It's no longer enough to burn minutes on the floor and not be productive. When you get out there for a few minutes, you have to make those minutes count. I'm not saying that it has to be scoring either. Great defense, good shot selection is all I'm really looking for. Tanisha Wright has been faltering a little bit. Again, I don't look at their stats that much but for a second year player in a system she knows, she hasn't been making her mark felt. In fact, she's been forcing some bad shots. I would call her time on the floor productive if she could make a good pass into the interior or find an open teammate. As for the posts, they have to learn how to handle passes. A-Rob and Tiffani Johnson aren't exactly very good at it, but they have to be right now. Sometimes, it's right in their hands and they can't just grab onto it. Learn how to handle passes, go up and get a foul. Get us those free points from the free throw line.
Again, I'm not being negative, I'm just pointing out things that need to be improved upon if we wish to advance to the next round. I honestly think we can beat LA, but only if everyone can remain healthy (please LJ....please JB....please Betty....ugh...please Sue....please everyone).
I'm a Storm fan so I can't really make a prediction on this. I find myself cautiously optimistic but fearing my optimism as well. Catch the first game at the Key. It's gonna be packed and loud.
Oh yeah, as a final note, thank you to the players and the coaching staff of the Storm for grinding it out and getting into the playoffs, giving this Storm fan a chance to experience the playoffs once again. I'm extremely thrillled and grateful. Oh, and good luck.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!!
Game 1-- August 18 Friday Key Arena
Game 2-- August 20 Sunday Staples Center
Game 3-- August 22 Tuesday Staples Center
2006 Season Series
May 21 at Key Arena
Storm- 90
Sparks- 67
June 28 at Staples Center
Storm- 75
Sparks- 67
July 30 at Key Arena
Storm- 70
Sparks- 71
Starting Matchups
Guards:
Storm- Sue Bird and Betty Lennox
Los Angeles- Temeka Johnson and Tamara Moore
* Bird averages 11.4 PPG, 1.8 SPG, 4.8 APG, 3 RPG
* Johnson averages 8 PPG, 1.5 SPG, 5 APG, 3 RPG
* Lennox averages 13.7 PPG, 1.06 SPG, 2.1 APG, 4 RPG
* Moore averages 6.1 PPG, 0.97 SPG, 1.9 APG, 2.1 RPG
Forwards:
Storm: Iziane Castro Marques and Lauren Jackson
Los Angeles: Jessica Moore and Mwadi Mabika
* Castro Marques averages 7.2 PPG, 0.68 SPG, 1.4 APG, 2.1 RPG
* Moore averages 4.3 PPG, 0.65 SPG, 0.7 APG, 2.9 RPG
* Jackson averages 19.5 PPG, 1.7 BPG, 0.80 SPG, 1.6 APG, 7.7 RPG
* Mabika averages 8.5 PPG, 0.59 SPG, 1.5 APG, 2.0 RPG
Center:
Storm: Janell Burse
Sparks: Lisa Leslie
* Burse averages 11.1 PPG, 0.93 BPG, 0.63 SPG, 0.8 APG, 6.6 RPG
* Leslie averages 20 PPG, 1.68 BPG, 1.5 SPG, 3.2 APG, 9.5 RPG
Bench:
Storm: Tiffani Johnson, Edwige Lawson-Wade, Ashley Robinson, Barbara Turner and Tanisha Wright
Sparks: Doneeka Hodges-Lewis, Chamique Holdsclaw, Murriel Page, Tiffany Stansbury, Christi Thomas and Lisa Willis
Analysis:
Lisa Leslie puts up incredible numbers as you can see. Everyone says she carries the team and I totally agree. I didn't put up the bench players numbers, but if I had, you'd see that LA's bench is more productive than Seattle's because of Chamique Holdsclaw who averages about 15 PPG. The problem with LA is that it can rely on Lisa Leslie way too much. In fact, she's the only match-up here that I can say will be better than Seattle's.
The guards of Seattle are more productive and are more active than the guards of LA. Advantage goes to Seattle.
The forward match-up has to go to Seattle. When Izi plays to her potential, she owns Jessica Moore. She's quick and explosive. Lauren Jackson is obviously also above Mwadi Mabika especially since Mabika is having a "down" year statwise.
