E1/2010 - Sun 86, Dream 79

The Dream have played their first game of the 2010 season. They headed back to Connecticut, but fell short. The good news is that they took eleven players with them; the bad news is that among those eleven players, only 2 1/2 could be called "starters" if you were generous. So you have to take the loss with a grain of salt. No Lyttle, no de Souza, no Castro Marques, no Holdsclaw.

Here's the report from John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant.

Here's the report from Jim Fuller of the New Haven Register.

And here's the Guru himself, Mel Greenberg.

All right. Even SportsPageMagazine.com doesn't have any pictures yet. There were only 3,779 in attendance - no, wait a minute. For a Tuesday game at 11 am in the morning in the woods of Connecticut, that's great attendance! Still, there weren't many people present. There was no WNBA Live Access, and frankly, the boxscore didn't update automatically. If you were able to follow this game minute by minute, you were either in Uncasville or you have a very long neck.

So let's take a look at the post-mortem. The Dream got off to a very good start - an 11-0 start in the first quarter, but any Dream fan from 2008 knows that you can never depend on an 11-0 lead, and not particularly in a "game of runs" as this one was called on RebKell. The Dream held on to a 48-46 lead at halftime, and Fuller's article tells what happened next:

Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault resisted the temptation to insert some of his more established players to get his squad back on course. Third-year forward Kerri Gardin, with 67 regular-season games to her credit, was joined by second-year guard Renee Montgomery and rookies Tina Charles, Kelsey Griffin and Allison Hightower.

What happened next was a surge propelling the Sun to an 86-79 win over Atlanta before 3,779 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Charles, the former UConn star who was the top pick in last month’s WNBA draft, began and ended a 19-2 game-altering run with baskets. But she had plenty of help from her fellow rookies.

So 19-2 beats 11-0 hands down when it comes to runs. Furthermore, Angel McCoughtry scored 17 points in the first half, but only two in the second half.
Only three players played for the Dream for more than 25 minutes - Montgomery, Shalee Lehning and Armintie Price. Whereas the Sun had three players who played for at least 29 minutes. Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery each played 31 minutes.

Let's examine the box score in detail. We'll go into an article by Dean Oliver and how he examines a box score:

Pace:

Estimated possessions = {(72-11)+20+0.4*20)]+[(70-9)+19+0.4*22]/2 = ..approximately 89 for both teams.

The Dream's offensive rating was 79/89 = 88.8 and the Sun's offensive rating was 86/88 = 97.7. This sort of implies that neither team dominated offensively, and defensive skill made the difference.

Game flow: Quarter by Quarter, the game was decided in the middle, particulary in the third quarter when the Sun outscored the Dream 25-14. The Sun led 71-62 after three quarters. The Sun didn't blow out the Dream - if you look at the play-by-play results the Dream crawled to within seven points, 71-64 in the fourth quarter with 9:12 left - but after that, the Sun went on an 11-2 run to take a 16 point lead with about four minutes left. That run killed the Dream's chances of winning.

All of the big names: McCoughtry, Lehning, Charles, Montgomery - were on the bench in the fourth quarter, to return only briefly if ever. The only starter on the floor for significant time appears to have been Kerri Gardin. The 11-2 run was basically a testimony to the Sun's bench. No one particular Sun player dominated the fourth quarter.

Shooting percentage: Sun 47.1 percent (33-70), Dream 38.9 percent (28-72).
Effective shooting percentage: Sun 52.1 percent, Dream 43.1 percent. That pretty much did it. The Sun won because they could hit their shots, and the Dream (collectively) couldn't.

Turnovers: Sun 19, Dream 20. It was at best an average game for protecting the rock.
Offensive rebound percentage: Sun 25.7 percent, Dream 23.4 percent. No edge here, but the Dream definitely missed Lyttle and de Souza.
Free throw visits: Sun 22, Dream 20. However, the Dream hit 17 of their attempts, and the Sun shot a sad 59.1 percent from the stripe (13-for-22). I'd give the advantage to the Dream, but that wouldn't be enough to cool down the Sun's hot shooting hand.

And now, let's look at the Dream's individual perfomances:

Angel McCoughtry: Can you think of McCoughtry not coming to play? She led the team with 19 points. She had to take a lot of shots, but she hit 3 out of 4 3-point attempts. She kept personal fouls down, but unfortunately, it looks like Tina Charles's team beat Angel McCoughtry's team again. (See: 2009 NCAA Finals.) Even with the lost, McCoughtry brought her game to Connecticut and she was the Dreamer of the Game.

