....says Fox Sports Net. I absolutely agree. Normally I just laugh at fans who say that their team gets no respect. But for the first time I honestly feel that way. This team is a straight up underdog, and I hope that it fuels a fire in them that we have not seen all year lon. Enjoy the read....
Depth, experience should help Monarchs
Jan Hubbard / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
On paper, there is no reason to fear the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2006 WNBA playoffs. Yes, they are defending champions, but if you are an opponent and you look at the stats, you're hardly shuddering.
In a 14-team league, the Monarchs finished eighth in field goal percentage and rebounding. They were fifth in 3-point shooting and sixth in points scored. They are only the 10th best free throw shooting team in the league.
They pride themselves on their ability to play defense, and they did rank third in points allowed. But they finished only ninth in defensive field goal percentage, which isn't exactly scary.
So how dangerous are they?
Very.
The Monarchs aren't superstar-laden, but with players like DeMya Walker, who returned to the court a little over a month after having a baby girl by C-section, they have all the confidence they need. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE / Getty Images)
They are experienced, they are 10 deep and never stop attacking opponents, especially on defense, and they still have a chip on their shoulders. The Monarchs felt that last year they did not get the respect they deserved when they defeated Connecticut to win the title. So the way to shut the critics up is to win again.
"It makes me nauseous when people don't respect us," said forward DeMya Walker. "The championship is always ours until someone takes it away. Last time I checked, you can't have two world champions at one time."
Sacramento finished with the second best record in the West at 21-13 (only fifth overall) and were not as effective as they were a season ago, when they had the best record in the West and defeated Connecticut in four games to win the title.
But they had health issues at the beginning of the year, and those have been resolved. Yolanda Griffith had an arthritic knee and had to leave her European team two months early. Kara Lawson missed all of training camp with fatigue syndrome. Neither player was full strength until later in the season.
And Walker was even more limited, although it was a pleasant sort of limitation. She had a baby girl on April 11, but was back on the court on June 24, which is impressive enough until you consider that she had a Caesarian section — which makes it amazing.
In Walker's absence, Erin Buescher, who had never averaged more than four points per game, became part of the rotation, averaged nearly 20 minutes a game and almost 10 points, and provided a deep Sacramento team with even more depth.
"Every year, we've gotten better at the end of the season because we play a lot of players and it takes time," said Monarchs coach John Whisenant. "To play a lot of players, you have to know you are going to get beaten up early because it's a lot easier to be cohesive with five or six players than playing nine or 10 like we do. But as the season goes on, depth is critical and your players get more cohesive.
"Last year, on our championship run, we won 12 of our last 14 and seven of eight in the playoffs. The year before, we were .500 and had to win seven of the last eight to get into the playoffs; and we did. So we try to peak when the playoffs start."
Depending on how you look at it, an argument could be made either way on the strength of Sacramento's finish. They lost two of their last three but had a four-game winning streak before that. So they won five of their last seven.
What they do have, however, is supreme confidence. Los Angeles is the favorite in the West, and most analysts believe either Connecticut or Detroit will advance from the East.
The Monarchs are respected, but they simply do not seem that threatening.
Yolanda Griffith is their leading scorer with 12.0 points a game, but ranks only 26th in the league and is the only double-digit scorer on the team. She leads the team in rebounds with 6.4, which is 12th in the league. And Ticha Penicheiro is Sacramento's leader in assists with 3.4 a game, but that ranks her only 15th in the league.
"We were the first team in WNBA history last year to not have a player who averaged 30 minutes a game," Whisenant said. "We believe that playing a lot of players will help us and (that) if we get someone hurt, it won't affect us as much. We play five-on-five basketball, and we rely on our defense. That's how we win games."
The Monarchs open with a familiar opponent — the Houston Comets. Last season the two also met in the first round, where Sacramento swept the Comets in two games.
"We had some ups and downs this year," Griffith said, "but we have the cocky attitude back. We have that swagger that we had last year. We caught a lot of teams by surprise last year, and by the time they tried to figure us out, it was too late. "This year, a lot of teams have figured out our defense, but it's up to us to make the adjustment. We can go into halftime losing, but we're confident that by the time the (final) buzzer rings, we're going to win. We're focused, and we feel good about the way we're playing. We're still the defending champions, and (with) the way we're playing, we've got a good chance of winning it again."
