2008 WNBA Preview Sponsored by Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#1
#1
Here is once again my disclaimer......

I do not profess to be a WNBA expert. I am just a closet sportswriter who loves the game of basketball. So I am asking you all to feel free to chime in, give your opinions, but most of all let's have fun. I will make mistakes, help me with what you think are the facts. This Preview will be very OBJECTIVE. I know a lot of fans in the WNBA can not see the proverbial "forest from the trees". I don't roll like that. I try to call them as I see them, right, wrong or indifferent. I will do two teams per day up till Opening night (Just one today), and I will save the Monarchs for the final preview.

With that said I think this is going to be a very open and competitive and season. In my view there is no one clear cut favorite in the East or the West, becuase of player transactions, injuries and international obligations. Today we start by introducing......... ATLANTA DREAM
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#2
#2
Atlanta Dream

Projected Starting Five
PF – Kristen Mann
SF – Izi Castro-Marquez
C – Katie Feenstra
PG – Ivory Latta
SG – Betty Lennox


Key Bench Players – Erika DeSousa, Kristen Haynie, Carla Thomas, Chantelle Anderson
Key Additions – Everybody
Key Subtractions - Nobody


Outlook – Of course it is always hard to predict how an expansion team is going to fare, but based upon historical precedence, let's assume that Atlanta will not make the playoffs this season. They do have a roster full of names that should bring some interest to WNBA fans in the “Dirty South”. Ivory Latta is a charming personality, but I am not convinced yet in her talent in the long run as a franchise staple. Betty Lennox is already threatening to retire. Kristen Mann and Katie Feenstra are fringe players. But I really like Izi Castro-Marquez. A wiry swing player coming off of a career year (12.3 ppg, 28.3 mpg) that you can stick at the 2 or the 3 for the next few years. However it remains to be seen, how much Castro-Marquez can contribute this season due to Brazilian National Team commitment. All of this adds up to a long first season for The Dream.

Projection: 7TH, EASTERN CONFERENCE (6-28)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#4
#4
Minnesota Lynx

Projected Starting Five
PF – Tiffany Stansbury
SF – Seimone Augustus
C – Nicole Ohlde
PG – Noelle Quinn
SG – Anna DeForge


Key Acquisitions – DeForge
Key Subtractions – Svetlana Abrosimosa, Lindsay Harding, Kristen Mann
Key Bench Players – Candice Wiggins, Kristen Rasmussen

Outlook – I can understand if Lynx fans are excited about their team, and they should be.....for the future. The Lynx will improve, but this team is still so young. The burden still falls on the shoulders of Seimone Augustus and nobody else. All of her numbers from '07 was better than '06. She is the “W's” Carmelo Anthony, and is the sole reason Minnesota was in so many games last season. But the talent around her, particularly in the front court and on the bench is extremely thin. The addition of Anna DeForge does help, but as Seimone's career numbers go up, DeForge's career numbers go down. The Lynx must improve their defense. In '07 they were the worst team in the league in terms of Field Goal Percentage Allowed (.450) and second worst in Points Per game (81ppg). I would think in the next couple of seasons with a healthy Lindsay Harding and a veteran Candice Wiggins, you will see a playoff bound Minnesota team, but not this year.

Projection: 6th WESTERN CONFERENCE (15-19)
 
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Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#5
#5
Houston Comets

Projected Starting Five
PF – Michelle Snow
SF – Tina Thompson
C – Sancho Lyttle
PG – Shannon Johnson
SG - Hamchetou Maiga Ba


Key Acquisitions – Matee Ajavon, Shannon Johnson, Mwadi Mbeka
Key Subtraction – Sheryl Swoopes
Key Bench Players – Tameka Dixon, Latasha Byears, Ashley Shields