Armintie Price: A big question was whether or not Price or Shalee Lehning would be able to shake off the rust. Not only did Price have a 10-point game, but she hit four out of five free throws. Maybe she's been working on that in the off season. Price, furthermore, led the team in rebounds with seven total, and she picked up five assists as well. This whole Armintie Price thing might be working out, except for getting three of her shots blocked.

Shalee Lehning: Lehning must have heard me muttering "you have to shoot more" because she hit four out of five shots. However, she had two assists and four turnovers. I guess you can't do everything to please all people, but since Lehning's arm didn't fall off during the game, we can only count the result as a plus.

Britany Miller: For just 17 minutes played, the third Miller in Dream training camp - Britany Miller, a center who once played for the Detroit Shock - did an okay job. She had five rebounds and two blocked shots. However, her 1-for-5 shooting won't impress many people, but Britany Miller probably earned another day in training camp.

Chanel Mokango: The best you can say about Mokango's game was that it was average. Eight points on 3-for-7 shooting. However, in 15 minutes of play she picked up three personal fouls. Her -7 in raw plus/minus was the third worst on the Dream - the dream slid behind when Mokango was on the floor. But hey - it ain't easy playing in the W, not even in the preseason.

Erika White: Now, we're entering the realm of "meh". White played 20 minutes and had a grand total of four points. Negative plus/minus. Three assists, three turnovers. One rebound.

Brittainey Raven: Raven was the fourth member of the Dream that schored in double digits, but in 23 minutes she had four personal fouls. That led the team, and kept the Dream from making more effective use of her. No assists, one turnover. Raven will need to get herself in better control if she wants to make the Dream.

Shawn Goff: Goff only scored two points in 19 minutes of play. She did have four rebounds, which were counterbalanced with the four personal fouls she committed. She turned the ball over twice. This is the part of the list where the players will have to fight to stay alive in training camp. You might only get one shot at making an impression. However, Goff got to start and had a +7 in raw plus/minus, partially due to that 11-0 Dream run to start the game.

Coco Miller: EGAD. Coco Miller had a raw plus/minus of -15. Maybe she was playing with nothing but rookies on the court, but Coco only generated four points to go with her three assists. At least she only turned the ball over once, but that raw plus/minus is just horrible.

Alison Bales: She started, and in the Battle of the Centers, Bales scored four points - and Tina Charles scored 21. Bales went 1-for-5 in shooting but she did have six rebounds. I don't know; I'd hate to have to guard Tina Charles too.

Brigitte Ardossi: 20 minutes played. Only two points scored. 1-for-4 shooting. -11 plus/minutes. 3 personal fouls. I'm not going to call Brigitte Ardossi the Bad Dream of the game, as this is just an exhibition. But right now, given the limited statistical lines, Raven just moved ahead of Ardossi in terms of training camp security.

33/2009 - Dream 88, Sun 64

What's that I see in the stands?

Indiana was the first team to cross the finish line, but the runners behind the Fever were all bunched up. Atlanta edges out in front and manages to get across the finish line a split second before the other runners - if you want to stretch this analogy to excruciating proportions.

Here are my thoughts about the game:

1) I didn't see Connecticut working out much at all. They weren't even shooting until they were announced and came onto the court as a group. Maybe coach Mike Thibault was afraid that one of his players would break something.

2) There were a lot of young people in the crowd - they must have been waiting for the weekend. The problem that Atlanta has is that on Friday nights, the Dream have to compete with high school football.

It seemed that people were pouring in to Philips Arena throughout the game. I wonder how many of them were mistaken about the start time, believing the game started at 7:30 pm instead of at 7 pm.

3) Also noted: when the Sun ran out onto the court as a team, there was virtually no applause. The Sun would be receiving no Southern hospitality.

4) Someone was carrying a sign that read, "Happy Birthday Angel" - it was actually was McCoughtry's belated birthday, as her birthday falls on September 10th. Whoever made this sign had the right idea:

* Multiple colors were used
* Consistent font/writing
* The letters were large, at least an "inch thick" in dark, rather than light colors. This is the kind of sign you can read across the court. It appeared to be written on paper, which means easy transportation as the sign simply rolls up when not being used

If you're thinking of a sign, remember these tips.

5) This was "Fan and Military Appreciation Night" and an honor guard brought the American flag out to center court. Roselin J. Johnson sang the National Anthem. My understanding is that Ms. Johnson is a member of the Atlanta police force. She was very good; it might have been the best rendition of the National Anthem I've heard this year.

