Gotnext Women's Basketball Boards

gia · Guest

Starting a new thread (ya I know) for during/after game discussion since the other one turned into a great pre-game tailgate party :)

I don't want to see any of your faces....er.......avatars in here until the jump ball goes up! :) :twisted:

merc7ury · Guest Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Posts: 4 Location: Phoenix

Way to go Vealy !!! on the 1st half changing the pace of the game and getting assists and points in 5 min.
Sorry Tracy has to miss 3 games but I think she need to heal both the ankle and her hamstring. She would sit on the side with a pack on it during the games. When she is 100% she can drive the lane.
I was suprised they brought back Quacy. I though Brandy was still taking up a spot.What did I miss? --- but glad to have her around.

kr · Guest Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Posts: 63 Location: Denver

First no WNBA Season Pass game on TV and now no WNBA Audio Season Pass! Technical difficulties since before halftime. Really sucks. :(

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

Ugh, someone please get our girls a shooting coach. 4-19 in the second half so far. :cry:

bballprincess31 · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 40

Lisa played only 7 min in the second half because......?

merc7ury · Guest Joined: 23 Jun 2002 Posts: 4 Location: Phoenix

Alot of the starting line up didn't play at the end. I guess trying to save them for tomorrow night. Eeek where did our shooting percentage go--- right down the tubes. Well no time to pout. Got another game in 24 hours and Seattle gave us our only loss at home. Dont want that to happen again.

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

bballprincess--

Cooper gave Gillom, Harrison, Grubin, Moises, and Adrain the rest of the night off once they got down 20 with 8 to go and the game was obviously out of reach. Christensen, Veal, Saunders, and Bonfiglio played out the rest of the game from there, with Tuvic and Barnes sharing the 5th spot. I think that was a good move. Not only does it give the key players some rest heading into tomorrow, but it gave the end of the bench a chance to get some much-needed game time under their belts--those were the first appearances of the year for Veal and Barnes, and by far the most PT that Saunders has seen this year.

kharris · Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2002 10:08 pm Post subject:

That's what I would like to know bballprincess! Not only Lisa, but Jen and GG played very little in the second half as well. While it may be true that Coop was trying to save them for tomorrow's game, that makes no sense to me given we pulled within 4 points. Granted we should have a better shot at beating Seattle, but why just roll over and give the game to LA?

It seemed to me that Phoenix played it's best ball with Bonfiglio, Harrison, Grubin, and Vealy on the court. Where in the heck was that combo in the second half? I think this game just further solidifies the numerous claims that Cooper is a moron of a coach. You get within four points, tamper with the lineup, then lose miserably. I just don't get it. And while I'm ranting, I'll add one more thing. It may be true that those second half "bench dwellers" will be rested tomorrow night, but I would certainly think this drumming wouldn't do a whole lot for momentum going in! :evil:

bballprincess31 · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 40

Thanks for the reasoning....I was just watching the stat board on WNBA.com. Where I live the radio station is out of reach so I was just relying on numbers to tell me what was happening in the game. Weren't they only down by 2 or 4 at one point, what happened?

cbibat · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 232

based on Yahoo's scoreboard - we attempted 70 (?) shots, hit only 23... not up to our 50%...... had one technical - Cooper's...... read somewhere else that LA went on a 14-0 run which apparently put the game out of reach. everyone played, played double digit minutes - of course LA played 2 min less than we did.... (per the Yahoo scoreboard)

Looked like Veal had a good game!!!!!!!

On to tomorrow nite - we need to break the hold Seattle has on us

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

What happened is that LA rattled off 14 straight points over the next five minutes to put the game away. Here's the game log for that stretch, from Veal's trey that cut it to four, to Saunders' layup that finally broke the run. I've marked all of Phoenix's missed shots in that stretch with a *, and their turnovers with **. The official count is ten straight missed shots and two turnovers in that stretch. You can blame a coach for a lot of things, but missing ten straight shots is not one of them.

