Will the WNBA be catching the Fever again? The Indiana Fever will be defending the WNBA title, and although they have the nucleus from last season’s title team back – headlined by Finals MVP Tamika Catchings – many teams have improved, if not drastically improved, and are ready to mount a serious charge to the top of the league.
Here is our Eastern Conference team capsules:
Atlanta Dream
2012: 19-15, lost to Indiana 2-1 in conference semifinals
Last season for the Atlanta Dream, and I’ll paraphrase, played out like the famous lockerroom number in the musical Damn Yankees: “Whatever Angel wants, Angel gets. …”
Angel, of course, refers to Angel McCoughtry, whose league-leading scoring totals and almost otherworldly talent on both sides of the ball was overshadowed by her otherworldly petulance both on and off the court – holding Dream ownership hostage in the process. This, in turn, led to the “stepping down” of head coach Marynell Meadors (not a big surprise), a 6-2 record to end the season after the new head coach, former assistant Fred Williams, was appointed (not a big surprise) and a first-round exit at the hands of the Indiana Fever (not a big surprise).
This season, McCoughtry, as well as three other starters – Sancho Lyttle, Armintie Price and Erika de Souza – return to the team that, on paper, should contend with the best in the East for conference supremacy given that consistency. Williams is in his first full season coaching the Dream, and the biggest question should be whether there will be good enough point guard play – with the loss of Lindsey Harding to Los Angeles – to make up for her loss. In the long run, the question might as well turn to, “how long before Angel turns on me also?”
Chicago Sky
2012: 14-20, no postseason
Everything seemed to be in place for Chicago to reach the playoffs for the first time in their short history. A 7-1 start, two legitimate superstars leading the way (guard Epiphanny Prince and center Sylvia Fowles) and a young point guard playing with maturity (Courtney Vandersloot).
Sadly, the sky fell on the Sky. Prince (foot) missed eight games with a foot injury after the hot start, Fowles (calf) missed the last seven games of the season and the 7-1 start turned into a 7-19 finish (including losing 13 of 14 games at one point). All of that, and they missed the playoffs by only one game.
This season has to have a “playoffs or bust” feel for head coach Pokey Chatman, and the drafting of University of Delaware sensation Elena Delle Donne should get them over the hump. The All-America who might have possessed the best overall game in women’s college basketball over the past couple of seasons (and that’s saying something with the presence of one Miss Griner in Waco at the same time), her versatility on the court – the ability to play at least four positions – should make Chicago one of the toughest teams to guard when all their players are healthy. Throw in the ever-steady play of Swin Cash, and it’s hard to think the Sky won’t be in the playoffs for the first time in team history.
Connecticut Sun
2012: 25-9, reached conference finals (lost to Indiana 2-1)
What do eight playoff appearances in 10 seasons and two Finals appearances in that same stretch get you? If you’re Mike Thibault, it gets you two WNBA Coach of the Year awards and a spot as the current second-winningest coach in league history.
Alas, after the 2012 season, it also got him the ax – with zero WNBA titles to show for his reign in the Casino.
In steps Anne Donovan to the coaching chair, and her championship-littered CV (including the 2004 title as Seattle Storm head coach, 2008 gold medal as US Women’s Basketball head coach). As a former dominant player on the inside, she will relish coaching Sun star player Tina Charles – last season’s WNBA MVP. The 6-foot-4 Charles averaged a double-double (18 PPG, league-leading 10.5 RPG) as the Sun were the best team in the East.
Charles, joined by fellow former Connecticut Huskies Kalana Greene and Renee Montgomery, led the Sun to the edge of the WNBA Finals, losing the deciding Game 3 at home in the Eastern finals to Indiana. The addition of another former Husky, Kelly Farris, might help the Sun achieve that one extra win to lead them to the Finals, or further.
[Also: WNBA Western Conference Preview]
Indiana Fever
2012: 22-12, WNBA Champions
It took three seasons after their heartbreaking five-game thrilling Finals series loss to the Phoenix Mercury, but Tamika Catchings and the Fever lifted the WNBA trophy last season with victory over the then-defending champion Minnesota Lynx. Now what to do for an encore?
Catchings, after another impressive regular season, stepped up her game even more in the Finals as she turned her demonic determination to win a professional title into a Finals series where she averaged 22.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Although now 33 (she will turn 34 on July 21), there doesn’t seem to be any slowing down, and with most of the Fever cast from 2012 returning for the defense of the title, a repeat is far from out of the question.
The backcourt-driven Fever also have sweet-shooting Katie Douglas (16.5 points/game in 2012) and the guard combination of Briann January and Shavonte Zellous to provide the scoring punch to aid Catchings. Indiana also added to the mix California guard Layshia Clarendon through the draft, fresh after Clarendon helped lead the Golden Bears to this year’s Final Four in New Orleans. The Fever will be outsized and probably outmuscled on the boards in most games, and that will cost them some games. Despite that, Catchings drive and arguably the league’s best collective backcourt should have the Fever right in contention for the league crown.
New York Liberty
2012: 15-19, lost to Connecticut 2-0 in conference semifinals
Although the Liberty aren’t able to make the splash a return to Madison Square Garden would cause for another year (summer renovations to MSG force New York to play in Newark for a third season in a row), they did send waves across the league by hiring former NBA champion and WNBA champion coach Bill Laimbeer to steer the ship. After leading the Detroit Shock to three WNBA titles – and leaving the Shock for a shot at coaching in the NBA (which did not come) – Laimbeer is back in the league, and the league is better for it.
The Liberty definitely need the infusion of optimism, because the ever-present franchise that was perennially at or near the top of the East for many years has been treading water lately.
New York did make the playoffs last season, but an atypical 15-19 record and a two-game sweep at the hands of the Connecticut Sun in the first round was the signal for change.
Guard Cappie Pondexter is back, as well as her 20.4 points per game from last season. The biggest addition to the team is Cheryl Ford, the daughter of Karl Malone who is back playing in the WNBA after a three-year absence to ensure rest after seasons played overseas. Her championship experience and low-post scoring and defense will be key to replacing the loss of Kia Vaughn and Nicole Powell in the frontcourt.
Another former champion from the Detroit Shock days, Katie Smith, also reunites with Laimbeer and provides New York with a much-needed long-range scoring threat. Her addition also adds to the average age of the team, and that could be a concern going up against teams that have supposed fresher legs, if going by age. But if you go by experience and results, the combination of Laimbeer, Pondexter, Ford and Smith are hard for anyone in the league to match.
Washington Mystics
2012: 5-29, no postseason
If there is an award given to the WNBA team that most resembles its NBA in-city counterpart, then the Mystics have serious claim serious ownage on that prize.
Of course, that’s a title that they absolutely, positively DO NOT WANT, given that the NBA’s Wizards have been one of the models of futility the past few years. The Mystics went all of 5-29 last season (11-57 combined in the last two seasons), and despite the name talent – Crystal Langhorne, Monique Currie – just could not find any chemistry or consistent play to compete night after night.
So the overhaul began in the offseason, and the biggest addition is the arrival of head coach Mike Thibault, who comes over from a highly successful 10-year tenure with the Connecticut Sun. The winning attitude and new system should add a few wins, or at least, more competitiveness.
Then there are the new players, and there’s a whole slew of them – Kia Vaughn and Quantira Hollingsworth (both coming in a trade with New York), guard Ivory Latta, draft picks Tayler Hill (guard from Ohio State) and Nadira McKenith (guard from St. John’s). That mix has to come together to work well with holdovers Langhorne and Currie to form enough cohesion to improve. The improvement should happen. How much will depend on how much the new players bring to the table.