6) Before the game started, coach Marynell Meadors presented Angel McCoughtry with her Rookie of the Month award for August. There was another sign: "Congratulations Rookie of the Year: Angel McCoughtry".

7) There were two players showing up that I didn't expect to show up: one was Tamika Whitmore, who had been tending to her sick grandmother from what I understand. The other was Chamique Holdsclaw. Holdsclaw wasn't dressed for the game but her hair was in a bun and she was attired pretty smartly.

8) Atlanta starters: McCoughtry, Lyttle, de Souza, Castro Marques, Lehning. Holdsclaw was there to "shove" McCoughtry on the court, which is sort of becoming a tradition.
Connecticut starters: Jekabsone-Zogota, Gardin, Gruda, White, Whalen. No Asjha Jones.

9) In the first quarter, the game got started fast. It seemed like Atlanta wanted to run. Aside from a brief point where the Sun led 4-2 after a steal by Gardin and a basket by Whalen, the Dream took the lead. Sancho Lyttle picked up six quick points before four minutes had passed.

What I didn't like: Lehning made three bad passes in the first five minutes or so. If I recall correctly, all of them were overthrows. However, it only counted as two turnovers for Lehning as Lyttle tried to save one of those passes but Tan White fouled Lyttle when Lyttle was still (1/2) in control of the ball.

10) The Dream promotional staff decided to have a 3-point shooting contest. One of the participants was a young kid named Conor...

...and let me tell you, this kid was a freak. His tiny little body was just sinking 3-pointers left and right, absolutely killing them. It seemed that it took every bit of his strength to shoot from behind the arc, but he nailed shot after shot after shot. He was amazing. Hopefully, word has gotten back to the Atlanta Hawks.

11) Amber Holt hit a couple of buckets, and the score was 19-16 Atlanta. On Holt's second shot, Holt outraced Iziane Castro Marques to the bucket. It looked like Connecticut was going to make a game of it.

12) But then...no. Up 19-16, the Dream went on an 11-0 run. Shalee Lehning drove to the basket on a breakaway, scoring four seconds after an Erika de Souza rebound. Then, Erika scored on an assist by Angel McCoughtry.

And let's talk about McCoughtry and an amazing first quarter sequence. Up 27-16, Angel McCoughtry had what I call a "real steal" - not one of those steals which is nothing more than just catching a bad pass, but a steal where you break up the opponent's dribble. It's amazing to see McCoughtry get those steals, because McCoughtry is moving in the opposite direction and it ends on a "one-on-zero" break to the opponent basket.

So McCoughtry is all alone with the Connecticut Sun galloping behind her. Firing point blank - she misses. By that time, Kiesha Brown has arrived, but McCoughtry gets the offensive rebound. And then, she makes the basket, gets the foul and McCoughtry sinks the follow-up free throw. Steal + Missed Field Goal + Offensive Rebound + Field Goal + Free Throw. That's how you fill up a stat line.

13) Atlanta hit 13 of its 18 attempts for 72.2 percent shooting in the first quarter. They held the Sun to four total rebounds. (The Dream had 14). Clearly, the Dream had something to say in the first 10 minutes of the game, and they said it.

14) Connecticut went into the zone defense for the second quarter, and it seemed that Atlanta had trouble breaking through. The Sun scored the first points of the second quarter and trailed 30-21. The Dream had a hard time adjusting and made a couple of bad passes. One of Atlanta's problems was the outlet pass; there were at least three passes that ended up with turnovers (out of bounds, whatever) during the game.

15) Then, the Dream began to turn it up. McCoughtry got another "real steal" and would have had a basket if she hadn't lost her balance when in the middle of a Sun logjam of players. Ivory Latta came in for the first time and hit a 3-pointer. Ninety seconds later, Latta hit an underhanded layup to put the Dream up 43-27. It was all a part about an 8-0 run that gave Atlanta a 20-point lead, 47-27.

16) During the run, Sandrine Gruda earned a technical foul. Why, I have no idea. She had been called for a foul a few moments earlier, maybe she said something to the referees. Listening to the WNBA Live Access archive, Art Eckman provides no information - I don't think he even knew one was called.

17) With the score 47-31, a fan was quizzed on the Jumbotron and was given this question:

Which Atlanta Dream player is getting married next month?
a) Armintie Price, b) Ivory Latta, c) Shalee Lehning

The answer, if you didn't know, is "a". The fan answered "b". (The fan won the swag anyway.)

