WNBA Storylines

July 8, 2004 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release

7/8 – Seattle (10-5, 2nd in West) at Charlotte (8-7, T2nd in East) – 7 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS First of two meetings.

PLAYER TRENDS Sting rookie Nicole Powell leads the WNBA in three-point field goal percentage connecting on 60.0 percent of her shots from beyond the arc. No rookie has finished in the top-10 in that category since Portland's Jackie Stiles finished sixth in 2001 (43.1).

The Two off-season additions to the Storm roster have made major contributions to the team in 2004 – Sheri Sam and Betty Lennox. Lennox is second on the team in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (5.8). Sam is fourth on the team in scoring (10.7) and third in rebounding (4.9), and the pair respectively ranks third (1.38) and first (1.53) on the team in steals.

Charlotte's Tammy Sutton-Brown and Charlotte Smith-Taylor rank seventh (47.6) and eighth (47.5) respectively in field goal percentage.

Seattle point guard Sue Bird among the league leaders in three-point field goal percentage this year (9th at 41.3), and is also ranked 10th in the league in field goal percentage (46.7) and third in assists per game (5.4).

The Storm's Lauren Jackson is posting MVP-like numbers again ranking second in the W in points per game (19.8), eighth in rebounds (7.1), second in blocks (2.00) and a career-best 43.5 percent from beyond the arc (6th in the league).

TEAM TRENDS The Storm has the most efficient offense in the league this season averaging 102.6 points per 100 possessions as well as the most efficient defense allowing 91.5 points per 100 possessions.

The Sting has won six of its last eight games holding opposing defenses to just 57.1 points per game during that stretch including a season-low 37 points allowed to the Indiana Fever on June 26. Charlotte hasn't topped the 70-point plateau since the second game of the season.

Seattle has lost three of its last five games after winning six straight. In their three losses they are averaging 62.6 points per game while in their previous eight wins their averaging 73.1 points per contest.

Seattle rank second in rebound percentage (52.9), third in offensive rebound percentage (35.3) and fourth in defensive rebound percentage (70.6), while Charlotte ranks 11th in rebound percentage (47.3), 8th in offensive rebound percentage (28.5) and 12th in defensive rebound percentage (66.1)

Charlotte is fourth in the WNBA in field goal percentage connecting on 42.8 percent of its attempts, and second in defensive field goal percentage permitting opponents to connect on 40.1 percent of their attempts.

KEY STATISTICS
Seattle Offensive Efficiency – 102.6, 1st Defensive Efficiency – 91.5, 1st
Scoring Differential – +7.9, 1st Pace – 71.5, 5th
Reb Pct. – .529, 2nd Off. Reb. Pct. – .353, 3rd Def. Reb. Pct. – .706, 4th

Charlotte Offensive Efficiency – 94.7, 7th Defensive Efficiency – 94.3, 5th
Scoring Differential – - 0.6, 8th Pace – 62.0, 13th
Reb Pct. – .473, 11th Off. Reb. Pct. – .285, 8th Def. Reb. Pct. – .661, 12th
7/8 – Minnesota (7-8, 4th in West) at Indiana (9-8, T2nd in East) – 8 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS First of two meetings.

PLAYER TRENDS The Indiana Fever's Tamika Catchings offensive numbers have slipped slightly when compared to last season. Her scoring average is down 1.6 points per game (19.7 to 18.1) and her rebound average is down 0.9 per game. Her field goal percentage (43.2 to 39.6) and three-point field goal percentage (38.7 to 35.1) have dropped off as well.

Minnesota's Katie Smith recently passed the 3,000 point mark in her career, and now trails Andrea Stinson of Charlotte by 112 points for third place on the all-time scoring list.

Indiana needed a third-scoring option this year, and Kelly Miller, acquired in a trade from Charlotte in the offseason, has filled the role averaging a career-high 10.7 points per game while hitting 38.0 percent of her three-point field goals.

Lynx rookie Nicole Ohlde leads all first-year players in rebounds per game (6.1), is second among rookies in scoring (10.9), fourth in assists per game (1.9) and first in blocked shots (1.33). Her rebound average ranks 17th in the entire league and her blocked shots average ranks ninth.

