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2010 WNBA—Not Exactly Inspiring, But at Least Interesting
By Clay Kallam
Correspondent
It’s not exactly inspiring, but the 2010 WNBA West is at least interesting. Seattle’s in and Tulsa’s out, but after that, pretty much anything can happen.
Phoenix does appear to be the class of the remaining four, but the Mercury’s system creates mayhem for both teams in almost every game, so it’s never certain which one will wind up on the wrong end of the 97-93 final.
There’s also a sense that tanking into the Maya Moore sweepstakes might not be a bad plan for San Antonio, Los Angeles and Minnesota, none of whom can expect much in postseason, or in 2011. After all, it worked for the Sparks when they landed Candace Parker (who may be available to play a full season one of these years), and though Moore isn’t CP3, she looks to be the only sure thing in the spring draft.
That contingency just adds more spice to what may not be a pretty stretch run, but what should be an entertaining one.
Shock Trade Last of the Detroit Roster
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
With the announcement of today’s trade of Alexis Hornbuckle to the Minnesota Lynx in return for Rashanda McCants, the Tulsa Shock can declare “Mission Accomplished”—if, that is, the mission was to strip the roster of all remnants of the repeat-championship Detroit Shock. Last week, Tulsa sent Kara Braxton to Phoenix in return for Nicole Ohlde and a 2011 first-round draft pick.
Hornbuckle, who had been primarily a reserve in Detroit, had worked her way into the starting rotation in Tulsa, getting the nod in two-thirds of the 15 games in which she has appeared this season. However, the 5-11 former Lady Vol guard was averaging two-and-a-half fewer minutes on the floor and just 5.8 points per game, a marginal improvement on last year’s output of 5.4 points per game, and roughly the same as her 6.0 point per game average off the bench in Detroit. She had increased her assists to 2.7 per game (from a career average of 2.4 and last year’s average of 2.1 per game), but her rebounding had dropped to 3.5 boards per game, from a career average of 2.4.
The McCants trade is pretty much like-for-like. The 6-1 Tar Heels product, in her sophomore year in the pros, is a year younger than Hornbuckle and is a forward rather than a guard. But her scoring output has been just 5.6 points per game, though in fewer minutes on the court (15.8 minutes per game to Hornbuckle’s 21.1 minutes per game). McCants is averaging 2.4 rebounds per game, and both her scoring and her rebounding are incrementally improved over her rookie season.
At least some of the housecleaning has originated on the players’ end of the equation. Katie Smith, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Deanna Nolan declined to make the move to Tulsa. Star center Cheryl Ford was injured and unable to play this season which begs the question how anxious she would otherwise have been to make the move to Tulsa. And since making her own move to the Liberty last month, Plenette Pierson has disclosed in a personal blog that it was she who requested the trade after a disagreement with Tulsa Coach Nolan Richardson “that was hard for both parties to recover from.” The moves speak to at least some locker room dissension with Richardson and his “40 Minutes of Hell” system,” a game plan that is extremely demanding on the bodies of female pros who play basketball 10 months a year or more, putting aside the question of how likely it is to succeed at the professional level in the first place.
In any event, it is difficult to see how any of the Shocks’ recent trades are well calculated to improve on their dismal 4-20 start to the 2010 season. The Shock now have themselves a roster totally devoid of star power, one on which the best known name is that of Marion Jones, a 35-year old rookie, convicted felon, and disgraced Olympian, who averages 2.7 points and 8.3 minutes per game. The Shock’s hopes appear to be directed to the 2011 WNBA draft with Tulsa well-positioned for a choice pick in the Maya Moore lottery.
Budke Signs Contract Extension at OSU
By Lee Michaelson
Publisher
Oklahoma State head women¹s basketball coach Kurt Budke signed a five-year contract extension following a meeting of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, OSU Athletic Director Mike Holder announced Friday. The new contract will keep Budke at the helm of the Cowgirls through June 30, 2017, and increase his total compensation to $450,000 for the upcoming season.
“Coach Budke has made our program competitive in the toughest women’s
basketball league in the country. He and his family are active in our city
and our university community. He is a great fit for Oklahoma State,” said Holder.
Budke has transformed a program that went winless in conference play in 2005-06 into one of the top teams in the nation. Last year, Budke led the Cowgirls to a 24-11 record and a second round of the NCAA Tournament, marking their third NCAA appearance during his four-year tenure.
“It is exciting that our administration likes the direction of our program and this long-term commitment will only help us,” Budke said. “This is exciting for my family as well because we love Stillwater and it is were we want to be.”
- Mercury’s 127-124 Double Overtime Win Over Lynx Sets New WNBA Scoring Record
- Shock Send Braxton to Phoenix
- Atlanta Dream 2010: Will They Stop the Slide?
- Gray Done as Lady Vol
- Phoenix Mercury Honored at White House
- Williams-Flournoy Inks Contract Extension at Georgetown
- East is the Beast in the 2010 WNBA
- Jayne Appel: Rookie’s Potential, Popularity Recognized Though She Continues to Play Through the Pain
- Stars at the Sun: Not Exactly an All-Star Game, but Still a Good Show (with Plenty of Star Power)
- San Antonio 2010: Are the Silver Stars Tough Enough?
- WNBA 2010: The Minnesota Lynx—Finally Beginning to Get Things Right (and Then…)
- Dribble and Dish: 2010’s Most Improved WNBA Players
- Parker to Undergo Shoulder Surgery; Will Miss Balance of WNBA Season
- Hard Lessons Learned in the Early Weeks of the 2010 WNBA Season
- Though Football-Driven, Conference Realignments Could Change the Face of Women’s Basketball
- Wooden Left His Mark on Women’s Basketball Too
- Dribble and Dish: Rookies Making the Difference for Some WNBA Franchises
- Are the Liberty really better?
- The Sky looks a bit cloudy in Chicago
- Georgetown’s Williams-Flournoy Named BCA Female Coach of the Year
- Did the Sun do enough to rise in the East?
- Tulsa Shock Notch First Win of Season
- Dribble and Dish: Changes Abound in Week One of the 2010 WNBA Season
- New Faces Make Their Mark on Opening Day of WNBA’s 14th Season
- WNBA Preview: The Storm Address Their Bench
- Clay Kallam’s Scorecard: A Bad News Day for the WNBA
- Sparks Packed With Talent Again in 2010
- Parker’s Back: A Case Study in Athletic Resilience
- A Look Back at Lessons Learned from the 2009 WNBA Draft
- Dead Wrong in Public: Sizing Up the WNBA East in 2010
