Women's Hoops Guru

(Guru's Note: On behalf of my sister Annette Swartz, her husband Perry, and my nieces Neena and Allison, thanks to everyone who have reached out with thoughts and prayers in the past week since the passing of our mother Roslyn Greenberg.)

By Mel Greenberg

Just over a year ago, Ann Meyers Drysdale became general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, as well as a vice president of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, and proceeded to assemble the final key pieces of the Mercury roster that led to a WNBA title earlier this month.

Now the Hall of Famer and former UCLA star of the late 1970s must find a new coach to lead next season’s defense of that championship.

Paul Westhead officially ended his two-year stint Thursday with the Mercury and returned to the NBA as an assistant to Seattle Sonics head coach P.J. Carlesimo, a longtime friend.

However, with the arena situation unsettled in the Northwest, Westhead's new geographical location could be situated elsewhere.

But after thanking Westhead for his efforts, Meyers Drysale is focused on the future.

“Well, the league meetings are next week, so I’m certainly not going to rush into anything,” Meyers Drysdale said Thursday night about the process to replace Westhead. “We’ll sit back a bit and see who has interest. I’m sure there are several assistant coaches in the league out there who probably wouldn’t mind being in charge of this group.”

Meyers Drysdale, anticipating Westhead’s move for a while, has her own list of people to contact, though she didn’t offer specific names.

However, through conversations over the years she spent as a women’s basketball broadcast analyst, Meyers Drysdale has had favorable opinions of persons who have been WNBA coaches.

Rutgers assistant Marianne Stanley, for example, is a contemporary of the Mercury GM and spent time as head coach of the Washington Mystics as well as an assistant with the Los Angeles Sparks and New York Liberty.

Stanley, who also coached Old Dominion to three national titles, including one in the NCAA, is believed to be a candidate who would be on the high end of Meyers' list.

“She knows the league, she had success at Old Dominion, coached at Southern Cal and Stanford, but would she want to move out here?” Meyers Drysdale said. “And it could be tough to leave Vivian Stringer’s staff that took Rutgers to an NCAA title game last season and is a national contender again.”

Former Auburn coach Joe Ciampi has had interest for a while in becoming a WNBA coach and was a finalist two years ago when Westhead got the job.

“Tell her, I’d help her improve her golf game,” Ciampi joked recently when news reports suggested that Westhead might move on.

“I don’t have time to do that much, anymore,” Meyers Drysdale laughingly responded.

“Of course, it’s now been a while since Joe was coaching,” she added Thursday night, weighing the positive and negative aspects when Ciampi’s name was mentioned.

Meyers Drysdale acknowledged that Corey Gaines, the Mercury assistant who played for Westhead at Loyola Marymount and Denver in the NBA, would be perceived as a favorite to move up the coaching ladder in Phoenix.

“Well, yes, he knows Paul’s system, but nobody executes it exactly as Paul did and you have to see what the chemistry would be with the team and Corey as a head coach,” Meyers Drysdale said.

When Westhead arrived two seasons ago, he brought his “Paul Ball” high speed scoring offensive schemes to Phoenix, which resulted in the Mercury’s first title after dethroning the 2006 champion Detroit Shock.

“Certainly, Paul showed his system works, so you’d like to try to retain it,” Meyers Drysdale said.

The style became successful with stars and personalities such as former Connecticut sensation Diana Taurasi, former Rutgers all-American Cappie Pondexter, and Australia’s Penny Taylor leading the scoring load.

“Now that Paul has achieved success, I’m sure there will be people with NBA experience wanting to run this team, especially as a route back to the NBA,” she said.

Meyers Drysdale did not say how much consideration those types of candidates would get but in her pre-GM days she was not favorable of the concept.

“You know, if you’re a WNBA executive, you’d like to have people who want to be around with you for a while,” she said several years ago after former NBA star Michael Cooper led the Sparks to two WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002, but later returned briefly to the NBA as interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets.

Cooper returned to the WNBA to coach the Sparks this past season.

Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer is another WNBA head coach who has been reported to harbor NBA aspirations.

WNBA assistants with previous head coaching experience in the pro women’s league include Brian Agler with the San Antonio Silver Stars,Lin Dunn with the Indiana Fever, and Marynell Meadors with the Washington Mystics.

Several WNBA assistants have come from successful collegiate programs such as the Chicago Sky’s Roger Redding, who was with Texas Tech under former coach Marsha Sharp. Detroit’s Cheryl Reeve was with Seattle’s Anne Donovan in Charlotte. She also was a head coach at Indiana State and was an assistant to Joe McKeown at George Washington.

Sacramento Monarchs assistant Tom Abatemarco , the Connecticut Sun’s Scott Hawk and Bernadette Maddox, and New York’s Nick DiPillo have been in the league a while.

Meyers Drysdale, herself, has been asked to coach in the league in the past, but she is quite happy and busy, thank you, also considering her duties with the Suns, to move down to the sidelines.

From an “adoptive parental" aspect, Pondexter would try to lure Rutgers’ Stringer, although the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame coach’s reputation for defensive emphasis probably would be too much of an alteration from the desert speed of recent seasons.

Had he not taken the LSU job last April, recent Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Van Chancellor might have been able to be coaxed out of presumed retirement after the success he had leading the Houston Comets to the first four WNBA titles and the United States to an Olympic Gold Medal in Athens, Greece.

Temple coach Dawn Staley has no aspirations, as of now, to coach in the WNBA. However, the more time she spends as an assistant to Seattle’s Donovan on the Olympic trail with USA Basketball coaching her former teammates and court adversaries, who knows how much the future Hall of Famer’s appetite for a pro career on the sidelines could grow.

Of course if Taurasi had her way, she’d cut a deal with the United States Treasury Dept. to lure her former college coach Geno Auriemma away from the Huskies to the Southwest.

“Down the road, we’re all going to be getting after each other up there, the way we do now,” Auriemma said several years ago to a group of coaches gathered around a watering hole at the Women’s Final Four.

But that future is still far enough away that the resumption of the Connecticut-Tennessee series has a better chance of occurring beforehand.

-- Mel

By Jonathan Tannenwald

Hi folks,

I was at the home of Mel's sister, Annette Swartz, tonight in the Philadelphia suburb of Lafayette Hill, Pa., for a traditional shiva ceremony for Mel's mother, Roslyn Greenberg.

"Shiva" is a Hebrew word used for bereavement ceremonies at someone's home. As some of you may know, Mel's family is Jewish (as am I), and given the nature of things, I'm not sure how many of you will be familiar with this particular custom. So a bit of background information.

Sometimes a shiva ceremony is held at the home of the deceased's spouse, and if that person isn't alive anymore, it's often at the home of a child of the deceased. In this case, the ceremony took on even more significance as almost the entire Greenberg clan lives in and around Philadelphia.

The ceremony generally consists of two things: a short service, often administered by a rabbi with ties to the family, and a lot of food consumed before and after said service. Tonight's affair was very traditional in both respects.