None of the Fever's starters is shooting better than 42.0 percent from the field – Natalie Williams (41.9), Tamika Catchings (39.6), Ebony Hoffman (34.7), Kelly Miller (38.0) and Deanna Jackson (33.3).

The Lynx Tamika Williams is attempting to become the second player in WNBA history to lead the league in field goal percentage in back-to-back seasons (2003 – 66.8, 2004 – 55.7). Murriel Page was the first to accomplish the feat (99-00).

TEAM TRENDS The Lynx are struggling on the offensive end with the least efficient offense in the WNBA at 89.0 points per 100 possessions.

On June 26, the 46-37 loss to Charlotte, the Fever hit just 18.8 percent of their shots – the second lowest field goal percentage in one game in WNBA history. Their 37 points were the fourth fewest in a game in league history.

The Lynx perimeter defense is leading the WNBA in opponents three-point field goal percentage permitting the opposition to connect on just 31.1 percent of their long-range attempts. Their struggles on offense are due largely to their inability to take care of the basketball – the Lynx are averaging a league-high 18.3 turnovers per game and turn the ball over on more than 26 percent of their possessions.

The Fever rank first in the WNBA in rebound percentage (54.9), second in offensive rebound percentage (38.7) and first in defensive rebounding percentage (71.2).

KEY STATISTICS
Minnesota Offensive Efficiency – 89.0, 13th Defensive Efficiency – 93.1, 3rd
Scoring Differential – - 2.4, 11th Pace – 70.1, 6th
Reb Pct. – .503, 6th Off. Reb. Pct. – .329, 5th Def. Reb. Pct. – .677, 9th

Indiana Offensive Efficiency – 98.4, 3rd Defensive Efficiency – 97.1, 12th
Scoring Differential – +0.6, 6th Pace – 66.6, 12th
Reb Pct. – .549, 1st Off. Reb. Pct. – .387, 2nd Def. Reb. Pct. – .712, 1st





7/8 – Washington (7-8, T5th in East) at New York (8-9, T5th in East) – 8 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS Second of four meetings.

June 13 at Washington Mystics 62 – Liberty 60
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040613/NYLWAS/boxscore.html
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040613/NYLWAS/recap.html

PLAYER TRENDS Washington's Chamique Holdsclaw is trying to become just the third player in WNBA history to score 20 or more points in back-to-back seasons. Cynthia Cooper accomplished the feat in 1997-99 and Katie Smith duplicated the feat in 2000-01. Holdsclaw is leading the league averaging 21.5 points per game.

Two rookies are making names for themselves with New York. DeTrina White is second among rookies, and third on the Liberty, in rebounds per game with 4.8, and Shameka Christon's 5.8 points per game rank fifth among rookies.

New York's Elena Baranova is enjoying her second season for the Liberty. She is leading New York starters in rebounding (6.4), field goal percentage (49.7), three-point field goal percentage (47.8) and blocked shots (2.00).

Over her last seven games, the Mystics Stacey Dales-Schuman is averaging 11.9 points per game on 57.7 percent shooting from the field.

New York Head Coach Patty Coyle became the 16th coach to take over her team in midseason and the ninth to start her tenure with a win.

TEAM TRENDS Washington has struggled defensively this season permitting opponents to connect on 42.2 percent of their field goal attempts (8th in the league) and 38.3 percent of their three-point field goal attempts (13th).

The Liberty are leading the league in defensive field goal percentage, holding the opposition to 39.5 percent shooting, and second in the W in defensive three-point field goal percentage (32.6).

The Mystics are currently last in the league when it comes to giving up points, as their opponents averages 71.0 points per night. Washington ranks 12th in the league in point differential at -2.8 points, while New York ranks 10th at -2.2.

New York is averaging 16.2 turnovers per game (12th in the league) and they cough up the ball to their opponents on 23.0 percent of their possessions. The Mystics are on the other end of the spectrum as they turn it over only 12.7 times per game good for a league best 17.5 percent of their possessions.


