Allie Quigley

Penny Returns!

Well, my apologies, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to write…and a LOT has happened that we need to get you caught up on regarding your Phoenix Mercury!

First, the obvious – the club has rattled off 5 wins in a row to get to an 11-4 record. Couple that with Seattle losing its last 2 games and Minnesota falling at home to Atlanta, the Mercury are a full 2 games ahead of the Lynx for 1^st place in the Western Conference. Perhaps what should be more important to fans and WNBA followers, is the quality of their past 5 wins. Seemingly, a different player has stepped up to help the team win. Whether it’s Diana’s scoring and defense, Cappie’s offensive prowess and vision, Temeka’s leadership and intensity, Tangela’s intangibles, DeWanna’s energy, Le’coe’s hard-nosed play, or Ketia’s jump start off the bench the Mercury have found a groove and have started to click.

Oh yeah, did I mention Penny Taylor is back?! This is a HUGE addition to the team and Penny should fit in seamlessly with Gaines’ system, both on the offensive end of the floor and the defensive end. “We’re extremely excited to bring back such a world-class player in Penny, who we know can contribute down the stretch to contend for another championship,” said Mercury General Manager Ann Meyers Drysdale.  “Penny is a versatile player who not only has the ability to be effective at multiple positions, but also understands our system offensively and defensively.  We become an even better team with her on our roster.”

Obviously, Corey Gaines feels similar. “It’s great to have Penny back.  She’s proven that she can be a dominating presence in our system,” said Head Coach Corey Gaines.  “She’s an undeniable scoring threat and defensively makes our team better in the post.”

Though, I am sad to see Allie go, as she always had a great attitude and worked hard regardless of the situation.

I feel I should address the Diana situation as well, but not in much depth. Things should finally be calming down after she completes her suspension and things move forward. Everyone makes mistakes and I have seen how badly she feels first hand. Let’s move on, shall we?

Finally, to the game against Detroit. First of all, as a cancer survivor, I am excited to attend the game as it’s a Breast Cancer Awareness Day at US Airways Center – wear pink!! With Dee being out for the next 2 games, it will be imperative for the Mercury to come out and play as hard as possible to get this win for her. The distractions have only brought the team and club closer these past few games and I expect that to continue against Detroit and Minnesota.

Detroit comes to Phoenix after winning 2 in a row against Connecticut and Seattle by a combined 5 points. Depending on how you look at things, that could be a good sign or a bad sign for the Mercury. If we’re honest, we really don’t know the true identity of this Shock team. With the turmoil surrounding the coaching change and the up’s and downs of the season for the Shock, perhaps they are beginning to find their stride or maybe they are just in one of their “up” phases…I’m not sold on either one. Regardless, the Mercury are going to need a big game not only from Cappie and Temeka, but from their bench as well. Even though we aren’t sure what to expect from Detroit, we do know they are tough and play their hearts out; the Mercury will need to do the same.

Just an FYI, I’ll be working with Ketia for a cool article/piece hopefully to be posted sometime next week - great stuff!!

Finally, some quick hits of accomplishments by the Mercury that need to be noted (very random order):

• Cappie’s 15 assists
• Cappie’s Player of the Week
• DeWanna’s Rookie of the Month
• 5 win’s in a row
• Temeka’s clutch shot in Sac-town
• Diana’s near triple-double in Sac-town
• Mazz’s 14 points against the Monarchs
• 5 players averaging in double-digits, with Tangela almost the sixth with 9.9 ppg
• Le’coe shooting 54% from the floor
• Team averages 19 assists and just 13 turnovers per game

What a game!

I think I’ll start by once again stating that this team is special and there’s a belief from each player that they are never out of a game, no matter how much it might seem out of reach to others.  A while back I had wrote about how resilient the Mercury are.

Well, if you didn’t think they were then…there isn’t much denying it now.

The Mercury got off to a slow start and were down by 15 at one point in the 2nd quarter, and trailed by 12 at the half. The energy level wasn’t necessarily missing, it was just that Sacramento was more of an aggressive team collectively on both ends of the floor.

Then, the Mercury exploded for a 36 point third quarter (the 2nd 36 point third quarter in 3 games) to cut the Monarchs lead to just 1 heading into the 4th quarter. Though Courtney Paris will undoubtedly, and deservedly, get a lot of credit for her 16 points and 7 rebounds in 16 minutes, the 4th quarter (and game) belonged to Temeka Johnson - Meek just wouldn’t let the Mercury lose.