Those of you who were at the Hall of Fame ceremonies in Knoxville would have recognized many family members and friends close to Mel. You also might have recognized the head coach of the St. Joseph's women's basketball team, Cindy Griffin, and her husband. I heard other coaches might have come by after I left to catch a train back into the city.

(As an aside, Mel thanks all of you who sent flowers, food, and other things to his family. It has indeed turned Annette's house into a veritable nursery, not to mention a very big dessert buffet.)

Anyway, Mel sent me two of the eulogies delivered at his mother's funeral. The first was written by Annette, and is posted below. The second, written by one of Mel's nieces (Annette's older daughter), Neena Swartz, follows this post farther down the blog.

In order to keep the visible length of this post a bit brief, the text of Annette's eulogy follows in the blog's equivalent of the "jump" in your newspaper. Click on the link below to read it.

Okay, here's part two: the eulogy written by Mel's niece, Neena Swartz. It was read at the funeral by Neena's sister, Allison Swartz.

In case you're wondering, part two was technically posted before part one so that I could get Mel's speech and the accompanying explanation at the top of the blog. This will also get the headline I wrote for that post onto the homepage of Philly.com.

The full text of Neena's eulogy is after the "jump," so click on the link below to continue.

by Erin Semagin Damio

Updated by Jonathan Tannenwald with funeral arrangement information which has now been circulated around the Inquirer newsroom. I just talked to Mel and he says he's accessible to people all day today, so those of you who know how to get in touch with him can do so.

Some readers may have noticed Mel's staying close to home over the past month or so; unfortunately, it was due to his mother's illness, which came to an end last night. Mel has asked me to keep everyone informed, so I'm updating with this. We'll update with funeral arrangements when they are made. Well-wishes can be posted as comments here or emailed to mgreenberg@phillynews.com.

The following is the aforementioned note that went to the Inquirer newsroom informing Mel's colleagues on the passing of his Mom.

Mel Greenberg's mother, Roslyn Greenberg passed away Thursday, Sept. 20, after a short battle with cancer, although she was not aware of her condition, diagnosed in early April, until recently. She reached age 85 on Sept. 12.

Mrs. Greenberg was preceded in her passing by her husband Jack in June, 1995.

She was also the mother of Annette Swartz, married to Perry Swartz, and the beloved Mom Mom of Allison and Neena Swartz. She was also the sister of Selda Lavine of Trenton and the late William Newland. She also had four nephews and one niece. She was a devoted friend to Marjorie and Ben Needelman.

Mel told us this.

"She grew up in North Philadelphia as the daughter of Russian immigrants. In her long lifetime was able to see her two children succeed in their chosen fields, and was also able to enjoy watching the growth of her granddaughters -- Annette teaches computers in the Colonial school district, Neena teaches Spanish at Upper Merion High, and Allison is an Executive Recruiter for a business firm in Willow Grove.

"In her later years, my mother became an Eagles fan, and enjoyed dining at restaurants, especially seafood places serving hard-shell crabs.

"Although she was technologically challenged, she still made attempts to learn the computer, and always enjoyed being in the company of friends and relatives. In her own way, she had a certain wit about her. After she moved from the Northeast, where she lived since 1950, she settled in last fall at Blue Bell Place, an assisted living home in the suburbs, and she quickly became a group leader there and prided herself in such activities as enhancing the flower garden.

"She was feisty and very aware of things until almost the very end, to the point, that just the other day, she was still giving me orders on what forthcoming family events to attend and was very focused on Allison's social life.

"For myself, I knew of her situation several months before her: At the time, my own wish was that she would be well enough to attend the recent Inquirer reception noting my Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction. And I got that wish, to the point, I was able to give her her moment in my speech and also that many of you, who had not done so before, were able to meet her.

"In fact, she surprised many later that night by making it all the way up the stairs on her own to the after-party we had downtown on the third floor of Doc Watson's."

A funeral service will be held Sunday, Sept 23, at 1 p.m. at Joseph Levine & Son Memorial Chapel, Inc,
4737 Street Road, Trevose, PA 19053, (215) 942-4700.
A burial service will follow at Shalom Memorial Park, 25 Byberry Road, although the entrance is off Pine Road just around the corner from Byberry Road.

Maps with directions can be found at the Levine web site.

Following services and for the next several days, the family will accept visitors at the home of Annette and Perry Swartz, 476 South Silver Bell La., in Lafayette Hill. Flowers can be sent here.

The development is off Germantown Pike, just below Joshua Road. Proceeding on Germantown Pike from Chestnut Hill (or center city), Arbour Boulevard is a mile west of Church Road (heading out toward Plymouth Whitemarsh High). Make a right on Arbour Boulevard, then make a right turn at the third intersection onto Silverbell and the home is on the right side at the end of the cul de sac.

From center city, you can also take I-76 West and then go right on the Blue Route (I-476). Exit at the Germantown Ave ramp, make a right and proceed past Plymouth Whitemarsh High. The next major intersection is Joshua Road and Arbour Boulevard then comes up on the left.

Mel and his sister, would like to thank everyone in here for all your support since his mother's condition worsened a month ago.

(Guru's Note: To those arriving here from Womhoops Guru, you made it and for those who are wondering what on earth is the Guru talking about, just click the same link.)

By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - For those who thought they'd never ever see any women's basketball player with current or past affilations with the University of Tennessee, junior Candace Parker broke ground Wednesday night when she was introduced as part of the lineup for the USA Basketball Senior National Women's Team against Australia at the Mohegan Sun Arena -- the home of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.

Parker then dominated with 23 points and USA completed a two-game sweep of the exhibition series with a 70-66 victory.

"We know who to cheer for and when as long as they aren't wearing Orange," jested Swin Cash, the former UConn and current WNBA Detroit star who quickly arrived here to catch up with the USA group. On Sunday, unlike a year ago, Cash was on the losing side as the Phoenix Mercury completed a comeback from a 2-1 deficit to take the best-of-five WNBA championship series in Auburn Hills, Mich.

With the media contingent known as the horde in abundance, much coverage of Wednesday's action exists around the internet. This is about someone who couldn't make it to the house but will catch up with the USA in Chile as they attempt to win the FIBA Americas Tournament and an automatic berth in next summer's Olympcis in Bejing, China.

That would be former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter, he No. 2 overall pick by Phoenix in the 2006 draft who went on to become the MVP of the finals as the Mercury toppled the former champion Shock.

Temple coach Dawn Staley, who retiired from the WNBA last summer after an All-Star career and also earned three Olympic gold medals, was asked if she had seen Pondexter during the playoffs.

Three years ago, the native of Chicago ruined Temple's attempt to get to the Owls' arena in Philadelphia for the NCAA regional semifinals and last summer Staley, a prolific point guard for the Houston Comets, had to play opposite Pondexter in the Western Conference.

