Women's Hoops Blog

Inane commentary on a game that deserves far better


Sunday, May 23, 2004

In the second game, Chamique Holdsclaw's basket with ten seconds remaining was the difference-maker, as Washington defeated Indiana, 68-67. Claw had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Alana Beard had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Deanna Jackson led Indiana with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Tamika Catchings added 15 points.

Indiana-Washington has become one of the league's top three matchups. The games have been very exciting, featuring tremendous athleticism and great basketball. Yet what continues to baffle me is the inability of WNBA teams to consistently score over 70 points per game. Washington led this game 27-13 with about 9:00 to go in the first half...yet still could only score 41 points in the remaining 29 minutes. Both teams feature players that are incredibly talented offensively. Yes, the preseason is short, but even by the end of the season, the number do not improve dramatically. The league averaged approximately 67.5 points per game last season, which was an improvement. But this is the professional game...teams should be putting up much bigger numbers with the talent this league has. Eliminating back-to-back games when there are no charter flights would certainly help. But what needs to happen is that team management needs to meet with players' agents and try to arrange for player to play in Europe, Israel, Australia, etc., TOGETHER during the offseason.