especially while zipping out to visit the Poppa for a post-birthday celebration. (Dad, btw, became a Liberty fan because I was a Liberty fan. No surprise, the thinks Dolan is a short-sighted putz.)
Anyhoo – between train, walks and yummy food, there were four fab games to keep our basketball-high going strong. What was NOT cool, of course, was the clown show ESPN’s coverage was.
High Post Hoops: Column: ESPN’s no-win situation over WNBA broadcast snafu
Oh, well. Can’t wait for two game 5s to be on ESPN2 and *squints at notes* ESPNews.
WTF.
BUT, if you’re cranky about this and are using social media to let the world know, don’t forget to TAG those who make the decisions: @wnba @WNBAPrez @ESPN_WomenHoop @espn @CStiffESPN @TaraESPN
Now, about those games.
Seattle/Phoenix
First a knee. Now a knose. Fortunately, Bird knows about broken noses. I mean, she carries a facemask with her! Small comfort to Seattle that she’s well versed from playing behind the fiberglass, as they could have used her savvy down the homestretch of yesterday’s game. Phoenix made sure to keep their fans’ hearts beating by pretending it was going to be a blow out, then fighting back to with the game on an improbable hook shot followed by a…. defensive stand? Wait, Phoenix?
Mechelle: Phoenix rallies again to force Game 5 as Seattle suffers first back-to-back losses of season
It has been a record-breaking WNBA season full of highlight-reel plays and intense competition. So it figures that both semifinal series are headed to a deciding Game 5.
For Phoenix, that meant becoming the first team in league history to climb back from an 0-2 series start to force a Game 5.
“It’s good basketball,” Mercury center Brittney Griner said after Phoenix’s come-from-behind 86-84 victory Sunday to even its series with Seattle.
Arizona Daily Star: Griner, Mercury rally to beat Storm, force deciding Game 5
Arizona Sports: Griner, Mercury fight back from 17-point deficit, force Game 5
High Post Hoops: How Brittney Griner found another gear and kept the Mercury alive
Hobbled thanks to an opponent’s flailing leg after a clanked free throw, with an eye decorated purple from a Game 3 collision, Brittney Griner in victory closely resembled her Phoenix Mercury as she walked off the court of Sunday’s Game 4 in Phoenix: Battered but resilient.
Griner’s 29 points not only tied a playoff career high, but led the Mercury to another comeback win, this time from down as many as 17.
The first time I spoke to Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, it was for a 2014 cover story in Curve Magazine. Her memoir, “In My Skin,” had just been released, and she was fresh off of her rookie season in the WNBA. She was laid back and relaxed – a 23-year-old kid with natural basketball talent, an ardent sense of humor, and a hell of a lot of potential.
Griner joked through most of the interview, but we also touched on some off-of-the-court topics that demanded a bit of gravity and introspection. I’ve had a soft spot for her ever since, not just because of how she was so open and honest in our discussion, but also by her humble-hearted spirit. At the time, I don’t think she realized the true talent she had or how valuable her basketball skills were.
.com: Game Recap: Mercury Come Back From 17 Down, Force Game 5
Michelle: Inside The W: Bonner’s Journey From New Mother To WNBA Semis plus DeWanna Bonner has been unstoppable force for Phoenix in playoffs
Atlanta/Washington
EDD was back, and boy was DC happy.
WaPo: Elena Delle Donne’s return powers Mystics to Game 4 victory
Though Delle Donne wasn’t Washington’s leading scorer — that honor belonged to guard Kristi Toliver, who snapped out of a cold stretch on her shot with 22 points — she finished as a game-high plus-24 during her 33 minutes 42 seconds on the floor.
She would have launched dagger stares at Thibault had she played a minute less. Recognizing the gravity of the moment, Delle Donne didn’t hold back.
“I would’ve killed Coach if he didn’t let me play full out,” the sixth-year forward said as Thibault chuckled from across the room.
ESPN: Delle Donne’s return sparks Mystics, forces Game 5
“If she’s on the floor they have to respect her and honor her and that just changes everything for everyone,” Washington guard Kristi Toliver said. “I’m happy that she was able to get going, especially in the second half, feeling good, her legs were under her. … I’m just really happy to have her back.”
Washington City Paper/Lindsay Gibbs: Elena Delle Donne And Kristi Toliver Come Up Big for the Mystics
On Feb. 2, 2017, Washington Mystics head coach and general manager Mike Thibault announced that the team had acquired 2015 WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne in a trade with the Chicago Sky. Just five days later, he announced that 2013 All-Star and 2016 WNBA champion Kristi Toliver had signed with the Mystics in free agency.
Nineteen months later, it’s clear that was the biggest five days in Mystics franchise history.