"Cappie's ready," Staley said Wednesday night of Pondexter's worth to the top level of USA Basketball competition."She's been chomping at the bit to be a part of USA Basketball.

Staley is now an assistant coach on the USA squad to Anne Donovan of the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

``She's a young player, a hungry player. You can see her passion through her play everytime she steps on the floor," Staley continued. "I mean, my hat goes off to her. She didn't win a national championship but a WNBA championship is a pretty good consolation.

"She deserved it," Staley said of gaining a title and becoming MVP. "She had some incredible moments for the Mercury. It probably couldn't happen to a better person because she attacks the game. She plays with such passion, you want her to win."

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

If former Connecticut star Diana Taurasi never picks up a basketball again, the five-year countdown to membership in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., will immediately get under way.

However, the Phoenix Mercury's triumph over the Detroit Shock on Sunday in Auburn Hills, Mich., to claim their first WNBA title automatically gave Taurasi membership in a far more exclusive group dominated by former stars of Huskies coach Geno Auriemma.

Taurasi has become the seventh woman and fourth ex-UConn notable to earn symbolic trinkets for capturing NCAA titles, Olympic gold medals, and WNBA championships.

The other former Connecticut stars to earn the distinction are Sue Bird, Swin Cash, and Kara Wolters, who earned her membership card by sitting on the bench, for the most part, of the 1999 WNBA champion Houston Comets.

Sheryl Swoopes and former Houston great Cynthia Cooper became the first members in 1977 when the Comets won their first WNBA crown in the pro league's inaugural season.

Cooper already owned a gold medal from the 1988 games in Seoul, Korea and and NCAA special ring off the 1984 title with Southern Cal during the "Cheryl Miller" era.

Swoopes torched the scoreboard for Texas Tech in the Women's Final Four in 1993 to earn a collegiate title and then was part of the Olympic golden girls of 1996 at the Atlanta Games.

Wolters played on the unbeaten and first UConn national champion in 1995. After playing in the short-lived American Basketball League, the center was drafted by Houston for the 1999 season. She spent the summer of 2000 with the Indiana Fever, but also got picked for the USA squad that took a gold in Sydney, Australia.

Former Notre Dame star Ruth Riley and former Huskies notable Swin Cash became trifecta members in 2004 when USA beat Australia for gold in Athens, Greece.
Riley began earning her qualifications with the 2001 NCAA title, while Cash got her first NCAA championship ring in 2000 at the Wachovia Center here in Philadelphia. The two reached their WNBA achievement as members of the 2003 Detroit champions, a feat they repeated a year ago.

Bird also earned a membership card with that USA squad in Athens. She already had NCAA titles as a classmate of Cash at UConn., and in 2004 she helped lead Seattle to the WNBA title.

As for some honorable mentioning and maybe a little more, former Texas star Andrea Lloyd Curry was part of the 1986 unbeaten NCAA winners and then was with the 1986 gold medal group. She also won two pro titles with the Columbus Quest under the former ABL, an achievement that probably should be equalized to WNBA success.

WNBA Seattle Storm coach Anne Donovan, who will head the USA team next summer in Beijing, China, starred at Old Dominion and won a national title at Old Dominion in 1980 under the former Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in the pre-NCAA era.
She was a member of the 1984 gold medal winners in Los Angeles and got a second gold metal in 1988. Her WNBA title occurred as a coach of the Storm in 2004.

Detroit's Katie Smith was on the 2003 Ohio State NCAA runnersup to Swoopes' Texas Tech team. She won two titles with the ABL's Columbus Quest and played on the gold medal winners of 2000 and 2004.

Until the former Buckeye star got her WNBA crown following a late-season trade the previous summer from the Minnesota Lynx, Temple coach Dawn Staley had been the only player to participate in NCAA, WNBA, ABL and Olympic title games.

Having spoken of Cheryl Miller, she would have achieved Donovan's combo trick first, had not Phoenix, which she was then coaching, melted down in Game Two of the then best-of-three championship series in 1998 against Houston. The Comets went on to take the their second

She already had 1983 and 1984 NCAA rings with Southern Cal and an Olympic gold medal from 1984.

There are a bunch of others falling short of the trio achievement. Former New York Liberty star Teresa Weatherspoon won a gold in 1988 and an NCAA title the same year. But New York lost several WNBA title series during her pro career.

First-year Phoenix general manager Ann Meyers won an AIAW title with UCLA in 1978. But the USA team in their first Olympics in 1976 in Montreal earned a silver to the then-power Soviet Union squad. And the former all-American was denied a second shot in 1980 when former President Jimmy Carter ordered the United States' boycott of the Games in Moscow.

Incidentally, the 1998 Phoenix team that almost claimed that WNBA title had Bridget Pettis as a player. On Sunday, she finally got a chance to spray the bubbly as an assistant coach with the Mercury.

-- Mel

So I realized that I wrote an enormous amount Thursday night and pretty much nothing since. My apologies. I got back into Boston very late Friday night and had to wake up very early for rowing practice the next day. Then my brother was visiting -- we went to see Wicked for his birthday, which was, of course, fabulous.

But I did watch the game on espn2 last night, and I want to extend an enormous congratulations to Phoenix on winning their first championship. I grew up watching Diana Taurasi win championships, and it's nice to see her back at it (is there a level she hasn't won at?). And of course, Penny Taylor had a fabulous game, and Cappie Pondexter played great -- she was totally deserving of the MVP award, though you could make an argument for any one of those three.

Kudos to Detroit also for playing a great series, particularly Cheryl Ford, who played with knee injuries all playoffs and exacerbated them at the end of Game Four, but logged 12 minutes in the title game, and Deanna Nolan, who hyperextended a knee in Game Four and wasn't definite to play but logged 38 minutes and led the team with 27 points. Best of luck to Cheryl and Deanna in getting healthy this offseason.

Katie Smith (18 points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds) and Shannon Johnson (13 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds) also fought hard, but in the end it wasn't enough for the Shock. Each of Phoenix' starters scored in double figures, led by Taylor with 30 points. Pondexter had a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists, and Taurasi added 17 points, 6 assists, and 10 rebounds. Reserve Kelly Mazzante stepped up in a big way, scoring 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting from behind the arc.

Anyway, you all saw the game (I hope) and read the articles from those who were there -- I don't need to recap it all. Here's to the end of a great 2007 WNBA season!

(Guru’s Note: Kathleen Radebaugh is a senior at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and sportswriter for The Hawk campus publication who previously has written back on the original Womhoops Guru blog reports from the WNBA All-Star game in Washington and the Washington Mystics.)

By Kathleen Radebaugh

TRENTON, N.J. _ Chemicals from one substance transform into another. They meet, bond, and react. Thousands of thousands of different types of chemical reactions occur in the body and are vital to its structure and function.

Watch a women’s basketball game. It is chemistry personified. One will see the thousands of thousands different reactions and transformations players and coaches endure for the win.