18) It seemed that we could do no wrong. Armintie Price - probably planning her nuptials - took the court. Up 49-34, Price had the ball, drove to the basket and got the defensive foul. Unfortunately, "Half Price" - she only hits 50 percent of her free throws - missed the gimme free throw. Price had five points before the end of the half.

19) Halftitme. The Dream led 53-36. Atlanta was still shooting over 50 percent, hitting 23 out of 40 shots. Lyttle had scored 14 points and Erika de Souza had 6 points and 7 rebounds.

20) The person wearing the pink Lehning jersey was back again. Hello!

21) I was very glad to see a commerical for Georgia State women's basketball. I think that as women's basketball fans, we need to support our local college teams and I recommend that you attend either a Georgia State game or a Georgia Tech game. I saw a lot of Georgia Tech games last year; Alexander Memorial Coliseum is a cool place to see a game.

22) With the season over, I think the Shooting Stars dancers - or was it the Dream front office workers - began giving out a lot of swag, whole boxes of it. They gave out a lot of water bottles - and pens? Were they pens? I never got a pen!

23) The third quarter started. Angel McCoughtry picked up her third personal foul early in the third quarter. Iziane Castro Marques picked up her first two fouls in the first two minutes of the third.

But we continued to roll. Lehning hit a 3-pointer to jump the score to 58-38. Ninety seconds later, Lehning hit another 3-pointer for her 13th point as Atlanta took a 62-41 lead.

24) Despite some lapses - Iziane attempting to drive 1-on-3 against Connecticut was one of them - the Dream maintained its 20-point lead and proceeded to extend it. It was then that I caught the Brazilian flag in the stands. I took a snapshot, and that's where the picture at the head of this blog post comes from. (Can you make out the flag?)

25) Cierra Burdick took part in a competition on court. A friend of mine - who has forgotten more about women's basketball than I've learned - pointed out to me that Burdick is a member of the USA's under-16 women's team that just won the 2009 FIBA Americas U16. Burdick will be eligible to play for a college team in 2011.

Here's her profile. The site says that she's considering North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Maybe she's thinking Tech or Georgia?

26) With 4:50 to go in the third quarter, de Souza picked up her 11th point. She now had a double-double. Lehning was already having a career high game. The Dream went on a 14 point run in the third quarter and with 30 seconds left in the third Atlanta led 78-46 - a 32 point lead that effectively ended the game before the fourth quarter had even started.

27) Someone told me that Ivory Latta would be playing in Turkey next year. I can't say who. So I'll keep an eye on Turkish news and see if I can't find out anything. Latta started the first part of the season in Turkey last year then transferred to Israel in mid-season.

28) Erika de Souza had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Sancho Lyttle had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Lehning was in double-digits. There really wasn't much of a point in playing the fourth quarter...but the players were pros, and that's what they're paid for.

29) Sure enough, the fourth and final quarter started out sloppy. Coco Miller turned over the ball on a bad pass to Erin Phillips - and then, immediately after, Ivory Latta was called for a foul despite that it appeared that Phillips drove into Latta.

Boy, did the crowd boo! Atlanta fans - we're up by 31 points with nine minutes left. Does it really matter if Ivory Latta gets a ticky-tack foul or not?

30) For almost three minutes, the Dream did not score. Not to say that the Dream weren't involved in the game. Erika de Souza was standing and waving towels from the bench.

When Jennifer Lacy was called for a foul with seven minutes left in the game, the boos just rained down. I guess a lot of the booing fans must have been 2008 season ticket holders - after 2008, we don't even trust the Dream when they're up by 30.

31) With 6:16 left in the game, Michelle Snow was called for a technical foul. I believe that she had fouled Sandrine Gruda while she was shooting but according to Art Eckman - and looking at the replay - Snow really didn't do anything to deserve the technical. Eckman stated that Snow didn't say anything that objectionable - it was most likely that Snow had been complaining non-stop and the ref just decided he had enough of it.

32) It was now time for iPod Karaoke. This time, however, there was no player to sing the song. Instead, they had one fan sing a song to another fan. The song was a song called "Bubbly" which I had never heard.

I don't like this development. I like to see the players do stuff, not fans.

33) During the back half of the fourth quarter, it seemed that Jennifer Lacy kept calling for the ball. Atlanta's lead was in the mid-20s because they really weren't shooting anything. The Dream couldn't get the ball in to Lacy - they wanted to give Lacy some points - but Connecticut wasn't going to let Atlanta do that. Lacy would go wanting.