The center match-up goes to Los Angeles, pretty much by default. As much as I don't like Lisa Leslie and I love Janell Burse, she will win this battle. See, this is me being unbiased.
The problem for LA lies on the fact that they expect Leslie to do all the scoring for them. More often than not, they pass her the ball and just let her get to work. You can't depend solely on one player to win a game for you, even if she is putting up huge numbers this year. It just won't work because the other team is going to scout you and is going to limit the amount of good looks you get at the basket. What will end up happening, since she is so used to being forced to make a shot, is that she will take a bad shot. The Storm, with Izi and our speedy guards (heck, even LJ can be fast down the court), will run the transition game.
The Storm, in order to be able to beat LA, have to do the following:
1. Watch game tape and figure out a way to guard Chamique Holdsclaw. Don't let her get her 15 PPG. By doing so, the onus of scoring will be solely on the shoulders of Lisa Leslie. I think we can contain her as much as we can. We won't prevent her from scoring, but we can keep it under control.
2. Work on rebounding. I don't want to see any misses from Leslie come back down to her for an easy putback. The Storm have to prevent this because it prevents them from getting out and running and it's a hell of an emotional downer when that happens.
3. The running game. I think the Storm need to practice their transition SO THAT THEY WON'T MAKE STUPID ERRORS RUNNING THE BALL. No turnovers during breaks. Controlled aggression in a sense. I forgot which game it was I listened to when we'd get the ball on the break only for a bad pass out of bounds, a blocked shot (apparently someone was right behind them), a missed layup or stepping out of bounds. This will kill us. I have no doubt, if the Storm had to go to a half-court set, that we can get our points. So can LA, however. The difference has to be in our ability to run the ball.
4. Bench production. This has been quite sad, honestly. I'm not saying this to dog our players, because I cheer for them as much as anybody does. This is the playoffs, however, and the Sparks bench has Chamique Holdsclaw. It's no longer enough to burn minutes on the floor and not be productive. When you get out there for a few minutes, you have to make those minutes count. I'm not saying that it has to be scoring either. Great defense, good shot selection is all I'm really looking for. Tanisha Wright has been faltering a little bit. Again, I don't look at their stats that much but for a second year player in a system she knows, she hasn't been making her mark felt. In fact, she's been forcing some bad shots. I would call her time on the floor productive if she could make a good pass into the interior or find an open teammate. As for the posts, they have to learn how to handle passes. A-Rob and Tiffani Johnson aren't exactly very good at it, but they have to be right now. Sometimes, it's right in their hands and they can't just grab onto it. Learn how to handle passes, go up and get a foul. Get us those free points from the free throw line.
Again, I'm not being negative, I'm just pointing out things that need to be improved upon if we wish to advance to the next round. I honestly think we can beat LA, but only if everyone can remain healthy (please LJ....please JB....please Betty....ugh...please Sue....please everyone).
I'm a Storm fan so I can't really make a prediction on this. I find myself cautiously optimistic but fearing my optimism as well. Catch the first game at the Key. It's gonna be packed and loud.
Oh yeah, as a final note, thank you to the players and the coaching staff of the Storm for grinding it out and getting into the playoffs, giving this Storm fan a chance to experience the playoffs once again. I'm extremely thrillled and grateful. Oh, and good luck.
GO STORM! BEAT LA!!
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Rogers Cup Action!!!
This is the first tennis tournament I've had the privilege of attending. I watch whenever I can and I keep track of tennis results, but I've never been in the right place at the right time...until now! Let me first explain that I love tennis with all my heart. It's probably on par with my love for basketball except I can actually play tennis and I'm too vertically challenged for basketball.
It said on our tickets (me and my sister) that the gates opened at 10 am. The match was going to start at 1. We decided to get there at 10 to take in the sights and sounds of the tournament. It's kind of a trend for me to get to sporting events too early anyway (I got to KeyArena at about 9 am for a 7 pm game). From Mississauga, we had to take a short cab ride to a GO Station, take a looong GO train ride, take a looong subway ride to get to Finch Station in North York, and finally take a bus to York University. While at York, we had to walk the entire length of the campus to get to Rexall Center. We woke up at about 6:30 am, and we reached there at around 10:20. At that point, we were so tired already, but we were still excited. When we left the house, it was pretty cool outside, so my sister and I wore jeans and sleeved shirts. BIG MISTAKE. When we got there at around 10 am, we climbed all the way up to our seats in the 300-level and watched the players practice. The smart people stayed in the shade as they waited for the match to start. My sister and I stayed under the sun.