In a Sunday afternoon exhibition game, USA Women’s Senior National Team defeated Australia Senior National, 96-64, here at the Sovereign Bank Arena here. Three elements that enabled USA’s crushing win were veterans off of the bench tallying 20 points, young collegiate blood hitting second half three’s, and a full court press forcing turnovers. With elements like these reacting with a talented coaching staff, someone somewhere should be shouting “Eureka.”

Tina Thompson’s chemical reaction was in waiting. Joining the training camp just two days ago, Thompson, starting forward for the Houston Comets (averaging 18.8 ppg), subbed at the top of the second quarter for USA and immediately completed a three-pointer increasing the lead, 21-8.

“Once you step back into the environment, everything just flows,” Thompson said. “It is a different mindset coming in and playing here because you have to be ready at all times. A lot of us on our individual (WNBA and college) teams start the game so you are mentally ready and focused. When you are on the bench, you have to watch the tempo of the game and see how things are going. When you number is called, you just have to step in and make it happen.”

Thompson did not hesitate in her drives to the basket and showed her quickness within the paint with her jump shots and feet work. Thompson finished the afternoon with 21 points.

“We have had short numbers of people, but our intensity has been good since training camp,” said Anne Donovan, head coach for USA Women’s Senior National Team and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. “We just got Tina and obviously it’s a nice addition to pull our offense up. We have some great kids that have been working hard since the beginning of our camp towards our gold medal agility.”

Sunday’s roster of only ten players will increase towards the end of September when the team travels to Chile for the FIBA Americas Tournament that gives the champion a slot in next summer’s Olympics in Beijing, China.

In fact, help will begin to arrive almost immediately, now that the new WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury and previous champion Detroit Shock have completed the playoffs.

The WNBA title game won by Phoenix Sunday in Detroit kept the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi and former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter away from here. It also caused the absences of the Shock’s Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, and Katie Smith, while Phoenix’s Penny Taylor would have otherwise been with the Australian team.

The USA squad has a total of 27 players on its roster, including eight Olympic gold medalists, five World Championship gold medalists and all 12 members of the 2006 USA World Championship Team.

The two teams, who contested for the 2004 Olympic gold medal won by USA in Athens, Greece, will meet again Wednesday night in Uncasville, Conn., at the Mohegan Sun Arena, the home of the WNBA Connecticut Sun.

This USA chemical equation would not be complete without some young, collegiate elements. Three collegiate players on the team Candice Wiggins (Stanford), Candace Parker (Tennessee), and Courtney Paris (Oklahoma) still have to register their cars for campus parking.

Wiggins, a senior for the Cardinal powerhouse in the Pac-10 conference, scored the second highest number of points (18) Sunday afternoon, completed 3-out-of-4 three-point shots, and only had one turnover. She knows if the ball will go in as soon as it leaves her hands. Her face softens and she begins to shuffle backwards down the court. Within five minutes of each other in the third quarter, Wiggins completed two three’s, stretching the lead to 29 points, 71-42.

Wiggins’ teammate, Courtney Paris, a center for the Sooners, totaled 12 points and three assists. Paris’ size and strength gives her a unique advantage in controlling the post, but she may need time adjusting to a whole new science experiment: pro-ball.

“In college it is a lot easier for me to pick my spot and go get the ball, because I am much stronger than anyone else,” said Paris, whose team is again a favorite in the Big 12 conference. “But tonight, it was a lot harder [wider paint and tougher players] so that is just something I am going to have to adjust to.”

Paris sees herself with the team in Chile, but in order to satisfy Donovan’s wants, she is going to have to rebound more offensively and defensively and keep making her free throw attempts.

With reliable veterans and fresh legs working and reacting together, team USA tested their endurance by starting full court pressure predominately in the beginning of the third quarter.

Australia totaled 28 turnovers and finished the game with a 39.7% field goal percentage. Wiggins led with four steals followed by Parker of the defending NCAA champs and former Tennessee star Kara Lawson of the Sacramento Monarchs tying with three steals apiece. Full court pressure drastically changed the tempo and intensity of the game because Australia in the third quarter started to fight back harder.

USA finished the night with 20 turnovers. Australian guard Jenni Screen’s three pointer brought her team within 12 points of USA in the top of the third quarter and Paris found herself in foul trouble. Jessica Davenport, center for New York Liberty, stepped in and guarded the post, forcing Australia out of the equation.

“I brought in energy and was a presence in the post to help out my teammates,” said Davenport. “Every time I come to a training camp, it gets better and better. We play against each other during the season and now you come in and get to play with each other as a team and that helps a lot.”

Throughout training camp, there is a clear focus as to keeping this chemical reaction as strong as possible.

“No matter how many points you are up, no matter how many points you win by, we want to be almost perfect, if that is possible,” said Thompson. “When you have turnovers like that, it bothers you a lot. It is just one of those things that happens, but you onto the next game with the same focus and try not to make those same mistakes.”

For them, their favorite element is Au. For those of you who have forgotten your science lessons, Au is the chemical symbol for Gold.

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ The Guru had a chance to stop by Temple, located up the street from the home office, aka The Inquirer, to take in the end of Friday's Senior National Women's Basketball Team workout.

There's nothing off the drills to report but one observer on the scene was Villanova coach Harry Perretta, who was impressed with the team's offensive sets. As for defense, well, remember not everyone is on board yet due to the WNBA Finals.

Temple coach Dawn Staley, an assistant to USA coach Anne Donovan, got to watch two of her assistants perform with the male practice players against the USA Women.

One was veteran USA Olympic male practice player Darius Taylor, who previously served as assistant director of competitive programs at USA Basketball in Colorado Spring, Colo.

Taylor, a bruising post player, helped develop former Temple All-American Candice Dupree and prepare her for what has become a great career launch in the WNBA.

While Taylor was working the inside attacks, another Staley assistant, Fred Chmiel, was involved in guard play. Prior to joining the Owls a year ago, Chmiel was an assistant with the former WNBA Charlotte Sting.

Among the rookie male practice players was Matt Langel, a former Penn star and ongoing assistant to Fran Dunphy who moved with his former coach to Temple from the Quakers a year ago. He also is married to former Penn guard Tara Twomey.

The practice was announced for McGonigle Hall, causing the Guru to get lost at his own alma mater. The reason is that the gym was actually in the adjoining Pearson Hall.

If Staley caused the problem, she could be excused because her campus geographical knowledge is centered across the street in the spacious Liacouras Center, where her Temple team plays.

McGonigle, which still houses the Guru in a team picture from 1969, is the former Temple athletics home, which gets occasional use when shows and dramas are booked for the Liacouras Center.

Although "Inquirer Sportswriter," "USA Women's Basketball practice," and a few other phrases were not helpful in getting the Guru onto the neighboring parking lot next to McGonigle, the words "basketball manager" and "(Former Sports Information Director) Al Shrier" did the trick.

