[POLL] Next "Original" Champion?

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Before I get started, let me make it clear that if first choice would obviously be for the Monarchs to repeat in 2006. That being said, we all know that Sacramento became the third of the WNBA's seven remaining original teams to have won the Championship, so I was wondering, based on a combination of their current respective rosters, and their ownership's commitment to winning, which of the four remaining original teams do you think are likely to win a championship next?




In alphabetical order:

Charlotte Sting
2005 Record: 6-28 (6th place, Eastern Conference, 20 GB)
2005 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Playoff peak: 2001 Finals (lost 0-2 to Los Angeles Sparks)
Head Coach: Tyrone Bogues
Key Players: Allison Feaster, Sherri Sam, Tangela Smith



New York Liberty
2005 Record: 18-16 (3rd place, Eastern Conference, 8 GB)
2005 Playoffs: Conference Semifinals (lost 0-2 to Indiana Fever)
Playoff peak: 1997 Finals (lost 0-1 to Houston Comets), 1999 Finals (lost 1-2 to Houston Comets), 2000 Finals (lost 0-2 to Houston Comets), 2002 Finals (lost 0-2 to Los Angeles Sparks)
Head Coach: Pat Coyle
Key Players: Becky Hammon, Vickie Johnson, Ann Wauters



Phoenix Mercury
2005 Record: 16-18 (5th place, Western Conference, 9 GB)
2005 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Playoff peak: 1998 Finals (lost 1-2 to Houston Comets)
Head Coach: To be determined
Key Players: Anna DeForge, Penny Taylor, Diana Taurasi



San Antonio Silver Stars (née Utah Starzz)
2005 Record: 7-27 (7th place, Western Conference, 18 GB)
2005 Playoffs: Did not qualify
Playoff peak: 2002 Conference Finals (lost 0-2 to Los Angeles Sparks)
Head Coach: Dan Hughes
Key Players: Marie Ferdinand, Shannon Johnson, Wendy Palmer-Daniel

 

[tyrant]

San Antonio Silver Stars (née Utah Starzz)
2005 Record: 7-27 (7th place, Western Conference, 18 GB)

looks like my high school 10th grade season record.

 

[Purple Reign]

I believe that Ann Wauters is one of the best "bigs" in the league. Becky Hammon is on par with Ticha, Whalen and Bird. I like New York.

 

[6th]

This is tough. If I think in terms of NY and Charlotte having to get past a couple of tough teams in Connecticut and Indiana, that is pretty formidable. Then again, Phoenix and S.A. have to get past Houston, L.A. and Sacramento...all strong teams.

Okay, ignoring who a team must get past and looking only at players and owners, I would take Phoenix, but that would be assuming all the better players on Houston, L.A., and Sac have retired.

 

[Luv13fan]

Phoenix



I think the next Original Team that hasn't won already won will be Phoenix.

Not that I like anything thing about them...
But because the League has a lot vested in Diana Taurasi. Many of the media darlings have won in the W. Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson.

Mark My words Phoenix will be in contention next year. Because Diana brings ratings.

Sad but true...

The Monarchs haven't gotten early the coverage that Seattle recieved last year. But we are still the champs aren't we...

 

[6th]

The Monarchs haven't gotten early the coverage that Seattle recieved last year. But we are still the champs aren't we...

Yep!!!

Lalalalala...

We are the champions, my friend...

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Mark My words Phoenix will be in contention next year. Because Diana brings ratings.

Okay, I'll bite: what exactly are you insinuating?

The Monarchs haven't gotten early the coverage that Seattle recieved last year. But we are still the champs aren't we...

Do you mean "last year" as in, this season past, or "last year" as in 2004?

And, by the way, what's with the funky formatting of your posts? You do know that you only have to use the [COLOR] tags once, right? You don't have to re-apply them to each individual line of text...

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I'm not sure we'll see a "new" champion next year - by that I mean somebody who did not win one before. You know who I've got my money on, but I think a team with one of those trophies already or one who played for one and didn't get it will be holding it up in 06. Sacramento already had to play its way out of a western bracket full of holders of 7 of the trophies this year. But of the remaining originals:

Taurasi brings ratings true, but she's gotta make the playoffs before the league can hand her a trophy just because. They have failed to put a team around her that does not fade their way out of a playoff spot late in the 2nd half of the season.

That said, I like Phoenix' chances, because of said presence of Taurasi (although I don't buy that league wants to orchestrate her winning it - they would have gotten a bigger ratings boost if they had "orchestated" it last year when she would have been fresh off her completing her triple set of college championships and was high on the awareness scale AND when she could have gone from the college championship to the WNBA championship-she would have become instantly legendary). If they could have kept Stepanova around and that three headed scoring machine of Taurasi, Taylor and DeForge they probably would have made a return to the playoffs this year. They are young enough that if they get some vets and a point guard they should make some noise and be around for a while because they should be in pretty good salary cap shape.