The match itself was a good one. It featured two young guns of tennis. Richard Gasquet of France is only 20 years old while Andy Murray of Scotland is only 19. There were some excellent shots but it wasn't as exciting as some other tennis matches I've seen on tv. It was a pretty straightforward match. Gasquet had control basically for the whole match. It was pretty cool because I've had a crush on Richard Gasquet for the longest time. I had no idea that he was going to be playing that first semi-final that day. Luckily, I got him. Although when I saw the Federer-Gonzalez match later on at home, I really wanted to watch that exciting match.
After the singles match, we stayed behind to watch the doubles match. I'm more of a singles person myself and by that time I think I was suffering from heat exhaustion so I didn't get to enjoy it too much. It was exciting, however, with the Bryan brothers winning it in the end.
I can't wait til next year when the WTA comes to Toronto for the Rogers Cup. It will be exciting, especially because I follow the WTA more than the ATP. By this time next year, I'll be ready for another scorching day watching tennis.
It said on our tickets (me and my sister) that the gates opened at 10 am. The match was going to start at 1. We decided to get there at 10 to take in the sights and sounds of the tournament. It's kind of a trend for me to get to sporting events too early anyway (I got to KeyArena at about 9 am for a 7 pm game). From Mississauga, we had to take a short cab ride to a GO Station, take a looong GO train ride, take a looong subway ride to get to Finch Station in North York, and finally take a bus to York University. While at York, we had to walk the entire length of the campus to get to Rexall Center. We woke up at about 6:30 am, and we reached there at around 10:20. At that point, we were so tired already, but we were still excited. When we left the house, it was pretty cool outside, so my sister and I wore jeans and sleeved shirts. BIG MISTAKE. When we got there at around 10 am, we climbed all the way up to our seats in the 300-level and watched the players practice. The smart people stayed in the shade as they waited for the match to start. My sister and I stayed under the sun.
The match itself was a good one. It featured two young guns of tennis. Richard Gasquet of France is only 20 years old while Andy Murray of Scotland is only 19. There were some excellent shots but it wasn't as exciting as some other tennis matches I've seen on tv. It was a pretty straightforward match. Gasquet had control basically for the whole match. It was pretty cool because I've had a crush on Richard Gasquet for the longest time. I had no idea that he was going to be playing that first semi-final that day. Luckily, I got him. Although when I saw the Federer-Gonzalez match later on at home, I really wanted to watch that exciting match.
After the singles match, we stayed behind to watch the doubles match. I'm more of a singles person myself and by that time I think I was suffering from heat exhaustion so I didn't get to enjoy it too much. It was exciting, however, with the Bryan brothers winning it in the end.
I can't wait til next year when the WTA comes to Toronto for the Rogers Cup. It will be exciting, especially because I follow the WTA more than the ATP. By this time next year, I'll be ready for another scorching day watching tennis.
Seattle Storm Playoff Picture (and the Comets game too)
Storm--72
Comets--89
I can't actually comment on this game because I wasn't home when it aired. As such, I wasn't able to listen to it as well. Yes, I actually gave up a Storm game to do something else. It's shocking to me too, but it was worth it (especially since we lost anyway). I went to see the Rogers Cup tennis tournament at York University. Fun stuff, but now I'm redder than a lobster. Anyway, I'll post on that later.
Stat time
Betty Lennox had 16 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds. She did have 5 turnovers though. I'm a little bit more critical of guards when they turn the ball over than the posts so I'm a little worried about this. She did shoot 50% from the field, which is excellent.
Sue Bird had 14 points, 5 assists and 2 steals. Pretty good stat line. She only missed three shots from the field.
Tiffani Johnson had 14 points, 1 assist and 4 rebounds. Whoa. Good job, Tiff. Only two turnovers! And a pretty good FG%. Maybe she was trying to get revenge on the team that cut her but I wish she'd play like this every night.
Iziane Castro Marques had 13 points, 1 steal, 1 assist and 2 rebounds. The only negative thing is that she shot 6-16 from the floor. Izi has been on fire lately with the points and with the FG%. The points are okay still, but she can't miss that many shots. I wasn't able to listen to the game so maybe some of the shots were just to beat the shot clock going down. I'm not sure, but I hope so.
