VaMike and I saw them in Washington on the 16th and were shocked at the difference between last year's team, also without Augustus, and this year's team. Washington made a very concerted effort to focus their defensive efforts on Maya Moore; A strategy most teams are likely to employ except that Tierra Ruffin-Pratt(TRP) played stellar individual defense against Maya which, when coupled with Washington's help defense, was able to shut Minnesota down. Minnesota often went dangerously deep into the shot clock before getting anywhere close to a shot which very often was not a good one. Minnesota's offense seemed very stagnant with Fowles on the floor, Fowles does not extend the defense as Janel McCarville did, Jones got a number of very nice looks that she was unable to knock down. On paper, Minnesota looks unbeatable. Up close and personal, they have never looked more vulnerable in the Maya era. Minnesota is not very fleet afoot defensively either. For a Minnesota fan, one can only hope that they will be OK when the playoffs start.