The WNBA's best -- in the first half of 2012

The post-Olympic portion of the WNBA season will be kicking off Thursday so to help FCP readers get back in the WNBA groove, here’s a look back at the first portion of the season.

As there was no WNBA All-Star game this year, let’s start by naming our all-star selections as if the game would have been played instead of that thing in London.

WNBA All-Star teams

 (listed alphabetically within conference)

Rules: Every franchise had to be represented by at least one player and there are only 11 player slots per squad except for injury replacements. In this year’s case, Atlanta’s Lindsey Harding (noted by * below) substituted for Chicago’s injured Epiphanny Prince. 

Eastern Conference

Tamika Catchings, Indiana

Tina Charles, Connecticut

Katie Douglas, Indiana

Sylvia Fowles, Chicago

*Lindsey Harding, Atlanta

Asjha Jones, Connecticut

Crystal Langhorne, Washington

Kara Lawson, Connecticut

Sancho Lyttle, Atlanta

Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta

Cappie Pondexter, New York,

Epiphanny Prince, Chicago (injured)

Comments:  Picking this year’s East squad is pretty easy based on performance and it’s hard to see any one glaring omission in the East. The roster as presented has adequate post, wing and point guard play. 

Western Conference

Seimone Augustus, Minnesota

Sue Bird, Seattle

DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix

Becky Hammon, San Antonio

Glory Johnson, Tulsa

Maya Moore, Minnesota

Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles

Candace Parker, Los Angeles

Kristi Toliver, Los Angeles

Lindsay Whalen, Minnesota

Sophia Young, San Antonio

Comments: The West is a much harder team to pick and still meet the criteria. This group is probably a bit short on interior size (without Lauren Jackson available). Also, Glory Johnson was taken to represent Tulsa instead of Temeka Johnson (who may have been the Shock’s best player to date in 2012) due to the need to get more post players on the squad. Another player who was just on the wrong side of our selection bubble is Minnesota’s Rebekkah Brunson.

Top five rookies

 (listed in order of preference for Rookie of the Year)

Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles

Samantha Prahalis, Phoenix

Glory Johnson, Tulsa

Tiffany Hayes, Atlanta

Aneika Henry, Atlanta

Comments: Nneka Ogwumike, barring injury, has just about wrapped up Rookie of the Year honors, leading the group in scoring with 14.1 ppg while shooting 50.7% from the field == plus 7.5 rebounds per game. With her persistent attacking style, Samantha Prahalis has played the key role of lead guard on an injury-decimated Mercury squad while averaging 12.4 ppg and 4.7 assists per game as of the Olympic break. Prahalis’s shooting percentages from the field (37.1% overall and just 30.4% for threes) have prevented her from mounting a stronger challenge to Ogwumike for top rookie honors. Glory Johnson has been the Shock’s best interior presence averaging 12.4 ppg and 5.9 rebounds per game. Her team’s lack of success does hurt her chances toward top rookie honors given the difference to date in results of Los Angeles and Tulsa.  Atlanta’s Tiffany Hayes came on strong over the last two weeks before the Olympic break, averaging in double digits in five of the last six Dream contests to finish with a 7.4 ppg average.  Aneika Henry, undrafted, is a player who has been involved internationally since completing her modest college career at Florida in 2009. She has gotten better since that time and started 14 of the Dream’s 19 pre-Olympic contests averaging 6.5 ppg on 50% from the field plus 5.4 rebounds per game.

Second Five Rookies

 (listed alphabetically)

Shenise Johnson, San Antonio

Devereaux Peters, Minnesota

Sonja Petrovic, Chicago

Shekinna Stricklen, Seattle

Riquna Williams, Tulsa

Comments: All five of these rookies contributed modestly to their teams’ efforts, though with Shenise Johnson and Devereaux Peters, it was a matter of trying to get quality playing time on talented teams. This year may not give us a true indication of each of these players’ full worth.  Petrovic has given the Sky some quality minutes in an up-and-down season. Stricklen has gotten about 20 minutes per game with inconsistent results. Williams has had a few highs (three games of 19+ points) but has only shot 29.1% from the field to net her 10.2 ppg average.  

Top five sophomores

 (listed in order of preference for best second year player)

Maya Moore, Minnesota

Elizabeth Cambage, Tulsa

Danielle Adams, San Antonia

Danielle Robinson, San Antonio

Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago

Sophomore honorable mentions

Jantel Lavender, Los Angles

Jeanette Pohlen, Indiana

Comments:  First of all, it is unfortunately hard to give credit to ten players in this class. Moore clearly has been the best of the 2011 class and using some journalistic license, Cambage is included taking into account her performance last year and expected return to the league after the Olympic break. If she can transfer her first half Olympic performance versus the USA to the WNBA on a consistent basis, the Australian has a chance to be the best in this class in the years ahead. Adams, drafted at number 20, continues to be the steal of this draft with her solid play.  Robinson’s game has matured enough (shooting percentage from the field; assist to turnover ratio) to move her to best point guard drafted in this class. Vandersloot has experienced highs and lows since coming into the league. She started strongly in 2011, named as a WNBA All-Star reserve, but her performance tailed off over the second half of 2011 and 2012 has seen more up-and-down play. Neither Lavender nor Pohlen have done enough to crack the top five on this list but each has contributed enough to her team to receive honorable mention. 

