What a series! I watched every one of the WNBA final games.
Not as time-consuming as may appear: I watch everything on
DVR and fast-forwarded through all the commercial breaks.
As a long-time Diana Taurasi fan, I was thrilled to see
Phoenix take it away. I love the Mercury style and the way
they really seem to have fun with basketball. Of course it’s
a job but they never forget it’s a game, too.
Why did Phoenix win? They wanted it more. Even the Detroit
Shock said so, at the press conference. The coach said it.
The leading players said it.
From the beginning of the season, Diana Taurasi had that gleam
in her eye. This would be *their* year. They’ve got a strong
group of players. They’ve got a coach who knows how to win (and
who’s being recruited for an NBA job – at age 68). So in a
sense it was now or never.
They lost Game 1, on their home turf. Oh well. Detroit is bigger.
They were champions last year.
They won Game 2 by 30 points.
They lost Game 3. Not by much.
They won Game 4. By ONE point. And a sheer grit.
They won Game 5 by a comfortable 16 points.
According to their reporter, the pre-game planning session was all
about fine-tuning the small stuff.
It worked. And now we get to move on to something else for the year!
The WNBA is not what it used to be. Women are getting more athletic
earlier. Sue Bird, a star point guard at UConn (she was two years ahead
of Diana Taurasi), said she never saw players like these when she was
in college. She’s referring to 4 women on the USA team who have at least
one more year in college before turning pro.
Now, if they could just get decent coverage in the media…