Kevin Pelton, storm.wnba.com | Sep. 29, 2004
STARTING 5
PG TICHA PENICHEIRO
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Penicheiro did not lead the WNBA in assists this season. Given only one of the WNBA's many players can do that in a given campaign, that would qualify as something less than news in most cases. For Penicheiro, who had led the league every year since entering the WNBA in 1998, it's a stop-the-presses event. Penicheiro's playmaking made her a star early in her WNBA career. The native of Portugal is a four-time All-Star and twice made first team All-WNBA, but hasn't garnered either honor the last two seasons. Last year, Penicheiro's shooting - always her weakness - bottomed out, as she shot just 30.2% from the field. Working with noted shooting coach Buzz Braman helped Penicheiro improve to 35.4% from the field, including a career-best 33.8% from downtown, but her assist average plummeted to 4.9 per game - a career low by 26.9%. Still, Penicheiro is known as the league's best at creating for teammates, and she regularly dazzles with spectacular passes. Penicheiro is also a good defender who ranked fifth in the WNBA in steals per game this season. Penicheiro is bothered by a strained left foot suffered a week ago Saturday in the Monarchs penultimate game of the regular season, but still averaged over 30 minutes per game against the Sparks. Penicheiro shot just 2-for-12 in the series, missing all eight of her tries from beyond the arc. She handed out 16 assists, but also committed 10 turnovers. Penicheiro is more of a scoring threat than Minnesota's
Helen Darling, but the Storm will likely sag off her defensively as they did Darling.
SG EDNA CAMPBELL
Seeing Campbell reminds the Storm where the team is coming from. The Storm's first player as the second pick of the 2000 Expansion Draft, Campbell led the Storm with 13.9 points per game in her one season in Seattle before being dealt to Sacramento in a lopsided deal for forward
Katy Steding. In Sacramento, Campbell has always played more of a complementary role, one that has diminished this season. Campbell averaged 15.1 minutes and scored just 3.4 points per game. She picked it up in September, however, averaging 5.3 points, and scored 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting against Los Angeles. Despite being undersized for a shooting guard at 5-8, Campbell is one of the league's better one-on-one defenders and has historically given the Storm's
Sue Bird fits. Campbell is a career 39.4% three-point shooter who will make the Storm pay for leaving her open on the perimeter.
SF DEMYA WALKER
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Picked up from Portland in the 2003 Dispersal Draft, Walker started the year as Sacramento's top reserve before working her way into the starting lineup. Walker's ascension to the lineup was one of the reasons the Monarchs went from below .500 to the Western Conference Finals last season. A starter all of this year, Walker has not been as effective. Her per-40 minute averages have dipped from 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds to 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds. At 6-4, Walker is easily the WNBA's tallest small forward, and she uses her size to school opponents in the post, though she's also been known to turn the ball over in those situations (2.5 topg this season). She is not much of a threat from the perimeter, not making a three all season. Defensively, Walker is either skilled at taking charges or a notorious flopper, depending on your perspective. Either way, it's fact that Walker draws a lot of offensive fouls, something Storm players need to be cognizant of when she's on the court. Her size can work to her advantage on defense as well, but Walker sometimes struggles to defend quicker players on the perimeter, which
Mwadi Mabika exploited to average 18.7 points against the Sparks in the first round.
PF TANGELA SMITH
At 6-4, 160, Smith gives away eight pounds to Walker and is one of the WNBA's skinniest post players (a list her former Iowa teammate
Simone Edwards also belongs on). She's a good fit for the Monarchs frontcourt, which has plenty of other players to supply the needed muscle. Smith is more comfortable playing from the high post or out all the way almost to the three-point line. She's a streaky shooter from out there and was cold much of the season, shooting 41.1%, her worst mark since she was a rookie. Smith was hot against L.A., averaging a team-best 17.7 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game and shooting 45.8% from the field. Smith hit a pair of three-pointers after hitting just five throughout the regular season. Against the Storm, Walker and Smith typically crossmatch defensively, with Walker defending
Lauren Jackson and Smith defending
Sheri Sam. That gives Sam a quickness advantage, though Smith can get beat and recover to block the shot using her long arms. Smith is not normally a very good rebounder for a power forward, but came up big on the glass against the Sparks.
