WNBA 2019: Team-by-team guide to the new season - part two
Watch live WNBA games every week on Sky Sports Arena
Wednesday 29 May 2019 09:53, UK
The NBA season has reached its final chapter but the WNBA season has just begun, which makes it the perfect time to get clued up on the 2019 season.
The WNBA season tipped off on May 24 and Sky Sports' live coverage gets underway in the early hours of Thursday morning (1am) as the Seattle Storm visit the Minnesota Lynx.
Match-ups will come thick and fast over the coming months, and if last year is anything to go by, this could be the most competitive season in the league's 23-year history.
Whether you're a newcomer to the league or just want to learn more about where your favourite team's campaign is heading, read part one of our WNBA team-by-team season guide.
WNBA team-by-team season guide: Part 1
Los Angeles Sparks
Joined WNBA: 1997 (moved from Utah to San Antonio in 2003 then Las Vegas in 2018) | Championships: 3 | Head coach: Derek Fisher | Last year's record: 19-15
Roster: Alana Beard, Kalani Brown, Chelsea Gray, Alexis Jones, Marina Mabrey, Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike, Candace Parker, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Maria Vadeeva, Ashley Walker, Sydney Wiese, Riquna Williams
Much like their NBA counterpart, the Los Angeles Sparks are among the premier franchises in the WNBA - boasting three championships, six MVP trophies and can boast a plethora of star talent.
There are historical ownership links between the Sparks and the Lakers, so it's only natural that the ties between them stretch into personnel. Magic Johnson is part of the current ownership group, and general manager Penny Toler has been part of the furniture since 1997 as a player, and 1999 in the front office role. After a disappointing end to last season, former Laker Derek Fisher took over as coach.
While the team were hoping to land Liz Cambage during the offseason, they settled for Chiney Ogwumike. With a sister on the team already of similar build, it will be interesting to see how they fit together, especially as Candace Parker plays a similar role, and the team also has another forward-center in Maria Vadeeva, as well as drafting in the 6ft 7in Kalani Brown.
Parker is out for the opening few games of the season, so Nneka Ogwumike will handle the majority of the scoring responsibility. But everyone mentioned can score, so Fisher's challenge will be to manage everyone's minutes and expectations.
The team also added Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, who played a big role in getting the Washington Mystics to the Finals last year, while Chelsea Gray and Alexis Jones are more than capable of playing well on the perimeter. And the team will still rely on the elite defense of Alana Beard.
The Sparks could see this roster make a deep run into the playoffs, but - and it's a big but - it will be no easy task.
Minnesota Lynx
Joined WNBA: 1999 | Championships: 4 | Head coach: Cheryl Reeve | Last year's record: 18-16
Roster: Seimone Augustus, Lexie Brown, Karima Christmas-Kelly, Alaina Coates, Napheesa Collier, Damiris Dantas, Temi Fagbenle, Sylvia Fowles, Kelsey Griffin, Maya Moore, Danielle Robinson, Jessica Shepard, Odyssey Sims, Stephanie Talbot, Shao Ting
With more WNBA titles than any other team - all of them under head coach Cheryl Reeve - fans were mistaken if they thought she would take a year off from contention after long-time point guard Lindsay Whalen retired and Maya Moore, one of the league's best players, decided to take a year off.
Live WNBA: Seattle @ Minnesota
Reeve only knows winning, so she rebuilt around Sylvia Fowles on the fly and ended up with solid young role players with potential in Stephanie Talbot, Alaina Coates and Lexie Brown, while also bringing in star-level talent such as Karima Christmas-Kelly, and doing a deal with long-time rivals LA Sparks to acquire Odyssey Sims.
Reeve said: "We kind of got lucky in a couple of situations. The Odyssey Sims trade probably came about because of Liz Cambage, because they were trying to position themselves from a financial standpoint to be able to fit everything they wanted to fit on their roster."
Sometimes luck helps, and it certainly did when Napheesa Collier fell to No 6 in the draft. But the rookie is someone Reeve had her eyes on for a while. She said: "I had some experience with Napheesa last summer with USA Basketball.
"There's not many that play harder than Phee, she is constantly in a possession. If it's on defense, she's helping and rebounding, so I like her ability on the effort standpoint. From a skills standpoint, she's been a post player for most of her career, and we're asking her to be a small forward. That's difficult and not everybody is able to make that transition."
In the Lynx's first game of the season, Collier led all scorers, and became the highest scoring rookie since Candace Parker in 2010. And with that, the machine just keeps on going.
Reeve rounded it up perfectly and said: "They're all rooting for the demise of the Minnesota Lynx, and we're here to disappoint them."
New York Liberty
Joined WNBA: 1997 | Championships: 0 | Head coach: Katie Smith | Last year's record: 7-27
Roster: Bec Allen, Tiffany Bias, Brittany Boyd, Tina Charles, Asia Durr, Reshanda Gray, Bria Hartley, Marine Johannes, Kia Nurse, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, Kiah Stokes, Tanisha Wright, Han Xu, Amanda Zahui B
A new owner means new hope. With Joseph Tsai (minority owner in the Brooklyn Nets and now owner of the New York Liberty) comes renewed vigour around the state of New York, and it couldn't come any sooner.
The Liberty hit rock bottom last season. The team's worst record since the league began ended with previous owner James Dolan selling it on. How the new owner will shake things up in the front office and the roster remains to be seen, but one of the more immediate requirements is finding the squad a permanent home venue.
When Dolan put the team up for sale originally in 2017, he moved it out of Madison Square Garden and into Westchester County Center, a small community arena with circa 2,000 seats. And while this might seem small, the atmosphere for the team's opening game against Indiana Fever was incredible.