Janell Burse had 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. From what I can see from the box score, she only had 5 shot attempts (sinking 4) so I think they weren't calling her number very often. Still, 4-5 means consistency. I was a little surprised she played the amount of minutes she did. I would have thought she would have rested like LJ. Good thing she didn't get injured in this game. I think the fact that our starters played a lot of minutes (Minus LJ of course) shows that AD DID want that third spot. We're in fourth by the way. Bring on LA!!!!
Benchie review. I'm so tired and burned right now I'll just give a rundown. But they only scored 6 of our points. WTF??? Anyway, same as last game, not a lot of shots, not a lot of mistakes. Scored some. Barb Turner had 5 rebounds and Ashley Robinson had 6. A-Rob had 4 offensive boards. Yes! That's basically it.
So....Playoff time...I don't have any idea yet about the dates or anything (sorry, I'm too tired to look), but the Storm are playing LA. First game is at KeyArena while the next two are at Staples Center. Houston will face Sacramento. Good first round matchups all the way.
Even if the Storm are the fourth seeds, WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BEAT LA. We really do. We beat them handily at home for the first game. We beat them when they were in LA and we were without LJ. We lost to them after all our injuries only by 1 point. It was close all the way in that game. Am I getting too confident? No. I think it will be tougher than most people think. But do the Storm have a fighting chance in hell? They've got more. Come join in on this playoff intensity. It will be fun, it will be exciting...It will be standard Storm basketball. I'll post tomorrow about when the game is and I'll break down the three games against LA. Matchups, etc.
GO STORM! And to anyone reading this, come join us Storm fans on this run to the championship.
Comets--89
I can't actually comment on this game because I wasn't home when it aired. As such, I wasn't able to listen to it as well. Yes, I actually gave up a Storm game to do something else. It's shocking to me too, but it was worth it (especially since we lost anyway). I went to see the Rogers Cup tennis tournament at York University. Fun stuff, but now I'm redder than a lobster. Anyway, I'll post on that later.
Stat time
Betty Lennox had 16 points, 2 assists, 4 rebounds. She did have 5 turnovers though. I'm a little bit more critical of guards when they turn the ball over than the posts so I'm a little worried about this. She did shoot 50% from the field, which is excellent.
Sue Bird had 14 points, 5 assists and 2 steals. Pretty good stat line. She only missed three shots from the field.
Tiffani Johnson had 14 points, 1 assist and 4 rebounds. Whoa. Good job, Tiff. Only two turnovers! And a pretty good FG%. Maybe she was trying to get revenge on the team that cut her but I wish she'd play like this every night.
Iziane Castro Marques had 13 points, 1 steal, 1 assist and 2 rebounds. The only negative thing is that she shot 6-16 from the floor. Izi has been on fire lately with the points and with the FG%. The points are okay still, but she can't miss that many shots. I wasn't able to listen to the game so maybe some of the shots were just to beat the shot clock going down. I'm not sure, but I hope so.
Janell Burse had 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. From what I can see from the box score, she only had 5 shot attempts (sinking 4) so I think they weren't calling her number very often. Still, 4-5 means consistency. I was a little surprised she played the amount of minutes she did. I would have thought she would have rested like LJ. Good thing she didn't get injured in this game. I think the fact that our starters played a lot of minutes (Minus LJ of course) shows that AD DID want that third spot. We're in fourth by the way. Bring on LA!!!!
Benchie review. I'm so tired and burned right now I'll just give a rundown. But they only scored 6 of our points. WTF??? Anyway, same as last game, not a lot of shots, not a lot of mistakes. Scored some. Barb Turner had 5 rebounds and Ashley Robinson had 6. A-Rob had 4 offensive boards. Yes! That's basically it.
So....Playoff time...I don't have any idea yet about the dates or anything (sorry, I'm too tired to look), but the Storm are playing LA. First game is at KeyArena while the next two are at Staples Center. Houston will face Sacramento. Good first round matchups all the way.
