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3-point/skills challenge fields announced
First, let's catch up on who's coming and who's staying home for Saturday's all-star game at Mohegan Sun Arena.
San Antonio guard Becky Hammon injured her quadriceps in Thursday's loss to Minnesota and will not be suiting up for the WNBA squad. Her place will be taken by former Connecticut Sun guard Lindsay Whalen. The other major news is that the game is now being listed as being sold out.
Whalen will be busy tomorrow as she is entered in both the 3-point shooting contest and skills challenge. Angel McCoughtry of Atlanta is also in both events which will start at 2 and are open only to people who have tickets.
Whalen and McCoughtry will be joined by former UConn stars Sue Bird and Swin Cash as well as Katie Douglas and Monique Currie in the 3-point event.
Lindsey Harding, Cappie Pondexter, Iziane Castro Marques and former UConn star Renee Montgomery will join McCoughtry and Whalen in the skills competition.
The game will start shortly after 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN (assuming LeBron James didn't decide to get his hair cut or try a new dish at his favorite restaurant in which case, the game will be preempted and seen on ESPN Classic in a couple of weeks). I believe I mentioned that the game is being carried on ESPN2 and that an error on my part. It is on ESPN.
Hammon joins Seattle's Lauren Jackson and Sancho Lyttle of Atlanta as players named to the WNBA squad who will not be playing. If my math is correct, only nine of the 22 players who took part in the 2009 WNBA All-Star game will be playing in Saturday's event because of injuries (Candace Parker, Alana Beard and Candice Wiggins are all out for the year), a drop in production or because they don't play for the San Antonio Silver Stars whose ballot-box stuffing fans managed to make a mockery of the fan balloting portion of the game.
It's an ironic time for the game since in recent games former teammates Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi had some words after Pondexter committed a hard foul on Penny Taylor. Pondexter was ejected for her actions. Lauren Jackson suffered a concussion after taking an elbow to the face from Delisha Milton-Jones. Jackson didn't mince words after the game, calling Milton-Jones a "thug."
In the offseason one former championship squad (Sacramento) folded and another (Detroit) relocated to Tulsa. It appears the word has yet to get out since Tulsa failed to draw at least 4,000 fans in its last two home games. The officiating continues to be mediocre at best and that is probably being kind. Yet, WNBA president Donna Orender is likely polishing her "the league has never been better" speech to unleash in her dealings with the media at tomorrow's game.
Personally I understand she is in the position of promoting the league but in my eyes it's becoming increasing more difficult to take her seriously listening to her unrealistically chipper WNBA mid-season status reports. The fact that the teams who have won eight of the 13 WNBA championships are either out of business or in the case of the Detroit/Tulsa Shock, in a different location, is not good news for the league. Neither is the rule limiting each team to one head and one assistant coach although many teams still use two assistants (with one needing to sit behind the bench). I would think the more coaching that gets done in practice, the better the quality of play would be. It's also not a good sign that Anne Donovan will follow Michael Cooper by becoming an established WNBA coach to take a job as a college head coach. Then there is Diana Taurasi, the league's leading scorer and one of its most well-known stars, hinting that she may have to consider limiting her participation in the WNBA because her body can't take the wear and tear of playing year round. The fact is these are anxious times in the league.
A step in the right direction might be to give another city a shot at the all-star game. A mid-season event is a chance to attract fans and build a fan base. Well, the Sun don't need much help in that department. They are doing just fine in the attendance department. The fact is that Connecticut figures to be hosting every national team training camp or at least play host to exhibition games as long as UConn's Geno Auriemma is the national team coach so why not spread the wealth and give another city a chance to promote the league?
At the risk of piling on, although it may be too late for that, it's amazing to me that the WNBA is promoting and this is a direct quote from one of its releases "Seven former and current University of Connecticut Huskies will take to the court." That prompted an e-mail from me for clarification since I only count six (Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi.) I was told that U.S. head coach Geno Auriemma is being counted as one of the seven. Oh, really. He is neither a current nor is he a former Husky. He is a head coach and he will not be taking to the court but I assume will be on the sidelines. Auriemma hired Keith Anderson to do video, former UConn managers are helping out at practice, Abby Gordon, the Connecticut Sun's equipment manager, is a former UConn manager so that would bring the number of former or current Huskies in the game into double figures.