(13:52) [PHX 48-52] Veal Jump Shot: Made (5 PTS) Assist: Williams (2 AST)
(13:47) [LAS] Milton Layup Shot: Missed Block: Williams (1 BLK)
(13:45) [PHX] Tuvic Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
*(13:37) [PHX] Grubin Jump Shot: Missed
(13:35) [LAS] Mabika Rebound (Off:1 Def:2)
(13:29) [LAS] Mabika Turnover: Bad Pass (2 TO)
*(13:07) [PHX] Williams Jump Shot: Missed
(13:06) [LAS] Milton Rebound (Off:0 Def:4)
(12:57) [LAS 54-48] Mabika Driving Layup: Made (14 PTS) Assist: Dixon (2 AST)
**(12:41) [PHX] Williams Turnover: Lost Ball (2 TO) Steal: Milton (1 ST)
(12:39) [PHX] Harrison Substitution replaced by Barnes
(12:39) [PHX] Williams Substitution replaced by Moises
(12:39) [LAS] Milton Turnover: Out of Bounds (4 TO)
(12:17) Jump Ball Mabika vs Moises
**(12:17) [PHX] Moises Turnover: Lost Ball (1 TO) Steal: Mabika (3 ST)
(12:10) [LAS 56-48] Milton Jump Shot: Made (6 PTS)
*(11:48) [PHX] Veal Jump Shot: Missed
(11:46) [LAS] Mabika Rebound (Off:1 Def:3)
(11:35) [LAS 58-48] Leslie Layup Shot: Made (12 PTS) Assist: Mabika (2 AST)
(11:27) [PHX] Team Timeout: Short
*(11:04) [PHX] Moises Jump Shot: Missed Block: Mabika (1 BLK)
(11:02) [LAS] Mabika Rebound (Off:1 Def:4)
(10:59) [LAS] Leslie Turnover: Bad Pass (5 TO) Steal: Veal (4 ST)
*(10:57) [PHX] Grubin Jump Shot: Missed
(10:54) [LAS] Leslie Rebound (Off:0 Def:11)
(10:34) [LAS] Teasley Jump Shot: Missed
(10:33) [PHX] Team Rebound
(10:33) [LAS] Leslie Foul: Loose Ball (5 PF)
(10:33) Timeout: Official
(10:33) [PHX] Grubin Substitution replaced by Saunders
(10:33) [LAS] Leslie Substitution replaced by Byears
*(10:14) [PHX] Barnes Jump Shot: Missed
(10:13) [LAS] Mabika Rebound (Off:1 Def:5)
(10:06) [LAS 60-48] Byears Driving Layup: Made (9 PTS) Assist: Teasley (9 AST)
*(9:58) [PHX] Moises Jump Shot: Missed Block: Byears (1 BLK)
(9:58) [PHX] Team Rebound
(9:58) [LAS] Teasley Substitution replaced by McCrimmon
*(9:49) [PHX] Barnes Layup Shot: Missed
(9:47) [LAS] McCrimmon Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
(9:42) [PHX] Moises Foul: Shooting (1 PF)
(9:42) [PHX] Barnes Substitution replaced by Williams
(9:42) [LAS] Milton Free Throw 1 of 2 missed
(9:42) [LAS] Team Rebound
(9:42) [LAS 61-48] Milton Free Throw 2 of 2 (7 PTS)
*(9:23) [PHX] Saunders Jump Shot: Missed
(9:21) [LAS] Milton Rebound (Off:0 Def:5)
(9:16) [LAS 63-48] Byears Driving Layup: Made (11 PTS) Assist: McCrimmon (2 AST
*(9:04) [PHX] Tuvic Reverse Layup: Missed
(9:01) [LAS] Mabika Rebound (Off:1 Def:6)
(8:58) [LAS 65-48] Mabika Layup Shot: Made (16 PTS)
(8:58) [PHX] Williams Foul: Shooting (4 PF)
(8:58) [LAS 66-48] Mabika Free Throw 1 of 1 (17 PTS)
(8:51) [PHX 50-66] Saunders Layup Shot: Made (2 PTS) Assist: Veal (6 AST)

bballprincess31 · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 40

Lisa was taken out when they were down by 6, not 20.

