 Catchings is a top MVP candidate, and she's gotten more help from her teammates this season. Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty |
This team is the Seattle Storm. And the Indiana Fever.
The only two teams left from the WNBA's 2000 expansion have followed relatively similar paths to become contenders in the league. In their fifth year of existence, the Fever tops the Eastern Conference with a 12-10 record, while the Storm's 13-7 mark is good for second overall in the WNBA. For the first time this season, the teams will square off at KeyArena tomorrow in a special 12:00 p.m. start.
"This is a good team," said Storm Coach Anne Donovan. "They're 6-1 against the Western Conference, so this is a team that, other than their stumble in L.A. the other night, they've played extremely well. They're very confident, they're number one - last I checked, they were still number one - in the East, one of the best players in the league in Tamika Catchings. It's a high-energy team, they are finally running the motion offense that he (Coach Brian Winters) wants from them much more effectively than they did to start the season. We've got to be ready to go."
Indeed, the Fever has actually built its record against the Western Conference, going just 6-9 against the East. Indiana has benefited from a favorable schedule thus far, playing 13 of its 22 games and five of the seven against the West at Conseco Fieldhouse. At the same time, the Fever has the best point differential in the Eastern Conference and was the only East team outscoring its opponents before an 82-51 humbling at the hands of the Los Angeles Sparks in L.A. Monday.
It all begins with Catchings, along with the Storm's Lauren Jackson a favorite for the WNBA's MVP award. Catchings ranks in the WNBA's top 10 in an astounding 29 different statistical categories, running the gamut from points per game (17.5, fifth) to steals per turnover (0.98, seventh). She is one of just four players to rank in the league's top 20 in points, rebounds and assists and also ranks in the top 10 in blocks and steals.
"She is an unbelievable talent and one of the best people I know," Donovan said about Catchings. "Just a great, great individual who really cares and makes her teammates better around her. But I think she's still in that process in finding her groove - new staff, new personnel - so I don't think we've seen the best of Catch yet this season."
Indeed, Catchings' shooting percentage has fallen from 43.2% to 38.7% this season, and her scoring average has gone down from 19.7 points per game to 17.5, but she's also managed to make improvements in her turnovers and fouls and has been as good as anyone in the league this year.
Catchings hasn't needed to do it all on offense because of the additions of Deanna Jackson (picked fifth in the Dispersal Draft) and Kelly Miller (acquired from Charlotte with the ninth pick for the third pick in this year's draft). Last season, Catchings and veteran post Natalie Williams were the only Indiana players to average even seven points per game, and they combined to score 48.1% of the Fever's points. This year, both Jackson and Miller are above that mark, and Catchings' and Williams' share of the offense has dropped to 41.7%. Indiana boasts one of the WNBA's more potent offenses, ranking third in the WNBA with 98.1 points per 100 possessions.
"They got two starters, two perimeter spots, that has really changed them to being an up-and-down kind of team," Donovan noted. "Much more athletic than a year ago."
Still, slowing Catchings is the key to beating Indiana. To wit, Catchings has shot 43.8% from the field in Indiana's wins, just 33.3% in the Fever's losses. Donovan indicated the Storm will mix and match defenders against her, with forwards Jackson and Sheri Sam likely to defend her most of the time.
For the second consecutive Thursday, the Storm will be taking the court less than an hour after they'd finish shooting around for a normal home game. Especially after her team pulled out a 66-63 victory at Sacramento in that game, Donovan is confident in it overcoming the change in schedule to play well.
"It is different, there's no doubt," she said. "The Sacramento game, we encouraged the girls to get up, get something to eat, get gas in their tank and all that good stuff. Now what they actually do, that I don't know. We played well in Sacramento, we practice 10-1 every day, so it doesn't really change our daily habits. Of course, the game atmosphere is a little different. It helps that this one's at home. Hopefully, we get 5,000 screaming kids there who will help and energize the building. It's different, but I think we're a crew that's pretty prepared for that."
The Storm returned to practice Wednesday after two days off, and Donovan felt the team showed some signs of rust, although she said it was still worth it to get the rest at this point of the season.
"Our bench looked really good today, which was important," Donovan said. "We were so-so; we looked like we had two days off. They were needed, though; the positive there outweighs the rough edges."
