The Sparks had a good plan going into our gameagainst the Chicago Sky on Friday night. Weknew we were facing a serious inside presence withSylvia Fowles, recentlynamed Most Valuable Player in the WNBA All-Star Game and the very close No. 2 draftpick behindCandace Parker; the only woman to be charged with a goal-tendingpenalty.
WithLisa Leslieretired andParker sidelined with her shoulder repair, we have been a little less dominantin the paint than in seasons past.Therefore, we needed a plan to neutralize BigSyl’s 19 points if we wanted a chance to get the win. By the end of our game, we had held her tojust 10 points and only eight shot attempts for the game. Unfortunately, we let the Sky's three-pointshooters loose, and we fell to the Sky, 68-80.
We’re in the middle of a three-game road trip beforereturning home for a single game on Tuesday and heading back out on the roadagain for another 10-day East Coast swing. We wanted to maximize our time away from home and were happy coming outof our win against Tulsa on Tuesday night, seeing the possibility of a 3-0 roadswing. We knew Chicago would be a tough opponent for us.
They are in last place in the East right now,but given the dominance of the Eastern Conference this season, their recordwould be good enough to put them in second place in the West. We needed to slow down Sylvia Fowles and getour outside shot to fall and we could take this one. Last season we were the worst three-pointshooting team in the league, but we had improved substantially this season, so thiswas not a bad bet.
The game started a little tough with a quick foul onDelishaMilton-Jones, but we were the first to score. Fowles didn’t take long to get on the board, and by the end of the firstquarter, she had 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting, a steal and a block. We had kept the game close for the first fiveminutes but the Sky went on a 13-4 run for the next four minutes, including three3-point shots to end the first quarter and we were looking at an 8-pointdeficit at the end of the period. Our3-point shot was less efficient (0-2) -- we were definitely not executing ourgame plan.
Things looked a bit better on theSylvia Fowlesfront in thesecond quarter. We held her scorelessbut the Sparks were getting crushed on the boards. In the second quarter alone, the Skyout-rebounded us 11-4 (including five offensive boards). We shot 50% from the floor in the second, butthe Sky shot 60% from beyond the three-point arc.We had slowed Sylvia down, but their outsideshooting was killing ours. Part One of the game plan -- slowing down Sylvia -- was workingfine, but it leftErin ThornandCatherine Kraayeveldopen to shoot at willfrom 3-point range (they were a combined 5 of 6.) We went into the locker roomdown by 13 at the half. This was not the first half we were hoping for.
We were just as successful containing Fowles in the secondhalf -- she scored only four more points in the game. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop their 3-point shooting and we could not get our shots to fall.Noelle Quinn, who has been averaging 48% from3-point range, didn’t attempt one 3-point shot in the game, though she didend up scoring 12 on 60% shooting.TinaThompson, who has averaged just under 38% from three-point range, went 1 of3. We ended the game with three of ourplayers in double figures (Milton-Jones with 21, Thompson with 15 andQuinn with 12), but let five of the Sky players score double figures, withKraayeveld and Thorn scoring a combined7 of 9 from outside the arc (and no attempts inside). The nine 3-point shots the Sky made to our twomade the difference in the game.
Tuesday’s win over Tulsa pushed us up in the standings,but our loss Friday night pushed us back again. One step forward, one step back.Stillin fifth, but if we get San Antonio on Sunday and Tulsa on Tuesday at Staples Center,we’re in a playoff position. One game at a time. See you Sunday.
-- Kathy Goodman, co-owner of the Sparks
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий