All-WNBA Awards 2009 - Oct 15, 2009
All-WNBA Coach of the Year: Marynell Meadors of Atlanta Dream All-WNBA Player of the Year: Diana Taurasi (6'0''-F-82) of Phoenix Mercury All-WNBA Forward of the Year: Diana Taurasi of Phoenix Mercury All-WNBA Guard of the Year: Becky Hammon (5'6''-G-77) of San Antonio Silver Stars All-WNBA Center of the Year: Lauren Jackson (6'5''-F/C-81) of Seattle Storm All-WNBA Rookie of the Year: Angel McCoughtry (6'1''-F-86) of Atlanta Dream All-WNA Sixth Women of the Year: DeWanna Bonner (6'4''-G-87) of Phoenix Mercury All-WNBA Most Improved Player Of The Year: Crystal Langhorne (6'2''-F/C-86) of Washington Mystics All-WNBA 1st Team Diana Taurasi (6'0''-F-82) of Phoenix Mercury Tamika Catchings (6'1''-F-79) of Indiana Fever Lauren Jackson (6'5''-F/C-81) of Seattle Storm Becky Hammon (5'6''-G-77) of San Antonio Silver Stars Cappie Pondexter (5'9''-G-83) of Phoenix Mercury All-WNBA 2nd Team Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86) of Los Angeles Sparks Sophia Young (6'1''-F-83) of San Antonio Silver Stars Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72) of Los Angeles Sparks Katie Douglas (6'1''-G/F-79) of Indiana Fever Deanna Nolan (5'11''-G/F-79) of Detroit Shock All-WNBA Rookie Team Angel McCoughtry (6'1''-F-86) of Atlanta Dream DeWanna Bonner (6'4''-G-87) of Phoenix Mercury Shavonte Zellous (5'10''-G-86) of Detroit Shock Renee Montgomery (5'7''-G-86) of Minnesota Lynx Marissa Coleman (6'1''-G/F-87) of Washington Mystics All-WNBA Defensive 1st Team Tamika Catchings (6'1''-F-79) of Indiana Fever Lauren Jackson (6'5''-F/C-81) of Seattle Storm Nicky Anosike (6'4''-C-86) of Minnesota Lynx Tanisha Wright (5'11''-G-83) of Seattle Storm Tully Bevilaqua (5'5''-G-72) of Indiana Fever All-WNBA Defensive 2nd Team Sancho Lyttle (6'4''-C-83) of Atlanta Dream Angel McCoughtry (6'1''-F-86) of Atlanta Dream Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72) of Los Angeles Sparks Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86) of Los Angeles Sparks Alana Beard (5'11''-G/F-82) of Washington Mystics Fever can wrap up their first WNBA title tonight - Oct 9, 2009 Diana Taurasi (6'0''-G-82, college: Connecticut) hasn't found her rhythm during the WNBA finals and the Phoenix Mercury are paying for it. The Indiana Fever lead the series 2-1 and can win its first championship tonight in Game 4. Indiana's odds of closing out the best-of-five series increase if Taurasi, the league's MVP, has another poor shooting performance. Taurasi, the former UConn star, is averaging 20 points per game in the finals, but she's making fewer than a third of her shots while being hounded by defensive player of the year Tamika Catchings. Indiana held Taurasi to 6-for-16 shooting and won Game 3 86-85 on Sunday. Catchings doesn't expect another off night from the league's regular-season scoring champion. She missed quite a few wide open shots, Catchings said. Don't look for her to miss those next game. Indiana guard Katie Douglas (6'1''-G/F-79, college: Purdue) said the Fever will continue to try to disrupt Taurasi and support Catchings with aggressive team defense. We've done a tremendous job on her, but at the same time, no one's relaxing, Douglas said. She's the MVP of the league, she's a bomb waiting to go off. Just one 3-pointer or layup could erupt the volcano that she can become. Taurasi shot 46 percent in the regular season, but is at 33 percent in the finals. She recognized that she was in a slump and said she's been spending extra time on her shot. I went back and watched the film yesterday, the whole game from minute one to the end, she said. It comes down to getting shots and knocking down shots. Phoenix coach Corey Gaines took responsibility for Taurasi's struggles, saying he needs to get his scorers in better position. It's an adjustment on my end, and we're going to get that done, he said. She's doing what she's supposed to do. Gaines said his team remains confident that it can win its second title in three years. He said the Mercury had many good moments in Sunday's loss and could have won. Taurasi has drawn attention away from Cappie Pondexter, who is averaging 19.3 points and 5.0 assists in the series. The All-Star, who finished fourth in the MVP balloting, is causing headaches for the Fever. We have to do a better job with that, Catchings said. When she gets the ball up top in the middle, it destroys our defense and all our defensive principles. We've tried a little bit of everything. I think the biggest thing is just tightening it up. While Taurasi has struggled, the Fever have shot surprisingly well. Indiana was the worst shooting team in the league during the season, but has shot 50 percent during the finals. Indiana has countered Phoenix's high-scoring offense with balance. Catchings, the runner-up to Taurasi in the MVP balloting, is just fifth on her team in scoring during the finals. She is averaging 13.3 points and shooting 36 percent, but she also is averaging 9.