GET READY FOR SOME #TOUGHLOVE.

WANNA STAY COMPETITIVE WITH THE LYNX?
GET READY FOR SOME #TOUGHLOVE.

UNSTOPPABLE?

When Three Fifths of Your Starters Boast Rings And Gold Medals I'd Say "Damn Near"

Congratulations, Minnesota.  Your LosLynx are 5-0.

And to the Stormies, your team is decidedly not.   But then neither is any team in the WNBA.  I'll discuss a few.  Storm first.  

SHUT UP!  WE WON?!

Yes, Sue ,You Guys Did.

Yes, Seattle is no longer sleepless, finally winning its first WNBA game of the 2014 season over the weekend.  But not before looking a fried mess in games they could have won.   It was tough watching Sue Bird with her face in her hand on the sidelines.   I didn't remember a moment where Coach Brian Agler's face wasn't at least somewhat red. It seemed in more than a few instances that Bird was on one wavelength while her teammates were on another planet.  Wright, Little, and Langhorne are all above average hoopers, but the cohesiveness just wasn't there, and I felt funny using the oft-used "new faces" excuse.   When they faced the Washington Mystics this past Saturday, Bird played as if the Storm was on the brink of elimination in a playoff game.  Sure, the Storm prevailed, but there should not have been that kind of desperation. Certainly not this early.  

2014 might very well be a rebuilding year for the Storm.  But since next year's draft appears rather weak, I strongly suggest Agler, who also serves as general manager, engage in some wheeling and dealing.  That's where the tough love comes in.  

Tanisha Wright and Temecka Johnson need to be traded while their value is still attractive. I got mad respect for both.  Temecka Johnson is a tough, fiery point guard who can energize a team out of a lull in a hurry.  She works the floor hard and has the ability to execute in difficult situations given her 5'3" frame.  But at this point in her career I consider her expendable.  She is never going to come close to contributing in a monumental way in Alger's set up.  Not starting, not off the bench.  Let her go.  #toughlove.  

I dig Tanisha Wright's hustle as well.  She's no-nonsense on both ends of the court with a hate-to-lose visage that often matches Bird's.  The con is that I'm not a huge fan of the small two guard.   I like partition.  If you're at the two, I want you to be 6'0 at the least (Wright's listed at 5'11 but looks more like 5'10 or 5'9").  I want you to look to score constantly. Storm must trade Wright as soon as they can.  #toughlove.  

Storm have other dead weight, but I'll leave it there.   I would however keep three point phenom Shekinna Stricklen.  I'd work her hard and nitpick the hell out of her into All Star status because I believe in her.  In my opinion the surface has yet to scratched on Strick's potential.   Let the nails screech.  

WHEN CHERYL REEVE TOOK OFF HER JACKET THAT WAS ONE THING

Kristi Toliver Has As Many Emotions As She Has Moves 

Los Angeles Sparks fans I'll make this quick.  Trade Kristi Toliver.  Can she nail the 20 footer game in,  game out? Sure. I've seen it close up.   A thing of beauty.  It's like fireworks when she's on.   But as I mentioned before I don't favor the small two-guard.   Plus the woman is just too dang-gone hard on herself.   You get the feeling that if the Sparks won the Finals and Kristi grabbed MVP, she would cry a river and drown in it over not going 20-20 from the floor.    Trade her.  Keep Alana and Lindsay but try to nab a true 2.  #toughlove

The more games go by the less the Swin Cash/Courtney Clements trade makes sense.  Cash, bless her heart, might as be an assistant coach in uniform.  This should be her last season.  If not she gotta go.  #toughlove.   Either way, it appears Atlanta fumbled letting Clements go to Chicago.  

BEAUTY AND THE BEASTIN

But How Long Will They Keep Smiling?

Didn't expect New York Liberty to make the post season and still don't.  Kara Braxton, Plenette Piersen, Toni Young, and Kamiko Williams have one thing in common.  They'd be on my trade list.   The combination of age and youth hasn't suited the Lib well.  If I were Coach Bill Laimbeer I'd hate to think Tina Charles merely wanted to leave CONN just so she could be closer to home in NY.  If she has championship on her mind playing in the Big Apple, she better look further down the road.    #toughlove

Who do you trade all these players for?  That part I don't know.  I'll leave that for both another day and a few general managers.  All I know is that the Lynx are the defending champs and other teams must go through change if they are to compete.

I still believe the team with the best chance of beating the Lynx in the wild West is the Phoenix Mercury.  I can't find any major faults with them, and I think their success will depend on their bond with new coach Sandy Brondello.  But I picked the Mighty Merc to win it all last year and thus "best chance" means very little.  The Lynx just look too damn good.  For my money they are the most mature, most disciplined team the league's had since the Houston Comets, who won the first four WNBA championships.   Have the Lynx won back to back titles like the Comets or the Lisa Leslie led Sparks of the early 00s?  No.  That remains the challenge I see on Coach Cheryl Reeve's face every post game interview. But I will put her troops up against any other team that has won the big one twice in a row.  The team speaks of mental toughness and poise.  Even when the Lynx make a bone head play you probably won't see them make the same mistake for many more possessions, if at all. They have the best point guard in the league,  perhaps the second best shooting guard, and the best small forward.  By the time you double team one woman the other woman has already taken the ball to the cup -- and with an "and one" to go with it.   If Rebbekah Brunson were playing, the foreboding power forward would likely make easy pickings out of some of Minnesota's tightly fought five wins.   Add to that the banged up Dev Peters and Monica Wright and it's like you have two good teams in one.

In summary any team outside the confines of the Twin Cities has its work cut out.

But what else is new over the past three years?

Fini