Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Saturday, June 25, 2005

Four games last night:

1. Connecticut, the top team in the East, beat Sacramento, the top team in the West. It was a sloggy game — the Monarchs held the Sun to a season-low 61 points, but they only scored 50 themselves. Nicole Powell went 0 for 10.

"In hindsight, whatever we did didn't work," coach Whisenant said. "We were awful offensively. The more frustrated we got, the quicker we shot, therefore the more out of sync we were offensively."

It was an emotional game for the Sun, in the midst of a long road trip, and still dealing with the loss of coach Thibault's mother. "My mom hoped to be at this game. Emotionally I can't get it out of my head," Thibault said. "[The team knows] this meant a lot to me, but they need to play for themselves."

Thibault will miss tonight's game to attend the funeral.

2. Chamique Holdsclaw put the Sparks on her back and beat Seattle.

Before the game, GM Penny Toler responded to some of the rumors that Coach Bibby's job might be in jeopardy. "We're a new team with a new coach and we're playing with injuries," she said. "As bad as it is, it's not time to panic."

Tamika Whitmore, who is much happier under Bibby than she was under the old regime, contributed 16 and 8.

3. Temeka Johnson had another great game and led Washington to a road win over Detroit.

Laimbeer put Kara Braxton in the starting lineup, but she didn't play well. "She floats," Laimbeer said. "When she wants to play she's dominant. When she just shows up and just goes out there and plays, she's not that good."

The Mystics improved to .500, and the Shock, having lost 5 of 6, have fallen back to .500. (The Detroit News has apparently lost interest; they've stopped sending reporters to games.) Laimbeer says his well-publicized NBA job search hasn't been a distraction.

4. Indiana beat Minnesota even though Tamika Catchings had a career-low 2 points on 1 for 9 shooting.

"In order for our team to succeed, I mean, yeah, two points a night, that's not going to do it," Catchings said. "We hope this is the only time that it happens for the rest of my career."