Sunday's game against the Australian National Team will be 30 miles North in the Sovereign Bank Arena at 1 p.m. in Trenton, the state capital of New Jersey. That will be some three hours before the Detroit Shock and Phoenix Mercury play a winner take-all decisive Game 5 of the WNBA championship series in Auburn Hills, Mich.

A year ago, the Shock had to complete their series-clinching comeback in Game 5 downtown after being displaced in The Palace due to another scheduled event.

This time, of course, Phoenix is trying to come back from a 2-1 defict in the playoffs after evening things Thursday night in the desert.

Sunday's game will cause Australia's Penny Taylor of Phoenix, to miss participating for USA's opponent, while the Americans will be without Detroit's Swin Cash, Cheryl Ford, and Katie Smith, along with the Mercury's Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter.

The absence of Pondexter, a former Rutgers all-timer, cost Trenton its chief local draw. The Scarlet Knights' campuses are some 25 miles to the North. However, enough other WNBA All-Stars and former Olympic gold medal winners are on hand to make the event enoyable.

The U.S. beat Australia for the Gold in Athens, Greece, in 2004, which was Staley's last performance, internationally, as a player. The two teams will also meet Wednesday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

While the ongoing family situation continues, the Guru remains on thre sidelines from print coverage, but Kevin Tatum will do the honors for the paper Sunday. Kathleen Radebaugh was planning to write a feature for the blog. Erin Semagin Damio, fresh off her sensational coverage of the WNBA playoffs in Phoenix, will be in Casino-ville also known as Uncasville, Wednesday.

Erin will not be in Detroit due to a prior commitment and also needing to be back on her home campus in Boston at Northeastern. She does have some unpublished items to advance the next round and may also offer some travelogue photos from a drive in the actual desert surroundings of Phoenix

Brazilian Steak Sans Paparazzi

Celebrity Stalking Note: Yes that was the Guru dining early Friday night with a USA Basketball Official in Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian Steak House that opened last winter in Center City.

Located at Juniper and Chestnut near Broad St. just below City Hall, the restaurant occupies what used to be the headquarters for Caldwell Jewelers.

While carrots at the salad bar have replaced multi-carat diamonds as a delight of the clientele, the meal was, nonetheless, quite a gem.

Judging by the actions at our table, it's a wonder that there were no collisions in the aisles that are used to get to the salad bar and also bring the various steaks on skewers in Brazilian style to the patrons.

The way the system works, a red/green disc for each person at the table is used to either give a green "tongs up" signal to the waiter carrying the steak to stop by or a red "hold-off for now" notice.

Throughout the night, however, most times the wait staff ran right through the red sign, although we did not rebuff any of the serving attempts.

Motor Music

Here's a tip for you digital music lovers the Guru recently discovered while driving North from here in the land of Soft Pretzel Logic to the Mohegan Sun for a WNBA game.

When using a portable satellite unit such as Sirius or our XM Radio connection or playing an Ipod or other MP3 device through the car radio, radio frequency 88.9 FM will hold steady and not be affected by interference in the New York-New Jersey area from other commercial station. At times, 88.7 may also work.

USA Staff Slot Unaffected By Storm Turbulence in Seattle

So back in the days of last week and beyond going backwards when the Guru would begin to put words on the original womhoops blog, he noticed an ongoing debate at other boards and sites over the future of USA coach Anne Donovan as the head of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, especially if the franchise moves to Oklahoma City or elsewhere,

The ergo of those conversations was whether Donovan could be retained in charge of the Americans without a WNBA job elsewhere.

The answer is: Unless some other disruptive situation, involved with USA procedures, occurs to cause havoc to her future, Donovan will be on the sidelines in Beijing in 2008 for the Olympics no matter what happens to her relationship with the Storm.

Some had assumed one only had to hold a WNBA job to maintain an Olympic coaching position.

The reality is, according to a source at USA Basketball familiar with the rules of each "quad" period, one only had to meet the criteria at the time of his or her selection and not in the ensuing period leading to Olympic competition.

Donovan, who has already won gold as a player, has obviously satisified conditions that got her named to head the squad.

-- Mel

(Guru Calls a Quick Timeout From Philadelphia: Hi Everyone. For special comments from the Guru applauding Erin's effort the last few days, as well as past work of the entire blogging team, which attached to post referencing her move to substitute for the Guru in Phoenix, please visit our original womhoops guru site at anytime after reading Erin's coverage below. I believe if my link failed in this note, Jonathan also has a link from here to there at the "old blog" line below on the right column just above the "search" line.

-- Mel)

by Erin Semagin Damio

Phoenix and Detroit in this series have alternated wins, playing intense, physical games. Sunday, one of them will win the WNBA title.

Ford Out

Detroit will likely be without the services of All-Star forward Cheryl Ford, who was carried off the court after she went down late in the game Thursday. Ford was already rehabbing from a knee injury and Shock Coach Bill Laimbeer said he was "extremely pessimistic" about her returning.

Home Court

The Shock are excited about returning to Detroit to play for the title in front of their fans.

"That's why we played the whole season," Laimbeer said. "The regular season was a grind for us. We got through it. With the sole purpose of if we had to play a game in a series, we would play it at home. And all these series have gone to the last game in our building; they did what they had to do, now we're going home to do what we have to do."

Friends and Teammates

Phoenix player Cappie Pondexter is excited about high pressure games like Sunday's.

"It's now or never," Pondexter said. "We know that Detroit is a great team, they have great coaching staff, and it's going to be a great fight. And a great game to watch."

Pondexter's teammate Diana Taurasi agreed that Pondexter was a high pressure player.

"She's a closer," Taurasi said. "She's been doing it all year."

Said Pondexter: "I'm a winner. I love to win. And when the game's on the line, I feel like I can win every time."

Taurasi and Pondexter have been professional teammates for just two seasons, but they've been playing together in some capacity for years.

"Cappie and I have known each other for a long time," Taurasi said. "Going back to USA basketball. Going back to Rutgers and Connecticut. Where she couldn't beat us."

Taurasi said that it's much "sweeter" for the two to play on the same team, saying "it's truly been a great journey to share it with her, even last year."

Pondexter explained that they don't only connect well on the court.

"Aside from basketball, I think our friendship off the court has helped us on the court," Pondexter said. "And we have like a real love for each other. And I'm just happy that we are here together and not playing against each other."

Physicality

Detroit star Katie Smith came out to the press conference sporting a painful-looking black eye, and of course the second question she was asked was to discuss the physicality of the game and her injury. Smith shrugged the injury off.

"I don't necessarily think anything is outrageous or different," Smith said. "This is what the league is. This is what we do every day. I got hit in the eye with an off hand, and no, it is what is."

For the Record...

At the end of the first quarter, Phoenix led, 17-12. Detroit's 12 points set a new WNBA record for fewest points in a first quarter in a Finals game. Phoenix' 17 points tied the Finals record for second-fewest points in a first quarter.

