Scary thought: By the end of this week, the Storm will be more than a third of the way through the 2008 campaign. The Storm and the Detroit Shock are the only teams in the league who have played nine games (three of them are sitting on six games so far), but this season is moving right along. Let’s check in on the advanced numbers, shall we?

Team          ORating     Team          DRating---------------------     ---------------------Minnesota       110.7     Indiana          83.8Connecticut     104.4     Los Angeles      91.0Phoenix         104.4     Detroit          93.4Chicago         104.1     Connecticut      94.5Detroit         101.6     Seattle          96.3Seattle          98.8     New York         97.1AVERAGE          98.3     Chicago          97.4Los Angeles      97.3     San Antonio      98.0New York         97.2     AVERAGE          98.3San Antonio      94.5     Minnesota        98.4Houston          92.9     Sacramento      100.0Washington       92.6     Washington      100.7Sacramento       92.6     Houston         102.6Indiana          92.6     Phoenix         108.4Atlanta          91.6     Atlanta         115.1

It’s not too early to begin discussing where the Indiana Fever ranks amongst the best defenses in WNBA history. It’s also not too early to consider whether the Atlanta Dream is the worst defense this league has ever seen. Yikes! The Minnesota Lynx offense shows no signs of slowing, while it is the Connecticut Sun of all teams that has the league’s best balance, ranking in the top four in both offense and defense.

How about the standings based on point differential and expected wins over the course of the 34-game season?

Team          ExpW    Team          ExpW------------------    ------------------Minnesota     25.3    Connecticut   25.0Los Angeles   22.2    Indiana       24.3Seattle       18.6    Detroit       24.1San Antonio   14.8    Chicago       21.3Phoenix       14.4    New York      17.8Sacramento    11.2    Washington     9.2Houston       10.0    Atlanta        0.0

Despite losing their first game, the Lynx remain the WNBA’s best team in terms of differential. Indiana deserves great credit for playing so well without Tamika Catchings. The big surprise to me, however, is that the East has been so much stronger than the West in the early going … although it probably doesn’t hurt to get to play the Dream so frequently. Consecutive victories over Atlanta by a combined 35 points did wonders for Chicago’s differential.

Let’s look at the individuals.

Player              Tm   PER----------------------------Lindsay Whalen     CON  30.0Sophia Young       SAS  26.6Cappie Pondexter   PHO  26.3Lauren Jackson     SEA  25.7Diana Taurasi      PHO  25.1Seimone Augustus   MIN  25.1Candace Parker     LAS  25.0Sylvia Fowles      CHI  24.7Tiffany Jackson    NYL  24.4Plenette Pierson   DET  24.1

How about some love for Lindsay Whalen? Whalen is, by my measure, the best passer in the league (just ahead of New York’s rookie surprise, Leilani Mitchell). She’s also pulling down nearly six rebounds per game from the point and shooting over 50% from the field. Can we get her a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team?

The combination of a strong week and several other players dropping off has Lauren Jackson up to fourth in the league in PER. That probably won’t be where she tops out.

Can we quiet the Candace Parker for MVP talk a little? Parker is terrific, and it’s a matter of when, not if she gets her first WNBA triple-double. However, Parker’s efficiency leaves much to be desired at this point of her young career.

Most of the surprising players have dropped off a little lately, but New York’s Tiffany Jackson has surged. Per 40 minutes, she’s averaging 18.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 6:09 pm and is filed under WNBA, stats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.