11 September 2011
Milestones Galore!
Very exciting to be at the game when Katie Smith got her 6,000th WNBA point! She did it in fine style, too, by swishing a three in her first shot of the game.
Brian Agler got his 211st win as a head coach, tying Van Chancellor (the head coach of the Houston Comets, winners of the first four WNBA championships).
Agler's wins don't include post-season (not sure why) but do include his years in the ABL. After the game he pointed out that at least one player from this year's Storm team was with him for every one of those wins. (Obviously Katie Smith is the one player for the ABL and Minnesota Lynx wins.)
Katie's points, on the other hand, include post-season (I'm assuming), but don't include her ABL years. If you do include her ABL years, she passed 6,000 a loooong time ago*, and has more points than the two WNBA players ahead of her on the list (Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie).
The Times had a nice article on Saturday about Katie Smith's late-season surge. Jayda Evans' sub had a mini-interview with Coach Agler before tonight's game, and asked him about Katie Smith:
Q: After watching Friday's video, what did you see out from Katie Smith?
A: It looked like Katie from the ABL days. She was driving the ball. She was getting it to the rim. She had her stroke. She was defending. It was obviously perfect timing for us. We needed it that night.
Q: What has this season been like for Smith in terms of finding her role?
A: I think it's been hard for her. I think it's the first time in her life she hasn't started. So that is totally new for her. She's come to a team that is really established. Sort of like she did in Detroit, but when she went to Detroit she moved into the starting lineup. We have an established starting lineup. So it wasn't as smooth for her. It's taken some time. I will say this for Katie, she's the ultimate competitor. And she's going to figure it out. I'm hoping what we saw Friday night is what we're going to see down the stretch here.
She had seventeen points tonight, so it looks like she's in the groove just in time for the playoffs!
As Nate Parham at Swish Appeal points out, it's nice that Coach Agler and Katie Smith could reach their milestones together.
(We won, by the way.)
Looking forward to the playoffs, Mechelle Voepel over ESPN.com writes, "Playoffs have wide-open feeling": In the WNBA a year ago, there was a green giant that was anything but jolly to those standing in its path. The strong feeling heading into the postseason then was that the visual of Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and their Seattle teammates lifting the league trophy would ultimately symbolize last summer for the league. The success of the Storm indeed ended up being the dominant story of the WNBA in 2010, as they swept through their three playoff series with a 7-0 record and Jackson was named MVP of the league and the finals. Got any idea of what image will wrap up 2011, the league's 15th season?
*According to Wikipedia, it was August 16, 2007.
Brian Agler got his 211st win as a head coach, tying Van Chancellor (the head coach of the Houston Comets, winners of the first four WNBA championships).
Agler's wins don't include post-season (not sure why) but do include his years in the ABL. After the game he pointed out that at least one player from this year's Storm team was with him for every one of those wins. (Obviously Katie Smith is the one player for the ABL and Minnesota Lynx wins.)
Katie's points, on the other hand, include post-season (I'm assuming), but don't include her ABL years. If you do include her ABL years, she passed 6,000 a loooong time ago*, and has more points than the two WNBA players ahead of her on the list (Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie).
The Times had a nice article on Saturday about Katie Smith's late-season surge. Jayda Evans' sub had a mini-interview with Coach Agler before tonight's game, and asked him about Katie Smith:
Q: After watching Friday's video, what did you see out from Katie Smith?
A: It looked like Katie from the ABL days. She was driving the ball. She was getting it to the rim. She had her stroke. She was defending. It was obviously perfect timing for us. We needed it that night.
Q: What has this season been like for Smith in terms of finding her role?
A: I think it's been hard for her. I think it's the first time in her life she hasn't started. So that is totally new for her. She's come to a team that is really established. Sort of like she did in Detroit, but when she went to Detroit she moved into the starting lineup. We have an established starting lineup. So it wasn't as smooth for her. It's taken some time. I will say this for Katie, she's the ultimate competitor. And she's going to figure it out. I'm hoping what we saw Friday night is what we're going to see down the stretch here.
She had seventeen points tonight, so it looks like she's in the groove just in time for the playoffs!
As Nate Parham at Swish Appeal points out, it's nice that Coach Agler and Katie Smith could reach their milestones together.
(We won, by the way.)
Looking forward to the playoffs, Mechelle Voepel over ESPN.com writes, "Playoffs have wide-open feeling": In the WNBA a year ago, there was a green giant that was anything but jolly to those standing in its path. The strong feeling heading into the postseason then was that the visual of Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and their Seattle teammates lifting the league trophy would ultimately symbolize last summer for the league. The success of the Storm indeed ended up being the dominant story of the WNBA in 2010, as they swept through their three playoff series with a 7-0 record and Jackson was named MVP of the league and the finals. Got any idea of what image will wrap up 2011, the league's 15th season?
*According to Wikipedia, it was August 16, 2007.
Labels: Seattle Storm
# posted by mamurd @ 11:15 PM 
