There's only one way to go...
So maybe it wasn't a good idea to jump atop the speeding bandwagon when there were 13 games left in the season and the Stars weren't doing so well. Too late now - I'm hanging onto my seat with all my strength and hopefully we will all survive the drop and make those playoffs.
Say what? We're still 4th in the West? Yup, guys - thanks to the Minnesota's unwillingness to win at basketball, we're still clinging onto that final playoffs spot. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep it playing like we are, but I'm hoping tonight the Stars begin to turn it around.
Tonight we meet the Indiana Fever, a team with a much better record, which probably means they are likely to kick our collective behinds. Then again, our girls played their best game of the season against the mighty Phoenix Mercury, so who knows? After tonight we have another Eastern conference opponent, and then we'll close the season with five straight games against West teams - including four who are ahead of us in the division standings.
Should be fun. A hack recap and a short preview, after the jump.
Still has it
Game #27: San Antonio Silver Stars 84 @ Detroit Shock 99
The boxscore
My take
This is going to be rushed, because the game starts in 20 minutes. Here's the Reader's Digest version: you're damn lucky you didn't watch this game.
What's worrisome is that I've starting to see a pattern: we finish the first quarter close to our opponents, then they start the second quarter hot and we end the first half down by less than 10 points. It's still a winnable game, and positive streak in the early minutes of the third quarter gets us within 6 points. And then we collapse, and start the 4th down 15 points or more. That's the game. Rinse. Repeat.
There's no surprise as to who are the best three players, the Big Three: Wauters, Young and Hammon are stupendous players and they always impose their wills on their opponents to varying degrees (that night Becky got into foul trouble early in the game and never really found her stride when she came back in). Vicky Johnson is effective at the point, but isn't confident in her shot. Darling can pass the ball but also can't make a jumper. Snell isn't shy. But worst of all, we don't have a 5th starter: in the three games I've watched, three players have alternated in 5th spot: Lawson-Wade, Riley and Perperoglou. None of them has looked comfortable in that role, though, and most of the time it seems as if we're playing 4-on-5. The bench, meantime, does more harm than good as a whole.
Considering we have Sophia Young and Ann Wauters on board, I'm confident about our ability to play inside-out. Potentially. Wauters is a particularly adept passer, and she'd be perfect in the role of Timmy in our classic Spurs offense. However, no one seems to be able to knock down an open three-pointed, and that, combined with our weakness in the boards, has been our undoing. In fact, the stats say the Stars have shot 28 percent or worse from downtown in their last three games. The question is, why are we taking so many triples when we have a Wauters/Young frontcourt and the shots aren't falling? And why is Snell allowed to take 10 threes? I have no answers for you.
In the meantime, we had no answer for Katie Smith. She scored at will against us, and I hear she's a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. Well, she certainly looked the part in this game.
A short note about the game feed: the quality during the game was still appalling, but at least it was better than Atlanta's when I checked the archive. Still, it's kind of painful to watch a game you know your team is going to lose badly...
Postgame
Let's see what coach Hughes had to say. (The sound is busted. Turn the volume as high as it goes, and pay attention to listen to his analysis on the Stars' situation.)
Basically, we need to wake up now, or we're done done done, baby. Let's move on.
Game #28: San Antonio Silver Stars @ Indiana Fever
Matchups
 STARS |
@ |
 SHOCK |
 Becky Hammon |
PG |
 Tully Bevilaqua |
 Edwige Lawson-Wade |
SG |
 Katie Douglas |
 Ann Wauters |
C |
 Tammy Sutton-Brown |
 Sophia Young |
PF |
 Ebony Hoffman |
 Vickie Johnson |
SF |
 Tamika Catchings |
Preview
Okay, no time, so short a to the point:
- The Fever, despite a 19-7 record, come from two straight losses.
- The Fever are leading the Eastern Conference, and can match their franchise record for the longest home winning streak tonight
- Indiana holds a 4 1/2-game lead over the Dream, the second team in their conference
- Indiana has already clinched a playoff berth.
- They have lost three in a row to the Silver Stars since a 59-55 victory on Aug. 17, 2007 in San Antonio.
- The Stars, as you know, have lost three straight.
- Becky Hammon is second in the league in scoring at 19.7 points per game
- On July 23rd the Stars won against the Fever 84-65 at home
See? Anything can happen.
How can I watch tonight's game?
As I've explained before, some games will be broadcast for free by WNBA.com. This is one of them. If you're interested, follow this link and click on "live access". You'll have to sign up to NBA.com first if you haven't already.
I'll be posting this minutes from the start of the game... Any WNBA fans want to join me? Yeah, didn't think so. :)
Extras
The Stars do a lot for the community. Check it out:
Helen Darling, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa, WNBA Breast Health Awareness (Part 1)
"Silver Star Helen Darling meets with local breast cancer survivor before signing in at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa for her mammogram." The Stars will actually don the jersey you can see above in honor of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa in the next game. I think they look pretty cool.
Ruth Riley visits green houses at Imagine Homes
"Silver Star Ruth Riley toured some of Imagine Homes' green houses in the San Antonio area. "
Sooo... let's watch some basketball, shall we?