Just about 5 weeks into the season and the 9-4 Mercury are in 1st place in the Western Conference. Not surprisingly, a big reason for their fast start is the play and leadership of captains Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter.

In the latest WNBA MVP Rankings on WNBA.com, Cappie and Diana occupy 2 of the top 4 spots. Currently, Cappie is ranked at #1 and Diana is ranked at #4.

As WNBA writer Brian Martin states, differentiating between the two to come up with a clear leader is no easy task.

“Taurasi has the edge in points, steals, blocks and 3-point percentage, while Pondexter has the edge in rebounds, assists, field-goal percentage and fewer turnovers. There’s not a lot of separation between them.

Fans of the Pick One Challenge are familiar with the PRA statistics, which is the total of points, rebounds and assists. In that category, Pondexter ranks No. 1 in the WNBA (30.7) with Taurasi right behind her at No. 2 at (29.4). The Mercury duo also ranks 1-2 in the league in scoring, this time with Taurasi getting top billing.

So how do we differentiate between these two? Or can we? When two players are this close it can come down to personal preference or the “what have you done for me lately” syndrome where whichever player left the best final impression gets the nod.

With that thinking, I would give the edge to Pondexter, who had one of the best single-game performances in the entire league this season when she posted 22 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists with only one turnover, and two steals in Phoenix’s win over Seattle on July 1. It was the second time this season that Pondexter flirted with a triple-double.

As she continues to average career highs in both rebounds and assists, it could just be a matter of time until Pondexter joins the exclusive group of players that have accomplished the triple-double feat. In the meantime, she gets rewarded with the top spot in this week’s Race to the MVP.”

When it comes down to it, you could make a case for each one of the Mercury’s superstars to be in the #1 spot.  What’s most important is they both make the players around them better. It’s definitely a good ‘problem’ to have, debating which player should be ranked #1.

Though, what we all love about Diana and Cappie is that the individual accolades and recognition don’t matter to them; all that matters is winning and playing Mercury basketball.

July 9th, 2009 10:48 AM