34) With 3 1/2 minutes left, both teams went over the limit. However - thank goodness - neither team fouled for the rest of the game, preventing that inexorable March of the Free Throw Lines you sometimes see at the end of game.

McCoughtry got another steal and another "one-on-zero" drive. It was McCoughtry's 18th point.

35) With 49 seconds left, the Dream took their final shot of the game - an airball by Armintie Price. Angel McCoughtry would get the ball back from Anete Jekabsone-Zogota but they would work the clock down to nothingness. The ball was turned over on a shot clock violation.

With 17 seconds left, the Connecticut Sun had the ball back, but they weren't going to do anything with it. Erin Phillips dribbled down the remaining seconds...and the Dream were in the playoffs for the first time in their history!

It might be a while before we get a statistical post-mortem: the Dream take the court in Washington an hour from now.

32/2009 - Mercury 100, Dream 82

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is honored at the game. (Thanks to @atlantadream.)

WNBA Live Access seems to be a 50-50 proposition - at least for me. Last night, it was was up for about 30 percent - I got the entire first quarter, but only small pieces of the subsequent quarters. I hung in as best as I could, watching the box score update. What there is, there is.

1) The audio began with a bleed-through - there were two different sound feeds coming out on audio. One sounded like Kevin Ray, the announcer for the Mercury. The other seemed to be two guys talking about college football. This might be the "emergency back up" announcer that every WNBA is required by law to have - actually, I'm just kidding. In the event that the announcer passes out or is otherwise incapacitated, the mike is probably passed to a random passer-by.

2) Atlanta's starters: Lyttle, McCoughtry, de Souza, Castro Marques and Lehning.
Phoenix's starters: when Phoenix announces its starters, they have a theme. Britney Spears's "Circus" plays overhead and each of the players on the Jumbotron is announced, with a circus-like poster next to each player:

"The Greatest Coe on Earth" - Le'coe Willingham
"Tan-Tastic" - Tangela Smith
"The Mique Show" - Temeka Johnson
"The Ring Leader" - Cappie Pondexter
"The Amazing Taurasi" - Diana Taurasi

3) Attendance: looked pretty good. Seeing as how there is now all kinds of competition - college football, school, etc, any attendance is good attendance.

4) WNBA Live Access announced the "X-Factor" - namely, that no one in Phoenix sits until the Mercury scores. If you're a Mercury fan (or Dream fan), this is actually not unique - the Seattle Storm does the same thing, and I don't know who came up with it first. If we had had this in Atlanta last year, we would all have suffered deep vein thrombosis.

5) Warm ups: I thought I caught Angel McCoughtry doing something akin to Soulja Boy's "Bird Walk" while warming up - although she might have just been trying to warm up her tendons.

6) Iziane started the game with a drive to the basket that ended up with her point-blank at the basket...and missing. However, Atlanta started out well. We scored the first four points. We took an 8-6 lead and hope was high that this would be a game where the Dream could be competitive.

7) Then, our lead disappeared. Phoenix, knowing that Atlanta was playing a back-to-back, came up with the world's simplest strategy: run. The Mercury went on a 10-0 run, marked by all sorts of Atlanta miscuues. Sancho Lyttle couldn't cash in on a point-blank layup as the ball literally rolled off the rim. Shalee Lehning, finding no one to pass to, drove to the basket only to find Cappie Pondexter waiting for her.

Iziane Castro Marques threw the ball right into the hands of Tangela Smith. Lyttle, looking for someone near the basket, threw the ball over everyone's head and into the seats.

It was clear that the Dream were pretty tired. These were the stupid mistakes that come from fatigue.

8) Another part of Phoenix's strategy - double-team McCoughtry whenever possible. It worked, rendering McCoughtry ineffective in the first quarter. In the first six minutes, McCoughtry got off exactly one shot, and missed it. Within 6 1/2 minutes of McCoughtry taking the court, Marynell Meadors switched out McCoughtry for...Coco Miller.

All this would do is make the Mercury very happy. Phoenix followed with a 10-3 run that made me believe that Atlanta had decided to fold their tent and just go through the motions for the rest of the game. Meadors took the hand she was dealt and put Armintie Price in for Erika de Souza (no one will confuse those two players). With 4.7 seconds left on the clock, Price got to the line for two free throws. "Half" Price (because she shoots 50 percent at the line) lived up to the nickname I just gave her, hitting one out of two to leave Phoenix ahead 26-13 after the first quarter.

