MORE OFF THE RECORD | |
|
Awards Wrap Up
Posted on September 19
MVP trophy to Sheryl Swoopes and also naming the All-WNBA First and Second Teams. Lauren Jackson finished second in MVP voting by a remarkably small two-point margin, 327 to 325.
That's much closer than any race in NBA history; the closest MVP vote was in 1976, when 16 points separated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo (with new WNBA Chicago Coach Dave Cowens playing the Tamika Catchings role). 1990, so far as I can tell, was the only time in NBA history where a player received the most first-place votes but did not win the award (Charles Barkley earned 38 first-place votes to Magic Johnson's 27, but still finished 22 points back).
Close votes are common in baseball. In 1996, Juan Gonzalez won the American League MVP by just three points. Naturally, he won it over a Seattle player - Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who was hurt by eighth- and ninth-place votes by members of the Seattle media.
The good news from yesterday's awards was Bird and Jackson both making All-WNBA First Team. With four straight appearances on the First Team, Bird ties legendary Cynthia Cooper for the longest streak to start a career.
Connecticut Evens the Series
Posted on September 16
 Wyckoff |
even the WNBA Finals at one game apiece. We here in Seattle might have gotten lucky it was Nykesha Sales and not Wyckoff who got the last shot in Game 2 last year. I've got to say I disagree somewhat with the assessment that the 3's momentum was too much for the Monarchs to overcome in overtime. If you go through the play-by-play, Sacramento's offense was already sputtering in regulation. The Monarchs scored only one field goal (a DeMya Walker layup) in the last 10:30 of the game. In their last seven possessions of regulation, Sacramento scored six points, four of them at the free-throw line (not counting when the Sun was intentionally fouling in the last 30 seconds). While fatigue probably had something to do with it, the Monarchs half-court offense collapsed down the stretch. Defensively, Sacramento didn't really improve that much this year, but their offense nearly caught up. Not last night.
During the game, ESPN analyst Doris Burke opined that bad shots - as the several ones Nicole Powell took down the stretch and in OT - are as bad as turnovers. I don't think it's that simple. First off, not all turnovers are created equal. A live turnover - one that stays in play and gives the defensive team a transition opportunity - are much worse than dead-ball turnovers, when the ball goes out of bounds and the defense can set up. Here's a little bit of math on this difference in the NBA.
When Powell and Kara Lawson shot airballs, that wasn't that bad (though it didn't give the Monarchs a chance for an offensive rebound). When Powell missed in overtime and the Sun got a runout out of it, that was really problematic for Sacramento. Neither team was scoring in the half-court with much ease, so Connecticut's couple of fast-break chances in OT were huge.
Burke was certainly on the money when it came to Sacramento's quick trigger. In overtime, the Monarchs first shot of a possession (that is, not Yolanda Griffith's putback miss) came with 11, 17, 2, 8, 20 and 13 left on the shot clock. Two missed layups came with two and eight seconds left on the shot clock; the ones with at least 10 seconds left were all jumpers, including the missed Powell shot with 20 on the clock that turned into a Nykesha Sales three-point play at the other end and put the Monarchs down two scores.
Sunday, the series shifts to Sacramento and ABC for a 1:00 p.m. Pacific tip-off. Make sure to tune in early, as the WNBA will be announcing the MVP and the All-WNBA teams before the game.
Sacramento Steals One in Connecticut
Posted on September 15
put them ahead 59-58 with 3:52 to play. But Sacramento showed no panic and got a DeMya Walker score and a Yolanda Griffith three-point play in transition to go up four. Even though there were still three minutes left and Connecticut had plenty of chances, including Whalen's late 3 that could have tied it, that was to me the defining point of the game.
No rest for either side as the teams are back at it in Game 2 tonight, so we'll see if the Monarchs could take a commanding 2-0 lead in this series or if the team will head for the West Coast all even at one.
Before the game, the WNBA announced the the Rookie of the Year (Temeka Johnson) and the All-Rookie Team. While Johnson was an easy choice as the top rookie, it was a bit disappointing to see the Storm shut out of the All-Rookie Team. While 
Suzy Batkovic was one of just four players to get a vote for Rookie of the Year (as voted on by the media), she finished seventh in All-Rookie Team voting (done by coaches) with three votes. Guard 
Tanisha Wright got two votes.
The Finals Start Tonight
Posted on September 14
 Whalen |
previewed the WNBA Finals, conventional wisdom had it that Whalen would likely miss at least the first two games, if not the entire series. Now, word on the street has it Whalen could play tonight, depending on how she feels at game time.
Though Whalen will probably be limited to some extent by the injury, that's obviously great news for the Sun, and I'm feeling less confident than ever about my pick (Sacramento in four). Still, if Whalen is at less than 100% and that allows the Monarchs to steal a game at Mohegan Sun, the Sun will be hard-pressed to win at ARCO Arena, having won there in the regular season or not. ESPN2's coverage, including the announcement of Rookie of the Year, kicks off at 5 p.m. Pacific. For all your web-coverage needs, I highly recommend the WNBA.com Finals Blog, of which Live From Press Row may or may not be a shameless rip-off.
For a little (ex-)Storm-related content today, former Storm forward Adia Barnes is joining current WNBA players Adrienne Goodson (Charlotte), Chasity Melvin (Washington) and Loree Moore (New York) and Liberty assistant Marianne Stanley, current NBA player Rodney White and a pair of former NBA players to travel to Kenya as part of the "Jump4Life" program. The program hopes to reach at least two million people with a persuasive message about HIV/AIDS prevention through healthy and responsible lifestyle choices and the importance of good nutrition.
Kicking Off Off the Record
Posted on September 8
Hopefully you've already read storm.wnba.com's take on Anne Donovan's wrap-up press conference, but also give a look to what Jayda Evans in the Seattle Times (with a mention of assistant coaches Jenny Boucek and Jessie Kenlaw, who are unsigned but whom Donovan would like to have back) and Wendy Carpenter in The News Tribune (focusing on the potential conflict with next summer's World Championships) have to say.
Now the long WNBA off-season begins, but there will still be plenty of action at storm.wnba.com. For the next couple of weeks, we'll keep an eye on the rest of the playoffs. The Conference Finals kick off tonight with Indiana hosting Connecticut and Houston hosting Sacramento, which is battling an injury to starting point guard Ticha Penicheiro.
We're still not quite done recapping the Storm's 2005 campaign, so look for more of that in the next week or so. Later this fall, we'll also take a player-by-player look at the season. At some point in there, we'll have the WNBA Expansion Draft and coverage of how the Storm is affected. Free agency kicks off on Jan. 15 and players can begin signing on Feb. 1, and storm.wnba.com will as always be your first source when players come to terms with the Storm. Throughout it all, look for features on the Storm and the WNBA.
Also, we'll have this, Off the Record, a place for little odds and ends, links to articles like the ones above and hopefully some help from you. If you've got a Storm question, we'd love to try to answer it. Do keep in mind that because this is an official site, there are certain things, like potential trades or free-agent acquisitions, we just can't talk about.