Even if the Storm are the fourth seeds, WE HAVE A CHANCE TO BEAT LA. We really do. We beat them handily at home for the first game. We beat them when they were in LA and we were without LJ. We lost to them after all our injuries only by 1 point. It was close all the way in that game. Am I getting too confident? No. I think it will be tougher than most people think. But do the Storm have a fighting chance in hell? They've got more. Come join in on this playoff intensity. It will be fun, it will be exciting...It will be standard Storm basketball. I'll post tomorrow about when the game is and I'll break down the three games against LA. Matchups, etc.
GO STORM! And to anyone reading this, come join us Storm fans on this run to the championship.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Seattle Storm vs. San Antonio Silver Stars
Storm--65
Silver Stars-- 75
My listening to the game was completely and totally destroyed by stupid Rogers, my internet provider. They, once again, screw up our connection just when Lauren Jackson came on air to help in the broadcast in the 2nd quarter. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My sister had to call them and they had to "help" us set our internet connections right again. In all honesty, however, Rogers has been giving us crappy connection for the past month, after they said that we had been using our internet too much. That's bull because we have unlimited access to the internet and that's what we're paying for. Needless to say, I'm not at all pleased that I missed LJ calling the plays and the player profile she did with Sue Bird. Rogers, watch your backs.
On to the game.
While we lost by 10 points, it really didn't feel like a bad loss. It's probably because we already clinched a playoff spot and we weren't playing with LJ. Apart from this, it's not like we were struggling throughout the game. There was this time near the end of the fourth quarter when we were down only by three, with our bench trying to get us the win. It all kind of fell apart in the final minute or so to get the Stars a 10 point victory, but I don't feel like the bench played badly or anything. They didn't let the game get away from them, although they didn't have great statistical games. As long as they can keep it productive while they're there and they're not going to make stupid mistakes, things will be okay. Good stuff.
I'm happy to report that our bench had significant minutes on the floor. Since we all know how the starters perform with their minutes, I'll start off with the bench numbers.
Barbara Turner played 30:46 minutes. She had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block.
Edwige Lawson-Wade had 19:26 minutes on the floor. She had 3 points (a half court shot!), 2 rebounds and an assist.
Tanisha Wright had 2 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds in 19:49.
Ashley Robinson had 2 points, 3 rebounds and a block in 21:43.
They aren't staggering numbers, but they're decent for me because they didn't shoot a low percentage. They didn't force shots when they were on the floor, instead passing the ball to a starter that was on the floor with them. Nothing was rushed, nothing was cringeworthy.
The starters did as the starters always do, minus the Lauren Jackson factor, of course.
Sue Bird had 9 points and 2 rebounds. Sadly, no assists. There goes the assists title....
Betty Lennox had 17 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds. Ahh....Betty is playing well (In fairness, she's been playing well all year. It's just a great feeling down the stretch when Betty is confident and shooting pretty well). I feel strangely confident for the playoffs. Just please, Betty, please don't get injured. Get off your knee if you need to.
Tiffani Johnson had 4 points, 7 rebounds and a block. Okay, I've been pretty critical of TJ up to this point of the season. It all started when we caught games in Seattle and my sister actually screamed everytime someone tried to pass to #5 (she really can't handle certain passes). However, she had NO turnovers in this game and seems to be rebounding the ball pretty well. I may have to tone it down a bit. Heck, I should be pleased she's practically the only post player who hasn't gotten injured this year. Everyone might just have to switch to her diet and training regimen.
Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points, 8 rebounds and an assist. Awesome past several games by Izi. I may go as far as saying she's been that oomph that's been getting us wins. BTW, if anyone is keeping track of the free agents on the team, Izi is one after this season. Re-sign her pronto!
Janell Burse had 10 points and 8 rebounds. On the downside, she had 6 turnovers. I think her shoulder is still bothering her quite a bit. Also, she became the primary target down low which could have increased her turnovers. No problem. JB still had a good game. I'm leaning towards resting her too for the Houston game. There were several scary moments with the shoulder today. Okay, I said I wouldn't go off on TJ again, but I just have to say: we need JB for the playoffs. We need BOTH JB and LJ for the postseason. No question about it.
