Becky Hammon has seen a lot during her 12 years in the WNBA. The San Antonio guard helped the Silver Stars and the New York Liberty reach the WNBA Finals and has represented the Eastern and Western Conference in seven All-Star appearances.
The Minnesota Lynx are 7-11, one of five teams in the Western Conference under .500, and have lost Candice Wiggins to injury.
But Hammon says she has never seen a season like this.
The Seattle Storm have the league's top record at 17-2. But the Minnesota Lynx (7-11), Phoenix Mercury (7-12), Silver Stars (6-11), Los Angeles Sparks (5-13), and Tulsa Shock (3-15) are a combined 34 games under .500.
"I've never seen so many teams with losing records have a shot at the playoffs," Hammon says.
It's decidedly different in the East. The Atlanta Dream, an expansion team two years ago, sit atop the standings at 14-6. The Washington Mystics, with top player Alana Beard out for the season after ankle surgery, are second at 12-6.
The defending conference champion Indiana Fever (11-7) got off to a slow start. Behind them are the Connecticut Sun (11-8), with rookie of the year contender Tina Charles, the Liberty (9-9) and Chicago Sky (9-11).
Indiana head coach Lin Dunn, whose team is one of two in the East to beat Seattle, has experience in both conferences. Dunn, who coached the Storm from 2000-02, says injuries and coaching changes have impacted the West.
"What the standings don't reflect is just how many good players the West has lost for various reasons," Dunn said. "The Sparks see Lisa Leslie retire and then Candace Parker gets hurt. The Lynx didn't have Seimone Augustus for most of the first half and now they've lost Candice Wiggins to injury.
"The Silver Stars had a great veteran guard retire (Vickie Johnson), their starting center (Ann Wauters) is sitting out the season and another center (Ruth Riley) got injured. Not to mention, four of the six teams have new coaches."
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SOURCE: USA Today
Ellen J. Horrow
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