Outlook – Consider the Comets one year away from their complete franchise transformation. Cynthia Cooper, gone. Van Chancellor, gone. Sheryl Swoopes, gone. Toyota Center, gone. Les alexander, gone. And Tina Thompson is on her way. But for whatever reason, the Comets attempt to reload on the fly. Their at their key acquisitions. Shannon Johnson and Mwadi Mbeka, both well over 30 and well past their prime. The younger players they have brought in have done nothing to improve the squad. The comets if they want to make a jump are going to have to get contributions from Ashley Shields, Sancho Lyttle and possibly one of their rookies. The Comets look like they are going to play big, with Hamchetou Maiga-Ba manning the “2” slot, because the rest of the backcourt is so suspect. Maiga-Ba's natural position of course is Small forward not shooting guard, and is not a great outside shooter. Opponents will pack in the lane, double Thompson and dare Johnson and Maiga-Ba to beat them on the outside. I am not a fan of Karleen Thompson. I am not sure she is the coach to lead the organization into the future as far as player development. Playoffs are not in this team's immediate future.

Projection: 7th WESTERN CONFERENCE (14-18)
 
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Monty'sBiggestFan

Monty'sBiggestFan

Starter
#7
#7
Losing Harding hurts the Lynx for sure...but getting Hayden back, and adding Anosike could help their front line tremendously.

A healthy Wiggins in the backcourt will also ease the pressure on Augustus in the near term. The two of them, Quinn, DeForge will be crazy in a couple of years.
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#8
#8
Chicago Sky

Projected Starting Five
PF – Chasity Melvin
SF - Candace Dupree
C – Sylvia Fowles
PG – Dominique Canty
SG – Armentie Price


Key Acquisitions – Fowles
Key Bench Players – Jia Perkins, Kayte Christensen, Brooke Wycoff

Outlook – This team is ready and able to make a huge San Antonio Silver Stars/Phoenix mercury type jump right into the 2008 WNBA Playoffs. Let me go even one step further. This roster is shaping up to potentially dethrone Detroit to represent the Eastern Conference. I know that is a reach, but that is how much of an impact I think Sylvia Fowles is going to make in Chicago. Defensively “Big-Syl” is a game changer. With her long frame and wing span, she covers so much of the paint. Offensively she is so big and mobile, she covers a lot of ground with fluidity and little waisted motion. Throw in their the inside/mid range game of Candace Dupree, the defensive play of Armentie Price, the steady leadership at the point from Dominique Canty, and a bench anchored by Jia Perkins, and you have a mixture of offensive firepower and defensive versatility. Dupree is probably the most underrated player in the league. In 2007 she was third in the WNBA in Double Doubles, third in rebounding, sixth in blocks, and eleventh in scoring at 16.5 points per game; and she is only 23. The future is bright for Chicago, and the future may be right now.

Projection: 3rd – EASTERN CONFERENCE (20-14)
 
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Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#9
#9
Los Angeles Sparks

Projected Starting Five
PF – Delisha Milton-Jones
SF – Candace Parker
C – Lisa Leslie
PG – Temeka Johnson
SG – Sidney Spencer


Key Acquisitions – Parker, Milton-Jones, Ferdinand-Harris, Leslie (pregnancy)
Key Bench Players – Ferdinand-Harris, Jessica Moore, Murriel Page, Sherill Baker

Outlook – Let's get this out of the way. The Sparks could be the WNBA's 1st worst to first story in it's short history. And the conspiratory side of me says that Los Angeles planned it this way by tanking 2007. TANK, TANK, TANK, and nobody will convince me otherwise. With that said, this team is very talented. Whether that talent translates into chemistry, and chemistry translates into wins remains to be seen. But on paper and based on history, this team is primed and built to win the WNBA Championship now. The return to form of a pre-pregnancy, league MVP Lisa Leslie to me is far more important to LA than the Messiah coming of Candace Parker. Leslie drives that engine. If she returns to MVP form, everybody else around her only gets better. If she struggles, who knows what will happen. Los Angeles was in the bottom third in rebounding last season. Leslie only helps that. The Sparks gvae up 5.1 more points per game than they scored, Leslie only helps that. And as their male counterparts, the Lakers, the Sparks have play makers at every position and off of the bench. Those yougsters that led them to 10 wins are either gone or relegated to bench roles. This is a Michael Cooper designed roster; stars, high IQ role players, and high energy defense led by the return of Delisha Milton Jones. But as I said at the beginning, will this talent translate into chemistry translating into wins. I put my money on Yes.