The team fell short, and their reliance on Tina Charles to carry the load was worryingly similar to last season, but there is talent on the roster. Kia Nurse has returned with fresh confidence after leading Canada in the FIBA World Cup last autumn, Asia Durr and Han Xu are incredibly exciting rookies, and fans might meet the exciting French force that is Marine Johannés this year after EuroBasket in July.
The results might not be pretty by the end of this year, but the hope will remain.
Phoenix Mercury
Joined WNBA: 1997 | Championships: 3 | Head coach: Sandy Brondello | Last year's record: 20-14
Roster: DeWanna Bonner, Essence Carson, Arica Carter, Sophie Cunningham, Brittney Griner, Briann January, Camille Little, Sancho Lyttle, Alanna Smith, Diana Taurasi, Brianna Turner, Yvonne Turner
All they have to do is stay within arms-length. Diana Taurasi might be out for the first few weeks of the season after recovering from back surgery, but if the rest of the Phoenix Mercury can stay cool, Taurasi is more than capable of coming in hot and turning the temperature up to boiling point when she is needed.
It happened last year. The Mercury qualified for the playoffs, just about securing the league's fifth-best record. It didn't matter. In 2017, they had the sixth-best record, and the previous year they finished with seventh.
Live WNBA: Las Vegas @ Phoenix
But every single one of those seasons saw Taurasi drag whatever roster was around her to the semi-finals. Most of these years, she has been joined by DeWanna Bonner and Brittney Griner. As another elite scorer, and an intimidating defensive powerhouse, respectively, the pair are a great partnership and can win half of their games alone, but Taurasi adds the edge.
Last year ended frustratingly. After arguably outplaying the eventual champions, Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird caught fire and pushed her team over the line.
But Seattle have their own problems this season, and if the Mercury can get Taurasi back with a few weeks before the end of the season, they could once again make a postseason semi-final run and - who knows? - maybe another step further.
Helping Bonner and Griner is a cast of largely familiar faces, but the team has added former champion Essence Carson from the LA Sparks who will be another defensive stalwart and a useful offensive contributor. And if they can work rookie Sophie Cunningham into the line-up, she could offer assistance on the scoring end.
Seattle Storm
Joined WNBA: 2000 | Championships: 3 | Head coach: Brian Agler | Last year's record: 26-8
Roster: Sue Bird, Jordin Canada, Alysha Clark, Natasha Howard, Anriel Howard, Crystal Langhorne, Jewell Loyd, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Cortney Paris, Mercedes Russell, Breanna Stewart, Ramu Tokashiki, Sami Whitcomb, Shavonte Zellous
You still have to beat the champs. That's the thing about being the best - everyone is going to come at you. But before the season even began, it felt like the world was against Seattle, as an unwelcome 'storm' destroyed key roster members and coaches.
During the EuroLeague Final, Breanna Stewart - the reigning WNBA MVP, Finals MVP, FIBA World Cup champion, FIBA World Cup MVP and EuroLeague MVP - landed awkwardly and tore her Achilles. The most dangerous player on the planet was cut down during the most crucial game of her season with Dynamo Kursk.
The team still had Sue Bird - one of the best point guards to ever play - and an elite head coach in Dan Hughes until the latter announced that he was undergoing treatment for cancer and would be out for a few weeks. Soon after, it was revealed by Arielle Chambers at High Post Hoops that Bird would soon undergo knee surgery. At 38, it is unclear how quickly she will be able to rehabilitate and get back on the court.
Despite the losses, there are still a handful of veterans and promising young talents on the roster. Natasha Howard was named to the All-Defensive Team last year, and is coming off two consecutive championships with the Storm and the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017. She knows how to win games and can put in enough points to keep the offense ticking over.
Jewell Loyd is turning into a star, and Jordin Canada is going from the protege to the master now that Bird is cheering from the sidelines. Other additions like Anriel Howard and Shavonte Zellous should chip in from time to time, and Sami Whitcomb will continue to provide the grit of any team she plays on.
They might not have the talent or the legs to make it back to the promised land, but they will not make it easy for any opponents this year.
Washington Mystics
Joined WNBA: 1998 | Championships: 0 | Head coach: Mike Thibault | Last year's record: 22-12
Roster: Ariel Atkins, Natasha Cloud, Elena Delle Donne, Tianna Hawkins, Myisha Hines-Allen, Kiara Leslie, Emma Meesseman, Kim Mestdagh, Aerial Powers, LaToya Sanders, Kristi Toliver, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough
There is still concern about Elena Delle Donne's health, Kristi Toliver might have similar concerns, and Emma Meesseman and Kim Mestdagh will be taking a few weeks off to play for Belgium in EuroBasket in June and July, but Mike Thibault can still work magic for the Washington Mystics.
The team was a Delle Donne injury away from a championship last year, as they advanced to the Finals despite their star going down with a knee hyperextension. Despite the heroics, the continued workload and heightened pressure of the championship round against an elite opponent proved too much for Washington as they were swept at the last hurdle.
Monique Currie has retired and the team lost Tierra Ruffin-Pratt during the off-season, but they played all of last season without Meesseman, who is a top 10 player in the world at times. So despite the midseason break to play for her national country, you can expect the Mystics to rely on her and preserve Delle Donne in that forward-center position.
Thibault got his wish by retaining Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders in Free Agency, and an extra year of growth for Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Ariel Atkins - who surprised a lot of people last year - could mean that there is even less demand on the injured stars.
And that is what makes the Washington Mystics a candidate to return to the WNBA Finals in 2019.
Watch live WNBA games every week on Sky Sports Arena.