Next game is at Houston. Interesting scenario playing out. Houston has had numerous chances to clinch but they haven't. Tonight, they lost a freaking awesome match against the Mercury in 3 overtimes 111-110. Phoenix is still in the hunt for the playoffs. Houston needs to beat the Storm on Saturday to clinch. If they don't, the Mercs have a chance if they win their remaining games. Their last game is a toughie against Sacramento. Houston, though, has a great chance of winning against Seattle. It's not even about us tanking. It's about keeping our players healthy and getting them healthy by resting them. Sorry, Phoenix, but we have to rest LJ. Much as we like the way you guys play and everything, LJ isn't going to play that Houston game. At least, she shouldn't. Strange how the Comets had the same chances to clinch as we had but they lost to Charlotte and now to Phoenix. The Phoenix game is understandable but the Comets had to beat Charlotte. On the other hand, the Storm faced a tougher road with Detroit first on their road schedule and the Storm won. It makes me prouder of all the Storm players. And, yes, Houston fans, the Storm have been bit by the injury bug as well. Other people on our team have just gritted their teeth and made it happen.
GO STORM!
Silver Stars-- 75
My listening to the game was completely and totally destroyed by stupid Rogers, my internet provider. They, once again, screw up our connection just when Lauren Jackson came on air to help in the broadcast in the 2nd quarter. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My sister had to call them and they had to "help" us set our internet connections right again. In all honesty, however, Rogers has been giving us crappy connection for the past month, after they said that we had been using our internet too much. That's bull because we have unlimited access to the internet and that's what we're paying for. Needless to say, I'm not at all pleased that I missed LJ calling the plays and the player profile she did with Sue Bird. Rogers, watch your backs.
On to the game.
While we lost by 10 points, it really didn't feel like a bad loss. It's probably because we already clinched a playoff spot and we weren't playing with LJ. Apart from this, it's not like we were struggling throughout the game. There was this time near the end of the fourth quarter when we were down only by three, with our bench trying to get us the win. It all kind of fell apart in the final minute or so to get the Stars a 10 point victory, but I don't feel like the bench played badly or anything. They didn't let the game get away from them, although they didn't have great statistical games. As long as they can keep it productive while they're there and they're not going to make stupid mistakes, things will be okay. Good stuff.
I'm happy to report that our bench had significant minutes on the floor. Since we all know how the starters perform with their minutes, I'll start off with the bench numbers.
Barbara Turner played 30:46 minutes. She had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block.
Edwige Lawson-Wade had 19:26 minutes on the floor. She had 3 points (a half court shot!), 2 rebounds and an assist.
Tanisha Wright had 2 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds in 19:49.
Ashley Robinson had 2 points, 3 rebounds and a block in 21:43.
They aren't staggering numbers, but they're decent for me because they didn't shoot a low percentage. They didn't force shots when they were on the floor, instead passing the ball to a starter that was on the floor with them. Nothing was rushed, nothing was cringeworthy.
The starters did as the starters always do, minus the Lauren Jackson factor, of course.
Sue Bird had 9 points and 2 rebounds. Sadly, no assists. There goes the assists title....
Betty Lennox had 17 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds. Ahh....Betty is playing well (In fairness, she's been playing well all year. It's just a great feeling down the stretch when Betty is confident and shooting pretty well). I feel strangely confident for the playoffs. Just please, Betty, please don't get injured. Get off your knee if you need to.
Tiffani Johnson had 4 points, 7 rebounds and a block. Okay, I've been pretty critical of TJ up to this point of the season. It all started when we caught games in Seattle and my sister actually screamed everytime someone tried to pass to #5 (she really can't handle certain passes). However, she had NO turnovers in this game and seems to be rebounding the ball pretty well. I may have to tone it down a bit. Heck, I should be pleased she's practically the only post player who hasn't gotten injured this year. Everyone might just have to switch to her diet and training regimen.
Iziane Castro Marques had 11 points, 8 rebounds and an assist. Awesome past several games by Izi. I may go as far as saying she's been that oomph that's been getting us wins. BTW, if anyone is keeping track of the free agents on the team, Izi is one after this season. Re-sign her pronto!
Janell Burse had 10 points and 8 rebounds. On the downside, she had 6 turnovers. I think her shoulder is still bothering her quite a bit. Also, she became the primary target down low which could have increased her turnovers. No problem. JB still had a good game. I'm leaning towards resting her too for the Houston game. There were several scary moments with the shoulder today. Okay, I said I wouldn't go off on TJ again, but I just have to say: we need JB for the playoffs. We need BOTH JB and LJ for the postseason. No question about it.
