Bay Area Sports Blogging

The 2008 WNBA season tips off this Saturday with a match-up between the defending champs Phoenix Mercury and the top draft pick Candice Parker's Los Angeles Sparks. Maybe someone should tell the WNBA execs to hold off for a month, because there's something more exciting going on in the world of professional basketball: the NBA playoffs.

Coincidently, there will be no NBA playoff game on Saturday. There will be a double-header of NBA games on Friday night, and if neccessary, one game on Sunday and two on Monday. It's hard to tell if the NBA planned to vacate the WNBA opening day or if the playoff series worked in favor of the WNBA.

The Phoenix Mercury won the decisive Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on the road Sunday to win their first ever WNBA Championship. The Phoenix Mercury, the WNBA counterpart to the NBA's Phoenix Suns, plays a similar style of basketball. "We are Phoenix. We run-and-gun, we shoot the three and we win championships," said Diana Taurasi, the Mercury's #1 overall draft pick from 2004. Taurasi led UConn to three NCAA championships. The WNBA Eastern Conference champions and winners of two previous WNBA titles, the Detroit Shock, play a slower paced game, with most of their scoring coming from inside the paint. If the Mercury's run-and-gun three shooting defeated the Shock's tougher defensive based style, does this mean the Suns will beat the San Antonio Spurs or the Detroit Pistons?

The Phoenix Mercury advances to the WNBA Western Conference championships with a win over Seattle Storm. The Mercury started early and had a 22 point lead, but the Storm fought back to tie the game in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left in a tied game, Mercury player Diana Taurasi drained a three pointer from the wing and the Storm never recovered.

The Phoenix Mercury was led by their Big 3 of Diana Taurasi (20 pts and 6 ast), Cappie Pondexter (25 pts and 5 rebs), and Penny Taylor (18 pts, 5 rebs, and 5 ast). Taurasi is the most hyped player ever to come out of the WNBA draft. There were such high hopes for her and the team that drafted her. The question is not could Taurasi bring a championship to Phoenix, but when? Taurasi's time is now.