Monarchs Talk 4/23/08

[Den-Den]

I only caught the last half last night with Coach Boucek. Lots of people (not board regulars) do no give her a lot of credit. That's too bad. While she is young in years, she has 9 years coaching in the WNBA--most as an assistant, but coaching nonetheless. I personally look forward to seeing what she can do with this team.

I understand that Ticha was on the first part of the show. Did anyone catch it? If so, would you please share? Thanks!

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I caught the show midway through the interview with coach Boucek. I was encouraged by her assessment of her first year and how she approached objectively analyzing and critiquing what went right and what didn’t last year offensively and defensively. If her team mirrors her aggressiveness and excitement, and her plans for promoting the strengths of the players she has is executed well, the M’s should be fine and not an also ran they seem to be relegated to already in the conference. I agree Den-Den, 19 wins with a beat-up team your rookie year as a coach should get you a little bit more in the credibility department than it appears to have for Boucek.

From what I understand, there is a possibility Ticha’s interview will be available on the KHTK website at some point, but that wasn’t a for sure thing. The next Monarchs Talk will be next Wednesday, it may be back to its full two hour format or one more week of a split Kings/Monarchs show.

 

[Den-Den]

Thanks for the perspective MBF, I couldn't agree more. Can't wait to see the team in action on Saturday. I es[icially liked Franklin in the NCAA tournament, and Coach said last night that she had a great three days this week. I think she will add a nice option to the team if she sticks. Bekka & Fro's Italian team lost in the semifinals, so I am hoping that means they are on their way home. I think DeMya's team is also out in the Russian semi-finals. That will only leave Nicole still out there. It is looking like we might have most of the team back earlier than ever.

 

[creative one]

While it's true that the Monarchs have been dormant in the free agency market, I have to believe that part of the reason why is because Boucek and Whisenant don't want to make a move that might throw off the chemistry of the team.

I know I've harped on the Sparks enough, but does anyone honestly think there won't be any chemistry issues with that team? Of the three point guards who have the best shot at making the team, only Sharnee Zoll doesn't have a bad attitude problem. Temeka Johnson's feuds with Delisha Milton-Jones are chronicled. Milton-Jones' issues with Michael Cooper are well documented. Shannon Bobbitt has issues with anyone she perceives to be a threat, and she trash-talks her way through games. Christi Thomas doesn't like coming off the bench. Sidney Spencer is about the best returning Spark when it comes to "attitude", but how will she react to being relegated to the bench? There are potential chemistry killers all up and down the LA roster, so I'm not sure why people are handing them the title while relegating us to the basement of the Western Conference.

Keep in mind also that: Phoenix could be missing Penny Taylor for the season, and Kelly Miller wants to participate for Team Russia if selected; Becky Hammon could miss significant portions of San Antonio's season due to commitments with Team Russia; Sheryl Swoopes is still a diva who doesn't get along with her teammates, and Yolanda's health is always a concern at her age.

I think the Monarchs will benefit greatly from having so many players who aren't "divas" and don't think they're above all others. Of all the "little point guards" in the WNBA Draft, we got the only one (Aqua Franklin) who doesn't have a "me against the world" chip on her shoulder. Charel Allen is a great kid who will fight for her chance to make the team. Laura Harper needs to tone it down a bit once she arrives, but she's still the ultimate team player and someone that I'm thrilled to have on the roster. Our returnees seem to be nice folks. Why jeopardize that chemistry for a player or two who are locker room cancers and may be headed on the decline of their careers anyway?