Meek scored 12 of her 17 points in the 4th, hit 2 three-pointers when the team needed it, and hit a running jumper with 1 second left on the clock to give the Mercury the win and their 4th straight victory. Unbelievable. Folks, Meek is a special player…and she proved it tonight.

This was after DeWanna Bonner hit an acrobatic shot from her hip to put the Mercury up 2 points with just 8 seconds left, only to see Sacramento tie the game by giving the ball to fellow rookie Courtney Paris in the low post.  Just over 1 second left on the clock isn’t a lot of time to get a solid shot up, but Meek somehow did.

How important and beneficial is Temeka Johnson to this team? As if there were any question before, she solidified how valuable and vital she is to the Mercury’s success tonight.

More specifically,

• She brings a calming and confident presence to the entire squad,
• She’s another playmaker that can not only score, but create shots,
• She’s a leader, and one that leads by example.

Meek’s 17 points and 6 assists tonight on 7-12 shooting led to a game-high +/- of +14.

All 5 starters for the Mercury scored at least 13 points and kept the rebounding battle close with the league’s best rebounding team, Sacramento.  Even though Sacramento (namely Nicole Powell) shot well from beyond the arc, Phoenix was even better drilling 11 three-pointers.

Perhaps a bit more quietly, but equally as amazing, Diana Taurasi flirted with a triple-double despite not having her best all-around shooting night. Dee had 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in her 29 minutes of action. Not to be forgotten, Cappie had 23 points on 13-13 free-throws to go along with her 8 assists. Tangela had a nice game before fouling out hitting 7-11 shots scoring 20 points. Allie Quigley even played some back-up point guard for the Mercury due to Ketia being hampered by an injury (she’s fine).

Phoenix hosts Sacramento again on Wednesday at 12:30. Phoenix is now a full game ahead of Seattle for 1st place in the Western Conference.

Phoenix (9-4) visits Sacramento (3-9)

Sorry this is so late, my friend and colleague Greg Esposito is getting married today! Hence, the recap might be a bit late too…

At Arco Arena, the Monarchs seem to have the Mercury’s number of late.  Sacramento has won the last three meetings there and six of the last eight. That just rhymed.

This season, the Mercury played their first road game against the Monarchs and lost 90-71 with Cappie and Diana combining for just 21 points. The next night, Diana scored a season-high 31 points in a 115-104 overtime win.

The Monarchs have played much better lately picking up two big wins against Minnesota and Chicago. Much of that has to do with the play of Kara Lawson and Nicole Powell. Powell has also been on fire against Phoenix; she averages a team-high 23 ppg in their two meetings this year.

With a win tonight the Mercury would win 4 straight games, the first time since last July. Even though the Monarchs are 3-9, they are a much better team than their record would indicate.  They lead the league in offensive rebounds per game with an astounding 13.8 and are also the league leader in total rebounds per game at 36.  Perhaps more indicative of their hustle and effort as a team, they hold opponents to a league-best 29 rebounds per game.

To beat the Monarchs, Phoenix will need to match their energy on the defensive end and be disciplined on the offensive end. What truly make the Mercury such a difficult team to beat is their constant push of the ball offensively and distributing the scoring output.  Though the Monarchs are a good defensive team, Phoenix just has too many weapons and Sacramento is catching the Mercury on a roll.

Key Player - DeWanna Bonner

DeWanna is a player that is almost impossible to gameplan for.  Sure, other teams know that she wants to get the ball into the paint and score, but Bonner brings so many intangibles to the Mercury that there isn’t a specific way to stop her. If DB has a big game on the boards and can get to the line, look for a big win by the Merc.

Keys to the Game

• Rebounds - must win the battle or keep it close
• 2nd chance points - the more rebounds the Monarchs get, the more 2nd chance points they’ll have
• Tempo - Phoenix has to keep the pace of play fast
• Turnovers - an issue on the road for the Merc

Cappie and the Mercury have a lot to smile about (AP photo)

The Chicago Sky are on a hellish road trip, and it was clear they weren’t up for facing the streaking Mercury.

If I’m honest, I feel for this Sky team as their next 3 games are against Indiana twice and the Storm. Ouch.

Having said that, it shouldn’t take away from how fantastic the Mercury played tonight. This team is rolling and getting better with every game.

