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Vladimir Taltos · Joined: 15 Jun 2002 Posts: 72

Well, I'm glad Kate finally made my point for me...for all those that have nay-sayed my thought on her as our starter...

:-p~~~~~~~~~

...told ya so! :twisted:

Now, the rasberries and rejoicing in being correct aside, :), facts are facts...the line up needs shaken up and so does the coaching...Linda just does NOT get this team motivated. That is NOT her style. I think she's exactly the opposite problem of CC, she's TOO laid back. With her experience she obviously knows basketball and I think makes a good assistant...but I do NOT think she is a good head coach. A change is needed, now, if the season is to be saved!

That said, starting line up is just like I said before...

Kristen, Bonfilio maybe?, Tuvic, Katey, Lisa

Thoughts on 2? Let the discourse begin...but as far as Linda as head coach, I say OFF WITH HER HEAD, :-p~~~~~!

VT

Ohio Gaucho · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 65 Location: Salem, OH

Maybe the players have yet to turn up the gain, after having it turned way down to avoid hearing damage & persecution complex with Coop.

Some of the best coaches do not have to shout. A frown, a suggestion that they could have done something differently, many ways to communicate when players & coach respect each other, and the coach is a teacher. Yes, even as a Pro, I think there must be new lessons to learn, and a great coach will be a great teacher; Linda Sharp could well be just that. She has been, it seems.

After stubbing my toe & considering gia's reply in another thread, my idea would be:
4 & 5: Kayte & Grandmama, backed by Tuvic & Williams
(complicated rotation, depending upon opponent, situation & mood)
3: Lisa, backed by Tracy
2: Grubin, backed by Bonfilio
1: Veal, backed by Moises

Whether starting or backing, the team needs Kayte to have more minutes. Hustle, rebounding, & now scoring since her poise to the basket is returning (she is career FG percentage record holder at UCSB, high 50s for 4 years, made 16 of 17 against Univ AZ last year :) ). All the team seems to pick it up, when Kayte is in the game.

Regards,
Bob
UCSB '61

Vladimir Taltos · Joined: 15 Jun 2002 Posts: 72

G'ma needs to do bench time...she's not defending as well as Kate, Tuvic or Lisa, her "O" has been "O"ff and up and down? um, please see the "Jenn can to defend thread..."...:). Tuvic needs increased minutes and so does Kayte...

VT

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

What's Tuvic proved? Nothing at all. The only thing she has shown is she had a better season over seas. Her rebounding is just as horrid as Gilloms but lacks offence as well! If Gillom doesn't play the minutes, not only for her offence but leadership on the floor, losing by 25 points will become the norm. :wink: Williams needs to become more aggressive. Two more players need to become scoring threats on a nightly basis so team can't zero down on Gillom. Teams have the mindset of stop Gillom, stop Mercury. And so far their right.

Gaucho81 · Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 147 Location: Ventura, CA

I don't think a change of coach is a good idea at this time, nor warranted.

Do I think she's made mistakes? Sure, but that's not enough to sink the boat. I thought her move of having Lisa play all 40 minutes against LA was a no-no, primarily because I think it dimmed the effective of Lisa on both offense and defense. Had Lisa had some breathers, she would have had more energy during game time. At the same time, her substition in the end of the Seattle game was an excellent decision. Overall, I think the substitution patterns could be improved with better use of the bench.

Linda Sharp has all the proper crendentials. I say, let's see what she can do with the remainder of the season.

Also, we shouldn't assume that Linda hasn't changed the offense and defensive play sets from those presented by Cooper. If that is the case, then I would expect some confusion on the court while the team learns the new plays (i.e. looking a little lost on the court at times).

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

Geez VT, without Jenn we'd have a worse record then Detroit or Sacramento....she is our leading scorer :roll: she may not defend but she can score more often then not, she deserves to be a starter...Kayte is definetely a spark, so make her the first one off the bench ....maybe for Adrian right after the first jump ball :wink:
We really just have the wrong combination of post players for the physical eastern teams we are playing, we have 3 softies and Kayte :x

gia · Guest

Yikes! The last thing they need is another coach......not until next season for that I think.

