Liberty - Fever Preview
By Associated Press
Tamika Catchings has one goal left in her career - winning a WNBA title.
In pursuit of that goal, she could also claim her first MVP award.
The 32-year-old forward has finished in the top five in the MVP balloting eight times. She's a four-time defensive player of the year who has led the Fever to the playoffs seven straight years, the Eastern Conference Finals three times and the WNBA Finals once. She's a two-time Olympic gold medalist and was a collegiate national champion at Tennessee.
Catchings blames herself for not yet having a WNBA ring, and she carries that burden into Thursday's first-round opener against the New York Liberty.
''Being the leader for this team and being at the forefront, everybody looks to my direction,'' she said. ''Maybe there's something else I need to be doing.''
Catchings doesn't have much room for improvement. She averaged 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season while ranking in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, free-throw percentage and steals. Indiana finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference, giving the Fever homecourt advantage in at least the first two rounds of the playoffs and Catchings perhaps her best shot at reaching the top.
''The potential that we have, the players that we have - we have all the pieces, it's just a matter of putting it all together,'' she said.
While Catchings avoids newspapers and Web sites so she can stay focused on team business, All-Star Fever guard Katie Douglas has no problem touting her teammate as a worthy MVP.
''I think it would be a great credential,'' Douglas said. ''I know she says she'd rather win a championship, and that's great, but there's so many things that she does show up on a stat sheet, and then there's so many intangibles.''
After Catchings tied a career high with 32 points in a win over the Liberty on Aug. 13, Fever coach Lin Dunn started an unofficial campaign.
''Catch is a multidimensional player,'' Dunn said that night. ''I think sometimes she's not given enough credit for all the different things she can do. She gets assists, she gets steals, she gets rebounds, she scores and she defends like nobody else in the league. It's unfortunate that so much emphasis is put on `Who's the leading scorer?'''
Catchings has picked up another advocate along the way - Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird.
''The one thing I notice about her that you don't find in very many basketball players, men or women, is she never gives up on a play,'' he said. ''She's always digging, always going after it, always trying to get her hands on the ball.''
Bird, who coached the Indiana Pacers, appreciates Catchings' consistency and versatility. The three-time NBA MVP and three-time world champion for the Boston Celtics said Catchings' tenacity reminds him of himself.
''She's so consistent, and you know what you'll get out of her every day,'' he said. ''You take some players in any league and they'll have one really good game out of three, but Tamika has always been steady and has always been there every time, and people take that for granted. But coaches love that. Coaches love to know who they can depend on night after night, and she's definitely one of those players.''
Catchings appreciated the support but made it clear that she's focused on the task ahead.
''I'm really honored that a lot of people have gone to bat for me and want to see me win it,'' she said. ''I want to focus on playing and doing what it takes to help this team win,'' she said.
Handling the Liberty and their MVP candidate, Cappie Pondexter, will be a challenge. Pondexter finished sixth in the league with 17.4 points per game this season. The guard averaged 19 points and four assists in four regular-season games against the Fever.
''She's an amazing player,'' Catchings said. ''She's the kind of player that I would love to play with someday. You know what she's capable of doing.''
Catchings said no player or team can shut Pondexter down.
"You can't leave it to one person to guard her the whole game,'' she said. ''It's definitely a team effort. You just have to find a way to slow her down and keep the ball out of her hands.''
Perhaps a bigger challenge for the Fever will be keeping New York off the boards. The Liberty outrebounded the Fever 30-19 in their last meeting, an 83-75 win on Sept. 9. New York had 11 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points that night.
''We have to rebound,'' Catchings said. ''We just have to a better job of keeping people off the boards, especially the offensive boards.''
Bird thinks the Fever can do it.
''I think this is the year,'' he said. ''I think Tamika's going to lead them all the way.''
Mercury - Storm Preview
By Associated Press
Sue Bird isn't afraid of leaking any strategic secrets that the Seattle Storm might employ when they open defense of their WNBA title on Thursday night against the Phoenix Mercury.
As the All-Star point guard sees it, there are simply no secrets left to leak in a rivalry that has become as fierce as any in the league.
''We know them very well, they know us very well, even down to the play calls,'' Bird said. ''At this point, it's just about who can execute and who can impose their will on the other team.''
Heading into the opener of the best-of-3 Western Conference semifinal series in Seattle, it's the Storm who have done most of the imposing lately.
Seattle has won 10 of the past 11 against the Mercury. That includes a two-game sweep of last year's conference finals and an overall run of nine straight victories that ended Aug. 16 when the Mercury prevailed 81-79 in Phoenix.
''Most of these games come down to the last two or three minutes,'' Phoenix star and WNBA leading scorer Diana Taurasi said after the Mercury lost Friday in Seattle, losing homecourt advantage for the first round. ''We have to find a way to get stops and good offensive possessions.''
Phoenix, with the league's best offense (89 points per game), and Seattle, with the stingiest defensive average (69.9 points), are both aiming for a third title. The defending champion Storm also won in 2004, while Phoenix took it all in 2007 and 2009.
Seattle (21-13) is surging into the playoffs, winning eight of its last nine, all since three-time MVP Lauren Jackson returned on Aug. 20 after missing 20 games for hip surgery.
Jackson has averaged 14 points since then. Before her surgery, she averaged 9.1.
''The last eight games have helped me get involved with the team on offense and defense and everything,'' Jackson said. ''It was just more of a mental thing, just getting through that. Staying out for so long, obviously, I was burning to get back into it.''
Storm coach Brian Agler said the time off might actually have been a blessing for Jackson with the postseason looming.
''She doesn't have that baggage (of 20 extra games),'' Agler said. ''She's going to be fresh.''
Phoenix (19-15) is trying to shake off a late-season slump, having dropped two straight and three of its last five.
''The last couple of games, I don't think we've been making our transition, pushing the ball. And that's how we beat teams,'' said Candice Dupree, the Mercury's leading rebounder at 8.2 per game. ''So we have to revert back to that, and we should be OK.''
The Storm are counting on their vocal fans for an added edge. The Mercury say bring it on.
''We have to come out and attack,'' Dupree said. ''I don't know about everyone else, but I enjoy playing there. The fans are great, but that should give us some motivation to come out and beat them.''
Just as the Storm benefit from having Jackson back on the court, the Mercury are counting on the return of fellow Australian Penny Taylor. The forward averages 16.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, but missed five of the last six with back spasms.