With the win tonight, the Mercury take sole possession of 1st place in the Western Conference and won it’s third-straight game, matching a season high. Perhaps more importantly, they have now won 7 games on their home floor this season and have the 2nd best 13-game start in franchise history (1998, 10-3).

It was a dominating performance that started in the 1st quarter.

It’s hard to put into words just how good the Mercury looked in the first half (1st quarter especially), and I’m certain that nothing I say will do them justice, but I’ll do my best.

First of all, the reason they scored 48 points in the half is directly correlated with their defense and rebounding. The Mercury held a listless Sky team to only 17 points in the 1st quarter, and 13 in the 2nd. However, that doesn’t mean much unless the Mercury finish the play and rebound, something that Gaines and his staff have been preaching all year. Doing so, allowed the Mercury to get out in transition and score 34 points in the 1st quarter, a season high for the Mercury to start the game.  The Mercury out-rebounded the Sky 18-12 in the 1st half which, again, led to the Mercury being able to push the ball and get some easy points in the paint (16 in the half). “To be honest with you, when we came out like that I always set goals for us in scoring in halves and quarters and when I saw that Tangela, Dee, and Cappie were on I pictured a 70 point half for us,” Corey Gaines said after the game.

Ultimately, the reason the Mercury were so successful was because of how phenomenal their passing was as a team. In the half, the Mercury had 12 assists on 19 made field-goals which led to 8 of the 9 players who played in the 1st half to score. Le’coe and Diana paced the Mercury with 11 each in the quarter and Diana hitting a perfect 5-5 shots from the field. Cappie had her usual well-rounded game in the half with 7 points and 5 assists. Not to be forgotten, was how hard Tangela was crashing the boards with 9 in the 1st half alone to go along with her 7 points.

The 2nd half was more of a slowed down pace with the Mercury scoring a combined 42 points in the 3rd & 4th quarter, just 8 more than they had in the 1st quarter alone. What was especially impressive tonight was the team’s focus on defense, weak-side help, and rebounding. “The defense was fine,” Gaines said. “We held them to 13 points in the 2nd quarter. I’m definitely pleased with the rebounding but I want the full package; I’m greedy.”

Though, this game was essentially over in the 1st quarter with a demoralizing blow to the Sky early on, the Mercury never let the Sky get within less than 15 points the rest of the game. One of the clear signs of a championship team is being able to put teams away early who you’re supposed to beat; and the Mercury certainly did that tonight. “When you give a good shooting team wide open shots and they knock them down you’re going to be down by x amount before they start missing,” Sky coach Steven Key said. “They were running at the basket and we were scrambling to get back on defense and transition and that’s not a good thing when you play the Phoenix Mercury.”

Tonight was a much more balanced attack that should give the entire team confidence in one another. 10 players scored the ball, 10 players had at least 1 rebound, 20 assists were dished out on 34 made shots, and turnovers were limited to only 11. What also should be a positive sign for the Mercury is their focus on the glass; they out-rebounded the Sky 46-39 and are now 4-0 when they out-rebound their opponent. Leading the way was Tangeal Smith with a career-high 13 rebounds and Diana Taurasi who pulled down 10 to go along with her team-high 22 points. Diana also became the Mercury’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 185.

With Minnesota and Seattle both winning yesterday, tonight’s win was that much more important to secure. “A win is a win, especially right now every win is important for us,” Taurasi said about the victory. “Going to Sacramento on Saturday we needed to take care of this one. When it comes to winning and losing I feel like if we play well, if we play good basketball the rest will take care of itself.”

I can’t stress enough how balanced this team is. This season is so different than years past not only because of a legit 9-person rotation, but because each one of the players coming in contributes and forces teams to take notice. “It definitely helps,” Cappie said after the game. “Last year we kind of struggled with that. Teams know coming in it’s no longer about Diana and I putting points on the board and they actually have to focus in on our 5 players on the court. It takes a lot of pressure of us [Diana and Cappie].”

Phoenix hosts Chicago tonight

The Mercury’s 2nd half against the Sparks this past Sunday showed just how amazing they can be offensively. “We had it going on,” Coach Gaines said after practice yesterday. “We need to put two haves together like that.”

After that incredible performance against the Sparks in Los Angeles, the Mercury return home to play the Chicago Sky tonight. This will be the first time Phoenix faces the Sky this season, and is only the 3rd Eastern Conference opponent they’ve seen so far.

