Back from Beijing, WNBA set for final stretch
The Olympic break is over and the U.S. women's basketball team has a gold medal.
Now it's time for the WNBA to get back and finish its season.
When the league went on a monthlong hiatus at the end of July, three teams were vying for first place in the Eastern Conference and all seven teams in the West were in playoff contention.
The season resumes today with five games. Teams have between seven and nine games remaining over an 18-day stretch.
Connecticut went into the break atop the East, a half-game ahead of New York and Detroit.
"The best part about the break for us is we got to stay in first place for a month," Sun coach Mike Thibault said on a national conference call. "That could change in about two hours on Thursday."
There could be plenty of changes in the first two days as the Sun opens with a road game at Indiana on Thursday, while New York hosts the Chicago Sky. Connecticut then visits Atlanta the following night while the Liberty visit Detroit.
"It's going to be interesting going down the stretch," Thibault said. "All three teams have had great runs during the season, and times where we struggled with injuries or whatever. I'm just looking forward to see what happens."
The Shock entered the break reeling from its skirmish with the Los Angeles Sparks. Cheryl Ford was lost for the season with a knee injury, and Plenette Pierson was suspended for four games - the longest penalty among the 10 players on both teams that were sanctioned.
"This break was good to defuse some of the negative publicity surrounding the incident we had," Shock coach Bill Laimbeer said
Pierson still has to serve two games on her suspension, but the Shock bolstered its frontcourt by acquiring six-time all-star Taj McWilliams-Franklin from the Washington Mystics.
"We felt we have a good opportunity to compete for an Eastern Conference championship this year and next year," Laimbeer said. "She's an experienced player and makes our team better with her calmness and her pointers to our players."
Indiana, 4 games behind Connecticut, is holding the fourth and final playoff spot in the East - 2 games ahead of Washington, with the sixth-place Sky another 1 games back.
San Antonio leads the West by a half-game ahead of Seattle. Los Angeles, the popular preseason choice to win the championship this year, is tied for third place with Sacramento - three games behind the Silver Stars. Houston is another half-game back, followed by Minnesota one game behind the Comets, and defending champion Phoenix another 1 games back in last place.
"All seven teams still have a legitimate shot and a strong chance to work themselves either back into the race or (improve) currently in the race," Storm coach Brian Agler said.
Sparks coach Michael Cooper agreed, adding the tiebreakers could end up affecting seeding in the playoffs.
"Championships are won on the road but it's a lot easier when you're at home," he said. "Playing against Seattle or San Antonio, you'd want that homecourt advantage."