Projection: 1st – WESTERN CONFERENCE (25-9)
 
StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#10
#10
Purple Reign said:
[snip]...Outlook – Let's get this out of the way. The Sparks could be the WNBA's 1st worst to first story in it's short history...
Click to expand...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the 2003 Detroit Shock was the first "worst-to-first" team. But then, I haven't checked the historical standings of them from 2002.

Also, on your Chicago Sky analysis, one "key addition" is their new head coach, Steven Key. Their previous coach (Bo Overton) abruptly resigned under a cloud of suspicion two months ago.
 
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Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#12
#12
Washington Mystics

Projected Starting Five
PF – Taj McWilliams-Franklin
SF – Monique Currie
C – Nakia Sanford
PG – Nikki Blue
SG – Alana Beard


Key Acquisitions – McWilliams-Franklin, Langhorne
Key Bench Players – Chrystal Langhorne, Tamara James, Coco Miller, Amber Jacobs

Outlook – To me, the Washington Mystics was one of the big disappointments in 2007. They boasted one the the best trios in the league in Alana Beard, Nikki Teasley and Delisha Milton-Jones. But a coaching change and an eight game losing streak, put to an end what was looking like a promising 2007. Now Beard, who is one of the most entertaining players in the game is without Milton-Jones and Teasley and not much more around her. Beard is a volume scorer; in 2007 Beard averaged 18.8 points per game on 16 shots per game. But where her game falls short in my view is for all of her offensive skills, she does not get to the free throw line nearly enough, and only shoots 32 percent from three while taking 146 3 point attempts. That shows me that she is trying to do to much. I think that will not change this year. I think the most baffling part of the Mystics game is that they attempt to play and talk tough, but they are on of the worst rebounding teams in the league (-2.7 rebounds per game). Taj McWilliams Franklin for Milton Jones is less talent, more leadership. However the Mystics don't need more leadership, they need a second wheel to run with Beard and take some of the scoring load off of that injured shoulder.

Projection: 5th (tie), EASTERN CONFERENCE (15-19)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#13
#13
New York Liberty

Projected Starting Five
PF - Cathrine Kraayeveld
SF – Shemeka Christon
C – Janel McCarville
PG – Loree Moore
SG – Erin Thorn


Key Acquisitions – Essence Carson, Erlana Larkins,
Key Bench Players – Carson, Ashley Battle, Jessica Davenport



Outlook – The Liberty as a franchise is on the way to becoming a perennial playoff contender for years to come. They gave Detroit all they could handle in the playoffs, and that experience should only help them get better. The Liberty are talented but they are so young; a combination that should serve them well. I attribute their rise to two factors. Number one, the long time coming development of Janel McCarville. In games that I saw her play, McCarville, she was so active, energetic and her footwork around the basket was very good. This year she is going to have to work on being tougher around the basket defensively and going after tough rebounds (she only averaged 4.8 rebounds, 31st in the league). Number two, the Liberty back court turned into one of the best in the league. The partnership of Loree Moore and Erin Thorn was the reason why the Liberty was a dangerous perimeter team (leading the league in 3pt percentage). Moore is already one of the best floor generals in the game on both sides of the ball (2nd in league in total assist and 1st in steals). Moore is the unquestioned leader of the team. Shemeka Christon has transitioned nicely from bench role player to All-Star. On defense she is a solid defender, on offense she is not super great in one thing, but extremely efficient. I think if New York is to take the real big jump, they are going to have to stop depending on the three so much, and get around the basket, especially Cathrine Kraayveld. At 6 feet 4, she shot 129 3's. And though she can hit the shot, you lose something when your center is camping on the outside of the 3 point line. The Liberty with a bench of Battle and Davenport and add to the mix young talented rookies such as Essence Carson and Elena Larkins who are used to the big stage, they are stocked for a breakthrough this season.

