Let the Games After a month's hiatus for the Olympics, the Mystics kick off the remainder of their season tonight, when they host the Chicago Sky at 7 PM at the Verizon Center. This will be the first chance for fans to see the Taj-less Mystics; and the first chance for fans to see new players Tasha Humphrey and Shay Murphy, who were acquired in the Taj trade from Detroit. Most important, tonight will be the first opportunity for the fans -- and the team -- to see whether all that hard work over the break pays off in competition.
Parade of Olympians
With 26 games already in the books, the Mystics have just 8 games left to play, 4 of them at home. Each of those 4 games will give Mystics fans a chance to see a member of the Gold Medal Winning USA Olympic Team, starting tonight with Sylvia "Big Syl" Fowles. Unfortunately for Chicago, Big Syl missed most of the WNBA season due to an injury she suffered in a game against L.A. on June 3rd, during a play where she blocked a shot by Olympic teammate Lisa Leslie, and was called for the first ever goaltending violation in WNBA history. Goaltending! (That means she was called for blocking the shot after it started its downward arc toward the basket . . . in plain English, she was way above the rim!) The BasketCases are looking forward to seeing Big Syl in action tonight. We're also looking forward to seeing the new-look Mystics in action, and of course, we're hoping for a Mystics win! So . . . we'll see you later at the Phone Booth.
posted by BasketCases @ 12:05 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Please read the Rethinking Women's Basketball blog,re;Q's response to Mystic's current and possible future performance,and,most specifically regarding Alana Beard.It underscored what has been said on Rebkell all year ie...pointguards,pointguards, and oh yeah,pointguards.Here's hoping a proficient one is secured for Alana's and all Mystic supporter's sakes.
It's been pretty obvious to all of us that the PG position has been a problem for the Mystics this season.
As for Alana, we are hoping to see more effort and leadership from her in this last part of the season under Coach Kenlaw's guidance than we saw earlier.
-- BC
There doesn't seem to be an awareness in the Mystics organization that some people just are not leaders. That doesn't mean that they aren't talented at what they do or that they don't want attention. It seems part of the problem is that the organization is telling people that they have to be a leader, when they don't want to be. The Mystics' best example of this was Chamique. I suspect that Alana falls into this same category.
We agree with you about Meek and AB. Being talented (or, in Meek's case, hugely talented), doesn't make someone a leader. And we agree that AB doesn't seem to want that role. Unfortunately, with Taj gone, there's no person on the roster who is a leader.
-- BC
Four years ago, when Holdsclaw's depression forced her to quit the team, Alana (then a rookie) carried the Mystics into the playoffs. This year, the stretch before the Olympic break saw her playing some of the least effective ball of her career. Starting tonight, I hope we'll see the Alana of 2004 (and other all-sar seasons)again, not the June 2008 version.
With Taj no onger here, I don't know who else could step up in the same fashion.
C&OSpence
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