MVP Leaders

Eastern Conference

Tina Charles, Connecticut

Comments: There are several other viable MVP candidates (Catchings, Fowles, McCoughtry) in the Eastern Conference but only one has her team in first place. In addition, Charles ranks near the top of the league in scoring and rebounding. 

Western Conference

Candace Parker, Los Angeles

Comments: In 2012, Parker is trying to prove the television cliché that she can play all five positions on the court. At times she will lead the fast break and at other times finish it. She leads all post players in assists per game at 2.9 besides being in the top five in the expected scoring, rebounding and shot blocking columns.

Most Improved Player

 (listed in order of preference for award)

Kristi Toliver, Los Angeles

Epiphanny Prince, Chicago

Monica Wright, Minnesota

Kara Lawson, Connecticut

Tamara Young, Chicago

Comments: First of all, this isn’t a list for everyone: Former all-stars and former MIP award winners are not welcome here. Toliver’s numbers are up (except three-point shooting percentage) slightly in terms of per minutes played. What makes 2012 so special for the Maryland product is that she has been producing in spite of being a major focus of the opposition’s defensive game plan as she now averages more than 30 minutes per game. Epiphanny Prince’s improvement in scoring and shooting percentages from inside and outside the arc are so great that she would have be the clear leader for this award in spite of violating our tenet of having been an All-star reserve in 2011. However, a foot injury sidelined Prince in her ninth game of this season, and she missed the Sky’s last eight before the Olympic break.  Including the game she went down injured against Indiana; Chicago went 1-8 from that point to the break going from 7-1 to 8-9. Monica Wright’s primary improvement is in shooting (she takes few threes so that stat needs to be discounted)  better from the field in 2012 at 49.6% as compared to her career average of 39.8%. In her tenth campaign, Kara Lawson is probably having her best pro season in that she is performing near the top of her career averages in just about every category as the Sun’s starting lead guard. Other than foul shooting, where her percentage is down, Tamera Young has edged up her game and in a way has also done so by the subtraction of not shooting threes where she has been unsuccessful.

 Coach of the Year

Eastern Conference

Mike Thibault, Connecticut

Comments: Mike Thibault is no stranger to coaching excellence having been named WNBA Coach of the Year on two previous occasions (2006 and 2008), and his Sun squads have made the playoffs in seven out of nine seasons under his leadership. In 2004 and 2005, his teams reached the Finals. The longest tenured coach in the WNBA now in his tenth season, Thibault continues to keep the Sun in the playoff hunt in spite of not having lottery picks on a regular basis. In 2012, he has his team in first place as of the Olympic break and a key move for this season was his installation of Kara Lawson as starting point guard. The Tennessee product has responded with a season of all-star quality. 

Western Conference

Dan Hughes, San Antonio

Comments: Dan Hughes, like Thibault above, is a two-time WNBA Coach of the Year (2001 and 2007) and has taken three different teams (Charlotte, Cleveland and San Antonio) into the playoffs (eight playoff appearances in his 11 years as a head coach) and getting to the Final in 2008 with San Antonio. This season he has taken his Silver Star squad to a 13-5 second place record while winning the last nine games before the Olympic break. This has been accomplished with excellent team chemistry making up for a lack of a dominant presence in the paint for a team expected to struggle to make the playoffs before the season began.  

Best GMs

Eastern Conference

Marynell Meadors, Atlanta

Comments: Meadors found value in drafting Tiffany Hayes with the 14th pick (Full Court had her projected at number six) in the 2012 draft and signing rookie free Aneika Henry, both of whom contributed significantly in the Dream’s pre-Olympic season. 

Western Conference

Steve Swetoha and Gary Kloppenburg, Tulsa

Comments: This pair currently share credit for Shock GM duties thus both will receive credit here. It is no secret that the Tulsa franchise has until this season served as a WNBA basket case, basically forcing the franchise to have to be re-built in 2012. Key moves to date have included the drafting of Glory Johnson at number four (Full Court projected her at number seven) and Riquna Williams at number 17 (Full Court projected her at number five). Perhaps even more important was the swap of Andrea Riley to Phoenix for Temeka Johnson, who has stabilized the point guard position for the Shock.