Projection: 4th, EASTERN CONFERENCE (19-15)
 
StevenHW

StevenHW

Starter
#14
#14
Purple Reign:

I enjoy reading your prediction analysis. Interesting and informative.

However, I noticed your projection for the Chicago Sky is missing. What do you predict will be their won-loss record and their standing in the Eastern Conference? I'm guess they'll be 3rd and make the playoffs?
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#15
#15
StevenHW said:
Purple Reign:

I enjoy reading your prediction analysis. Interesting and informative.

However, I noticed your projection for the Chicago Sky is missing. What do you predict will be their won-loss record and their standing in the Eastern Conference? I'm guess they'll be 3rd and make the playoffs?
Click to expand...
Thanks Steven, I am fixing it right now.:eek:
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#16
#16
Seattle Storm

Projected Starting Five
PF – Lauren Jackson
SF – Sheryl Swoopes
C – Yolanda Griffith
PG – Swin Cash
SG – Sue Bird


Key Acquisitions – Yolanda Griffith, Sheryl Swoopes, Swin Cash
Key Bench Players – Janell Burse, Betty Lennox, Iziana Castro-Marquez, Anne Donovan

Outlook – I am not quite convinced that the Hall of Fame/All Star upgrade of Yolanda Griffith, Swin Cash and Sheryl Swoopes is going to translate into a WNBA Championship for the Seattle Storm. I mean that is why those three went there wasn't it? I know it wasn't just to get to the playoffs and out in the first round again. So if Championship is the barometer, then I don't think it happens. This team is still all about Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird. And both of those players have some question marks going into this season. Let's start with Jackson; she is the league's reigning MVP. The question with Jackson is going to be her health to a point, but more than that, her availability. There is speculation that she will miss some time due to the Bejing Games. If that is the case, that puts the Storm at a significant disadvantage. The second question is with Sue Bird and her productivity. She is still in the top echelon of point guards, but she nowhere near has the superstar caliber game she had in 2004, and she is not even that old (27). For the fourth year in a row, Bird's total assist have gone down, and she shot an astounding 26 TOTAL FREE THROWS IN ALL OF 'O7.:eek: Are you kidding me? That is not good. The Storm bench also is going to be very thin. And now without Janell Burse, 38 year old Griffith is going to have to play more than the 23 minutes per game than she played last year. The switch from Anne Donovan (who was constantly under fire) to Brian Agler, will be very interesting. The players seem to swear by him, but Donovan is a legend and a very good coach; without her I see the same this year that I saw last year, a first round playoff exit.

Projection: 4th – WESTERN CONFERENCE, (19-15)
 
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creative one

creative one

Bench
#17
#17
Bird's days of being an "elite" point guard in this league are over. Loree Moore is better than she is, and Loree's also a bit younger. When healthy, Whalen is also a much better PG than Bird. When playing with an attacker's mentality, so is Ticha.

If not for the "silver spoon" treatment that Bird has enjoyed since her prep days, she wouldn't be the starting PG for Team USA. Why do you think Kelly Miller and Becky Hammon are trying to play for Russia? Because they don't like the politics involved in USA Basketball. Bird didn't try out for her position. It was handed to her as if she was somehow entitled.
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#18
#18
Connecticut Sun

Projected Starting Five
PF – Tameka Whitmore
SF – Ashja Jones
C – Tameka Whitmore
PG – Lindsay Whalen
SG - ?????