Depth, experience should help Monarchs
Jan Hubbard / Special to FOXSports.com
Posted: 2 hours ago
On paper, there is no reason to fear the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2006 WNBA playoffs. Yes, they are defending champions, but if you are an opponent and you look at the stats, you're hardly shuddering.
In a 14-team league, the Monarchs finished eighth in field goal percentage and rebounding. They were fifth in 3-point shooting and sixth in points scored. They are only the 10th best free throw shooting team in the league.
They pride themselves on their ability to play defense, and they did rank third in points allowed. But they finished only ninth in defensive field goal percentage, which isn't exactly scary.
So how dangerous are they?
Very.
They are experienced, they are 10 deep and never stop attacking opponents, especially on defense, and they still have a chip on their shoulders. The Monarchs felt that last year they did not get the respect they deserved when they defeated Connecticut to win the title. So the way to shut the critics up is to win again.
"It makes me nauseous when people don't respect us," said forward DeMya Walker. "The championship is always ours until someone takes it away. Last time I checked, you can't have two world champions at one time."
Sacramento finished with the second best record in the West at 21-13 (only fifth overall) and were not as effective as they were a season ago, when they had the best record in the West and defeated Connecticut in four games to win the title.
But they had health issues at the beginning of the year, and those have been resolved. Yolanda Griffith had an arthritic knee and had to leave her European team two months early. Kara Lawson missed all of training camp with fatigue syndrome. Neither player was full strength until later in the season.
And Walker was even more limited, although it was a pleasant sort of limitation. She had a baby girl on April 11, but was back on the court on June 24, which is impressive enough until you consider that she had a Caesarian section — which makes it amazing.
In Walker's absence, Erin Buescher, who had never averaged more than four points per game, became part of the rotation, averaged nearly 20 minutes a game and almost 10 points, and provided a deep Sacramento team with even more depth.
"Every year, we've gotten better at the end of the season because we play a lot of players and it takes time," said Monarchs coach John Whisenant. "To play a lot of players, you have to know you are going to get beaten up early because it's a lot easier to be cohesive with five or six players than playing nine or 10 like we do. But as the season goes on, depth is critical and your players get more cohesive.
"Last year, on our championship run, we won 12 of our last 14 and seven of eight in the playoffs. The year before, we were .500 and had to win seven of the last eight to get into the playoffs; and we did. So we try to peak when the playoffs start."
Depending on how you look at it, an argument could be made either way on the strength of Sacramento's finish. They lost two of their last three but had a four-game winning streak before that. So they won five of their last seven.
What they do have, however, is supreme confidence. Los Angeles is the favorite in the West, and most analysts believe either Connecticut or Detroit will advance from the East.
The Monarchs are respected, but they simply do not seem that threatening.
Yolanda Griffith is their leading scorer with 12.0 points a game, but ranks only 26th in the league and is the only double-digit scorer on the team. She leads the team in rebounds with 6.4, which is 12th in the league. And Ticha Penicheiro is Sacramento's leader in assists with 3.4 a game, but that ranks her only 15th in the league.
"We were the first team in WNBA history last year to not have a player who averaged 30 minutes a game," Whisenant said. "We believe that playing a lot of players will help us and (that) if we get someone hurt, it won't affect us as much. We play five-on-five basketball, and we rely on our defense. That's how we win games."
The Monarchs open with a familiar opponent — the Houston Comets. Last season the two also met in the first round, where Sacramento swept the Comets in two games.
"We had some ups and downs this year," Griffith said, "but we have the cocky attitude back. We have that swagger that we had last year. We caught a lot of teams by surprise last year, and by the time they tried to figure us out, it was too late. "This year, a lot of teams have figured out our defense, but it's up to us to make the adjustment. We can go into halftime losing, but we're confident that by the time the (final) buzzer rings, we're going to win. We're focused, and we feel good about the way we're playing. We're still the defending champions, and (with) the way we're playing, we've got a good chance of winning it again."