C YOLANDA GRIFFITH
The WNBA's forgotten superstar, Griffith is one of the league's most underrated players. "She’s always been underrated," says Storm Coach
Anne Donovan (though Griffith probably wasn't underrated when she won the 1999 MVP award). "She’s very rarely gotten her recognition and her due in this league. I think in the Western Conference, she’s always been overshadowed by Lisa as another great big." Not so as the two top centers in the WNBA matched up in the first round; Griffith outscored and outrebounded Leslie head-to-head and forced her into foul trouble in the first two games. Sacramento Coach
John Whisenant says his team doesn't have a go-to player like Jackson or Leslie, and that's probably accurate; Griffith isn't the kind of player you can dump the ball to in the post and expect the basket. But no one in the WNBA creates more garbage points than Griffith, who averaged a league-best 3.6 offensive rebounds per game this season. She is very skilled at finishing down low through contact, allowing her to shoot 51.9% from the field - amazingly the second-worst mark of her career. Griffith is also a good free-throw shooter when she does draw the foul. Griffith finished tied for a distant second behind Leslie in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and she is a force on that end of the court. Not only does Griffith block shots (1.2 per game), she is far and away the league's best post in terms of playing the passing lanes, tying for the league lead with 2.2 steals per game.
BENCH
PG KARA LAWSON
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The WNBA awards no equivalent of the NBA's Sixth Man Award, but Lawson would be the frontrunner if it did. No player who started less than half of her games averaged more points or assists or had a higher Efficiency Rating than Lawson, who was third on the Monarchs at 8.6 points per game. Lawson played football growing up and idolized Bears linebacker Mike Singletary, and that football mentality has carried over to the basketball court, where Lawson is not afraid to throw around her thick 5-8 frame. That makes her a tenacious defender. On offense, Lawson is a terrific outside shooter (39.0% on threes in her career) who can also run an offense and plays both guard spots for the Monarchs. Lawson is a streak shooter, but her hot streaks are as good as anyone in the league. The Sparks found that out the hard way when Lawson sandwiched 28 points and five three-pointers in Games 1 and 3 around a 2-for-11 shooting performance in Game 2. It wasn't a coincidence that the Monarchs won the former two games and lost the middle one. Lawson's rivalry with Bird dates back to AAU basketball and continued through the three years they went against each other while Bird was at UConn and Lawson at rival Tennessee.
SG RUTHIE BOLTON
At 37, Bolton is one of the WNBA's most experienced players. One of the two players initially allocated to the Monarchs (serious points if you can remember the other, Tennessee forward Bridgette Gordon, who lasted just two seasons in the WNBA but was the star of the 1989 NCAA Tournament which concluded with the Final Four in Tacoma), Bolton was an All-WNBA First Team pick in 1997 after ranking second in the league at 19.4 points per game. (Did you know? Bolton is one of three players to hold the WNBA's all-time scoring record, trading it with
Cynthia Cooper early in the 1997 season.) Bolton looked like her career might be about over last season, when she shot 31.4% from the field and just 19.4% from three-point range. But she bounced back this season, shooting a career-best 40.5% from downtown. Bolton can still be very dangerous when left open on the perimeter. She struggled against the Sparks, scoring five points on 2-for-10 shooting.
SF HAMCHETOU MAIGA
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Maiga is something of a Mabika clone. Both players are natives of Africa (Mali in Maiga's case) who entered the league on the strength of their defense and athleticism and have polished their offense. Maiga averaged less than two points per game and shot a combined 28.6% her first two WNBA seasons, but has been a much better scorer this year. Maiga scored a career-high 17 points against the Storm in July and averaged 4.1 points on 47.0% shooting. Maiga is still not an outside threat - she's yet to attempt a three in her WNBA career - and struggles at the line, but created more makeable shots for herself this season. Turnovers are an issue, with Maiga ranking amongst the league leaders on a per-minute basis. On defense, there's no questioning Maiga's ability. At 6-1, 160, she has good size for a small forward to go along with her quickness and athleticism. She led the league in steals per minute last season and was in the top ten this year, recording five in Game 3 against the Sparks. Maiga's defense is so aggressive that she can change the tenor of a game when she comes off the bench.
PF REBEKKAH BRUNSON
The frontcourt wasn't really a need for the Monarchs entering this April's draft, but Sacramento could not pass up the potential of Georgetown's Brunson when she slipped to the 10th pick. The Big East's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, Brunson has fit right in with the Monarchs physical front line. She ranked sixth in the WNBA in per-minute rebounding this season. She was a presence on defense, averaging 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per 40 minutes. Offensively, Brunson's 6-3 height seems to affect her more when she plays down low, as she shot just 42.1% from the field. Brunson flashed the potential to be a star in this league, and she can be a factor in this series.
