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http://www.wnba.com/games/20080624/PHOWAS/preview.html

Quote: Phoenix, the WNBA's highest-scoring club at 87.4 points per contest, was held to a season low Sunday. The Mercury also allow a league-high 90.5 points per game.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/119200

Quote: At the White House on Monday morning to be honored for winning the 2007 WNBA title, Phoenix players and personnel were fighting back laughter after the president mispronounced Diana Taurasi's last name Ter-EE-see.

As they make the second stop on their five-game East Coast trip in Washington today, the Mercury can't afford any more funny business.

One-third of the way through the season, Phoenix (4-7) finds itself two spots out of the playoff race and knows it won't make up any ground without a winning road trip.

"Our goal is to be 3-2. Four-and-1 would be great, but 3-2 is something we definitely need to get," coach Corey Gaines said.

The Mercury also need to figure out quickly why their offense has such a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality.

In victories, Phoenix is averaging 99.3 points, but it has scored less than 84 points in all of its losses with the exception of the season opener (94).

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/mercury/articles/2008/06/23/20080623mercury.html

Quote: Mystics update: G Alana Beard is fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 19.7 points a game. She scored a season-high 33 points against Phoenix on June 3. Washington averages a league-worst 69 points but has won its last three over Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. The Mystics lead the WNBA in turnovers, averaging more than 18 a game.

Mercury update: Phoenix's first win of the season came against Washington at home on June 3. The Mercury are 12-7 all-time against the Mystics, 5-4 in Washington. Only one other team, the expansion Atlanta Dream, besides the Mercury is giving up an average of more than 80 points a game. Phoenix's last two opponents have scored in triple digits, though Chicago needed overtime to reach 105.

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mb · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

From the Tribune article linked above (bold added for emphasis):

Quote: Gaines is confident his team can recapture that feeling despite Sunday's 105-72 blowout, which he believes was simply an aberration.

Phoenix was coming off an emotional overtime win Friday at home and was playing for the third time in five days after a cross-country flight.

"We just didn't have any energy," Gaines said. "We were just tired, and they shot so well."

Phoenix will have to hope the Mystics aren't nearly as accurate as the Liberty (54.3 percent), especially from long range.

Washington is the league's top 3-point shooting team (39.2 percent), and that's where the Mercury's defense has been the most vulnerable of late. Opponents have hit 12, nine and 11 3-pointers the last three games, respectively.

"We played zone, we played man, they shot well," Gaines said. "Sometimes you're out of luck."

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gillomfan · Joined: 16 Jun 2002 Posts: 262

Now that is more like it. We put forth tremendous effort. Had we lost I would not have been mad at them. OF course I am thrilled we won. We played like champions. Go Mercury!

mb · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 1:44 am Post subject:

http://www.wnba.com/games/20080624/PHOWAS/boxscore.html

http://www.wnba.com/games/20080624/PHOWAS/recap.html

Quote: McWilliams-Franklin's jumper with 1:49 to play reduced Phoenix's lead to 90-84, but the Mercury sank free throws down the stretch to ice the game. The Mercury lead the league in free throw shooting at 83 percent and hit 17 of 19 from the line Tuesday night.

The Mystics led the league in 3-point shooting percentage, 39 percent, but hit just five of 20 from behind the arc.

Taurasi hit 11 of 15 shots, including 4-for-5 on 3-point attempts, and sank all five of her free throws. She also led Phoenix with eight rebounds and six assists. Tangela Smith scored 14 points for the Mercury. Pondexter was 10-for-18 from the field.

http://www.wnba.com/mercury/news/quotes_080624.html

Quote: MERCURY HEAD COACH COREY GAINES:
“They were trying to get the ball inside and we changed our defensive from a 3-2 to a 2-1-2 to get closer to the bigs and they kept trying to force it in.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/119328

Quote: The Mercury looked nothing like champions in a 33-point loss at New York to start their five-game road trip Sunday. But the league’s highest-scoring team, averaging 87 points, opened the third quarter with a 13-2 run and built a 16-point lead, 73-57, late in the third against Washington.

Quote: The Mystics’ Olympic hopeful and leading scorer, Alana Beard, was limited to 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting. She was averaging 19.7 points per game.

Quote: In five previous road games this season, Phoenix had averaged 38 percent from the field. But the Mercury hit 54 percent of their shots Tuesday.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/mercury/articles/2008/06/24/20080624mercury.html

Quote: When the Mercury missed five of their first seven shots, it appeared that the effects from the second-worst loss in franchise history had carried over. The Mercury fell behind 13-4, forcing coach Corey Gaines to call a timeout less than five minutes into the game. They quickly regrouped after that, scoring on five of their next six possessions to tie the score at 15.

Quote: "They were trying to get the ball inside," Gaines said. "We changed our rover from the 3-2 (formation) more into a 2-1-2 so we can get closer to the bigs, and they kept on trying to force it in."

Quote: We're trying to practice consistency," Pondexter said. "Right now, we're our own worst enemies. We lose games because we don't give the effort or we don't give the energy."

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MercuryBoFan · Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 258 Location: Glendale

Unlike, Gillomfan, had the ladies lost I would had been very irritated. However, they didn't lose and it was a nice way to comeback and quickly put the New York lost behind them.