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

Huh, you're right--she didn't come back in after that. And she was taken off for a lousy player like Barnes too (WHY did we bring her back? I didn't even want her the first time).

Now you've got *me* wondering what's up...

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

Just checked on Gillom too--she checked out for the last time at 15:09 of the second half (with LA up 52-42) and never came back in either--that was well before LA's big run.

Okay, now I'm really confused.

cbibat · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 232

Lisa was in a total of 23 minutes and took 4 shots, hit 50%. Jen show 3-10, but made her free throws.... Grubin was 3-11, and made all her free throws...

Looks like the starters scored 34 points, the bench 32 point.

Leslie, Dixon, Milton were in 27-30 min and shot at least 50%. Mabika was in 30 min and shot 8-15 - Lisa can't guard them all.

LA shot 54%; we shot 33%

Why not have the starters rest a while?

gia · Guest

Didn't get to hear very much of the game...mainly from the 2nd at the point when they were 4 down. The review from mb, capsman and the Kayte contingent who were courtside will be interesting to hear.

Just from the stats it looks like Veal played a hell of a first game - 6 pts, 7 assts, 5 stls, 1 rb in 24 minutes...oops, 3 TOs.

LA won the boards 44-29
Merc shot 1-11 3Pt :(

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2002 11:16 pm Post subject:

WELCOME BACK VEALY!!

7 assists & 5 steals - superb stuff :D

(15 assists for us in the whole game, and in 24 minutes she had half of em)

A few games to get her match fitness & shooting touch back & she'll really be rockin' & rollin' 8)

Keegan · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Can Grandmama do anthing but score?

Nice return for Vealy... besides that, well this game is forgettable.

SportsFan48 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1137

Cooper probably still has it out for Lisa and the others were benched not to make it look so obvious. :wink:

I am starting to get the feeling that the good times are over and we are in for a dose of hard times. I just hope that we make it through intact and with as little bruising as possible.

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

I blame the loss 100% on Cooper. We were doing Ok so far in the second half then Coop got the technical :x (arguing a stupid out of bounds call :?: ) and went small when we were down by 6 (read "(12:39) [PHX] Williams Substitution replaced by Moises". By the time she realized she had spoiled any momentum we had, the damage was done and the game was out of reach.

We seemed out of control at times, but so did LA(too many TO's, surprised to see we only had 12 and LA had 22 :!: ). I was disappointed we took as long as we did to correct for their early hot 3pt shooting and get out and play some perimeter D. Once we corrected for that we did OK till Coops technical, not great, but we were playing with LA who is unquestionably the best team in the league right now.

SO FIRE COOP NOW! (just in case anyone is listening)

On the bright side I was happy to see Kayte play the last 8 minutes or so with 5 fouls and not foul out (even though the scoreboard had her with 6 fouls for quite awhile... one of a few mistakes the scorekeeper made, but it seemed like it was mostly just misassigning fouls)

and for the real rant... :twisted: :evil: how little does the WNBA pay officials, cause they weren't paying attention, although for the most part I think they were equally bad for both teams :shock: , it's hard to tell because there were alot of bad calls imho.

Mat H · Guest Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 168 Location: Glendale AZ

The Mercury went into the Staples Center scared and that was the reason they lost. They had the mind set of keeping the score respectable, not winning. When they let the game get out of hand (22-6), it impowered the Sparks because it showed were scared and just wanted to get it over with. I admit Cooper isn't my favorite, however, the players often times panic and do not run the plays she designs. Nor did they hussle back on D. The only way the Mercury can become a championship team like 98' is if they stop being intimidated on the road and leave it all on the court. Please stop blaming it ALL on the coach. Though she has alot of power during the games, these are perfessional players and they know what needs to happen to get a win. It's time for the Mercury to start playing like they know they can.

eaction83 · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 130 Location: Fremont, CA

Saw this posted on the usenet board:

Mwadi Mabika was inbounding the ball under the Sparks basket sometime in the second half of the game with the Phoenix Mercury. Adrian Williams of the Mercury was guarding somebody about seven feet in front of Mabika with her back to her. Mabika bounced the ball off of William's butt, got the rebound, scored a layup and was fouled on the shot. Mabika made the free throw. It was replayed on the big screen at Staples Arena at least twice. It was called "the play of the game."