Also: WNBA Takeaways: Washington Mystics dominate Atlanta Dream 97-76, force Game 5
Howard at FanSided: ARIEL ATKINS IS HUNGRY
Mike Thibault, Mystics head coach and general manager, began scouting Atikins during her junior year at University of Texas, and Texas assistant Tina Thompson, who knows a little something about WNBA stardom, made the Catchings connection for him.
“Tina had played with Catchings in every USA Basketball situation, and she said there’s nobody that works like Catchings until she coached Ariel,” Thibault said Friday. “She’s a guard, but I think she can be sensational. And she’ll be the first to tell you, she has so much to learn. And she is a note-taker, film-watcher, and you can’t watch enough film with her, she’ll ask for more. She’s just a sponge when it comes to learning the game.”
Atlanta Journal Constitution: WNBA semifinal returns to Atlanta after Mystics rout Dream in Game 4
Playing with savage fury and desperation, the Washington Mystics celebrated Elena Delle Donne’s return to the lineup by pulling away late to defeat the Atlanta Dream, 97-76, in Game Four of an intense WNBA semifinal series at the Charles E. Smith Center on George Washington’s campus Sunday afternoon.
.com: Postgame Notes & Quotes: Mystics Force Game 5
High Post Hoops: WNBA Playoffs: Coach of the Year Nicki Collen one win away from her first-ever WNBA Finals
In other news: Chicago Sky fires coach/GM Amber Stocks after 2 seasons Intrigued to see who they find.
Yup: Dawn Staley wants WNBA players to earn more, as long as ‘it doesn’t break the league’
Says Isaiah: If You Know, You Know
I was watching my sons, too, to see how they were feeling it. What was it like for them to be up close with some of the best female hoopers alive? Sue Bird was right in front of us, throwin’ behind-the-back passes. Sue’s a bonafide Seattle legend. Breanna Stewart, also on the Storm, was getting her shots up inside the key. I’m happy they got to see this year’s MVP up close. Diana Taurasi walked right by us — arguably the GOAT. Brittney Griner was dunking in layup lines. That made their jaws drop, I swear. Candace Parker, two-time MVP, was doing work. Maya Moore, four-time champ, was shooting that J. My boys got to slap hands with the players in the tunnel and get autographs, the whole thing.
Later on, sometime during the game, one of my sons said to me, “Dang, Dad — they are good. You weren’t lying.” I just smiled.
If you know, you know.
International
As you may have kenned, these playoffs will have an impact on USA Basketball’s prep for Tenerife. Lots of folks getting an opportunity to play-shine-strut their stuff, including:
SFGate: Sabrina Ionescu named to US women’s basketball roster
AP: Charles, Ogwumike headline US hoops training camp roster
Courant: Napheesa Collier, UConn Alums Invited To USA National Team Training Camp
We shall see: Canadian basketball’s future is now ’cause this is a problem: Nurse coming off excellent WNBA season that too few young girls got to watch
FIBA, Paul: Where will France finish in Tenerife, who will be their MVP and breakout Performer? Vote Now
Congrats: Asian Games: China break Korean hearts in women’s basketball thriller and China crowned women’s basketball champs at Asiad
College
WATN? Sydney Moss moves from award-winning women’s basketball playing career to coaching ranks
Sydney Moss’ heart was still in the sport of basketball, even if her knees weren’t. Win two national championships and three national Division III player of the year awards and it gets difficult to shake the sport all the way out of your system.
So the daughter of Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss and Libby Offutt decided that, if her playing days were over, her coaching days needed to begin. And it hasn’t taken long for Moss to work her way up the coaching ladder.
Intrigued to see Committee Geeks dive into this: UK overrated? Underrated? NCAA alters its selection and seeding process
Arizona Daily Star: Five leading questions as UA enters 2018-19 sports season
Great leveraging: A’ja Wilson Is A Part Of The Kickoff To 2018
Drexel: Preview: women’s basketball set for great season
Hawkeye Sports: A Golden Opportunity
It took a few shots in the dark for University of Iowa women’s basketball seniors Hannah Stewart and >Megan Gustafson to help USA Team to a FISU America Games gold medal this summer.
Literally.
History: (Unless you’ve followed WBH and/or surveyed the WBH Timeline) The Nearly Forgotten History Of Basketball HOF Inductee Ora Washington
According to the Times, “Miss Washington” held the American Tennis Association’s singles title for 12 years — actually, it was eight. Her prowess on the basketball court wasn’t mentioned.
“They say she was an allround athlete who had speed and a smashing serve,” Charlie Mays, founder of the Black Athletes Hall of Fame told the Times. “But racial barriers were too strong to break during her day, so many of her achievements were never acknowledged.”
Mays says that based on bits and pieces of information he has received, Miss Washington is believed to be in her late 60s and was last known to be living in Philadelphia. He says he will keep Miss Washington’s awards in a glass case in his office until he can find her.
Len Lear knows where “Miss Washington” was that night.
“She could not be there, because she had died five years earlier,” Len says.
