First off, the overtime losses: Why wouldn't the team dribble out most of the clock? The point is to take the final shot to win. We haven't been in a hole where we were trying to make a shot to tie and SEND it to overtime. We have been protecting leads of two or three points and trying to prevent the other team from scoring! The problem has been the DEFENSE. Specifically, if we are talking about CT, our problem was giving Whalen the red carpet to the basket and allowing her to tie the game to send it to OT. It was the lack of defensive rotation on that last play that cost us the game. We were NOT trying to tie the game. It would be stupid, IMO, to take an early shot in that situation. Now if we were behind, that's a different story.
Secondly, we ARE a defense-first team. That is WHY we have a banner hanging in Arco. We didn't win a championship because we had great offense. Our players were (mostly) acquired with defensive potential in mind. I see the same complaints from the last couple seasons being repeated here, that the offense sucks. I don't think that is going to change much. As long as the defense is struggling, we can probably expect to see an ugly offense. They aren't going to scrap the emphasis on defense in order to make the offense pretty, it just isn't going to happen. We are a system team. We beat teams by shutting down everything they want to do. And since the defense happens to be struggling right now, I'm guessing that's the priority. Because when our defense works like it's supposed to? We win. If the defense is working and the offense is pretty? Added bonus (see: 06 Houston series; 06 LA series).
I think our offense is a little better actually. They are running plays out there designed to get shots for Kara and Nicole. The problem is that they aren't making them. Hopefully, Kara isn't sitting in this slump for very long. But overall, while it's still frustrating to see them struggle, I wouldn't be going as far as to say they need to practice fundamentals or spending that precious practice time worrying about shooting when they can't stop layups. Cause the reality is we are built to defend, no matter how much time we spend on offense we aren't going to be Phoenix. And if the defense doesn't get better, we are in trouble.
It reminds me of the Kings in some respects. That team, in the good years, was built to score. They weren't built to be a defensive machine. But when that offense was working the way it was supposed to, it didn't matter. That didn't stop the fans from wanting to see some defense. The problem was the personnel wasn't made up of athletic defenders. It wouldn't have mattered if they spent weeks emphasizing defense, it wasn't gonna turn Mike Bibby into The Glove. They could outscore the other teams, that was their strength. We are the exact opposite. We are built to defend. We sacrifice everything to have great defense. And for the defense to work, everyone has to be on the same page. Which requires a lot of practice. I think a big part of our consistency problem has to do with injuries. They can't practice like they want to because everyone is banged up, and without the practice the defense suffers. And without the defense, Whalen gets the red carpet and ties the game.
Can the offense be better? Hell yeah it can, and it should. It is frustrating as hell to watch them take shots with under 5 seconds on the shot clock all the time. Yelling at the players to shoot isn't the solution. They are actually shooting the ball. And they are missing them, even our so-called shooters. And the turnovers are another issue entirely that won't go away for some reason. There really is no excuse for all the turnovers, that should have stopped after the first couple games.
But the defense is where it's at, that isn't going to change. Nor should they even try to. When the system is working, we can beat anyone. But I don't think we have really seen that cohesion on the defensive end like we did in 2005. In 05 there is NO WAY we let Sue Bird and Lindsay Whalen score 21 and 22 on us. And I think that's our real concern... along with possibly being without Brunson in our already depleted post rotation. But if we can get healthy and work out the kinks in our defensive rotations by playoff time, I think we're alright. We weren't in first place last year heading into the playoffs. We also had a losing record against Houston and hadn't beat LA at all. That didn't stop us from sweeping them both from the playoffs. We just need to get there (and get healthy!).
And it is those teams that seem to give the Monarchs fits!!!! Defensively, we can't stop those teams perimeter players (Pondexter, Taurasi, Nolan, Whalen, Sales) from scoring from the perimeter, and offensively we just can not keep up. Some thing is going to have to change, one way or the other. Either shut down their best players, or score easier.