Phoenix' three-point shooting began to return to their season form, as they shot 35 percent from behind the arc. Their overall field goal percentage, however, was just 38 percent.

Detroit shot an impressive 50 percent from behind the arc, though just 48.3 percent from the field. Both teams had trouble connecting on layups.

There were three technical fouls assessed in the game: one to Deanna Nolan, and a double technical on Taurasi and Plenette Pierson.

Probably the defining stats of the game were steals and turnovers. Phoenix had 11 steals and just ten turnovers, while Detroit had five steals and 18 turnovers -- including six in the last quarter.

by Erin Semagin Damio

PHOENIX -- Game four of the WNBA finals Thursday night was tied seven times, and saw 14 lead changes. Each team at one point led by as much as nine, but in the end it came down to a basket.

A three point shot by Kelly Miller and two jump shots by Cappie Pondexter propelled the Phoenix Mercury into a seven to three run in the last 1:55 in the game, beating the Detroit Shock 77-76.

The Shock had the ball for the last 21.7 seconds, but missed their one shot attempt.

"We just wanted, honestly, to just somehow, obviously, get Tweety (Deanna Nolan) the ball and let her break it down a bit, and obviously they ran at her and Pee Wee (Shannon Johnson) got a shot off in the corner," Detroit guard Katie Smith said about the Detroit possession in the last few seconds.

Phoenix was happy about their ability to match up to Detroit's more physical style of play.

"No matter what, in games like this, people want to talk about the up-tempo, but all year we have been grinding games, we've won it our way, we've won it other ways," Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi said. "And when the score is 90-90 or 70-70, the last two minutes are about possessions and stops. Today we fell back on getting stops and making plays on the other end, which we have done all year. So I think that just shows how much fight this team has. And I think that it will go a long way."

Cappie Pondexter had 26 points to lead the Mercury, along with five assists, three rebounds, and a steal. Taurasi added 20 points, six rebounds, an assist, two steals, and a block, and Kelly Miller had 13 points, four assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Penny Taylor was held to just six points on 1-11 shooting, but led the Mercury with nine rebounds, and had two assists, two steals, and a block.

Reserve Plenette Pierson led the Shock with 23 points, three rebounds, and two blocks, shooting 9-10 from the floor and breaking her own WNBA finals field goal percentage record, set earlier this year. Deanna Nolan had 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, and Smith added 14 points for the Shock. Cheryl Ford had just five points but led Detroit in rebounds with 14.

"I thought we came," Detroit coach Bill Laimbeer said. "We played hard. We didn't get it done. We didn't play smart, we played with enough fire and intensity to give ourself a chance to win. We like games like this. We enjoy elimination games. It makes us concentrate, it makes us play hard for the entire game. And that's what we're looking forward to in Game five."

The final game of the WNBA finals will be in Detroit at 4:30 on Sunday, September 16, televised on espn2. The winner of this game will win the WNBA title.

"It's going to be a really hard game," Taurasi said. "We know that. Like the other four have been. I think we just have to go to Detroit and just focus. Really have to be focused, because that house is going to be crowded. Their players are going to come out extra energized, extra ready to go, we're going to have to find a way to match it."

by Erin Semagin Damio

Just back from the press conference.

The area outside the press room is kind of amazing. It's where all the families and friends of the players are waiting to meet them. Every time I walk through, it's just smiles, and hugs, and cheers.

I saw Kelly and Coco Miller leaving together in smiles, an exuberant Bridget Pettis, Cappie Pondexter chatting and signing basketballs, and Diana Taurasi catching up with her old coach, Geno Auriemma (the pair were the focus of two cameras and a microphone).

"If I'm a fan of basketball, if I'm a WNBA fan," Paul Westhead said post-game, "I couldn't have asked for anything more. Here we go. There have been four terrific games."

More from the players and coaches soon.

by Erin Semagin Damio

I'm unplugging and heading back into the media room. Be back in a few.

Ah, I see why the fans are still here
T-shirt throwing

Seriously, though I am not used to seeing fans stay so long. Good for them.

Game over
Merc win, 77-76
The ceiling is raining purple and yellow confetti and the Mrec players are in center cout swarmed by cameras
Fans are all staying and cheering

Phoenix' fans are really into it

time out Shock
18.6 seconds left
77-76 PHX Shock ball

Cappie for two
Nolan drains the jump shot
Shock ball

41.9
Shock taking a timeout

Cappie for 2, merc up 1

51.8 remaing
Ford foul, Merc ball

Ford gets rebound, Shock ball

1:27
Ford called for offensive foul, Merc ball
Fans on their feet

1:52
Miller for three

TS miss, DET rbd
Pierson makes jump shot
74-70, 2:00 left

and play resumes
Pierson shooting two
Makes first, Tan Smith gets rebound on second

Merc beating Shock in offensive rebounds 11-6

Court's being overrun by children. "Riding the Mercury train"

2:46, timeout Shock

3:00 left, merc ball, down by 1
Johnson rebounds Cappie's miss

4:00
Taylor collapses with the ball (but gets up)
Ford knocks it out, Merc ball, PT called for foul

Ford makes a layup, trading the lead now
4:30
Smith missed 3, Cappie rebound, DT layup

Smith steals from Taurasi

Cappie misses 3, Nolan with rebound
Pierson makes a layup, Shock have lead back

5:56
Johnson with a foul
Merc ball

Pierson with a layup

Phoenix fans on their feet making some NOISE

Timeout with 6:14 to go
PHX 68, DET 65
Cappie with 22, DT with 18, Miller with 10
Smith with 14, Nolan with 15, Pierson with 16
Detroit shooting 64% from behind the arc!

6:20
PT with the steal and assist to Cappie

6:50
DT returns the favor, Miller for two and PHX up 1

7:30
Miller -- layup, steal, assist
DT -- 3
Pierson for two
64-65 DET
8:30
Cappie with the layup (she's at 20 points now)
KS drains another 3

Are the refs "letting them play"?
I'm seeing a lot of missed calls on both ends

Merc 5-15 from behind the arc, Shock 6-10

Penny Taylor's shooting 1-10 on the game

Our entertainment is the "dancing dads"

Nolan makes a jumper to end the quarter
We begin the final quarter with the Shock ahead 57-60

18.7
Tan Smith on the floor for a few seconds
Pierson called for the foul, Tan shooting two
misses first, makes second, shock up 1

1 minute in the quarter, Braxton knocks the ball out of bounds while fighting for a rebound
Cappie drains the three
56-58 shock

1:17
Johnson called for a foul, Taylor shooting two
makes both

1:20
KS for three

2:00
Braxton makes a shot, DT makes a shot
still Shock by 4

2:22
Cappie makes them both, 49-53

2:34
Shock up 47-53
Katie Smith called for a foul, DT shooting two
Misses both, Taylor with rebound Pierson fouls Cappie

