The Race For the Crown

LOVIN THE WNBA

with

Bell Fuller

The Race For the Crown

Jockeying For The Number One Seed

The WNBA season is reaching its climax. There’s no better time of a sports season than its last few weeks of the regular season and the playoffs. It’s no different in the greatest women’s league in the world. Every team in the league still has a legitimate shot at the playoffs and ultimately a championship. Therefore every game is crucial. I love it! But one big factor in who reaches the Finals and wins a championship is who the number one seed is in the playoffs and has home court advantage throughout. 

All eyes are on the WNBA Championship trophy

 Who’s the baddest gun in the West? – Minnesota or Los Angeles? Just when it looked like Minnesota would have the number one seed in the playoffs locked up for the third straight year, here come the Sparks again. The L.A. Sparks are now playing the best and most exciting basketball in the league. But the Minnesota Lynx have stood atop the West virtually the whole season. Yet they’ve struggled as of late with their latest loss against a very strong looking Atlanta Dream. Some of the Lynx’s issues were when center Janel McCarville was forced to miss games with concussion symptoms. She’s the only true center on their roster and the team’s been exposed as they’ve tried to insert talented, yet overmatched forwards at the position in her absence. Especially with her out they’ve suffered but even with McCarville healthy, the Lynx’s interior game seems to be an area of concern for the team. McCarville is great without the ball, setting screens, spacing and one of the best passing centers the game has seen but she doesn’t quite have that tiger in her that Taj McWilliams-Franklin brought to the table as a relentless scorer, defender and rebounder. She’ll need to dig down deep to help the team get that second ring if it’s going to happen. While the Lynx lost a key player and struggled, the Sparks lost a star in Candace Parker and flourished as center Jantel Lavender has been a force the second half of the season. It’s going to be a battle for the number one seed watching these two teams play. The Sparks have been very strong at home this season and a deciding game at Staples could be just the edge that they need to overcome the Lynx. Also the number one seed avoids a date with the dangerous Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner led Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs. What’s interesting is that the conventional thought is that the Lynx and Sparks would want to avoid Phoenix. But the Seattle Storm playing as well as they’re playing and having the Sparks number seemingly, maybe L.A wants to avoid the number one seed and a date with the Tina Thompson led Storm. Interesting possibilities in the West. Game on!

The Sparks and Lynx will wrestle for the number one seed in the West

 Who’s the queens of the East? Chi-town or ATL. The Chicago Sky and Atlanta Dream have stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Eastern Conference this season. Atlanta jumped out like the ‘rabbit’ in a Mary Cain led long distance track race. Like the ‘rabbit’ (not Mary Cain) the rest of the pack soon caught up and a very talented Chicago Sky passed them. Now it’s a battle between the most dominant team in the East the past five years and the perhaps the most dominant team for the next five years. A healthy Atlanta Dream team led by superstar Angel McCoughtrey and Erika de Souza and Sancho Lyttle have dominated the glass, the passing lanes and the conference in recent years. And what they just did to the Minnesota Lynx last night tells you that they’re fired up and brimming to get back to the Finals. Injuries set Atlanta back after their torrent start. The return of ‘Red Bull’ Tiffany Hayes- cause she’s like a quick boost of energy to your team (Not to mention Polk County representing), and the impending return of Lyttle has this team focused on another title run. The Sky have vaulted to the head of the pack led by three bonafide stars: Epiphanny Prince- Piph Da Great, Big Syl- Sylvia Fowles and the young phenom Elena Delle Donne (feature on her soon to come). They’ve dealt with injuries as well but when all three are on the floor, they’re very tough to beat. Atlanta’s intensity and defensive prowess gave the Sky fits in their first meeting. They see each other three more times in these few remaining weeks of the regular season starting this Saturday on national tv. It should be a war. Seeding isn’t as important in this race for the top spot like it is in the West in terms of the first round playoff opponent as I really believe any matchup will prove difficult. Connecticut, Indiana, Washington and even New York could be a tough series for anyone. Yet if the Sky and Dream do clash in the Eastern conference finals then home court advantage could be a major factor. Both teams are very strong at home Atlanta 11-1, league’s best record but they are a horrible 3-8 on the road while Chicago is 10-2 at home and a respectable 8-6 on the road. As a matter of fact, home court is going to be crucial. Ahhhh, the joy of the WNBA. Game on I say!

The Sky, the Dream, Elena Delle Donne, Angel McCoughtrey, this is gonna be fun!