The Sky are one of those teams that you just aren’t certain what you’re going to see out of them on a nightly basis. They are in the middle of the pack in almost every statistical category (both defensive and offensive), have players that can step up big on any given night, but still haven’t found their identity as a team. Sometimes they’ll look brilliant and other times they’ll look lost. However, they’ve certainly looked better more often than not this season with a 6-5 record. “They’re big. They have good players and go inside a lot,” Gaines said regarding the Sky. “Good players, straight up post basketball. A lot of inside-out basketball and Dupree is a double-edged sword since she has the ability to take you away from the basket.”

Essentially, the Sky live and die with 3 players: Jia Perkins, Candice Dupree, and Sylvia Fowles. Perkins is currently the Sky’s leading scorer at 16.3 ppg. Not far behind Perkins are Dupree (14.7) and Fowles (12.7) but the next closest players are Dominique Canty and Kristi Tolliver who both average just 6.7 ppg. Ultimately, this team really relies on Fowles more so than anyone, as evidenced by their late collapse against San Antonio when Fowles wasn’t available due to a sore right knee and the Sky ended up losing by double-digits. Fowles also didn’t play against the Monarchs last night in an 83-73 loss and it’s doubtful she’ll get many (if any) minutes against the Mercury tonight.

What Chicago does do well is shoot the ball. They are currently 2nd in the league in FG% and 1st in 3pt%. They also have multiple players that can create shots both for themselves and teammates and pass the ball extremely well (5th in the league in assists per game).

The Mercury will want to take advantage of Fowles being limited (or out) and try to run up the score as Chicago allows about 80 ppg. The Sky also allow a league-high 45.4% opponent FG% which certainly bodes well for the Mercury. With all things taken into account, this is the Mercury’s game to lose. Phoenix has too many weapons and I just don’t see Chicago being able to keep up defensively, or for that matter, have enough firepower offensively to counteract the Mercury’s onslaught.

With both the Storm and Lynx winning yesterday, this game becomes that much more important for the Mercury to win.

Key Players: Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter

Not that this is (by any means) unusual but I really believe that both Diana and Cappie are going to have huge nights. Why? Because Chicago has no one that can stop them (or even slow them down) defensively! Honestly, who is going to defend them - Dupree? Canty? Price? None of those players are skilled enough on the defensive end to really affect Diana or Cappie.

What will also help Diana and Cappie is Temeka’s defense on Perkins and Tolliver. Perkins is their real threat, especially with Fowles being injured, and Meek is a terrific on the ball defender. This will allow Diana and Cappie to conserve energy on the defensive end and be more active offensively. If the Mercury stay sharp and execute, there should be multiple options to score on every play.

All that and I haven’t even mentioned the numerous match-up problems that DeWanna will create…

Keys to the game

• Limiting turnovers - turnovers slow the game down and keeps the opponent within reach
• Shutting down Perkins and Dupree - make others beat you
• Tempo - Phoenix has to continue pushing the ball and never let up, especially against this Sky team who will be playing their 2nd game of a back to back

Just how good is the Mercury's offense? (AP photo)

For those that are unaware, Rethinking Basketball is one of the finest basketball sites on the Internet. And by ‘finest’, I’m not talking about just WNBA, I literally mean it’s one of the best sites to get intelligent commentary on the game of basketball that you’ll see on the web today.

One of author Q McCall’s best pieces of late recaps the Mercury’s game against the Sparks this past Sunday, and just how effective the Mercury’s offense was. Even I took for granted damn near perfect it was…

I would encourage you to visit Rethinking Basketball not only for the entire article (of which I take several quotes from below) but also for the sheer amount of fantastic articles that encompass the site on a weekly basis.

Q writes..

It’s not just that the Mercury posted a season-high 36-point third quarter, that they managed to out-rebound the Sparks 40-31, or that they ran off 11 straight points to start the fourth quarter. It’s how they did it that is noteworthy.

Q couldn’t be more right, and it’s something I initially overlooked; though watching the game did have me shaking my head in disbelief throughout the entire 2nd half offensive onslaught.

After Bonner made the two free throws, the Mercury were up five. Then the shifting tide of momentum that the Sparks had seemingly held off for the previous three and a half minutes, swung completely in the Mercury’s favor.