Definately a lineup change. I've never been a naysayer about Kayte starting.....just only when it's suggested she start for Jen ;)

Veal
Grubin
Harrison
Christensen
Gillom

Or as has been suggested, let Adrain or Tuvic jump and then get Kayte in at the first dead ball. We might have to start the Kayte chant :)

I'd sub the whole lineup when a breather and fresh legs are needed

Moises
Bonfiglio
Reid/Saunders
Williams
Tuvic

Group 1 for 6 minutes, Group 2 for 3 minutes. Repeat as necessary

capsman · Guest Joined: 14 Jun 2002 Posts: 31

I like it Gia! :)
They drafted Veal to start in the first place. Let her start!!
Grubin and Moises are awesome at the 2 spot. Put them there.
I was just on the AZrepublic website.
Man, Hannah is clueless!
You rock Mikey! You've just been saying what EVERYONE else is thinking.
You've sadly been the target for the sycophants too.
Be strong MB! :wink:

mb · Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2002 11:14 am Post subject:

Funny how the Mercury organization seems to do what we ask, though a little slow getting to the tasks (ie. drop Brandy, drop Coop, hire Timmsy, play Veal, play Kayte more).

Capsman and I have been calling for Veal to play the PG and shift Grubin to SG for a while now. In her first game, you could see the difference. The offense settled down, Grubin was free to create from the SG spot, etc.
This was against LA!

Moises may penetrate more, yet often gets herself in trouble. She has more turnovers than show up in the stats.

Kayte should start for Adrain, not Jen. We need Jen's offense (not the 3 of 14 version). Perhaps this will re-ignite Adrain.

Since there is little difference between the starters and the bench, and since we have some speed on the team; how about a press once in a while. Hopefully the defensive intensity could carry over to the offensive end. If we even went with just pressuring the ball coming up the court it would be good. Our soft interior would only have to defend for 15 to 20 seconds.

The Mercury could use some new offensive sets. Practice time is very limited, yet we need to get more out of ours.

SportsFan48 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1133

I, among others, was not in favor of starting Kayte earlier in the season. While, not opposed to the idea right now, I still think you are taking a chance by having her start. Before you all start to rant and rave, please read my reasoning.

You ask the question, why doesn't Kayte start? One big reason is her lack of experience. In almost every game she has played in, she has made some rookie mistakes (mistakes as in pural - more than one) early in her minutes that usually result in opponent baskets. We have seen, over and over, this season how critical the first few minutes can be. There is no arguement that she shows great energy and excitement when she plays and you are losing the spark she gives off the bench (which is also critical).

I know many of you will return with the reasoning that if the beginning of the game is so critical, why not have that spark at the beginning instead of when we are down by 20. I see that reasoning and that is why I am not opposed (as stated above) to the change. But I think there is risk involved, but it is a risk worth taking at this point. It wasn't earlier in the season, IMHO.

All that said, I would like to point out that I really like Kayte. I think she is a great addition to our team. She has improved a great deal since the beginning of the season. And I think, Adrian needs a wake up call. Adrian has picked up her game this season and had maintained it longer, but it seems she starts out strong and then disappears sometime after the season starts.

Go Mercury - Get the Road Monkey off your Back!!!

mb · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2002 4:34 pm Post subject:

Extremely well said Sportsfan...I agree.

mb · Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2002 4:45 pm Post subject:

Was watching the D-backs and forgot to turn on the pre-game. Let me know of any interesting comments.

From the announced starting line-up, it looks like Grubin hs been moved to SG. However, Moises, rather than Veal is starting at point. We'll see how that works, my opinion has been stated before.

Gametime. Go Mercury!!!