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

I was impressed with the way the team brought it back from the 22-6 to be down by 6 at halftime.

Maybe 100% of the blame to Coop is too much. Until that point in the second half, I thought she was doing better with her substitution patterns. But a large portion of this loss goes to Coop for the bad timing/poor substitution. These are professional players, but when the coach handicaps them (technical, plus going small when the lineup was generally working) against the best team in the league, we're not gonna win. I do agree that the professional players should be able to get up for a road game just as well as at home. On the road it is so crucial to start hot (something we don't seem to be too good at so far) to take the crowd out of it.

I do have to say that I didn't hear Coop yelling at the players (she did yell some, but it didn't seem as bad as what I'd heard here). I was sitting about 15 rows just off center court and it didn't seem outrageous. I just find myself often disagreeing with her substitution patterns (of course, fwiw. I've never been a coach), seems like she leaves players out there too long and they get tired or makes big lineup changes when things are going well.

LA is the best team in the league (at least record-wise), but we can play with them and we were (and I believe we can/will beat them in Phoenix Friday)

I had forgotten about the off the back basket. I couldn't believe that happened in a progame. I think it was actually the last LA points of the big run in the second half, should have been the wakeup call

gia · Guest

"I never played here," said Mercury coach Cynthia Cooper, who retired as a player before the Sparks' move from the Forum to Staples Center. "They wouldn't have won 27 straight if I had played here, I'll tell you that right now.'

The Comets lost both games @ LA in 2000 when Coop was still playing. Whether it was Staples or the Forum, does it really matter? They also lost the 3rd game that was in Houston.

bballprincess31 · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 40

Is there anyone more full of themselves than Cynthia Cooper??? Seriously.

AJSpark · Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2002 5:43 pm Post subject:

I enjoyed meeting mb and capsman. :D Also enjoyed seeing Kayte as well as "Vealy" get some great PT! It took a little while for me to know who was who at a glance, but now I can picture the player when I hear the name. I was really impressed with Veal and Bonfiglio...quick and smart, and I thought Veal in particular did great D. Kayte was fighting (for her life) defending Byears and working for rebounds...but most of the team seemed a bit sluggish on defense, and LA really, really took advantage of that. It was SOOO exciting near the end of the first half when they caught up to within (I think) 5, then went out at the break down by 6, then came within 4 early in the second half. I really thought they could take the game, and the LA fans seemed to think the same thing - they got pretty darn quiet. :wink: I wasn't really keeping track of the substitution patterns, but when we got stuck at 48, it was pretty apparent that the floor chemistry was falling apart. From all your posts, it sounds like Cooper was messing with the lineup too much, and everything that was working well went right into the dumpster...and the shots just weren't falling. I have to give proper credit to LA for some good playing, though, especially Mabika, Milton, Dixon, and Teasley. However - !!! I thought Byears deserved to foul out in the FIRST half, not late in the second! She was HAMMERING Kayte and Lisa, with nary a whistle! And Kayte got called for 3 ticky-tack fouls in about a minute! BOO TO THE HOMER REFS!! :x It sure would have been fun to see the Mercury prevail.....but Friday is soon enough for revenge - hope it's sweet! :lol: Go Mercury!

gia · Guest

Wow. That game in LA really changed Jen into a new person!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020626/168/1r29h.html

Carol Fegenbush · Guest Joined: 21 Jun 2002 Posts: 13 Location: California

You are to funny.... Nice picture of Kayte... The Media are clueless...Jen must got a big chuckle out of that one.... :lol:

skew11 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 372

:lol: Jenn is a different player alltogether after that scrap on the floorl ! Don't retire Gramma ! :D :lol: