Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas agreed a six-year extension worth $111 million Thursday, ending his free agency.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCAB69623820080704

With little-to-no news reports coming out of the Cleveland media about the free agency period and what the Cavaliers are trying to do these days, we do our best to scrape together what … [visit site to read more]

Share This

And in what must be last night's least surprising result, the Comets ended up defeating the Dream in Atlanta. The still-winless home team, now 0-17, trailed by 16 early, by just three late, but once again just couldn't close things out.

Coach Meadors-- ready to try anything, at this point-- made some unusual personnel decisions, using lots of time for her reserves, including Ann Strother, who showed unexpected grit. "We had a rough first quarter, " Strother said, "so for me to get out there and be able to provide some energy, some leadership, whatever, that was important."

Stacey Lovelace (DNP) appears to have left the team for unspecified reasons: coach Meadors says she has no idea when the former Boilermaker will return.

In last night's much less surprising results, Seattle remained very hard to beat at home: LJ and Bird combined for 56 (Bird shot 10-13, too) as their Storm hammered the previously-hot Lib.

Jackson had been having a rough week: she and coach Agler talked about it and decided that she ought to fight for the paint. "I actually felt like fighting it out to bloody play well and get the win," LJ explained. "You sort of get in that mood, and nothing can really stop you."

The Storm ruled the first half, but struggled a bit in the second. As usual, multiple Storm bloggers caught every play.

Storm fans needed the win, having just lost the Sonics to serial liar and homophobic sleazebag Clay Bennett.

In better news, local hero Kristen O'Neill, whom few non-Seattleites saw as a potential WNBA'er despite her fine Husky career, took the court for the first time late in last night's game: everyone cheered.

Happy July 4th to all!

By the way, don't let the date on the document fool you . . . the Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4th! That little bit of history comes to you courtesy of the BasketCases (in the event that you did not watch John Adams on HBO earlier this year, or, even better, read David McCullough's excellent book on which it was based). But regardless of when the document was signed, today is the date on which our country observes its declaration of independence. So go out and celebebrate, and let freedom ring!

It started out as a tough day for basketball in Seattle. The front page of the Seattle Times was almost all Sonics farewell articles. Sports radio was non-stop eulogies for the lost NBA team.

My first perk up of the day was when I picked up my oldest from his day camp at the neighborhood community center. The day camp is run by the city and they have a list of key activities for each week of camp. I was looking over the list and saw that next week was Storm week. Thursday is camp day at the Key and the city has bought tickets for the kids enrolled in the day camps. That, right off the bat, made me feel like the city has mad a first step towards backing up Mayor Nickels comment that he was dedicated to making sure that the Storm do well in Key Arena.

I was still a little testy, and my kids were a bit out of control, so I ended up a half hour late to the arena while I dealt with disciplinary (time out in your room until you are ready to treat everyone with more respect, young man!) measures at home. I get to my parking garage only to find that the pay meter is broken. I decide to pay the extra dollar to park at the arena parking garage (which turns out to be the best idea I had later on that evening.) As we are walking past the east box office a familiar woman walking by smiles and says "Nice shirt!" with regards to the Perfect Storm promotion shirt I have on. I stop and ask, "Are you one of the owners?" She smiles and replies, "Yes, I'm Lisa."

I walk over to shake her had and say with, likely more emotion than I intended, "Thank you so much!" I want to say more, but I realize that I will probably start balling. I introduce her to Eamon (who rolls his eyes and pretends to be asleep) and Connor (who is running around in circles) and tell them that this is one of women who saved us from going through what the Sonics are right now. Of course, I am so emotional, that I can't remember the name of the Sonics. I am in too much denial.

Finally, though, there was the game. Someone remembered that LJ is dominant on the block and decided to get her the ball there early and often. It was a vintage Storm night with LJ dominating down low, Bird penetrating and hitting pull up jumpers from the free throw line or busting through for a layup. I even saw a few pick and pops and pick and rolls thrown in there. As one fan's "GO DEATH!" sign reminded us, the NBA may be dead in Seattle, but Basketball is alive and kicking.


It makes me want to do the happy dance...




Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Ashley Robinson	100%	100%	100%	2
Sue Bird	80%	77%	72%	23
Lauren Jackson	70%	65%	63%	33
Sheryl Swoopes	57%	57%	64%	9
Katie Gearlds	50%	50%	38%	3

Poor Ashley. It took an injury to get her to the top of this list. It is nice to see Katie back on the shooters list. Sue Bird with a 72% floor percentage is just fantastic given how many possesions she has per game.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Ashley Robinson	202.18	202.29
Sue Bird	149.36	145.02
Lauren Jackson	137.17	122.97
Sheryl Swoopes	127.22	114.61
Katie Gearlds	113.78	92.52

Offensively the bench did not contribute much tonight, but their defense was adequate.

Raw Plus/Minus

Sheryl Swoopes: +18
Lauren Jackson: +18
Sue Bird: +16
Swin Cash: +10
Yolanda Griffith: +7
Ashley Robinson: +7
Tanisha Wright: 0
Katie Gearlds: -1
Camille Little: -3
Shyra Ely: -4
Kristin O'Neil: -3

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +9
Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Ely-Robinson: +5
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Robinson: +5
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +4

Liberty
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Lisa Willis	75%	75%	27%	6
Erlana Larkins	68%	60%	58%	8
Shameka Christon	63%	62%	50%	19
Katherine Kraayeveld	56%	56%	39%	11
Essence Carson	54%	50%	47%	16

The Liberty look really good this year. I really like the additions of Larkins and Carson. When they have their whole roster, they look darn good. Moore and Mitchel make a great tandem at the point, and they have depth at every position. They don't have a superstar yet, though McCarville and Christon are close to become stars.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Erlana Larkins	124.99	110.73
Shameka Christon	121.27	112.80
Leilani Mitchell	113.45	85.71
Essence Carson	97.78	84.86
Katherine Kraayeveld	92.15	81.76

Mitchell didn't score a point, but she racked up 6 assists in 14 minutes earning her a solid offensive rating. She was finding open shooters.

Raw Plus/Minus

Leilani Mitchell: +11
Lisa Willis: +7
Erlana Larkins: +7
Ashley Battle: +3
Erin Thorn: +3
Janel McCarville: -9
Katherine Kraayeveld: -10
Tiffany Jackson: -14
Essence Carson: -17
Shameka Christon: -22
Loree Moore: -24

Most Effective Lineups

Mitchell-Carson-Christon-Kraayeveld-McCarville: +5
Mitchell-Willis-Battle-Larkins-Jackson: +4
Mitchell-Thorn-Willis-Kraayeveld-Larkins: +3

My question to Coach Coyle is...why didn't Mitchell play more?

Southeast Missouri will not appeal NCAA sanctions calling for the forfeiture of 44 women's basketball victories as well as placing both the women's and men's programs on two years of probation. The university released a one-sentence statement late Thursday saying officials decided not to appeal the penalty. A spokeswoman for the school did not return a message seeking comment. The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced the penalty in June.

Sonics Owner Clay Bennett is a jowly-faced bastard. I'm doing him a favor by calling him that because that’ s probably one of the kinder things he'll be called from now on by heartbroken Seattle residents, who after two years of thinking their beloved 41-year-old franchise would stick around if they lobbied hard enough, now get to watch Kevin Durant play in Oklahoma City next season, even though their town wasn't washed away by a hurricane. The WSJ Daily Fix blog , which did a brilliant round-up of the whole ordeal, floats this little life raft out there for the fans:

Former Sonics owner Howard Schultz, of Starbucks fame, is suing Mr. Bennett’s group to strip them of ownership, arguing that Mr. Bennett reneged on a promise to negotiate in good faith for a new arena before trying to relocate. If Mr. Schultz prevails, the Sonics could potentially be forced to return to Seattle — Mr. Schultz and his lawyer aren’t seeking an emergency injunction to stop the move in hopes of building a better case, and that case isn’t expected to go to trial for nearly a year.

But most Seattle Sonics fans are probably too worn out from the last painful legal saga to even get worked up over this slim-to-none possibility. The Sonics story, if anything, should make all sports fans wary of what could happen to their own franchise once new ownership takes over. All of your hard-earned time and investment could be taken away from you with a quick handshake in the night, no matter how hard you root for them. Then you have to watch press conferences like this and just cringe:

"We made it," Bennett said after stepping to an Oklahoma City podium featuring the NBA logo and the letters OKC. "The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season."

Seattle, Bennet Slam Door On Sonics [WSJ Daily Fix]

Basketball Still Has A Future In Seattle? Are You Kidding? [The Seattle Times]

A Shot To The Gut Of Seattle Fans [True Hoop]

The darkest hours in Seattle sports history [ESPN]

The always entertaining Round Mound of Double Down is still hanging out at casinos ("It's for charity!) for the "Ante Up For Africa" tournament and caught up with RawVegas to, once again, let people know he's not gambling. Apparently, it it's the media's fault that he's no longer allowed to gamble. I think Wynn's Las Vegas Resort and his bank account would beg to differ.

Charles Barkley Thinks We're Jackasses [Wicked Chops]

The Seattle Sonics are no more as they pack their bags and hit the road for Oklahoma City today.

Listening in disgust the all the rhetoric from city officials yesterday made me realize just how close we came to losing the Storm.

I told ESPN.com last season that I wanted both teams, but if I could only keep one team it would have to be the Storm. In the end, I got my second choice, but only because of the passion, and the dedication of those four amazing women from Force 10 Hoops.

I just want to take a moment to thank them one more time.

The Storm take on the Liberty tonight at 7PM PDT. Come out and support the ONLY professional basketball in Seattle. Here is a look at some highlights from the Liberty's visit to Key Arena last year. Izi, Betty and JB in the mix.

Couldn't Hang On.

After the Mystics' disappointing effort in Seattle on Sunday, the good news is that the team found a lot more offense last night against Sacramento; the bad news is that it wasn't quite enough, as the Mystics lost to the Monarchs, 81-87.

Yesterday's game was one of those up and down affairs . . . the Mystics were behind by only a single point at the half, took the lead after the break, lost it, tied it up at 75 with only 1:43 remaining (thanks to a big 3-pointer by Monique Currie), but couldn't hang on, as the Monarchs responded with an 8-0 run that put them ahead for good. Close, but still no "W."

Alana Beard scored a game-high 31 points, Mo added 17 (and 7 assists!), and Nakia Sanford, again coming off the bench, played like her old self in the first half, as she scored 10 points for the Mystics before the break. Unfortunately, her old self then stayed in the locker room, as Kia also finished the game with just those same 10 points.

Probably the most remarkable statistic of the night was the 17 points put up by the Monarch's PG (and former Old Dominion superstar), Ticha Penicheiro, who is known far more for her incredible passing skills (she had 8 assists last night) than for her scoring. DC-area natives Kara Lawson and Rebekkah Brunson scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Sacramento. And sadly for Maryland fans, neither Lang nor Harp had a good night, both playing about 13 minutes but scoring 0 and 2, respectively.

With the season nearly half over, the Mystics now return home having gone 1-2 on their west coast swing, dropping to 6-10 overall. The Mystics' Every-Sunday-In-July-Series begins this week at 1 PM, when they host San Antonio at the Phone Booth.

Geno Auriemma has signed a contract that would keep the Hall of Fame women's basketball coach on Connecticut's sideline through 2013. The five-year, $8 million deal begins July 1, the university said Wednesday. It includes a base salary of $300,000 in the first year. That amount will increase by $25,000 annually throughout the contract. Besides his base salary, Auriemma will receive $1.1 million in the first year of the contract for speaking and media appearances.

