Scouting the Phoenix Post Players

PF PENNY TAYLOR

G MPG PPG RPG APG TS% Reb% Pass Pos% TO% PER 34 29.7 17.8 6.3 2.9 .625 2 11.3 17 0.60 2 23.3 8 13.7 5 26.1 2

"Through no fault of her own, Phoenix's Penny Taylor is one of those players who everybody says nobody talks about," ESPN.com's Mechelle Voepel wrote earlier this season. "Everybody kind of wants to feel like they are in on 'the secret,' but nobody else is."

I react defensively to Voepel's argument; I called Taylor the league's most underrated player twice before the season. There's some proof here, however. Taylor has been brilliant ever since joining the Mercury in 2004, but this year marked her first selection to the Western Conference All-Star Team. (In fairness, Taylor was an All-Star in 2002 with Cleveland, and missed the first 14 games of last season because she was late from overseas, ending her All-Star hopes.) 2007 has seen Taylor play her best basketball, but it also has seen her public perception catch up to the level of play she's maintained for years.

If I were to use one word to describe Taylor, it would be "efficient." She uses an economy of movement when she has the ball on offense, but is skilled at finishing off-balance shots in the paint and lights-out when she gets open looks. Taylor finished second to fellow Aussie Lauren Jackson in the WNBA in True Shooting Percentage this season. Taylor has improved her ability to create her own shot, allowing her to step forward when Taurasi was suspended for two games in June. Taylor scored a combined 56 points as Phoenix swept those two games, part of a streak of six straight games when she scored 20 or more points. It's Taylor's ability to play power forward without being a major liability while taking advantage of bigger defenders on offense is a big part of what makes the Mercury special.

PF JENNIFER LACY

G MPG PPG RPG APG TS% Reb% Pass Pos% TO% PER 32 25.5 8.0 3.0 5.0 .455 19 7.1 7 4.57 1 19.3 7 20.0 8 16.7 7

Lacy played a key role for the Mercury in 2006 as an undrafted rookie two years out of Pepperdine, averaging 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. However, those minutes were not available this season after Phoenix added depth in the post and Lacy played less than 100 minutes all year. Lacy is an athletic but undersized power forward who understands her role and is willing to play within the offense and defense. She gets her points mostly off of putbacks and by outrunning her defender down the floor.

PF OLYMPIA SCOTT

G MPG PPG RPG APG TS% Reb% Pass Pos% TO% PER 8 4.0 1.0 0.5 0.3 .380 - 6.7 - 0.13 - 17.8 - 22.2 - 7.9 -

Scott was a useful starter for the Indiana Fever in 2001 and 2002, but a torn ACL cost her the 2003 season and the athleticism that allowed her to play the pivot at 6-2. Since then, she has bounced around, playing for four teams in the last four seasons. Scott played only 32 minutes all season long and is unlikely to see action in this series, but her veteran presence is valuable to the Mercury.

C TANGELA SMITH

G MPG PPG RPG APG TS% Reb% Pass Pos% TO% PER 34 31.5 12.6 6.5 1.3 .484 18 11.0 22 0.07 5 19.5 8 11.2 1 15.5 10

The Mercury dealt the rights to No. 1 pick Lindsey Harding to Minnesota to get Smith, a 10-year veteran who made her first All-Star appearance for Charlotte in 2006. Smith can capably handle the pivot without slowing down the Mercury, making her a good fit for "Paul Ball." She's a scoring threat who must be accounted for by opposing defenses, but the downside is that Smith is an inefficient scorer. A career 42.7% shooter, Smith hit 41.4% of her shots in 2007 and doesn't add to that with many trips to the free-throw line (she did hit 20 three-pointers to lead all WNBA centers by a mile; no one else had more than six).

Smith is ideally a power forward, not a center, but she's a versatile defensive contributor who was one of seven players in the league to record at least a block and a steal per game. However, she's a very poor rebounder for a center. 6.5 rebounds per game looks like a solid average, but given the minutes Smith played and the fast pace the Mercury played at, Smith had more chances to pile up boards than almost all of her peers.

C KELLY SCHUMACHER

G MPG PPG RPG APG TS% Reb% Pass Pos% TO% PER 34 16.0 4.4 4.3 0.4 .520 12 14.5 9 0.01 19 13.9 21 11.2 1 19.0 8

Occasionally a starter in Indiana and New York, a pre-draft trade to Phoenix put Schumacher in a reserve role and she did a solid job for the Mercury. Schumacher has legit size at 6-5 and can block a shot (1.8 blocks per 40 minutes) while also doing a solid job on the glass. On offense, Schumacher mostly stays out of the way, though she is capable of scoring in the paint. Like Smith, Schumacher spends much of her time in the high post, but she is not nearly as skilled at hitting the midrange jumper.

C TEANA MILLER

Pregnancies have interrupted Teana Miller's WNBA career. She missed the majority of the 2004 season to give birth, then all of 2006. After coming back, Miller was selected by Washington in the Dispersal Draft but then waived during training camp. She hooked on with Phoenix at midseason to add post depth, but only got on the court twice. When she has played, most notably during 2005, Miller has showed potential in the post and as a shot-blocker. Still, she's unlikely to figure into this series.