Next game is at Houston. Interesting scenario playing out. Houston has had numerous chances to clinch but they haven't. Tonight, they lost a freaking awesome match against the Mercury in 3 overtimes 111-110. Phoenix is still in the hunt for the playoffs. Houston needs to beat the Storm on Saturday to clinch. If they don't, the Mercs have a chance if they win their remaining games. Their last game is a toughie against Sacramento. Houston, though, has a great chance of winning against Seattle. It's not even about us tanking. It's about keeping our players healthy and getting them healthy by resting them. Sorry, Phoenix, but we have to rest LJ. Much as we like the way you guys play and everything, LJ isn't going to play that Houston game. At least, she shouldn't. Strange how the Comets had the same chances to clinch as we had but they lost to Charlotte and now to Phoenix. The Phoenix game is understandable but the Comets had to beat Charlotte. On the other hand, the Storm faced a tougher road with Detroit first on their road schedule and the Storm won. It makes me prouder of all the Storm players. And, yes, Houston fans, the Storm have been bit by the injury bug as well. Other people on our team have just gritted their teeth and made it happen.
GO STORM!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The Detroit Thugs....Umm...I mean Shock
After recovering from that heart attack-inducing win by the Storm last night, I've decided to blog about something that's been bothering me. First of all, I'd like to clarify that I think that Detroit has excellent players. They're skilled and they are absolutely good basketball players. This post isn't going to say that Detroit has such a sucky team. In reality, they have an undeniably strong starting five and a pretty good bench as well.
Despite their talent, however, the Shock choose to play thuggish basketball. They give unexplainably hard fouls. Apart from this, they whine a lot about calls that don't go their way. Other players also argue a lot of calls, but the Shock team seems to think that they can commit no foul. Due to these two factors, while the Shock are a very good basketball team, they have become annoying to watch.
Last night, Cheryl Ford punches LJ in the back of the head (or neck or something) as LJ is going up for a shot. It wasn't an accidental little shove. It was a flagrant hit. She even gave LJ some kind of dagger stare after that. Please, Cheryl Ford. LJ could clock you if she wanted to. Luckily, LJ just kind of walked away from it, showing her maturity and class.
It was a completely uncalled for play and Detroit has been making these kind of plays all year, probably thanks in part to their imbecile coach Bill Laimbeer who seems to like it when fights erupt on the floor or when his players act like thugs.
I could have liked Detroit given all their talent, but the way they play the game just makes me sick. I think it takes away some of their credibility, which is sad considering how talented they are. Seriously, if you have that much talent, the best thing you can do is back up that talent with class. Not in the Shock's case.
Don't worry, Detroit fans, I think the Sparks may be more thuggish than your team is. But you guys are coming close now.
It's sad to think that the Shock could be called a superbly structured team, but all most people can talk about is their dirty play. Come on Shock, this isn't what the WNBA is all about. Get your act together.
Despite their talent, however, the Shock choose to play thuggish basketball. They give unexplainably hard fouls. Apart from this, they whine a lot about calls that don't go their way. Other players also argue a lot of calls, but the Shock team seems to think that they can commit no foul. Due to these two factors, while the Shock are a very good basketball team, they have become annoying to watch.
Last night, Cheryl Ford punches LJ in the back of the head (or neck or something) as LJ is going up for a shot. It wasn't an accidental little shove. It was a flagrant hit. She even gave LJ some kind of dagger stare after that. Please, Cheryl Ford. LJ could clock you if she wanted to. Luckily, LJ just kind of walked away from it, showing her maturity and class.
It was a completely uncalled for play and Detroit has been making these kind of plays all year, probably thanks in part to their imbecile coach Bill Laimbeer who seems to like it when fights erupt on the floor or when his players act like thugs.
I could have liked Detroit given all their talent, but the way they play the game just makes me sick. I think it takes away some of their credibility, which is sad considering how talented they are. Seriously, if you have that much talent, the best thing you can do is back up that talent with class. Not in the Shock's case.
Don't worry, Detroit fans, I think the Sparks may be more thuggish than your team is. But you guys are coming close now.
It's sad to think that the Shock could be called a superbly structured team, but all most people can talk about is their dirty play. Come on Shock, this isn't what the WNBA is all about. Get your act together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)