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2.7 steals The thing that I've always tried to do is whatever it takes to make this team win, whether it be rebounding or distributing, she said. I think this year, our team has finally gotten the point. Taurasi said Indiana's bench of Briann January, Jessica Davenport and Jessica Moore have been the difference. She singled out January, a rookie point guard who is averaging 15 points in the series. January scored 10 points in a 1:16 stretch at the end of the third quarter of Game 3 that gave the Fever a boost. She's been their spark, she's been their heart in a lot of ways, Taurasi said. She's been coming into games, and not being shy of shooting, being aggressive, making winning plays. She has just been nails, really. She's played like a 10-year vet with no conscience. The series has been entertaining, with close games and the highest-scoring game in WNBA history. The league says television viewership for the finals are up 51 percent compared to last year's Detroit-San Antonio series through Game 3. The rating of 0.4 is up 33 percent from last year. Taurasi said she relishes moments like these, being down 2-1 and facing a crowd that booed her in pre-game introductions before Game 3, a rarity in women's basketball. Taurasi said the boos sound like cheers to her, and she looks forward to the challenge. You can't be afraid of the moment, you can't be tentative about it, she said. You have an opportunity to do something special. Courtesy of www.theday.com Participants named for WNBA All-Star Pre-game challenge presented by Toyota - Jul 24, 2009
Six of the league's elite shooters will compete over two rounds in the All-Star Three-Point Shootout. The sharpshooters include Sue Bird (5'9''-G-80, college: Connecticut), Shameka Christon (6'1''-G/F-82, college: Arkansas), Katie Douglas (6'1''-G/F-79, college: Purdue), Rebecca Hammon (5'6''-G-77, college: Colorado St.), Katie Smith (5'11''-G-74, college: Ohio St.) and Diana Taurasi (6'0''-G-82, college: Connecticut). Christon ranks among the top five in the league in three-point field-goal percentage (.494, 40-81) while Taurasi has made the most three-pointers in the league this season (46) and Katie Smith stands as the WNBA's all-time leader in three-pointers made (703). Players will have one minute to make as many three-pointers as they can from five shooting stations behind the arc. Each spot consists of five basketballs - four WNBA balls worth one point apiece and one All-Star ball worth two points. The top three scorers will advance to compete in the final round. In 2007, Laurie Koehn of the Washington Mystics, in front of her home crowd at the Verizon Center, scored 25 points in the final round in the Three-Point Shootout. Her performance set a WNBA record and also tied the NBA record set by Craig Hodges in 1986 for most points in a single round of an NBA or WNBA Three-Point Shootout. The All-Star Skills Challenge will feature four teams comprised of three All-Stars. Two teams from the Eastern Conference and two teams from the Western Conference will compete to make a series of baskets while navigating an obstacle course. The team with the fastest time will claim bragging rights. Team 1 (East) is comprised of Jia Perkins, Tamika Catchings and Sancho Lyttle. Team 2 (East) consists of Alana Beard, Asjha Jones and Sylvia Fowles. Team 1 (West) participants are Cappie Pondexter, Sophia Young and Charde Houston. Team 2 (West) players are Swin Cash, Nicole Powell and Nicky Anosike. The 2009 WNBA All-Star Game will tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET, immediately following the Pre-Game Challenge presented by Toyota. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. ET. The game, which is the ninth in league history, will be televised nationally on ABC. PARTICIPANTS FOR 2009 WNBA ALL-STAR PRE-GAME CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY TOYOTA THREE-POINT SHOOTOUT Sue Bird Seattle Storm Shameka Christon New York Liberty Katie Douglas Indiana Fever Rebecca Hammon San Antonio Silver Stars Katie Smith Detroit Shock Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury ALL-STAR SKILLS CHALLENGE Team 1 (East) Jia Perkins Chicago Sky Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever Sancho Lyttle Atlanta Dream Team 2 (East) Alana Beard Washington Mystics Asjha Jones Connecticut Sun Sylvia Fowles Chicago Sky Team 1 (West) Cappie Pondexter Phoenix Mercury Sophia Young San Antonio Silver Stars Charde Houston Minnesota Lynx Team 2 (West) Swin Cash Seattle Storm Nicole Powell Sacramento Monarchs Nicky Anosike Minnesota Lynx Courtesy of www.oursportscentral.com |
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Diana Taurasi WNBA MVP 2009 (Photo: NBA)
WNBA President Donna Orender presents Swin Cash with the MVP trophy (Photo: NBA)
Phoenix Mercury WNBA Champion 2009 (Photo: NBA)
Gaines