 

[Purple Reign]

I still believe when it is all said and done, that the talent trumps chemistry, especially when talent brings victories. Just think what LA could be like if the talent and the chemistry jells together. With Sacramento, I don't think chemistry will or has ever been an issue, but for the first time I wonder if there is enough talent to keep up. Boucek and Ticha even admitted that last night.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I think they do look at the chemistry of the team when they make their personnel decisions and they haven’t brought in many free agents because I really don’t think they needed anybody whose been out there, and like I’ve been harping on, they’ve invested their money where it will make them the longest term return. “Win by stocking up with older veteran players” is mortgaging or hedging, and if it works out, fine, if it doesn’t well, you’re sorta screwed because then you have to start over in a relatively quick period of time. A team like Sacramento has a young core now that’s been together for 3 years, they’ve built outward around it this year and have an 11 year veteran leading it and young playoff tested veterans supporting it. By the time Harper matures you could have the makings of a very good young team. You hang on to your draft picks and simply continue to add depth and talent. (The key word is depth, that will always matter in this league).

Where I do agree with the chemistry and diva issue is you have to have people, who play in this system, who will like having a role that isn’t a focal one. People who are used to or need to or want to have the offense go through them or center around them will not be happy in this system. And that is a delicate dance you have to do to massage the egos of those who aren’t used to sharing minutes and roles or shots. The crew in Seattle says they can check their egos at the door for the common goal, but I think you need to have a non-diva there to call you on it or else there is no check. Is there one? The same could be true like you say in LA, if they decide to collect all these players who play the same position or displace somebody who got the bulk of the minutes somewhere last year, can that work? Who knows, on paper it looks good/impressive and older-wiser players might take a different approach to life.

I agree about Franklin, my sense of her in having watched her and some other stuff I’m doing, is that she doesn’t have the chip on her shoulder because she believes enough in herself and her abilities that she trusts that she can succeed. She compensates for her lack of height with basketball intelligence and applying that to making the most advantage of her natural and developed abilities she has to help her team. Aqua seems as though she’s walking off the A&M campus and into Sacramento, which is philosophically the same place on a variety of levels.

I didn’t hear obviously what Ticha said, but I did hear coach make a comment about talent. I also heard her say she felt she thought they could still compete with the teams that had “talent” and she seemed to suggest that she knows her team is being dismissed and that being the case, she talked about her team "sneaking up on some people". While chemistry is or can be trumped by talent, chemistry also goes a long way to helping bring the best and most out of the talent you have

 

[creative one]

I still believe when it is all said and done, that the talent trumps chemistry, especially when talent brings victories. Just think what LA could be like if the talent and the chemistry jells together. With Sacramento, I don't think chemistry will or has ever been an issue, but for the first time I wonder if there is enough talent to keep up. Boucek and Ticha even admitted that last night.

Talent trumps chemistry if you have so much of it (and at the right positions) that it's impossible to fail, and even then there has to be some chemistry involved (i.e. putting aside one's differences for the good of the team). I don't think the current versions of LA, Seattle, Phoenix, and San Antonio qualify as teams that have so much talent they can overcome chemistry issues. To give you an example of a case where talent doesn't overcome chemistry, take a look at the Cincinnati Bengals.

I'm not saying that we're definitely going to contend for the WC title or that we're definitely going to get a playoff berth. But I do think we're closer to that than most of the "experts" are willing to admit. Just because we didn't add a Parker, a Swoopes, a Wauters, or a D-Nasty to our line-up doesn't mean that we can't compete in the West.

 

[Purple Reign]

Talent trumps chemistry if you have so much of it (and at the right positions) that it's impossible to fail, and even then there has to be some chemistry involved (i.e. putting aside one's differences for the good of the team). I don't think the current versions of LA, Seattle, Phoenix, and San Antonio qualify as teams that have so much talent they can overcome chemistry issues. To give you an example of a case where talent doesn't overcome chemistry, take a look at the Cincinnati Bengals.

I'm not saying that we're definitely going to contend for the WC title or that we're definitely going to get a playoff berth. But I do think we're closer to that than most of the "experts" are willing to admit. Just because we didn't add a Parker, a Swoopes, a Wauters, or a D-Nasty to our line-up doesn't mean that we can't compete in the West.

