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Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was experiencing that same scene a little less than a year ago, when the Seattle Storm claimed the WNBA title. When the Monarchs began pulling away during the second half, I remembered the nervous anticipation that marked the last ten minutes of Game 3 last October (accompanied in my case by furiously trying to type my post-game story). Unlike the Storm, the Monarchs had to endure some white-knuckle moments in the last minutes, and had a couple of key calls or shots gone the other way, I'd be breaking down the first Game 5 in WNBA history instead of taking this trip down memory lane.
When the clock finally hit zero, however, the scene was very familiar - down to the same song, Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part Two." Having experienced winning a championship makes it very different to watch someone else win, and I can only imagine the feelings that Anne Donovan and company felt as they watched their title taken away.
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Before the game, I sat down with Monarchs Coach 
John Whisenant for a brief chat, and our topic of discussion was not, alas, Sacramento's chances of winning it all. Instead, Whisenant was recalling how he had to convince Monarchs star Yolanda Griffith that the team's rebuilt roster was capable of winning within the 35-year-old's window of opportunity.
Whisenant, naturally, was optimistic about his team's chances, but I don't believe even he expected things to come together as perfectly as they did during the Monarchs 25-9 regular season or 7-1 postseason run, especially given serious injuries suffered by Kara Lawson and DeMya Walker.
"We hope we'll ultimately be better, but we've got to get our stuff going," said Whisenant back then, and get their stuff going the Monarchs certainly did.
Over the last five years, Sacramento has known plenty of playoff frustration, losing four times in the Western Conference Finals, including last year to the Storm. As disappointing as those losses were at the time, they undoubtedly make this year's triumph that much sweeter.
Kudos must go to Whisenant, who has proven himself repeatedly as a coach and a general manager. His move to send Tangela Smith to Charlotte for a package headlined by Most Improved Player Nicole Powell was a bold one, and it paid off handsomely with Powell providing the perimeter shooting the Monarchs needed and DeMya Walker and Rebekkah Brunson thriving as Smith's replacements at power forward.
Special credit must also go to Griffith, who could have posted bigger individual statistics elsewhere and might have seemed to have an easier path to the championship she coveted. Sticking with Sacramento, Griffith reached that goal as a true leader. With the 1999 MVP trophy and Finals MVP honors this year, Griffith has firmly put herself amongst the game's all-time greats.
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On the other side, the Connecticut Sun endures the painful disappointment of being second-best for the second straight season. After the Storm's home-court advantage proved too much to overcome in 2004, the Sun got the job done in the regular season this year, earning home-court advantage only to see point guard Lindsay Whalen injured on the eve of the Finals.
Plus-minus data compiled by Paul Swanson of the Minnesota Lynx makes it clear how much Whalen's injury hurt the Sun. Over the course of the series, Connecticut was outscored by 27 points in Whalen's 74 minutes. As ESPN2 analyst Doris Burke pointed out during Game 4, the difference was penetration. After averaging 11 free throws per game during the first two rounds of the playoffs, Whalen only got their four times in three Finals games.
One of the great hindsight questions of the WNBA will be whether Sun Coach Mike Thibault left the hobbled Whalen out there too long in the three games she played. Jen Derevjanik, despite scoring only six points in 56 minutes, was a +16, while the Sun was +8 with rookie Jamie Carey on the court. They ended up Connecticut's top two players in terms of plus-minus.
The Sun can legitimately come away from this series feeling, when healthy, they were the better team, but that won't put rings on their fingers or a banner in Mohegan Sun Arena. The good news for Connecticut is that the team is well positioned to make a run at a third straight Eastern Conference crown. If the Expansion Draft plays out as expected, the Sun should at worst be able to retain the starting five and top reserve Asjha Jones. While Taj McWilliams-Franklin is due to decline a bit from her career year at age 34, Whalen should be able to handle more scoring responsibility next season.
Because the Monarchs are built more on depth than the Sun, the Expansion Draft could be more problematic. Look for Chicago to be able to add a pretty good young player from Sacramento. The Monarchs, particularly with two first-round draft picks, still do have the ability to replace any players they lose. With Griffith aging at a glacial pace, the Monarchs shouldn't take a tremendous step down, though the Western Conference looks likely to be as competitive as ever in 2006 and there have suddenly been three champions in three years after the Comets and Sparks dominated for a lengthy span.
While it didn't end the way we here in Seattle wanted, 2005 was a fine season for the WNBA. Here's to a great off-season and an even better 2006.
