The 2008-09 Phoenix Mercury thread

[FArting]

They start their season off against the LA Sparks tomorrow.

 

[Lefty]

It's going to be tough to defend with LA and Seattle being much stronger. It also hurts that they will be without Taylor for most of the season.

 

[FArting]

They are 0-3.

 

[FArting]

Congrats to Taurasi and Pondexter (sp) for making the Olympic team.

 

[Lefty]

They lost to Minnesota and now are 0-4. I think they should just tank the season and get a high draft pick. They will have their entire team next year with a top pick.

 

[FArting]

They play Washington tonight at 7:30 on ESPN 2.

Go Mercury

 

[Nasser22]

Two game winning streak. Hopefully it can continue and they are in the playoff hunt when Taylor comes back.

 

[Yuma]

This is frustrating because, imho, this isn't the same team as last year with the Olympics this year interfering with players playing. I am so glad we won last year, but when I went to a Suns game this year they just advertised the Mercury's upcoming season, not the World Champion Mercury like they should be! They should be touting their Championship from the roof tops. I think they are under promoting the team, imho. Last year's play offs was one of the most inspirational things I've seen in a while. Now this year it's like a forgotten story.

 

[FArting]

HAINING, China - Penny Taylor won't return to the Phoenix Mercury when the Olympics end.
Taylor took off the first half of the season to train with Australia and prepare for the Beijing Games. Now, she has decided not to go back to the WNBA.
"I did make it clear to the team that I wouldn't be coming back this season after the Olympics," Taylor told The Associated Press while practicing at the FIBA Diamond Ball tournament. "I want them to be able to get a team together and didn't want to leave any doors open."
Instead she will head home to Australia to spend time with her family and rest.
The defending champion Mercury sit three games behind third place Los Angeles and Sacramento in the Western Conference. Taylor was a huge part of their championship run last season, averaging 17.8 points and 6.3 rebounds for Phoenix last season. She scored 30 points in the deciding fifth game of the WNBA finals last year.
"I wanted to make sure they had their opportunity to get a full strength team and not wait for anyone," Taylor said. "It's disappointing, but it gave me the opportunity to prepare for this major event."
Taylor's decision caught her Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi off guard.
"Whoa, that's the first I'm hearing of it," said Taurasi over breakfast. "It just means the same thing it's meant the last two months. We'll go with what we have. We just got to keep playing and fighting. We're good enough if we get rolling as we've beaten the good teams. We've just been too average. This league is very good, and we're just not playing at a good level."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/mercury/articles/2008/08/04/20080804taylor-ON.html

 

[FArting]

The Mercury lost to Detroit last night ending their chance at a Western Conference playoff berth.

 

[Mulli]

Did the WNBA fold? I can't remember.

 

[FArting]

Did the WNBA fold? I can't remember.

WNBA is going on still.

 

[Mulli]

WNBA is going on still.

When is the season?

 

[Linderbee]

Well, this thread was started 5/16/08, stating that their first game would be "tomorrow", so I would think this year's season will also start mid-May. But that's just a guess.

 

[Mulli]

Well, this thread was started 5/16/08, stating that their first game would be "tomorrow", so I would think this year's season will also start mid-May. But that's just a guess.

Thanks.

 

[FArting]

When is the season?

The season for the Mercury starts on May 27 against Sacramento.