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

MB, you meant the radio comments not the TV commenst right? Cause if you missed the beginning of this gameon TV, you missed a rousing imitaion of Jimi Hendrixs' National Amthem...done without a guitar :shock: You'd have to have seen it :wink: it was borderline bizarre :!: :!:

We deserved to win this game tonight, it really just plain sucks that we didn't :cry:

Vladimir Taltos · Guest Joined: 15 Jun 2002 Posts: 72

The reality is that with all the negative salvos...

Brandi
Maria
Cooper

...this was a crappy start to the year! And its probably amazing were even as close to 50% as we are...its not an excuse, just a sad state of affairs...

VT

gia · Guest

Does anyone know about this 6'6 Russian?? Oksana Zakaluzhnaya - She was waived by Washington after 3 games. Started in Detroit in 2000
http://www.freep.com/sports/basketball/shock10_20000510.htm

Caune, Keegan (is he back from vacation yet??), Dennska? Any big bodies out there that we should be aware of?

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

Oksana was waived by Detroit when they put Stacy Clinesmith back on the roster a couple of weeks ago (go ex-Gauchos!). Here is a profile article about her from two years ago.

http://www.freep.com/sports/basketball/shock10%5F20000510.htm

For all of Lieberman's gushing in that article (I laughed out loud when I read that line about Oksana being the caliber of a #1 pick), she's pretty much turned out to be yet another in the long line of European finesse posts that have struggled with the physical American game. She had an okay rookie season with 4 points and 2 rebounds in 11 minutes a game, didn't play at all last year--whether from injury or from just staying home in Russia I don't remember--and she only made cameo appearances in three of Detroit's first 10 games (playing 10 minutes total with 2 points and 0 rebounds) before being cut this year. She did average 7 rebounds per game in this most recent European season, but we've seen firsthand how much that means. Namely, nothing.

SportsFan48 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1133

I still say Jennifer can defend. Is she our strongest defender? No Is defense the best part of her game? No, however. Jennifer would be a better defender if she could get some of the official "assists" some of her counterparts seem to enjoy.

I think Matt H said it well:
Quote: Whatever Jennifer lacks in speed, she exceeds in wisdom. She is one of the smartest players in the league, that is the reason she can still perform at this level. Eventhough she isn't lightning quick, she still has the ability to get to the basket as well as any player on the team.

Gia followed up very well:
Quote: Kayte, Adrain, and Bobo have young legs but Jen has the savvy and confidence and that makes her more valuable on the floor over the course of a game. She knows when she needs to come out and she knows when she needs to go back in. Those 3 combined aren't going to give you what Jen gives you when a game is on the line.

VT - I would hope your comments about Jen's role on this team are an attempt to create discussion. :roll:

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

I forone cy oda just lost a great deal ofrespect for the WNBA. Jennifer not making the team was nt only an injustice to Jennifer, but Mercury fans! What the hell were the coaces thinking?! Can they not do their homework? Look at the statistics? Look at herheart she puts on the floore. Well, I know Jen knows shes a REAL All-Star to the fans even if the bias league doesn' want to acknoledge her! You go Jen!

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

Sorry, I was running out of the door, couldn't proof-read my post. :oops:

Gaucho81 · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 147 Location: Ventura, CA

Mat H--
No problem, it just put more emphasis of how upset you were (too upset to type straight) :lol:

Now if you were talking that way, it could also mean you were so upset you couldn't keep away from the bottle :wink:

Jenn got burned! The Mercury got burned!

Hopefully, Jenn will get called if Ticha can't play and Mabika will get moved to SG.

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

Val Ackerman is chatting right now. I have submitted a question about Jen's being overlooked. How much you want to bet she avoids addressing any controversial issue -- like she does every time....

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

Well, Oksana Z. is now a moot question, as she was picked up by Washington today. Somebody mentioned she only weighs 174 though, which if true would make her lighter than every post Phoenix already has on the roster except Williams, despite being taller than any of them. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence that she's going to wade in there and fight for those rebounds, does it?

gia · Guest

I was thinking she might be a Maria-like player. Not exactly physical but maybe with some finesse for hanging onto the ball and putting it in the basket that's inches above her head ;) She can shoot the 3 as well.