San Antonio guard Becky Hammon injured her quadriceps in Thursday's loss to Minnesota and will not be suiting up for the WNBA squad. Her place will be taken by former Connecticut Sun guard Lindsay Whalen. The other major news is that the game is now being listed as being sold out.
Whalen will be busy tomorrow as she is entered in both the 3-point shooting contest and skills challenge. Angel McCoughtry of Atlanta is also in both events which will start at 2 and are open only to people who have tickets.
Whalen and McCoughtry will be joined by former UConn stars Sue Bird and Swin Cash as well as Katie Douglas and Monique Currie in the 3-point event.
Lindsey Harding, Cappie Pondexter, Iziane Castro Marques and former UConn star Renee Montgomery will join McCoughtry and Whalen in the skills competition.
The game will start shortly after 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN (assuming LeBron James didn't decide to get his hair cut or try a new dish at his favorite restaurant in which case, the game will be preempted and seen on ESPN Classic in a couple of weeks). I believe I mentioned that the game is being carried on ESPN2 and that an error on my part. It is on ESPN.
Hammon joins Seattle's Lauren Jackson and Sancho Lyttle of Atlanta as players named to the WNBA squad who will not be playing. If my math is correct, only nine of the 22 players who took part in the 2009 WNBA All-Star game will be playing in Saturday's event because of injuries (Candace Parker, Alana Beard and Candice Wiggins are all out for the year), a drop in production or because they don't play for the San Antonio Silver Stars whose ballot-box stuffing fans managed to make a mockery of the fan balloting portion of the game.
It's an ironic time for the game since in recent games former teammates Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi had some words after Pondexter committed a hard foul on Penny Taylor. Pondexter was ejected for her actions. Lauren Jackson suffered a concussion after taking an elbow to the face from Delisha Milton-Jones. Jackson didn't mince words after the game, calling Milton-Jones a "thug."
In the offseason one former championship squad (Sacramento) folded and another (Detroit) relocated to Tulsa. It appears the word has yet to get out since Tulsa failed to draw at least 4,000 fans in its last two home games. The officiating continues to be mediocre at best and that is probably being kind. Yet, WNBA president Donna Orender is likely polishing her "the league has never been better" speech to unleash in her dealings with the media at tomorrow's game.
Personally I understand she is in the position of promoting the league but in my eyes it's becoming increasing more difficult to take her seriously listening to her unrealistically chipper WNBA mid-season status reports. The fact that the teams who have won eight of the 13 WNBA championships are either out of business or in the case of the Detroit/Tulsa Shock, in a different location, is not good news for the league. Neither is the rule limiting each team to one head and one assistant coach although many teams still use two assistants (with one needing to sit behind the bench). I would think the more coaching that gets done in practice, the better the quality of play would be. It's also not a good sign that Anne Donovan will follow Michael Cooper by becoming an established WNBA coach to take a job as a college head coach. Then there is Diana Taurasi, the league's leading scorer and one of its most well-known stars, hinting that she may have to consider limiting her participation in the WNBA because her body can't take the wear and tear of playing year round. The fact is these are anxious times in the league.
A step in the right direction might be to give another city a shot at the all-star game. A mid-season event is a chance to attract fans and build a fan base. Well, the Sun don't need much help in that department. They are doing just fine in the attendance department. The fact is that Connecticut figures to be hosting every national team training camp or at least play host to exhibition games as long as UConn's Geno Auriemma is the national team coach so why not spread the wealth and give another city a chance to promote the league?
At the risk of piling on, although it may be too late for that, it's amazing to me that the WNBA is promoting and this is a direct quote from one of its releases "Seven former and current University of Connecticut Huskies will take to the court." That prompted an e-mail from me for clarification since I only count six (Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi.) I was told that U.S. head coach Geno Auriemma is being counted as one of the seven. Oh, really. He is neither a current nor is he a former Husky. He is a head coach and he will not be taking to the court but I assume will be on the sidelines. Auriemma hired Keith Anderson to do video, former UConn managers are helping out at practice, Abby Gordon, the Connecticut Sun's equipment manager, is a former UConn manager so that would bring the number of former or current Huskies in the game into double figures.
posted by Jim Fuller at
12:44 PM
1 Comments:
You forgot to mention the insane 11 man roster with no injured list plan that Donna thinks is helping the league. Because of injuries teams like the Sparks are left with 9 players and can't even scrimmage at practice.
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