KEY STATISTICS
Washington Offensive Efficiency – 93.9, 8th Defensive Efficiency – 96.8, 11th
Scoring Differential – - 2.8, 12th Pace – 72.6, 2nd
Reb Pct. – .489, 9th Off. Reb. Pct. – .272, 10th Def. Reb. Pct. – .706, 2nd

New York Offensive Efficiency – 91.1, 10th Defensive Efficiency – 94.8, 7th
Scoring Differential – - 2.2, 10th Pace – 69.2, 7th
Reb Pct. – .465, 13th Off. Reb. Pct. – .268, 11th Def. Reb. Pct. – .662, 11th








7/9 – Sacramento (6-9, 6th in West) at Connecticut (10-7, 1st in East) – 7 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS Second of two meetings.

June 12 at Sacramento Sun 83 – Monarchs 76
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040612/CONSAC/boxscore.html
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040612/CONSAC/recap.html

PLAYER TRENDS The Connecticut Sun are one of only two teams with four players scoring in double figures – Nykesha Sales (15.8), Taj McWilliams-Franklin (11.8), Katie Douglas (11.6), and Wendy Palmer (10.3). The other team is the Detroit Shock.

The Monarchs 34-year-old Yolanda Griffith is 10th in the league in scoring (14.3), second in field goal percentage (50.3), fourth in rebound per game (7.8), ninth in blocks per game (1.33) and third in steals per game (2.13).

After hitting 39.5 percent of her field goal attempts and 21.7 percent of her three-pointers in 2003, Wendy Palmer is connecting on 45.7 percent of her field goal attempts and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc in 2004. She is also averaging more rebounds per game (6.4) than she has since 2001.

Sacramento's Ticha Penicheiro has led the W in assists per game in each of her six seasons on the league, but she currently ranks fifth in the league with just 4.7 assists per game.

Sun rookie Lindsay Whalen is currently tied for the league lead in assists per game with 5.9 and 15th in three-point field goal percentage (38.5).

TEAM TRENDS The Sun have won six straight games, and are outscoring the opposition by five points per game during that win-streak. Four of the team's past eight games have gone into overtime, with the team splitting those four decisions.

Connecticut plays at the third fastest pace in the league (71.8 possessions per 40 minutes), while Sacramento is the eighth (68.8).

The Monarchs force the most turnovers per game at 17.7 while the Sun commit the third fewest turnovers per game at 13.6.

Sacramento ranks third in rebound percentage (52.9) and first in offensive rebound percentage (39.2), while Connecticut ranks ninth in the league in rebound percentage (48.8) and 12th in offensive rebound percentage (26.5).

KEY STATISTICS
Sacramento Offensive Efficiency – 93.8, 9th Defensive Efficiency – 95.0, 8th
Scoring Differential – +0.1, 7th Pace – 68.8, 8th
Reb Pct. – .529, 3rd Off. Reb. Pct. – .392, 1st Def. Reb. Pct. – .667, 10th

Connecticut Offensive Efficiency – 95.4, 6th Defensive Efficiency – 94.4, 6th
Scoring Differential – +1.1, 5th Pace – 71.8, 3rd
Reb Pct. – .488, 9th Off. Reb. Pct. – .265, 12th Def. Reb. Pct. – .711, 2nd







7/9 – Phoenix (8-9, 3rd in West) at Minnesota (7-8, T3rd in West) – 8 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS Third of four meetings.
June 5 at Minnesota Lynx 76 – Mercury 68
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040605/PHOMIN/boxscore.html
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040605/PHOMIN/recap.html
June 22 at Phoenix Mercury 69 – Lynx 46
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040622/MINPHO/boxscore.html
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040622/MINPHO/recap.html

PLAYER TRENDS Phoenix's Diana Taurasi has been every bit as good as advertised this season, and ranks third in the WNBA in scoring (18.6), 18th in three-point field goal percentage (36.5), 11th in assists (3.8), and third in minutes played (36.2).

Lynx rookie Nicole Ohlde leads all first-year players in rebounds per game (6.1), is second among rookies in scoring (10.9), fourth in assists per game (1.9) and first in blocked shots (1.33). Her rebound average ranks 17th in the entire league and her blocked shots average ranks ninth.

Mercury guard Anna DeForge is proving her 2003 season was no fluke ranking 13th in the WNBA in assists (3.5) and fourth in three-point field goal percentage (45.5) while averaging 13.8 points per game. She is the reigning WNBA player of the Week for games played June 28 through July 4, 2004.