Candace Parker of Tennessee has won the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the nation's top female college athlete. Parker led the Lady Vols to their second consecutive NCAA title in April. She was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Parker received the award at Columbia University. Minnesota-Duluth volleyball player Vicky Braegelmann and Willamette cross-country star Sarah Zerzan were selected as athletes of the year in Division II and III.

Husky fans rejoice. Kristin O'Neil was signed to a seven day contract by the Storm today.

Lauren's ad is done, and it is my favorite to date.



I am waiting on an expected signing today. Unless there is a spectacular shooter out there, I expect either Lewis or O'Neil to get a shot.

Every now and then a hint of the coiled spring deep within the man once labeled soft and passive pops up.

A swing at Detroit Piston Bill Lambier in January of 1989, after being elbowed in the throat.

A somewhat alarming pronouncement regarding NASCAR:

Brad Daugherty admitted that he “likes to see the violence”, to which Suzy [Kolber] added, “everyone wants to see it!”

More than once.

“I just love the sport,” Daugherty says of racing. “I love the smell, I love the color, I love the violence, I love everything involved.”

Early on, no one guessed Brad would someday be hailed by the Boston Globe as:

[e]nter[ing] the realm of Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Ewing, David Robinson, Robert Parish and other elite big men. (Source: The Boston Globe, May 2, 1992)

Growing up in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with brothers 5 and 10 years older who played on the high school basketball team while Brad was still in grade school, Brad was determined to catch up. He and his brothers:

[...] played on a dirt court in back of their house. The basket, only 81/2 feet high, was nailed to an old oak tree. When his brothers weren’t around, Brad played there alone and worked on his dribbling, shooting, and rebounding.

“It really wasn’t much of a court, “ said Brad. “The yard had been beaten down so much by our playing on it that it was just dirt. There were a lot of bushes, shrubs, and small trees in the yard, so I pretended they were other players. I practiced dribbling around the tress, shooting over the shrubs, and going one-on –one with the bushes.”

[…]  Sometimes he pretended the bushes were his older brothers, Steve and Greg. … Other times, he imagined he was leading the University of North Carolina Tar Heels to victory in the Final Four against the arch-rival Duke Blue Devils.  (Source: Little Basketball Big Leaguers by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo, 1991, Nash and Zullo Productions, Inc; Simon & Schuster)

During his sixth grade year, Brad’s brothers relented, letting Brad play in real games unwittingly helping to form Brad’s passing game, for which he would later become famous:

[…] Brad stood 5 feet, 9 inches tall. Steve and Greg decided he was now big enough to play in the neighborhood games-as long as he played by their rules.

“They said they wouldn’t rough me up anymore if I passed them the ball while they shot,” laughed Brad. “So I spend most of my time passing trying to hit them when they were open so they could score. That was really the only way they’d let me play. If I started shooting too much, or tried dribbling around, they’d make me quit. The way they made me play helped me develop good court awareness at a young age. I was right there in the middle of the action against bigger and older guys, but I still had to find the open man.”  (Source: Little Basketball Big Leaguers by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo, 1991, Nash and Zullo Productions, Inc; Simon & Schuster)

… [visit site to read more]

Share This

Again and again, we hear Lebron James’s name mentioned every time the Knicks or the Nets make a any moves. Last week during the draft, the Nets traded Richard Jefferson and his high salary, a move many analyst interpreted as part of an attempt to free up cap space in 2010 when Lebron become a free agent.

In an interview today, Lebron was asked about these rumors and he said as long as they (the Cavs) … [visit site to read more]

Share This

Alcorn State hired former University of Tennessee player Tonya Edwards as its women's basketball coach Monday. Edwards spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Detroit-Mercy. Alcorn State athletic director Darren J. Hamilton said during Edwards' tenure at Detroit-Mercy she oversaw the budget, served as recruiter and coached the guards. Edwards won national championships with the Lady Vols in 1987 and '89 and scored 1,309 points in her career. She also played in the WNBA.

