Insider Preview - Storm vs. New York

Instead, more than midway through the 2009 campaign, New York has changed coaches and faces a difficult uphill battle just to make a third straight appearance in the postseason. At 7-13, the Liberty sits last in the Eastern Conference and 3.5 games out of a playoff appearance. The team was 6-11 last Friday when Pat Coyle was fired after four years at the helm and replaced on an interim basis by long-time Seattle Storm Head Coach Anne Donovan.

What went wrong? Well, for starters, New York has experienced some old-fashioned bad luck. It's not as if the Liberty has been blown out night after night; in fact, New York has lost by double-digits just twice all season, which is not exactly consistent with a last-place team. On average, a team with the Liberty's point differential (-1.0 points per game) would be closer to 9-11 or even 10-10 than New York's actual record. Indeed, the Liberty's differential is better than those of both Detroit and Chicago in the East. That could even out over the rest of the season, suggesting the playoffs may not be entirely out of the picture.

Beyond that, New York has seen its offense crash and burn. Fourth in the league in Offensive Rating a year ago, the Liberty ranks 12th in the WNBA so far this season. The first thing worth knowing about New York's offense is that it is highly perimeter-oriented. The Liberty has attempted 33.2 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, which is not only tops in the league but tied for the highest percentage in league history; only the 2007 Phoenix Mercury (33.2 percent) have made triples a bigger part of their offense.

As last year's results show, not to mention the fact that the Mercury won a championship in 2007, perimeter-oriented teams can be highly effective. So why has the Liberty struggled so much? First, while poor offensive rebounding is a trademark of perimeter-oriented teams, New York has taken it to an extreme this season. The Liberty is collecting just 23.1 percent of its own misses, the second-worst mark in WNBA history (just behind those aforementioned Mercury).

The power forward position has been one place where New York has dropped off from 2008. Cathrine Kraayeveld, a native of Kirkland, Wash. who played at Lake Washington High School, has battled an extended shooting slump. Kraayeveld's shooting range makes her a difficult matchup for opposing power forwards, but she is hitting just 32.6 percent of her threes, down from 37.6 percent a year ago and 41.1 percent the year before. Kraayeveld was recently replaced in the starting five by third-year player Tiffany Jackson, but Jackson too has been less effective than in 2008, seeing her shooting percentage dip from 51.6 percent to 42.0 percent.

The other problematic position has been point guard. Two years ago, Loree Moore looked like a future star, stepping in for the traded Becky Hammon and combining excellent defense and strong passing. Moore took a major step backward last year, while rookie Leilani Mitchell (a native of the Tri-Cities in Eastern Washington) supplanted her at times. Neither Moore nor Mitchell has been at their best in 2009. Combined, they have averaged 10.6 points, 5.9 assists and 3.1 turnovers per game, shooting under 35 percent from the field.

Donovan had just one practice to make adjustments before making her debut as head coach last Saturday. She lost that and her second game before the Liberty pulled away down the stretch to win Friday's opener of a three-game West Coast swing in Sacramento. Donovan's track record of coaching offense in the WNBA is outstanding; she coached the league's best offense three consecutive years in Charlotte and with the Storm, though with a style somewhat different than the one New York has employed. Lo and behold, the Liberty has put together two of its better offensive performances in the three games since Donovan took the helm.

For Donovan, this is a return to WNBA head coaching. After one year in Indiana, two in Charlotte and five with the Storm, Donovan took the 2008 season off to focus on coaching the U.S. Olympic team to gold in Beijing. She joined New York as an assistant just before the season, and it did not take her long to get another chance at the top job - if only on an interim basis.

This overtime thing is getting a little old for the Storm, which has played an extra session (or three) in four of the last five games and each of the last three, just the second time in WNBA history that has happened. After winning the first two OT battles, the Storm has dropped the last two. Despite the result, there were positives to take from the Storm's loss Thursday in Los Angeles. Even with Katie Gearlds sidelined, the bench was productive, with Janell Burse contributing solid minutes. It was also a solid effort at the defensive end for the Storm against an L.A. team that is nearly back at full strength.

KEY MATCHUP
	Don't blame Shameka Christon for the Liberty's offensive woes. Christon has been one of the league's most valuable players and was rewarded last month with her first trip to the All-Star Game. Christon is scoring a career-high 17.7 points, good for sixth in the league, and is also sixth in three-point shooting at 43.2 percent. Christon also has an important career low in turnovers, once a major weakness for her. The challenge of slowing Christon goes to Swin Cash, who matched up with her in the All-Star Game when she was scoring a record 22 points to win MVP honors.

The Storm defeated the Liberty 84-71 at KeyArena last July 3, starting the game out with an 11-2 run and never letting New York get much closer. Even when the Liberty made a run in the fourth quarter, New York was never closer than seven points. The Storm got then-season-high scoring efforts from both Lauren Jackson (33) and Sue Bird (23). Both players were very efficient, shooting a combined 22-of-33 from the field.

At the defensive end of the floor, the Storm held New York under 40 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers for the second straight game. The Storm got solid contributions from everyone who took the floor. Cash was a presence on the glass, coming up with a then-season-high 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Sheryl Swoopes had a very versatile game - nine points, seven boards and a season-high six assists. The bench did not put up big numbers, but contributed a lot of energy.

INJURIES

Storm - Forwards Katie Gearlds (torn left posterior cruciate ligament) and Ashley Walker (right big toe) are out.

New York - None.