Gotnext Women's Basketball Boards

Keegan · Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

(Damn your confusing date system)

I'm going to perch on the fence again. Should be interesting to see whether LJ can break out of her funk, how Vealy does against America's best young point guard (future Olympics/World Champs matchup?) and whether they can regroup from last night's thrashing. Seattle are on a bit of a roll and the Merc look a bit frazzled. It being a back-to-back doesn't help either.

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2002 7:59 am Post subject:

This time when Loz scores a basket for the opposition, it can hopefully be off a Veal assist - just for old times sake ;)

Storm look to have an edge in the frontcourt in this one. LJ & KV are in some nice form lately and if Jen is guarding LJ then she better hope to get her in foul trouble or it could get ugly. Their backcourt is so inconsistant though, and I think that they might be the key to this game.
I agree Keegan that Seattle are on a 'mini-roll' and have the advantage of being fresh, as well as having marginally less player-coach animosity ;)

Having said all that, if the Merc are in the right frame of mind then they can still take this one, but they'll need to do it with veteran savvy and efficient scoring.

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

Ah, but I have eliminated Vodichkova by picking her in the VGM game today. :wink: None of my power forward VGM picks have done anything all year. So since Kamila is going to shoot about 2-11, that will leave the Merc free to focus on shutting down LJ...

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

gia · Guest

If the Mercury don't pull this one out, it's going to be a very long season.

0-4 on the road at this point with 9 of 14 on the road in July. The last time they won on the road was July 27, 2001 @ Seattle. :?

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

0-3. Remember the earlier loss to Seattle was at home.

Keegan · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Yeah but Kamila's been hot in the last two games.

Teams still double and triple LJ even when she's cold so Kamila is getting good opportunities at the hoop. So what will the Merc do? A resurgent LJ is the last thing they would want to deal with.

I guess Adrain on Lauren and Grandmama on Kamila. Tuvic should be used a lot as Grandmama is a defensive liability.

skew11 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 372

:D Big game tonight....need this one real bad. Need to keep Bird/LJ from having a big game.

Reminder please get the word out about Kayte appearance tonight after the game at Hard Rock :!: :!: :D

Kayte will be making a public appearance at the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix after the Mercury's home game against the Seattle Storm on Wed., June 26, 2002.

Kayte will be available to meet and greet with the fans, as well as sign autographs at the Cafe, after the game. We would like to invite those fans in attendance at America West Arena to come on over after the Seattle Storm game and hang out with Kayte and celebrate the Mercury victory. The Hard Rock Cafe is located at 2621 East Camelback Rd. in Phoenix near the arena. For more information, fans may contact the Cafe directly at 602-956-3669.

kharris · Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2002 9:51 pm Post subject:

What a great performance tonight by the Mercury. Even with the Cooper issue aside, I was highly impressed with the way they rebounded from that atrocious outing at LA last night. A few observations:

1) Lisa was simply unbelievable!! It was almost as if she were playing with a monkey lifted off her back :wink:

2) Jen just continues to come up with those clutch shots that make the difference at the end of the game. Defensive complaints aside, she's having an awesome season!

3.) Nice job by Adrain on the boards.

I could go on and on, but I won't. I'm just very impressed by the mental toughness of this team this season. Here's hoping it carries them to more big wins throughout the rest of the season.

gia · Guest

Lisa and Jen showed incredible leadership tonight. Adrain was excellent on the boards. Everyone stepped up, played hard, and contributed big and small to a must win game after another pre-game surprise (they always seem to come right before tip off!)

Expect things will remain calm from here on out and the respect will flow both ways between coach and team...........exactly the way it's supposed to be.

Keegan · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Lisa was awesome... I hope this is a sign of things to come.

I don't think Linda Sharp is a long term solution though.

caune · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1562 Location: Phoenix

Keegs, I don't think Linda wants to be the head coach, but who knows, if she does well, she can stay!
She satisfies a long list of coaching requirements the fans seem to want, she certainly has the experience that people want, She doesn't yell at her players and she's female :P

But if they have to hire a new coach for next year my short list of requirements are:
Coaching experience
Coaching experience
Coaching experience

see, I'm not hard to please :D

Keegan · Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2002 Posts: 977

Yeah but she was one of the Sparks' dud coaches... and they reportedly weren't good.

We should look at some of the better assistants out there and maybe some college candidates (though I doubt many would be interested).

Did you get my email, caune?

caune · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1562 Location: Phoenix

My possible list of candidates for all it's worth:roll:

WNBA
The top WNBA assistant IMHO would be Kevin Cook
http://www.wnba.com/coachfile/kevin_cook/index.html?nav=page
Why this man isn't a head coach in the league already is odd, he has credentials, and he was interested in the job when Cheryl lfeft, I wonder what the inside story is?
And of course there is Carrie Graf :)

COLLEGE
I would love to see Rutgers C. Vivian Stringer or ODUs Wendy Larry but college coaches are a tough sell they make good money and the jobs more stable, but some realistically lurable ones would be Leon Barmore or Peggy Gillom. Any college assistant from Tennesse or UCONN would be nice!

NBA
Ex NBA players, John Shumate, ex Sun who broadcast Mercury games for one season and had good insight into the team at the time.
Ex Coaches, What's Paul Westphal up to? J/K I know he's at Pepperdine
how about hmmm, can't think of a one:?

AUSSIES
I think Keegan could coach this team, from downunder :wink:
or see above WNBA heading

FANS
Betsy who sits in section 101, she coaches out loud and from the stands but she is almost always right with her assesments :D

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

I don't think Barmore is very realistic. Even if he weren't permanently attached to La Tech and Ruston, he hates traveling and long road trips. That was one of the reasons he was opposed to La Tech joining the WAC (and actually he found an excuse not to go on their Hawaii-San Jose State road trip this past season). So I can only imagine how he'd react to the WNBA's famous five-cities-in-eight-days scheduling practices. And of course, the travel is even more wearing if you're a western team, because nobody is close to anybody, so you're logging a lot more miles.