Tuesday, September 29, 2009

WNBA Finals Preview

OK, not only did my Sparks lose a series that they really could have won, but my favorite Basketball player wore pigtails in a game that will be played on ESPN classic at least 100 times (Lisa Leslie's last game).
And though I know this is a Finals preview, I have to take a moment to first thank Lisa Leslie for about two decades of one of the greatest basketball careers ever.

Some Highlights:
4-time olympian and the only player to win Gold in 4 straight Olympics (Basketball)
3-time WNBA MVP
2-time WNBA Champion
2-time WNBA Finals MVP
2-time WNBA DPOY
14-time WNBA Player of the Week
3-time All Star MVP
7-time First team All-WNBA selection
4-time Second team All-WNBA
4-time All-Pac10 Conference Player (USC - Only Student athlete to accomplish this)
1994 - NCAA National Player of the year
Selected to first or second team each year of WNBA's existence except the year she took off to give birth and the year she came back from the pregnancy.
She once scored 101 points in a high school game during the first half. The other team decided to forfeit and didn't come out of the locker room for the second half.
The starts and accolades are great, but it doesn't nearly describe what she did for women's basketball. When I was in high school, I had three players' posters on my wall: Eddie Jones, Magic Johnson and Lisa Leslie.
Lisa is one of the greatest basketball players ever - Male or Female. Her presence on the court will be missed.

Now, as for the Finals, we've got a match-up of two teams who choose to be dominant in two very different ways. They were 1 and 2 in the WNBA standings this year. Indiana did it with classic Hoosier Defense and Phoenix did it with classic Paul Westhead offense. Corey Gaines, head coach, has Phoenix playing so well right now that they are surprised when they lose a game. You can see it all over themselves. Remember the Bulls in 1998? The Comets in 1999? The Lakers in 2000? Those teams played with such confidence that a loss was seen more as a detour toward the predestined eventuality that was their championship than a sign of something that they were doing wrong. They don't go out and "Play Basketball." They go out and "Win Games." Trust me, the difference in their mindsets, compared with that of the rest of the league is HUGE.
Indiana, on the other hand, plays with an urgency and passion that makes every loss seem like a personal insult. When they step on the court, they look to win every single possession on each end of the floor and get visibly upset when they give up a transition basket. Layups are not seen as an easy shot for their opponents, but rather as a challenge for a wing defender, too far away to get the block, or a post player who might be able to step in for the charge, just in time. You can tell that the veteran presence on this team wants to win now. You see them explaining proper positioning and the team defensive concepts after every missed assignment, after every blown coverage. Three things you don't see against this team? Long, cross court passes that hit their target, "easy" layups, and senseless fouls. That's the mark of a good defensive team.

The match up of Tamika Catchings and Diana Taurasi should be entertaining and will get most of the attention, but Tameka Dixon and Cappie Pondexter have had their battles in the past and no one gaurds Cappie better. Dixon will get a lot more minutes in this series against her (if there is anything good and righteous in this world) and Look for the winner of that matchup each game to determine the winner of the game and, eventually, the series. In particular, if Dixon can goad Pondexter into a lot of bad shots and a low percentage on them (since she usually shoots a pretty high percentage on bad shots), Indiana's excellent defensive rebounding should provide Indiana plenty of opportunities to limit Taurasi's offensive touches, and thus, her effectiveness.

But in the end, I expect the excellently coached Mercury to prove to be too much for the Fever. You can see it in their eyes. They see that Chips and Salsa at the end of the table, and they are hungry. My prediction: Mercury 3-2 Fever. Diana Tarausi (my pick for Finals MVP), will once again find herself at the same place she has found herself for much of her entire basketball career -- whether High School, College or now the WNBA - on top.