What the Mercury did to the Sparks during the ensuing five and a half minute stretch spanning the 3rd and 4th quarters really cannot be measured, quantified, or even fully articulated without watching it.

To describe it as the Sparks “falling apart” would be to completely ignore that the Mercury got into a zone in which they seemed to be optimally coordinated as a team while almost effortlessly taking control of the game.

Q makes a fantastic point here; it’s not just that the Sparks fell apart mentally, it directly correlated with the unstoppable prowess of the Mercury’s offense. Though, as Corey Gaines has said all season, if the Mercury don’t rebound and finish the play on defense they simply cannot run. And not being able to run takes away the Mercury’s best asset.

What the Mercury did to the Sparks during that stretch was not just Mercury basketball at its best, but it was an almost perfect realization of what a fast paced offense should be. All the elements of what it takes to run successfully were on display: defense (to prevent the other team from making shots), rebounding (to initiate the fast break), and high percentage shots (to keep the pressure on the opposing defense).

Exactly. If the Mercury don’t do a good job defending, then they cannot run. This leads to rushed shots, slower offensive sets, and takes Phoenix out of their rhythm.

However, simply making defensive stops does not guarantee a good offensive possession. Phoenix has to pass the ball effectively and use Diana, Cappie, and Temeka’s play-making skills to create shots not only for themselves, but for their teammates.

Q sees it the same way…

There are at least three key reasons for the Mercury being so effective in the open court this season. First, the addition of Temeka Johnson has been perfect for the Mercury’s system. She not only has the speed and ball skills to get out on the break and find players in rhythm, but she can also spread the defense by hitting perimeter shots.

Second, the addition of Bonner was perfect for this team. Bonner is able to beat everyone down the court for easy baskets, which only enhances the Mercury attack. However, another key asset Bonner brings is offensive rebounding. Bonner had five offensive rebounds in the game, three of which came in the third quarter.

Third, the other major “addition” to the Mercury is Cappie Pondexter’s improvement as a facilitator. It is well known that Johnson and Taurasi are playmakers with great court vision, but Pondexter has been an outstanding playmaker in her own right this season. Whereas last season she spent a lot more time looking for her own shot, often literally bulldozing her way to the basket with her head down, this season, she’s looking to set up her teammates. Last night, she recorded a pure point rating of 5.74 to lead the team.

It’s clear that the Mercury have more of a unified front that is allowing them to beat teams in multiple ways. This season, however, we have truly seen glimpses of just how prolific and effective they can be when their defense leads to more offensive possessions.

Perhaps what is more mystifying, is that Corey Gaines (and multiple players) have repeatedly told me that they can still get better on the offensive end once they truly start to click.

Scary.

Taurasi did a little bit of everything tonight (photo by AP)

All things considered, this was the Mercury’s best win of the year thus far.

After the distractions this week, coupled with Candace Parker’s much publicized return and the Sparks being unbeaten at home this season, the Mercury responded with a phenomenal performance in Los Angeles - a 104-89 victory.

It’s often said that the mark of a true professional is playing well no matter the situation, the amount of pressure, or the amount of adversity you face; and Diana Taurasi exhibited just how amazing of a player she is tonight (as if there was any doubt before). Diana had 20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a passionate and elegant performance that showed just how much heart she has. More importantly, she did so by playing harder than almost anyone on the court and letting her game speak volumes.

As a team, the Mercury are really starting to click. Passing is getting much better collectively, players are starting to become familiar with where everyone else is on the floor, and their energy is becoming more consistent.

If DeWanna Bonner plays with as much intensity as she did in the 3rd quarter tonight, few teams are going to beat the Mercury. The rookie had another double-double tonight with 17 points and 10 rebounds, including 5 offensive.

The story of the first quarter were runs by both teams. The Mercury went on a 19-5 run in the middle of the quarter with Cappie hitting 3-3 field goals and Diana scoring 6 points. Then at the end of the quarter, the Sparks went on a 5-0 run which ended up tying the game at 29. A couple of bright spots for the Mercury were Nichole Ohlde and Temeka Johnson. Nicole came in and played some solid defense in the post with a solid spin move offensively scoring 4 points, the best quarter we’ve seen from her this season. Temeka Johnson, on the other hand, was efficient at pushing the ball early on and was able to distribute the ball to her teammates notching 2 assists in the quarter. Candace Parker entered with about 5 minutes left in the quarter, got immediately beat by Temeka Johnson on a drive, and scored 2 points with 1 turnover; not a bad debut, if nothing else for the energy it brought the Sparks. The Mercury were in foul trouble early on with Diana, Cappie, and Ketia both getting charged with 2 fouls in the quarter.