The Lynx Tamika Williams is attempting to become the second player in WNBA history to lead the league in field goal percentage in back-to-back seasons (2003 – 66.8, 2004 – 55.7). Murriel Page was the first to accomplish the feat (99-00).

The Dispersal Draft was kind to Phoenix as they picked Penny Taylor who is averaging 13.4 points per game, hitting 48.7 percent of her field goal attempts and 50.0 percent of her three pointers.

TEAM TRENDS The Mercury have the second most efficient offense in the league this season averaging 99.7 points per 100 possessions while the Lynx rank last in the league at 89.0.

The Mercury is second in the WNBA in field goal percentage (43.8) and first in three-point field goal percentage (41.2), while Minnesota ranks last in the league when shooting behind the arc (31.3) and 12th in field goal percentage (42.3)

Phoenix ranks 12th in opponents field goal percentage, permitting the opposition to connect at a 43.9 percent clip, while Minnesota ranks fifth (41.0).

The Lynx perimeter defense is leading the WNBA in opponents three-point field goal percentage permitting the opposition to connect on just 31.1 percent of their long-range attempts. Their struggles on offense are due largely to their inability to take care of the basketball – the Lynx are averaging a league-high 18.27 turnovers per game and turn the ball over on more than 26 percent of their possessions.

KEY STATISTICS
Phoenix Offensive Efficiency – 99.7, 2nd Defensive Efficiency – 96.7, 10th
Scoring Differential – +1.9, 4th Pace – 67.4, 10th
Reb Pct. – .467, 12th Off. Reb. Pct. – .285, 9th Def. Reb. Pct. – .649, 13th

Minnesota Offensive Efficiency – 89.0, 13th Defensive Efficiency – 93.1, 3rd
Scoring Differential – - 2.4, 11th Pace – 70.1, 6th
Reb Pct. – .503, 6th Off. Reb. Pct. – .329, 5th Def. Reb. Pct. – .677, 9th


7/9 – Los Angeles (12-6, 1st in West) at San Antonio (5-12, 7th in West) – 8 p.m. ET

PRIOR MEETINGS Second of four meetings.
July 2 at Los Angeles Sparks 87 – Silver Stars 80
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040702/SANLAS/boxscore.html
http://www.wnba.com/games/20040702/SANLAS/recap.html

PLAYER TRENDS Sparks Head Coach Michael Cooper was named an assistant coach with the NBA's Denver Nuggets and will only coach Los Angeles through the team's July 10 game at Houston.

San Antonio's Marie Ferdinand is putting up All-Star numbers again ranking 18th in the league in scoring (11.7) and seventh in steals (1.88) while connecting on a career-best 37.0 percent of her three-pointers.

Sparks point guard Nikki Teasley is threatening to unseat Sacramento point guard Ticha Penicheiro's stranglehold on the top spot on the league's assist-per game charts. Penicheiro has led the league in assists per game in each of her six seasons in the WNBA, but Teasley is leading the league in 2004 at 5.9 per game.

The WNBA's all-time leader in blocked shots, Margo Dydek, is struggling in 2004. She is averaging 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.41 blocked shots per game while hitting 44.4 percent of her field goal attempts. Over her past four games, however, she is averaging 10.4 points and 9.4 rebounds including two double-doubles.

Sparks' center Lisa Leslie is averaging 10.8 rebounds over her last 15 games and now is tied with Detroit's Cheryl Ford for the league lead in rebounds (9.9). She also is leading the W in blocked shots (2.72), threatening to end San Antonio's Margo Dydek's six-year stranglehold on that title.

TEAM TRENDS The Sparks have won their last four games and have won 9 of their last 11. After allowing 75.3 points per game during the first seven games of the season, Los Angeles had held the opposition to 67.1 points per game over the past 11 games.

The Silver Stars have dropped their last three games by an average of 14.3 points including a 24-point loss to Seattle on July 1. San Antonio has lost 11 of its last 13 games and are now seven games below .500

The Silver Stars had the worst field goal percentage in the league for much of the season, but now rank 11th in the WNBA in that category (40.6).