Don't get me wrong. The Sacramento Monarchs will compete for a playoff spot in 2008. No question about that, because they have BOTH talent and chemistry. My only question is everybody else around them, particularly Los Angeles and Seattle, Minnesota (San Antonio and Phoenix not so much) have upgraded their talent (on paper) where as Sacramento has not. Will their chemistry be enough to fill a talent issue to make the playoffs? That remains to be seen.

But you can not deny that the additions Swoopes, Griffith, Cash will not help Seattle. It can only help. Parker, Ferdinand, Milton, plus some other decent rookies can only help. Everybody else in the West is either the same or have downgraded from '07 in my opinion.

 

[Monty'sBiggestFan]

I don't think there is a dispute that every team in the league added talent this year. That should be the point of agreement. The question arises as to what talent was added relative to what existed or was lost. If you can say LA and whoever else added talent and San Antonio and Phoenix did not do much, I would say that's subjective. Because on paper I think they added talent too.

Nobody in this conference added a Parker to a returning Lisa Leslie caliber player. That should be the only team whose paper alter should be bowed to imo. They still have to play 34 games to make that assessment mean anything but a paper title.

Seattle traded or otherwise jettisoned two starters. Did they get that production back in Swoopes and Cash? I think they about equaled what they gave away. Did they add more depth on the bench? Perhaps, in that Agler may actually play Geralds. Beck has to make the roster or else they still have no backup point. Yo said Agler is going to limit her minutes to "save her for the playoffs" whatever that means, but she's probably better than 10-15 mins of Robinson or whoever else they had behind Jackson and Burse. Did they get more depth and if not, what's that team going to look like in the second half when Jackson, Bird, Cash and whoever else are grinding out an Oly run while the rest of the conference is sitting at home? And that whole kit and kaboodle will have to stay healthy for me to start annointing them.

You can probably tick down the list and assess what teams in the West added and what they didn't and say something about how they look on paper, but until they actually take the floor we won't know.

 

[creative one]

I don't think there's anyone out there naive enough to think that LA shouldn't be much improved over what they were a year ago. They bring back a player in Leslie who could contend for league MVP honors and add to that the #1 overall draft pick in Parker, maybe the best WNBA prospect since Chamique Holdsclaw. Then you add to that Delisha Milton-Jones, which allows the team to put a bench player (Sidney Spencer) back on the bench and replace her in the starting line-up with an All-Star and former league champion. Those additions alone should be worth 10-12 more wins and should eliminate dumb losses to teams like Minnesota and Houston.

However, those additions alone don't spell "WNBA Championship" like some media folks believe. The fact still remains that no team in WNBA history has won the WNBA Championship with a starting point guard shorter than 5-5, and no team has won the championship since 2000 with a starting point guard shorter than 5-9. That alone doesn't bode well for the Sparks. I'm also hearing that Temeka isn't what she once was speed-wise, so she's lost some weight to compensate for that loss of speed. This is a contract year for her, and I'm sure she's feeling the heat. Finally, with so many diva attitudes on the team, one has to wonder how this team will build enough chemistry to overcome drama.

Part of me thinks the Sparks will return to its glory days as long as they find a suitable point guard. However, a bigger part of me believes they'll be around what they were in 2006: won the West during the regular season but struggled in the playoffs and missed the WNBA Championship series.

Seattle is trickier. They went 17-17 last season because Bird wore down and because they didn't have much of a bench. It's 2008, and Bird still doesn't have a WNBA-caliber back-up and the Storm still doesn't have much of a bench. Maybe Agler's coaching style will take this team to a higher level, but I really don't see that happening unless Bird can get her rest and unless they get an explosive scorer off the bench. Unless they get solid contributions from the bench, they could have a season much like the San Antonio Silver Stars had last year: good, but not great.

Still, I'd rather have Seattle's roster than LA's because at least I know that my point guard position is set with a veteran in place like Bird. That's why I have them ahead of LA in the Western Conference standings. They are strong at the positions that matter the most in this league (point guard and post, with Bird and the reigning MVP Lauren Jackson).