Key Acquisitions – Whitmore, Tamika Raymond
Key Bench Players - NONE

Outlook – This team in my view mirrors the Sacramento Monarchs, but in a worst way. Since the Sun's back to back WNBA finals appearances in 2004 and '05, they have lost talent and have not replaced it. Gone is McWilliams-Franklin, Margo Dydek, Katie Douglas, Nykeshia Sales. That is a lot to lose. Connecticut still has in my mind, the best point guard in the league in Lindsay Whalen. Whalen only played and started all 34 games. Led the league in assist (5.0), was in the top 10 in steals (2.1), third in assist to turnover (2.25) and is just a delight to watch. Ashja Jones is the other cornerstone of the team. Jones, may be asked to play small forward this season. She is not a small forward. Jones is a banger, with small forward mobility. Jones hit all of one-3 last season; I just don't think that outside shooting is not part of her game. The addition of Tameka Whitmore will help Jones and Whalen tremendously, but the Sun have a real big gaping hole at the wings on the perimeter. I can't even begin to say who will start at the shooting guard position. With Sales and Douglas in '07, Connecticut shot 43 percent which was fourth in the league; however they only shot .341 percent from 3 which was 11th in the league. Outside shooting will be the difference in this team making the playoffs or getting into the lottery.

Projection: 5th – EASTERN CONFERENCE (16-18)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#19
#19
Indiana Fever

Projected Starting Five
PF – Ebony Hoffman
SF – Tamika Catchings
C – Tammy Sutton-Brown
PG – Tully Bevalaqua
SG – Katie Douglas


Key Acquisitions – Katie Douglas, Lin Dunn
Key Bench Players – Tan White, Allison Feaster

Outlook – If, and this is a big giant if.....If Tamika Catchings can stay healthy through the entire season, this could be Indiana's year in the East. Every year I say the same thing, Catchings is the best two way player in the game. She probably means as much to Indiana as any player means to their team. And every year she goes down, so goes the hopes of the Indiana Fever. Catchings is the best defensive player in the league, and there is no close second. Last year she averaged a staggering 9 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. And on offense, although Tully Bevalaqua is the point guard, the ball is in Catchings hands more in the fourth quarter. She is Ron Artest without the craziness. As the season progresses, we will see that the Katie Douglas acquisition will be the most important move in the league. Douglas' production has risen to consistent All Star status. She will be the dependable second wheel that will run with Catchings and give Eastern Conference teams fits. She provides a consistant outside threat that Bevalaqua doesn't, and Douglas is tough and a great fourth quarter player. The only question mark on this squad is coach Lin Dunn. This is Dunn's third stop in the W (Seattle and Portland). What does she bring that Brian winters didn't. She is fortunate to be coaching a very talented seven players, and a veteran squad.

Projection: 1st - EASTERN CONFERENCE (24-10)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#20
#20
San Antonio Silver Stars

Projected Starting Five
PF – Sophia Young
SF – Erin Buescher
C – Ruth Riley
PG – Becky Hammon
SG – Vicki Johnson


Key Acquisitions -
Key Bench Players – Shana Crossley, Helen Darling, Ann Wauters

Outlook – The San Antonio Silver Stars go into 2008 with high expectations. Although they were not very competitive with Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals, they do return their talented top six players plus the return of Erin Buescher and the addition of Ann Waulters. Of course the train is driven by the “Little Engine That Could” Becky Hammon. Hammon who finished second in the MVP voting, brings great leadership and a great desire to win. Hammon with all of her greatness, turns the ball over too much for my taste. To me, for every big shot she makes, she misses a bad shot or turns the rock over. Hammon as Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor has international basketball obligations as she attempts to play for Russia in the Beijing Games in a very controversial move. Sophia Young is an outstanding post player. She is not a great rebounder (as a matter of fact the whole team does not rebound well, 12th out of 13 teams in total rebounds), but on the offensive side she has post moves galore, and her footwork is brilliant. This team has good perimeter play in Vicki Johnson, Shanna Crossley and Helen Darling (to an extent) and great post play. The Silver Stars will miss Marie Ferdinand Harris, but the addition of Wauters, who has not played in a few years should offset the subtraction.