The 2nd quarter, however, dealt more with Mercury mistakes which led to the Sparks being up by 6 at half. Though LA didn’t score for almost the first 3 minutes of the quarter with an 0-6 start, Phoenix wasn’t able to capitalize. Phoenix had 6 turnovers in the quarter and gave up 3 offensive rebounds which all led to 2nd chance points by the Sparks. The refs also became foul-happy and called 28 total fouls in the half with Diana and Le’coe having 3 each. This is a key component as to why the Sparks were able to get back into the game because it slows the game down considerably and takes any rhythm Phoenix has created out of the game. Coupled with the offensive rebounds and turnovers, this led to the Sparks being up by 6; with an amazing shot to end the half by Noelle Quinn. The Sparks shot a fantastic 50% from the field in the half.

The 2nd half (especially the 3rd quarter) was almost a carbon-copy of their explosive 2nd half against the Sparks. The Mercury scored 36 points in the quarter and held the Sparks to just 18, taking an 11 point lead into the 4th (a 17 point turn around). Everything seemed to click for the Mercury in the 3rd; Diana and Cappie were both scoring and distributing, DeWanna Bonner was an absolute beast on the boards grabbing 5 offensive boards in the quarter and giving the Mercury a much needed boost off the bench scoring 12 points in the quarter, including hitting an important three. DeWanna’s energy was off the charts and it was great to see her smiling and having fun after a rough couple past games. Perhaps even more importantly, the Mercury’s passing was much more crisp and quick which allowed for open shots and baskets in the paint.

What ultimately won this game for the Mercury was their emphasized focus on team defense in the 2nd half. The Mercury came out of the 2nd half with a purpose and mission that was missing in the 1st half.  Holding the Sparks to just 19 points in both the 3rd and 4th quarters, Phoenix stormed back from a 6 point half-time deficit with the momentum swinging against them. Simply put, it was their energy in the 2nd half on both ends of the floor that allowed them to run away with the win.

The Mercury are now 7-0 when scoring over 90 points and are in sole possession of 1st place in the Western Conference with an 8-4 record.

Player Summary

• Diana: 20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds
• Cappie: 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
• Temeka: 12 points, 4 assists
• Le’coe: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4-6 FT’s
• Tangela: 4 points, 5 rebounds
• DeWanna: 17 points, 10 rebounds, 8-9 FT’s
• Ketia: 5 points, 3 rebounds
• Mazz: 6 points, 2 3-pointers
• Nicole: 9 points, 5 rebounds

Candace is back! (photo by WNBA.com)

On Friday, we got some news that shouldn’t have surprised anyone - Candace Parker is planning on making her first appearance of 2009 against the Mercury this Sunday.

Why doesn’t that surprise me? 3 reasons…

• It’s at home, and the Sparks haven’t lost at home all season
• She dunked the ball in practice this week
• It’s a nationally televised game on NBA TV

Some may think she’s rushing it, but Gaines has been preparing for the game Sunday as if both Parker and Leslie would play. “They’re saying Candace and Lisa won’t play, but I don’t believe that,” Gaines said at practice Friday morning before the official announcement came out that Candace will, in fact, play. “I’m prepping the team and staff as if they’ll both play.”

After Sacramento beat the Lynx on Thursday, the Mercury jumped into a two-way tie for 1st place in the West with Seattle just a 1/2 game behind.  With as tight as the race is, it just makes every game that much more important. “With basically a three-way tie for 1st, we just have to keep looking forward,” Gaines said. “There is no easy game in the WNBA.”

After a tumultuous start to the season, mostly due to injuries and absent players, the Sparks are now 3-5 and suddenly healthy again. Candace won’t need much time getting acclimated to the speed of the game again and Lisa Leslie could return in just a few games. In their absence however, L.A’s bench has really stepped up. “Oh, their bench is amazing,” Gaines said. “They are so deep that their bench players would be starters on other teams.”

In order to hand the Sparks their first loss at home, the Mercury will once again need to do what they do best - score. “We just have to play Phoenix basketball,” Temeka Johnson said. “We’ve had some great practices and if we play our style of basketball we are hoping it will carry over in L.A.”