I also like what San Antonio did and some of the pieces they have, they need a point guard who is not at odds with Hughes and/or his system. They also need to keep themselves healthy. And get rid of the curse of Nikki McCray . If they get Anderson back to some semblance of her college form AND get to her stop fouling herself out of effectiveness, that twin tower post tandem of her and Feenstra could be nasty with the outside shooting and just flat out athleticism they get from Thomas and Ferdinand, then you add a healthy Wecker to that? AND a 06 lottery pick?

Charlotte had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much talent to have been as bad as they were, they should make serious noise next year or else I would suspect they are a lost cause.

New York is about a year away from rebuilding. Robinson and Johnson will need to be replaced. And Johnson is going to be a big piece to replace. Christon and Wauters set them up for a solid future with Hammon leading the way. But their window seems small with CT and that loaded Detroit team that can't want to stay 2nd fiddle to CT. A rising Indy is there too, but they are going to have to replace Natalie Williams and the intangibles she brought.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I'll buy that... you'll note, of course, that I didn't say anything about next year; god willing, that'll be reserved for the Monarchs, to send Yo Griffith out on top.

 

[6th]

I'll buy that... you'll note, of course, that I didn't say anything about next year; god willing, that'll be reserved for the Monarchs, to send Yo Griffith out on top.

Amen!!!

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Bumpage

Okay, give yourself a pat on the back if you had Phoenix as the next charter team to win a title.

 

[6th]

pat...pat...pat.........

 

[Luv13fan]

Bumpage

Okay, give yourself a pat on the back if you had Phoenix as the next charter team to win a title.

Aww Man... Why did you have to Dig this up??? Interesting that I was correct tho. Ya'll never listen to me.

BTW My Opinion has not changed. But at least they Beat Detroit. And kept them from being Back 2 Back Champs.
Stings Don't it Bill???
I do Wonder if Phoenix will have their Home opener against Detroit. Wouldn't that be Swell.

I am Done Being Bitter about the Monarchs 06 Title Giveaway. I am all about Monarchs 08 "What the Hell Are we gonna Do to Right Our Ship."Take Back.

Next prediction... I am with 6th on this one. NEW YORK baby. And Had they missed the play-offs, I would have put money on them winning the Lottery. But they have a Nice team and I wouldn't be too adverse to seeing them win, unless they match up against us.

When do the threads begin about Off-season moves?
Is there a customary time period. Or Mourning Period.
Waiting for the NewCBA radification?
Or a list of the FA's?

I am dying to talk about the Salary Cap.

 

[Luv13fan]

Charlotte had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much talent to have been as bad as they were, they should make serious noise next year or else I would suspect they are a lost cause.

How Prophetic is this statement???

Yeah Donna O. kinda lost me at GoodBye on that one.

 

[StevenHW]

Pat, pat, pat!!! And congrats to the Mercury!

I don't really recall if I voted (at the time) for any of the teams. But if I did, I probably would've voted for the PHX Mercury.

Looking back on the earlier posts in this thread, dating from Sept. 2005 (after our Monarchs won the title), I am reminded of the parity in this league. In '05, the Liberty was a playoff team, even though their 18-16 won-loss record was not all that impressive. A year later, in 2006, several Liberty veteran players left, and the team went through a rebuilding (read: struggling) year. In 2007, they made the playoffs again, though they barely qualified.

The Utah Starzz/San Antonio Silver Stars had a very good season in '07, and I have to say that I was pleased by their improvement this year, a dramatic change from the disatrous Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil years as the team G.M. Dan Hughes deserved his Coach Of The Year award. But if the WNBA ever had an Executive Of The Year award, I would have voted Hughes for that one, and vote Chicago's Bo Overton as the W's COTY of 2007.

Charlotte...sad to see they are no longer in the league. But after the way the team was managed by Trudi Lacey and run into the ground by an uncaring and disapassionate owner (Robert Johnson), it is not suprising that the team folded. I mainly blame Johnson, who decided to get out the Sting in mid-December 2006, which didn't allow much time for the WNBA office to find another local person who could buy the team and keep in Charlotte. IIRC, the deadline for the 2007 schedule was coming up, and nobody could come up with the $10 million to buy the Sting and keep it in town or move it somewhere else.

Phoenix....well, nice to see another original charter team win a title after all these years. Maybe now the league will stop hyping them so much next year!

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I think I get a pat? I'm taking one anyway (begrudgingly).

I don't give the league a pity party for the demise of Charlotte...they've known for a while how bad off that franchise was and if they really were intent on making that work, they could have run it like they ran it after Shinn left. Or I dunno, how about for kicks, moved it to Chicago. Johnson wasn't committed to the W - he bought the package because he wanted in the M.

I'm starting to get the feeling I'm going to be REALLY mad in a few weeks. There is some rumbling that Orender is going to announce a new expansion franchise next month and it thus far isn't Colorado or Atlanta as has been widely speculated for months. The woman who missed the deadline on buying Charlotte? She said she was going to make another run at bringing a team back there. Otherwise somebody has quietly been accumulating A LOT of money to come in and we aint heard a peep about it for some strange reason I find extremely weird.