KEY STATISTICS
Los Angeles Offensive Efficiency – 95.7, 5th Defensive Efficiency – 93.6, 4th
Scoring Differential – +1.9, 3rd Pace – 73.1, 1st
Reb Pct. – .510, 5th Off. Reb. Pct. – .310, 7th Def. Reb. Pct. – .710, 3rd

San Antonio Offensive Efficiency – 90.2, 11th Defensive Efficiency – 97.3, 13th
Scoring Differential – - 4.9, 13th Pace – 67.3, 11th
Reb Pct. – .497, 7th Off. Reb. Pct. – .312, 6th Def. Reb. Pct. – .682, 8th





EXPLANATION OF STATISTICS

OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY – Points Scored and Allowed per 100 Possessions
Points Per Game and Points Allowed Per Game can be greatly influenced by the pace at which a team plays leading to inaccurate representations of team's strengths and weaknesses. Using Points Scored Per 100 Possessions (Offensive Efficiency), or conversely, Points Allowed Per 100 Possessions (Defensive Efficiency), takes the pace at which a team plays out of the equation, illuminating which teams are the most efficient at using their offensive and defensive possessions.

Points Per 100 Possessions is used rather than Points Per Possession because it has more of a traditional Points Per Game look to it.

PACE – Possessions Per 40 Minutes
Different teams play at different paces whether it is the run-and-gun style of Bill Laimbeer's Detroit Shock, the more methodical pace that has characterized many of the recent Charlotte Sting teams, or somewhere in between.

Beginning with the 2004 WNBA Season, official Possessions Per 40 Minutes statistics are available. The per-40-minutes version of the statistic is used as opposed to the per-game version to eliminate the additional possessions that are accumulated in overtime games.

OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE REBOUND PERCENTAGE
Offensive Rebound Percentage is defined by the following formula . . .

TmOReb / ( TmOReb + OppDReb )

Defensive Rebound Percentage is defined by the following formula . . .

TmDReb / ( TmDReb + OppOReb )

Using a percentage, rather than total number of rebounds is a much more effective way to determine which teams are winning the rebound battle.

The reason for this is simple. A team can only get a rebound if somebody misses a shot. Here is an example to illustrate that point.

Team A misses 100 shots vs. Team B. They grab 35 of those possible offensive rebounds. Team B, on the other hand, not only is a great shooting team, but they grab all 25 of their missed shots vs. Team A.

Ranking Team A and Team B by total offensive rebounds would give us the following leader-board.

Team A 35 Team B 25

Team B, despite the fact that they grabbed every single available rebound, would be ranked behind Team A. If we rank the teams by Offensive Rebound Percentage, however, we get the following . . .

Team B 1.000 Team A .350

And Team B assumes its rightful place at the top of the list.

REBOUND PERCENTAGE
Rebound Percentage is determined by averaging Offensive Rebound Percentage and Defensive Rebound Percentage



WNBA Efficiency Rankings

Offensive Efficiency
Team OER (Lg. Avg. - 94.8)
Seattle 102.6
Phoenix 99.7
Indiana 98.4
Detroit 98.0
Los Angeles 95.7
Connecticut 95.4
Charlotte 94.7
Washington 93.9
Sacramento 93.8
New York 91.1
San Antonio 90.2
Houston 89.7
Minnesota 89.0
Defensive Efficiency
Team DER (Lg. Avg. - 94.8)
Seattle 91.5
Houston 92.1
Minnesota 93.1
Los Angeles 93.6
Charlotte 94.3
Connecticut 94.4
New York 94.8
Sacramento 95.0
Detroit 95.2
Phoenix 96.7
Washington 96.8
Indiana 97.1
San Antonio 97.3

WNBA Pace Rankings (Possessions Per 40 Minutes)

Team Poss/40Min (Lg. Avg. - 69.2)
Los Angeles 73.1
Washington 72.6
Connecticut 71.8
Detroit 71.6
Seattle 71.5
Minnesota 70.1
New York 69.2
Sacramento 68.8
Houston 68.1
Phoenix 67.4
San Antonio 67.3
Indiana 66.6
Charlotte 62.0

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 8, 2004

• Marie Ferdinand Injury Update - San Antonio Stars
• WNBA Storylines - WNBA
• New York Liberty center Ann Wauters Out with Stress Fracture - New York Liberty

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.