When all is said and done, Cappie Pondexter and Tamika Catchings will be considered two of the all-time greats in the WNBA and women’s basketball. For now, they have the small matter of which one will advance to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals to sort out.
You can say in a way that the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever were happy to open the 2011 WNBA Playoffs against each other. You can even wonder if Indiana pointedly tried to avoid facing the Atlanta Dream in the first round after being swept in the regular season series. New York would have probably been happier with homecourt advantage in the first round, but losing to the Connecticut Sun in the regular season finale prevented a three-way tie that would have secured a second place finish. The fact that they beat the Fever at home this season might have calmed their fears of a short ride in the playoffs though. Whatever the case, this is all moot now. Atlanta is through to the Eastern Conference Finals and can no longer be avoided. Both teams now should be eager to play the Dream, which will mean winning the decisive game 3 tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (8:00 PM ET/ESPN2).
The teams split the first two games of the series, each winning at home. Indiana had a harder time putting New York away, winning by a basket, 74-72, after some terrible late-game execution by the Liberty. New York came out firing on all cylinders to stave off elimination in front of their fans. The result was a rare lopsided playoff win and the guarantee of another win-or-go-home game, this time for both teams.
The main storyline of this series has been the subpar play of superstars Cappie Pondexter and Tamika Catchings. Maybe no other two teams rely so much on one player to carry them like the Fever and the Liberty do. Pondexter is the superior scorer, a top-playmaker who can create for herself and her teammates and is as tough a defensive assignment as you’ll ever find in the women’s game. Catchings is the do-it-all hardnosed player, an athletic freak who can do just about everything well and has been a top MVP candidate ever since her rookie season. Either team will go as far as their franchise player will take them. Only one of them can go through though and that will be the one team whose superstar shows up for tonight’s game.
Cappie Pondexter, who was the WNBA’s leading scorer in the 2010 Playoffs with a ridiculous 28.4 PPG, has been struggling with her shot and her role on the team since John Whisenant took over as head coach, shooting a career-low from the floor and the free-throw line. The amount of energy spent playing Whisenant’s rough brand of defense and the lack of a reliable second scoring option to take some pressure off her may have more to do with her shooting woes than the nagging injury to her Achilles tendon and a recent ankle sprain suffered against the Chicago Sky at home. Whatever the issue may be, it has affected Pondexter’s game significantly. Always known for her ability to score at will from anywhere on the floor, she has settled for long jumpers that have no chance of going in on numerous occasions instead of driving to the basket and creating havoc for the opposing defense. As a result, she’s shot a career-high 168 three-pointers for a 0.345 rate of conversion. Not exactly bad, but way below her 2010 mark of 0.430. The unwillingness to take higher percentage shots has also resulted in a career-low in free throws taken, down 42 free throws from 2010, an astounding drop when you consider the amount of close games the Liberty have let slip away this season. More assertiveness is needed from Pondexter if the Liberty are to beat the Fever at home. The supporting cast has stepped up in both games, but a third bad game from their superstar and leader may prove to be too much to overcome, even with talented teammates like Plenette Pierson and the improved play of All-Star Essence Carson and the 2011 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Kia Vaughn.
Catchings started off the season slow scoring-wise, but has improved since and helped the Fever secure homecourt throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, making her once more a leading MVP candidate. Alongside fellow All-Star Katie Douglas, Catchings has set the tone for a team that is balanced and potent on offense and defense, even after losing key players to injuries and trades. With all that success, it could be a surprise that the Fever are facing elimination at home against the lowest seed in their conference, but if you’ve been watching them lately, it really isn’t. They stumbled through the finish line, closing the season on a low note and losing at home to potential Eastern Conference Finals opponent Atlanta. With the top seed in the Conference guaranteed, Catchings sat out the final game in order to save up some energy for the most important stretch of the season, the playoffs. Only it seems she hasn’t completely regained form so far. A blow to the head in Game 1 and again in Game 2 have caused some concern, but the team has not released any details on whether she’s under observation or has suffered any injuries related to those hits. Therefore, we can only assume that, although it must’ve hurt like hell, Catchings is fine and ready to go. What is really not fine is her play in the playoffs so far. She contributed a measly two points in Saturday’s loss to New York. After missing her first six shots, her only basket came with under two minutes left in the third quarter and her team down by 11 points. She did not attempt another shot in the fourth quarter and was substituted with over five minutes left in the game and New York up by 21 points. To add insult to injury, Catchings turned the ball over six times, an uncharacteristically sloppy game in the worst possible moment of the season.
It’s a team game of course, but these two players are too important and talented to be mere sidekicks. Game 3 will be a testament to their will to overcome all the difficulties the 2011 season has brought upon them so far.
Ultimately, both Pondexter and Catchings have vowed to bring a title to their cities, so anything short of that goal will be considered a failure.