3:34
Pierson travels, Merc get the ball

Braxton shooting 2
makes both

Alright, they're throwing t-shirts and the crowd is placated

4:10
Schuey called for a foul after a lot of Merc misses where it seems like the crowd saw contact...the crowd is not happy
Shock taking a timeout

5:11
Foul on Taurasi, Ford shooting
misses both, Schuey with the rebound

6:00
Miller steals, runs the court for a layup
Miller with the rebound, DT 3 ties at 47

Nolan called for a foul, Cappie at the line
Makes both
42-47

Cappie with the jump shot, Miller with the rebound

Nolan rebounds Merc miss, Shock ball
Nolan makes another shot
47-38 DET

and Katie Smith drains the three

DT steals from Ford, Ford called for the foul
Miller misses the three, Katie Smith with the rebound
Kelly miller called for a foul, Shock still have the ball

Jump ball
Detroit gets it

Johnson makes the deep three

Swin Cash called for a foul, Merc ball, Shannon Johnson called for a foul, Merc ball again
DT makes the jump shot, tied at 38

Tangela Smith called for a foul, Shock keep the ball
Katie Smith makes a 3

PHX with the ball to start the half
Cappie drives, makes the layup, drives the foul (on Deanna Nolan)
Cappie makes the shot, PHX 36-35

Three technical fouls so far in the game (Nolan, Taurasi, and Pierson)

Pierson has 12 points, Nolan has eight, noboy else on the Shock with more than four (and that's Kara Braxton)
Phoenix' scoring is more spread out -- Taurasi 8, Pondexter 6, Smith 5

..and the buzzer goes off

Cappie thanks the fans
We get the sponsors listed
and Sue Bird thanks Taco Bell, and Diana Taurasi thinks Toyota
They're playing the Nike Commercial about "it's a skills thing"
3:00 til the rhitd quarter, teams are shooting

Cappie throws it to Taylor, misses the jumpshot
Halftime score 35-33 Shock

Mercury take the timeout
still two seconds in the half
that should give them the ball by their basket, still not much time to get a shot off -- a 2 would tie it, a 3 would give them the lead
they've got Pondexter, Taylor, Smith, Mazzante, and Snell in
Shock have Smith, Johnson, Nolan, Ford, Pierson

Pierson miss, T Smith with the rebound
Cappie's layup rolls in and out
Nolan dribbling down the shot clock, and there's a shot clock violation with 2 seconds in the half

Ford missed layup, Tan Smith knocks it out of bounds
Shock ball

Mazzante makes a deep 3
33-35
1:00 left

Nolan makes a jump shot, Shock leading by 5

and play resumes
Shock ball

Somebody's getting Diana Taurasi Italian Wings delivered...section 110, row 15
I'm hungry

2:09 left in the half
Taylor called for an offensive foul
at a timeout right now

Miller drives in, misses, Ford with the rebound
Johnson brings it up, drains a 3

Pierson ties it at 30

Katie Smith gets it, falls out of bounds, Taylor called for foul
Shock ball

Jump ball Schuey and Ford

3:42
Mazzante with the foul, Nolan makes both free throws
Merc 28-30

DT and Pierson exchange words after her shot, double tech

Pierson made it 28-26
Nolan and Smith passing back and forth
Smith misses with 1 second on the shotclock, DT gets rebound and makes jump shot

Cappie missed three, Pierson rebounds, Nolan made shot, Miller made shot
4:50
28-24

Cash steals from Taylor, Schuey steals from Cash

5:59
Ford called for a foul on the rebound
Timeout
Pondexter and Taurasi with 6 points each
Pierson with 8
Ford with 5 rebounds, Taylor with 6
PHX now 25% from 3, Detroit yet to make one
26-22 PHX

6:15

Nolan called for a technical foul (deliverate elbow to Taylor)
DT shooting the free throws

6:30
Nolan with the steal, Pierson with the shot
Nolan with another steal, PHX up by 3

6:48
Pierson draws foul on Taylor, shooting two
makes both

Ford layup, Cash rebounds Merc miss

7:30
Nolan with jump shot (first points of the game
DT with a 3

8:02
Tan Smith falls over trying to shoot over Swin Cash
Cash with the foul call, Smith makes first, misses second, makes jump shot
PHXx 22-14

8:41
Pierson with foul, no foul shots

Pierson scores, 19-14

Cappie makes a 3

Katie Smith with the airball 3, and everyone's on the floor
Snell jumping against Pierson, KS with the ball

Phoenix has the ball to start second quarter
PT misses a 3, Ford with rebound

End of first quarter recap
17-12 PHX

Cappie and Taylor with 4 each
Braxton with 4 for Detroit
Merc with 11 rebounds, Shock with 10
Merc shooting 27%, Shock 33%
Shock have 7 turnovers to Merc's 3

And the hip-hop squad are dressed as cowboys, Indians, police, and...construction workers?
Dancing to YMCA
Snell with a three

(maybe why she's in there?)

26.6 seconds in the quarter
Schuey called for the foul, Pierson shooting 2
Makes both

So Belinda Snell, who didn't see any minutes in the last game is in early

PHX knocks the ball out of bounds, Shock ball
Man, Ivory Latta's tiny
Last minute in the quarter, Feenstra called for three seconds

1:30
Katie Smith called for a foul, Penny Taylor at the line
Makes both
Score update 14-10 PHX
1:36
Schuey and Feenstra fight for a rebound, Feenstra called for a foul

2:00
Cappie misses the layup, foul called on Pee Wee Johnson
Cappie makes both
Lineup changes -- Latta, Braxton, Mazzante, Schuey in

2:20
Braxton made layup, Taylor ties it again

3:20
Penny ties it up

3:45
Cash with one made free throw, DT with an airball

Update, score is still 6-7 DET with 4:03 remaining in the quarter
(uncharacteristically low for both teams, no?)

Hmm...timeout activity is a father-daughter macarena competition

DT makes it 6-7
then Tan Smith called for foul on the other end

and we're at a timeout

CP made layup doesn't count, foul on Elaine Powell
Tangela made it 4-5 with two free throws
(foul on Braxton)

Detroit threw the ball out of bounds, still 5-4
5:25 in the quarter

Mercury don't seem to be shooting any beter than Tuesday thus far but Detroit's missing a lot too
8:51

Second foul on DT with 1 second on the shot clock, Cheryl Ford shooting FT's...crowd not happy
made 1, DET 5-2

8:50
After a few steals and a foul, Phoenix with the first bucket. I just heard a go UCONN cheer.

Tied now, 2-2 (Miller and Smith)

8:43

Lights out, music on, "one goal" video up, dancers out there, and of course the flares...

Mercury starting lineups being announced

(I love how this becomes such a production in the WNBA)

8:41

Detroit's starting lineup's being announced. Phoenix fans seem pretty good with quietly clapping, though I did hear one "you suck" behind. Wait, Katie Smith got a lot of boo's.