In their last game against the Sparks, the Mercury needed a big run late in the game to secure the win. Fueled by Temeka’s 10 points in the period, the Mercury ended up going on a 13-2 run with just under 3 minutes left and won the game 89-80. In spite of being out-rebounded by 17, giving up 22 2nd chance points, 21 offensive rebounds, and allowing 40 points in the paint the Mercury found a way to win.

However, with Candace back in the line-up, Phoenix won’t be able to rely on a run to end the game. “They’re coming off a big win against Seattle,” Diana Taurasi said on Friday. “It’s going to be a tough game but we’ll be ready.”

Key Player - Temeka Johnson

The Mercury go as Temeka goes, both offensively and defensively. They’ll need her to be her usual energetic and passionate self on Sunday and allow her to distribute the ball to her teammates, something she does exteremely well (averaging 5.1 assists a game).

In the last game versus the Sparks, Meek virtually won the game for Phoenix scoring 10 of her 18 points in the 4th quarter to go along with her 7 assists and 3 rebounds on the night.

When Temeka dishes out 6 assists or more, the Mercury are unbeaten.

Key Stats - Scoring and Turnovers

When the Mercury score over 90 points a game, they haven’t lost. The Sparks have improved their defense of late and now hold opponents to an average of 69.9 points per game so the key for the Mercury will be spacing and keeping their turnovers below 10.

On the road the Mercury average 18.3 turnovers which is good for 2nd in the league.

Keys to the Game

• Limit turnovers on the road
• Floor spacing
• Getting out in transition and pushing the ball for a full 40 minutes
• The usuals: rebounding, 2nd chance points, and points in the paint

First and foremost, I hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend!

Here are some random notes to get you through the day. I will post my preview of the Sparks game tomorrow morning before I head to Miami (Arizona) for the 4th.

WNBA Notes

• Looks like Candace Parker will play on Sunday. More about this in the preview piece tomorrow but it’s not necessarily surprising, considering it’s going to be on ESPN2. Gaines also said today that he was preparing for both Candace and Lisa anyway for the game.
• Silver Stars player Sophia Young participated in a Twitter discussion with fans you can find here.
• Alex Chambers of 13 Teams, 1 Journey blogs about his latest travels to Atlanta and more.
• WNBA Rookie Rankings (DeWanna is 1st!)
• Q posted a great video at Rethinking Basketball of the New York Liberty doing a version of Thriller, RIP Michael.
• The Fever are playing very, very well
• All-Star voting still taking place - vote, vote, vote!

Mercury Notes

• DeWanna Bonner has updated her latest rookie blog. Read it all here!
• Great interview with Kip Helt by PhoenixMercury.com.
• Mercury President, Jay Parry, blogs about joining former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano in D.C. at the Mercury/Mystics game
• Diana nominated for another ESPY!
• You won’t find much coverage of D’s situation here as I consider that a personal issue and you can find that information in numerous other outlets. All too often, it paints the player in a bad light and I simply won’t do that here. All I will say regarding Diana and what happened early Thursday morning is to please reserve judgment. Everyone makes mistakes and she is a genuinely good person, cares deeply about others and the community, is both responsible and honest, and I’ve come to know her as one of the nicest people in the business.  In addition, no one knows the entire story and the whole thing could be blown out of proportion. Thus, keep supporting Diana and the Mercury, especially with their tough game Sunday against the (suddenly healthy) Los Angeles Sparks!

Tonight, rather than letting the physicality of the game take control, the Mercury showed how much heart they have in a resilient win against the Storm. Perhaps Diana says it best. “We all made an effort to go out there and just play,” Taurasi said about the team effort. “A lot of people did a lot of solid things which we’re going to need for us to beat good teams.”

Yes, the game was physical (photo by AP)

Taurasi is right, a lot of people did a lot of solid things.

Though, there certainly wasn’t a shortage of things to complain about on both sides of the ball for both teams; a lot of calls were/weren’t made and each team had to make a decision to continually complain or just play even harder.

The Mercury chose the latter.

The first quarter was fairly even all around; points in the paint, rebounds, and 2nd chance points were all in favor of the Storm but not by much. What did factor into the lead were 6 Mercury turnovers which the Storm converted into 7 points. Cappie Pondexter kept the Mercury close hitting 3 three’s and had 11 points at the end of the quarter.