Longtime Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza will replace Dawn Staley as women's basketball coach at Temple, a person with knowledge of the hiring said Wednesday. Cardoza's appointment is expected to be announced by Temple on Friday, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was still two days off. Cardoza has been at Connecticut for 14 years, where she helped coach the Huskies to five national championships.

I apologize for missing the game preview yesterday, we are starting a rennovation project on the house and we spent the entire day with our contractor buying windows and floors.

Last night was a tough blow for the team and the fans. The Storm's lack of shooting and rebounding has left them in quite a tough spot. Teams are sagging off the perimeter to stifle Lauren Jackson. She is still scoring, but nothing comes easy and she just doesn't get enough help. Post play should improve with the return of the promising Kelly Santos and the improving health of Yolanda Griffith, and Santos has shown she can score off the bench. The Storm need those extra points right now. Florina Pascalau looked lost at both ends of the floor last night.


Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Sue Bird	65%	65%	45%	13
Lauren Jackson	58%	47%	58%	26
Tanisha Wright	55%	50%	44%	8
Katie Gearlds	50%	50%	42%	5
Sheryl Swoopes	34%	20%	46%	8

Sheryl continues to get to the free throw line, convert and play great defense, Tanisha continues to perform well, but we need Swin Cash back.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Lauren Jackson	134.13	111.47
Katie Gearlds	120.30	101.43
Sheryl Swoopes	101.60	70.51
Sue Bird	97.96	97.22
Tanisha Wright	88.37	79.07

Two of the posts who played last night had ZERO values for all shooting and rating categories...that is scary and a big reason the team is struggling. They are able to win games when they have a little more rebounding and post scoring. If they get that and the shooters start knocking down shots they could dominate.

Raw Plus/Minus

Katie Gearlds: +5
Shyra Ely: +2
Florina Pascalau: +1
Kimberly Beck: -1
Shyra Ely: -2
Ashley Robinson: -2
Sue Bird: -3
Tanisha Wright:-3
Sheryl Swoopes: -10
Swin Cash: -14

Two games in a row with Swin as the lowest plus/minus value and Katie Gearlds as the top value.

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson: +4
Bird-Wright-Gearlds-Ely-Jackson: +3
Bird-Gearlds-Swoopes-Ely-Jackson: +2

Sun
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Tamika Raymond	114%	0%	70%	2
Barbara Turner	78%	86%	51%	17
Asjha Jones	50%	50%	47%	12
Lindsey Whalen	48%	36%	48%	13
Tamika Whitmore	35%	27%	39%	10

The Storm were outclassed again in the post with Griffith out of the lineup.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Tamika Raymond	159.18	126.05
Barbara Turner	136.12	136.55
Lindsey Whalen	96.20	79.77
Asjha Jones	93.26	79.84
Tamika Whitmore	91.96	71.80

Barbara Turner has been let go by two teams, Seattle and Houston, but she is proving those team gave something up. Is there something besides her play that is wearing out her welcome?

Raw Plus/Minus

Barbara Turner: +17
Asjha Jones: +12
Sandrine Gruda: +7
Jaime Carey: +5
Kerri Gardin: +4
Lindsey Whalen: +3
Tamika Whitmore: 0
Ketia Swanier: 0
Jolene Anderson: -2
Tamika Raymond: -5
Amber Holt: -6

Most Effective Lineups

Carey-Swanier-Turner-Jones-Gruda: +5
Whalen-Gardin-Turner-Jones-Whitmore: +4
Whalen-Anderson-Turner-Jones-Gruda: +3

It was nice to have a game where the win was not in doubt for the entire 40 minutes of game time.

Sue Bird has shot well the past couple of games and continues to be aggressive with the ball. It is still wierd to have the Storm play at such a slow pace and have such low scoring games. I really enjoyed the hustle and gutsy attitude displayed by newcomer Camille Little. She is going to work Shyra Ely out of the lineup. At the start of the year we saw less of Swoopes and more of Cash. As the season has progressed and Sheryl has improved her conditioning while Cash has struggled with her shot, that situation has reversed itself. Ashley is seeing increased minutes since she and Shyra were warned to improve by Coach Agler, but Shyra is slipping out of favor and not helping herself when she is on the floor.