Projection: 3rd WESTERN CONFERENCE (22-12)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#24
#24
Detroit Shock

Projected Starting Five
PF – Cheryl Ford
SF – Sheri Sam
C – Kara Braxton
PG – Katie Smith
SG – Deana Nolan


Key Acquisitions – Latoya Thomas, Sheri Sam
Key Bench Players – Thomas, Alexis Hornbuckle, Elaine Powell, Plenette Pearson

Outlook – It was good to see Detroit get knocked on their arse in the WNBA finals.:D Man, I don't like that team OR THEIR COACH WHO SHALL BE NAMELESS!!!! But you do have to respect them. Where do you start with this team; I will start with the health of Cheryl Ford. Ford only played 15 games due to knee injury. There is no question that if Ford was healthy, things could have been different for the Shock. Ford is the best rebounder in the game (11.2 rpg, leading the league). She seems to get timely offensive rebounds, something that Detroit missed against Phoenix. The Detroit back court in Katie Smith and Deana Nolan is 34 years and 29 respectively. Smith is not getting younger, but she is tough, smart and still hits timely shots. Nolan is still the most athletic player in the “W”. she actually raised her game last season particularly in shot selection (40 percent shooting in '06 to 46 percent in '07). The key to Detroit staying on top of the East is ford, once again Kara Braxton and production off of a weak bench. Basically it is Plenette Pearson and a bunch of rookies and nothing. Can that Detroit Starting Five (with Sheri Sam replacing Swin Cash) hold up. Both Nolan and smith were in the Top 5 in minutes last season. Can Bill Laimbeer squeeze production from the likes of LaToya Thomas, Alexis Hornbuckle, and Pearson as a whole, I don't know; I don't think so.

Projection: 2nd – EASTERN CONFERENCE (20-14)
 
Purple Reign

Purple Reign

Starter
#25
#25
Phoenix Mercury

Projected Starting Five
PF – Barbara Farris
SF – Diana Taurasi
C – Tangela Smith
PG – Kelly Miller
SG – Cappie Pondexter


Key Acquisitions – Latoya Pringle, Barbara Farris
Key Bench Players - Pringle

Outlook – Everybody all around the country are extremely quick to dismiss the WNBA defending champions. I understand that the loss of Penny Taylor is going to hurt very much; I understand that the loss of Paul Westhead is going to hurt. But I do remember that the Mercury still have the most explosive tandem in the game in Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter. They are lethal, they are unpredictable, they are intimidating. The two of them have learned to feed off of one another, and to stay out of each other's way. Especially Pondexter. In my opinion there is no other player in the game as dangerous with her hands on the ball. She like Chris Paul, can blow by anybody and get to the rim and get anything she wants on the floor. Outside of Sacramento Monarchs player, Pondexter is my favorite player in the league. I think in replacing Taylor, the Mercury could have done worst in Barbara Farris. I don't know what happened last year, but in '06 she started all 34 games for the Liberty. Last year was a magical season for Phoenix. They led the league in EIGHT major offensive categories (FG, FGA, FG percentage, 3 pointers made, 3 pointers attempts, FT percentage, Assists, Points). They finished second in FT made, third in FT attempted. Absolutely amazing!!! In my view, new coach Corey Gaines is going to have to turn up the heat on the offense even more:eek: if that is possible for the Mercury to offset Taylor's absence (until she comes back from Beijing, if she comes back). However, they like Detroit have a thin bench (I think an even worst bench) and three stars (counting point guard Kelly Miller) who play year around basketball. Phoenix in my view is not done yet, they play an outstanding brand of basketball and will continue to challenge at least for another season for supremacy in the West.

Projection: 2nd – WESTERN CONFERENCE (22-12)
 
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