8:33
We've got starting lineups...same as last game for both teams. Shock are starting Nolan, Powell, Smith, Ford, and Cash, and the Mercury are starting Miller, Pondexter, Smith, Taylor, and Taurasi. Officals are Kurt Walker, June Corteau, Lamont Simpson, and Daryl Humphrey (listed as alternate).
6:30 until tip-off.

8:30
I love how the cameras decide who each team's superstar is and stand with the camera about a foot away from them during the entire Star Spangled Banner

8:29
National lAnthem time...

8:27
Spotting some cool signs:

"SISTERS OF NO MERCY: WE STILL BELIEVE"

"PLAYING ELEVEN YEARS FOR A MERCURY CHAMPIONSHIP"

"DROP THE SHOCK"
8:23
A buzzer just went off, but I'm not exactly what it's signifying...seven minutes?

8:20
By the court now. It's empty of players, but Geno Auriemma's been standing across from the visitor's bench looking for all the world like he's about the start coaching.

Alright -- Mercury on the court, complete with flag waving and a standing ovation from the crowd.

Shock coming out now to a chorus of boos. Both teams look pumped up.

7:58
The arena's filling up. Detroit is stretching, Phoenix is shooting. AKA not super exciting right now.

7:45
Diana Taurasi first tried to evade the interviewers, pointing back into the inner-access locker room and saying, "Penny's in there. I like to keep quiet at times like this."

She told us that she's been wearing the same sneakers all play-offs, (and they did match) and that she wasn't surprised by the league's decision not to suspend Plenette Pierson. Asked what she thought would happen if she cursed tonight, Taurasi said, "I'll probably get suspended for a season."

It seems like most of the Mercury really do have black toenails, even those who opted out of the fingernail polish.

7:33
Just walked into the Mercury locker room for the pre-game media availability and a familiar face emerged to announce to the media, "my name is Bridget Pettis and I'd just like to say the Mercury is rising."

7:03
I've just spotted Chamique Holdsclaw and Coco Miller in the stands

6:51
The court's clear of actual players, but the Detroit coaches seem to have taken on some of their team's warm-up. They're playing a little pick-up while the Phoenix hip hop squad practices.

Walked by Geno Auriemma in the hallway, though i'm embarrassed to say I didn't recognize him (I know, I know. What can I say? It was dark) until I was already past him and recognized his voice saying something about Heather (Buck? I'm assuming...)

6:45 (ET 'cause that's what my computer clock says)
Game begins in T-1:45 (I think? Time conversion is totally screwing me up).

I've got the internet in the arena. I'm heading out to the pre-game locker room in a few minutes. Keep checking back here closer to the game for updates.

WNBA.com says that tonight's game is at 9:00 ET. However, I just confirmed with league PR rep Karen Kase that it will actually begin at 8:30. Not sure if the league will fix the website error soon, but anyone who's planning on tuning in and doesn't want to miss the first quarter, turn the TV on at 8:30.

by Erin Semagin Damio

Tonight I got a tour of the area around Phoenix the off-night for games, provided by my friend Linda, who I am staying with. We drove around north of Phoenix near Scottsdale, through some absolutely beautiful scenery (I did take pictures; I'll upload them soon). We saw a lot of adobe ranch houses surrounded by mountains and cacti.

We stopped at a restaurant that used to be a pony express post and now has a ceiling papered with dollar bills. We visited a few other bars just to look around (no, I'm not actually old enough to buy anything at them, nor did I try) and met Linda's friend, a cowboy named "Wild Bill." And yes, apparently that is actually what everyone calls him. He was waiting for poker night to begin.

Dinner was at a beautiful wine bar/coffee shop with fabulous salads, bruschetta and cheesecake.

After people watching and traveling around this town (that has to be a tourist trap in season) I am left wondering about something: cowboy hats. Here, everybody wears them, just casually, and I realized how unusual that seemed to me. I never see that. Could someone in Boston get away with casually wearing a cowboy hat? Only if it said Red Sox on it maybe? Hmmm...

Tomorrow -- I'll arrive at the game plenty early and do some live blogging from the arena. Detroit assistant coach Cheryl Reeve told me today that her team wants to fly home Friday morning done. Season over, rings won. Let's see if this really is the last game of the series.

By Erin Semagin Damio

The Phoenix Mercury's Penny Taylor On the altercation in Game Three With the Detroit Shock's Plenette Pierson:

Taylor: “I think that they should look at it because I think it was definitely a cheap shot because it was after the whistle and away from the ball. I think they should look at it and make the decision based on what they’ve done in the past, and be done with it. It is bad for the game, it’s ugly, and you don’t want to see that sort of stuff.”

On allegations that it was a “punch”:

Taylor: “I felt some hands directed at my head, so I mean they have to look at it and decide what the intention is. That’s not my job, thankfully, so I just have to move on to the next game.”

On potentially suspending Plenette Pierson:

Taylor: “I don’t know what the rules are – I don’t know what they’ve done in the past with things like this, I don’t know if there’s been stuff like this in the past and what they’ve done. So, that’s up to them. But they should definitely look at it, because it’s not pretty and its not the sort of thing you want to see and whatever action that is in the rule book and take it.”

Mazzante Also Weighs In:

The Phoenix Mercury's Kelly Mazzante, the former Penn State scoring Sensation, gave Taylor obvious support:

Mazzante: “The bottom line is they have a tendency to give some cheap shots.

"Everyone in the league knows that. We just have to protect ourselves and not back down to it.

"We just have to play the game and not get caught up in what they are trying to do to us. If they are going to make themselves look like that and do those kinds of things, that’s fine. That’s not our team. That’s not how we want to play. That is not who we are.”

By Erin Semagin Damio

PHOENIX - While I am slowly learning my way around Phoenix (I remembered how to get back from the office and from the arena), finding the arena and the parking garage for the open practice Wednesday proved to be somewhat of a challenge. I found it, but missed a good part of it. I saw the Shock, but not the Mercury.

Plenette Pierson didn't elaborate, but said that the league is investigating Tuesday's altercation between her and Penny Taylor, and has talked to her. Quotes below:

On the incident at the end of the game:
Pierson: “They have. They’ve asked me my side, and I’m sure they’ve asked Penny Taylor her side. It’s under investigation as far as I know right now, and whatever happens, happens.”

On her actions:
Pierson: “I feel like I shouldn’t have retaliated, yes, but I don’t feel like I punched her.”

On the possibility of being suspended:
Pierson: “I don’t feel that I should be suspended. I don’t feel like I threw a punch. I didn’t do anything that hadn’t been done in the first two games. I shouldn’t have retaliated. That was wrong on my part. I understand the situation. It’s the Finals and things are going to be blown out of proportion. If they suspend me, I’ll take my punishment and learn from it and move on.”

On Penny Taylor’s actions:
Pierson: “We were up by four or five so I didn’t think that was necessary. I was actually trying to get away from her. It happened. What can I say? I can’t take it back now.”