The WNBA announced reserves for the 2009 All-Star Game bright and early this morning, at least out here on the West Coast. The timing seems ideal to tailor this week’s advanced statistics update to look at how the coaches did in their respective conferences, starting here in the West, before we get to the team numbers.
WEST RESERVES
Ps Player Tm Win% WARP Rk
---------------------------------------------
G Diana Taurasi PHO .774 4.1 2
G Cappie Pondexter PHO .668 3.4 5
F Charde Houston MIN .676 2.7 11
F Sophia Young SAS .515 1.3 27
F Tina Thompson LAL .429 0.2 68
C Nicky Anosike MIN .773 4.4 1
WEST ALSO-RANS
Ps Player Tm Win% WARP Rk
---------------------------------------------
G Tanisha Wright SEA .587 2.2 12
F Nicole Powell SAC .588 1.9 14
F DeWanna Bonner PHO .636 1.8 18
G Betty Lennox LAS .601 1.4 26
F Le'Coe Willingham PHO .533 1.1 33
By my numbers, the best player left off the Western Conference All-Star squad* was the Storm’s own Tanisha Wright. As I wrote about last week, Wright has really been playing phenomenal basketball recently. She’s developed into an efficient scorer and sure-handed ballhandler to go along with her phenomenal defense, and the numbers indicate there’s a strong case for her to go to Connecticut. At the same time, I totally understand if coaches were reluctant to reward the Storm with a fourth All-Star after having three players voted into the starting lineup, and Wright has flown largely under the radar this season.
My philosophy when it comes to the All-Star Game is not one of total adherence to performance in the given season. For one, it tends to encourage flukes (like Adrian Williams-Strong making the All-Star team, a nice honor for her but one out of place with the rest of her WNBA career). For another, it implies performance in the second half of the season is irrelevant, not to mention seasons without an All-Star Game, which seems silly to me. In the case of Sophia Young, what she’s accomplished over the course of the career justifiably outweighs a slow start to this season. Tina Thompson is in much more on the strength of her career accolades, as she has yet to play to her usual level in her first season in L.A.
The most important thing for me in the West was that the two Lynx sophomores get rewarded for their play, and the coaches got that one. Well done.
*Note I did not say “snubbed.” Snub may be the single most overused term in the English language, at least at All-Star time. There are more players who are supposedly snubbed than there are spots on the team.
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The WNBA has released an update on voting for starters in the July 23 All-Star Game in San Antonio. As of now, a pair of Storm players would be starters for the Western Conference. Sue Bird leads all West players and is second overall to Tamika Catchings with 15,203 votes. Swin Cash ranks second among West forwards behind Minnesota’s Maya Moore with 8,797 votes, putting her about 1,700 up on L.A.’s Tina Thompson for a starting spot.
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