9) Looking at the first quarter stats, the Dream were only shooting 30 percent. Phoenix was 12-for-22 from the court and had four offensive rebounds to the Dream's two. It must have heartened any one watching.

10) And then...Live Access went out. Non compos mentis. This left me to watch the box score update for most of the second quarter.

I heard Kevin Ray say something about a "fever pitch" (in the brief clip of sound before the constant rebuffering) and if there was a fever, it came with a dallop of Snow. Michelle Snow. Of the first five shots that Atlanta took in the second quarter, she downed four of them. We got it down to less than 10 again, 30-21.

11) Phoenix fought back to take a 37-23 lead, increasing the Mercury lead to 14 points - the largest lead of the game of that time. However, Atlanta answered with an 11-0 run to close the game to within five points with 2:28 left in the quarter. Castro Marques crossed the 10 points border at the end of the first half with a 3-pointer with 1:27 left in the second to close the game to 39-35. However, in the last 90 seconds the Mercury answered with a couple of baskets to take a 43-35 lead into halftime.

The Dream managed to increase its shooting percentage to 37.5 percent (15-for-40), but Phoenix was shooting 52.7 percent (19-for-36). Phoenix's shooting edge was enough to keep the lead.

12) I was distracted a litte bit by dishwasher duty - I have to contribute to keeping the place clean while our friends are in for the weekend. When I got back, the Phoenix front office was busy giving an award to Jackie Joyner-Kersee during "Women of Inspiration" Night. I've written about the basketball career of Jackie Joyner-Kersee before, so they clearly weren't honoring her for her pro basketball career.

It's a pity, because all Live Access would give me was still images of Jackie Joyner-Kersee and the occasional awarding of a plaque. I hope the honorees got more honor from the Phoenix crowd than they did from Live Access.

13) In the third, the Dream were committed to fight. Maybe they could give Phoenix a surprise. Phoenix started with a 7-0 run, but Atlanta answered with an 8-0 run of its own, capped with Iziane being fouled by Temeka Johnson while making a 3-pointer. Castro Marques would make all three free throws, and Phoenix led 50-45.

14) Then, Live Access came back again. It was 50-47 Phoenix and the tide of the Dream was about to breach the walls of the Mercury. Down 52-47, Castro Marques hit a 3-pointer that closed the gap to 52-50 - Phoenix's lead had been whittled down to one possession....

15) ...but it was not to last. Live Access went out again, and with it, any hope that the Dream could keep it close. Phoenix went on an 18-4 run. Meadors got rid of Shalee Lehning at put Ivory Latta in. Price was taken out and McCoughtry was brought in. The team took a timeout. Nothing helped.

By the end of the third quarter, Phoenix laid off of McCoughtry enough for her to take her obligatory 3-pointer. It went in. After 29 minutes of the game, Angel McCoughtry was finally on the score board. However, Phoenix carried a 74-61 lead into the fourth quarter.

Atlanta broke into the 40 percent range in shooting, but the Dream had 13 turnovers to the Mercury's seven. Phoenix was offensive rebounding just as well as Atlanta was. The shooting game had gone Phoenix's way.

16) What to say about the fourth quarter? I still wasn't getting Live Access (and when it did come in, I got about 30 seconds worth of game). The Mercury would keep its double-digit lead for the rest of the game. The Mercury's goal was simply to get the ball to Dewanna Bonner as much as possible. With Bonner and McCoughtry in a battle for Rookie of the Year, the goal of Phoenix was to help Bonner in the stats category.

The problem was that Atlanta was in no shape to put up a fight - either that, or Bonner is just that good. Halfway through the fourth quarter, the final outcome of the game had sank in. The biggest topics of discussion among fans in the fourth quarter:

a) Cappie Pondexter's hair, and
b) The fact that Shalee Lehning blocked a Temeka Johnson shot with 3:33 to go in the game. Temeka must have been shooting that shot from knee level.

17) With 2:31 to go, the Mercury got the lead back up to 16 points again. With 54 seconds to go, they had a 20 point lead off Dewanna Bonner's second free throw. Castro Marques hit a lay-up for Atlanta's final points. Each team exchanged 3-point attempts, and that was the end of the ball game.



As I had written earlier, I didn't expect us to win. I was expecting us to stay within 10 points, so I'm disappointed. But at least, it wasn't a 30-point blowout.

Okay. This one is in the books. The statistical post-mortem comes later.