For those interested, Tanisha Wright is -23 for the season at the point guard position. Kimberly Beck was -14 in significantly less minutes. At the shooting guard position Tanisha is +20 with Bird at the point and -19 with Beck at the point. She is also -1 in her limited time at the small forward slot.

Beck was not really playing any better than Tanisha at the point. Tanisha has huge upside playing side by side with Sue. If the coach needed to cut someone, Beck was the only choice that made sense. Sue is playing the most minutes per game of her career (not that I approve of that) so it doesn't really matter who plays poorly at the point while she sits. It won't be for long, and everyone stunk in that role. The more glaring needs for the team were three point shooting and rebounding, as well as post depth for the last five games before the break when LJ is off in Australia. Picking up a good rebounder who is shooting 40% from three and can play both forward spots was the smart choice.

Yes, the Storm need a solution at backup point. No, it isn't their biggest problem.



Storm
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Shyra Ely	100%	100%	100%	2
Sue Bird	70%	70%	51%	14
Yolanda Griffith	60%	50%	48%	9
Sheryl Swoopes	55%	55%	57%	11
Swin Cash	52%	43%	48%	10

Lauren Jackson was solid here as well but missed a number of her signature turnaround jumpers on the block that kept her off this list by 1%.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Shyra Ely	200.00	183.05
Sheryl Swoopes	124.43	117.78
Sue Bird	115.73	120.04
Lauren Jackson	100.93	86.88
Swin Cash	93.82	83.06

Ely had her best offensive showing in a while, but it doesn't hurt your percentages and ratings when the coach pulls you after your first basket. Swoopes started the season with mostly defense and free throws and is warming up nicely to the player the Storm needed when they signed her. I look forward to seeing her in the playoffs. If only Swin weren't struggling so much.

Raw Plus/Minus

Yolanda Griffith: +20
Sue Bird: +19
Lauren Jackson: +19
Sheryl Swoopes: +16
Katie Gearlds: +8
Swin Cash: +7
Tanisha Wright: -2
Camille Little: -2
Kelly Santos: -2
Shyra Ely: -3
Ashley Robinson: -5

Most Effective Lineups

Bird-Swoopes-Cash-Jackson-Griffith: +12
Bird-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +7
Bird-Wright-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +3
Wright-Gearlds-Swoopes-Jackson-Griffith: +2

Mystics
Most Effective Shooters

Player	True Shooting Percentage	Effective FG%	Floor Percentage	Points
Crystal Langhorne	100%	100%	71%	6
Crystal Smith	51%	50%	32%	5
Taj McWilliams-Franklin	47%	43%	37%	7
Alana Beard	45%	41%	31%	16

The Storm defense was dominant and set the 6th lowest score allowed in WNBA history (since the 24 second shot clock) per pd-swanson.

Top Ratings

Player	Offensive Rating	Individual Rating
Crystal Langhorne	143.69	140.68
Nakia Sanford	82.71	73.84

Amazingly, there is no other Mystics player with more than an 80 points per 100 possession rating or better than a 70 point individual rating.

Raw Plus/Minus

Kendra Wecker: +3
Nikki Blue: 0
Bernice Mosby: -3
Laurie Koehn: -5
Crystal Smith: -6
Nakia Sanford: -6
Crystal Langhorne: -9
Alana Beard: -11
Taj McWilliams-Franklin: -12
Coco Miller: -12
Monique Currie: -13

Most Effective Lineups

Miller-Beard-Wecker-McWilliams^Franklin-Sanford: +3
Smith-Miller-Beard-McWilliams^Franklin-Sanford: +3
Blue-Beard-Currie-McWilliams^Franklin-Sanford: +2
Smith-Wecker-Koehn-Mosby-Langhorne: +2