In the 2nd, it was Diana Taurasi’s turn to catch fire hitting 3 three’s and scoring 13 in the quarter. The Mercury played a much better quarter all around both offensively and defensively and took back the lead at one point. Tangela Smith started the game (and finished the game) having a much better shooting night hitting 4/5 shots and scoring 9 points in the half. The Storm, however, were able to convert down low and headed into halftime with a 16-4 edge in points in the paint.

Though, I really can’t in good conscience get to the 2nd half without talking about the foul at the end of the 2nd quarter…

Diana hit an amazing three with just 3.7 seconds remaining in the half from well beyond the arc. Then, one of the worst foul calls I’ve ever seen in a professional game happened…

Shannon Johnson, literally, jumped into Diana and Cappie from half-court and Cappie was called for her 3rd foul. Shannon hit all 3 free-throws to head into the locker room with a 3 point lead for the Storm. I was about 6 feet from the foul and can honestly say that Diana and Cappie were standing straight up and Johnson jumped right into them.

Just a terrible, terrible call.

At this point, Phoenix could’ve either sunk their heads and felt defeated, or come out in the 3rd quarter and show how much they wanted this win.

Again, they chose the latter. “I told them to forget about the refs, forget about the half,” Gaines said. “Bad call or good call, forget about it. You can’t change it now. Whatever you’re sulking you can’t change it now so just forget it.”

The Mercury responded by storming out of the gates in the 3rd quarter with swarming defense, productive offensive possessions, and a total team effort on both ends to score the first 11 point of the 2nd half. “I told them it had nothing to do with X’s and O’s,” Gaines said about the Mercury’s fast start to the 3rd. “All it took was to turn it up another notch, push the ball up court and put the intensity on them to get back. That’s when they did it.”

Le’coe was a beast in the paint and never shied away from taking it right to Jackson. Le’coe had 15 points and got to the foul line 4 times. Seattle missed 14 of it’s first 17 shots of the 2nd half and that was all before Lauren Jackson went down with a right ankle sprain.

The 4th quarter started almost the exact opposite of the 3rd; this time, Seattle scored the first 8 points and cut the lead down to 2 with just under 7 minutes left. That was as close as the game would get as Phoenix answered back with a three from Tangela Smith and went on to win the game by 8.

Every time these teams play each other it gets a little heated. Tonight, it was either Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi, Le’coe Willingham and Lauren Jackson, and Shannon Johnson against anyone defending her. A total of 2 technical fouls were called on the Storm as well as a flagrant on Tanish Wright when she grabbed DeWanna Bonner’s face on a layup and pulled her down. “We always have a great battle with Seattle,” Cappie said regarding the intensity. “It was a physical game and a lot of back and forth and a lot of crazy stuff happening in the game. For us to get this win we had to match their intensity and we did that.”

This time, however, it was the Mercury who were the more poised and collected team. Seattle ultimately lost it’s collective cool down the stretch and saw the game unravel from there. The Mercury certainly had their reasons to complain, especially with the call to end the first half. Instead, they let their game speak for themselves coming out with such high intensity in the 3rd.

Even though the Mercury shot over 50% from beyond the arc, they still maintain that they can do better…and I believe them. “That’s the first time all season I think,” Gaines said about shooting greater than 50% from three’s. “But, we can do better than that.”

Cappie Pondexter, once again, was extremely close to a triple-double falling just 2 assists short while grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds. “I just wanted to come out and play hard,” Cappie said. “We definitely needed this win, especially after going 1-2 on the road. We needed something to give us a little bit of momentum and tonight we were able to take advantage of that.”

Tangela Smith bounced back with a fantastic game not only offensively, but defensively as well. To go along with her 16 points and 7 rebounds, Tangela did the dirty work in the paint limiting Lauren Jackson’s output on the offensive end by denying the ball and forcing Lauren to shoot outside.

Diana had her usual awesome game with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists including 5/9 made three’s. Her shooting really sparked the Mercury in the 2nd quarter and her blocks on defense ignited the entire arena.

An unsung hero of the game is Ketia Swanier. Ketia had a great game backing up Temeka with 5 points, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers. She really is a big boost of energy off the bench and will be very important to this team down the stretch.

The Mercury travel to Los Angeles for their next game to take on the Sparks (with Candace?) on July 5th.