Angel is back...

[pap49cba]

...has played 5 min in two and a half quarters and scored 2 pts. Tiff with 9.

 

[harlemmo]

Angel is on FIRE!!!!!!!!

 

[ThisJustIn]

Angel is on FIRE!!!!!!!!

I guess we'll see if she's burned her bridges -- with the Dream and/or USA Basketball.

 

[rocky rococo]

It's something I've been noticing more and more as the year goes on. Without Asjha on the court, the Sun simply can't run their half-court plays. They seem lost and just fall apart into TO city.

 

[pap49cba]

Wow. McCoughtry ends up with 24 pts. in 19 mins. Nice comeback by Atlanta.

 

[pppggg]

She is a remarkable talent but seams to have issues she is dealing with- at least as far back as college.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Is everyone out and about enjoying their Labor Day Weekend? Very little discussion.

Tiffany Hayes played more minutes than Renee Montgomery. Go figure. What is happening with Renee anyway? She has gone from being a contender for an Olympic spot to a player who cannot break the starting lineup. While I liked Allison Hightower at LSU, her game vs Renee's?

Yes, it was a road game, but Atlanta is, supposedly, dysfunctional and Connecticut is the top team in the East. According to an earlier poster, Connecticut was in Atlanta, fully rested, for a few days.

It seems that a number of Olympians are finding it difficult to play, much less play well. How are you going to keep these ladies motivated to play basketball after they've seen Usain Bolt?

 

[psconn]

Is everyone out and about enjoying their Labor Day Weekend? Very little discussion.

Tiffany Hayes played more minutes than Renee Montgomery. Go figure. What is happening with Renee anyway? She has gone from being a contender for an Olympic spot to a player who cannot break the starting lineup. While I liked Allison Hightower at LSU, her game vs Renee's?

Yes, it was a road game, but Atlanta is, supposedly, dysfunctional and Connecticut is the top team in the East. According to an earlier poster, Connecticut was in Atlanta, fully rested, for a few days.

It seems that a number of Olympians are finding it difficult to play, much less play well. How are you going to keep these ladies motivated to play basketball after they've seen Usain Bolt?

Sun really played very well considering how short-handed they are. The notion that Atlanta is not going to play well because of all the controversy is silly. With Erika back and Angel clearly large and definitely in charge after that pitifully-phoney-attempt-at-face-saving suspension, Atlanta will do what Atlanta does this time of year. They will be very difficult to beat down the stretch.

Congrats to Danielle for some really clutch shooting down the stretch. If she can do that in the playoffs the Sun become MUCH tougher.

 

[UcMiami]

Is everyone out and about enjoying their Labor Day Weekend? Very little discussion.

Tiffany Hayes played more minutes than Renee Montgomery. Go figure. What is happening with Renee anyway? She has gone from being a contender for an Olympic spot to a player who cannot break the starting lineup. While I liked Allison Hightower at LSU, her game vs Renee's?

Yes, it was a road game, but Atlanta is, supposedly, dysfunctional and Connecticut is the top team in the East. According to an earlier poster, Connecticut was in Atlanta, fully rested, for a few days.

It seems that a number of Olympians are finding it difficult to play, much less play well. How are you going to keep these ladies motivated to play basketball after they've seen Usain Bolt?

Renee got hurt in the first half - on the floor holding her right knee - don't know how serious.

 

[EricLA]

The WNBA seems like it's going to be crazy going to the end of the regular season. LA should not be losing to Chicago, the Sun seem like they've not played great since the Olympics, but they really miss Ashja, and San Antonio is on a 3 game losing streak while Phx is on a 2 game win streak. The battle for the 4th spot in the east will be entertaining to watch...

 

[easttexastrash]

I guess we'll see if she's burned her bridges -- with the Dream and/or USA Basketball.

I'm curious how Angel would have burned a bridge with Team USA. She played her heart out during the Olympics and was arguably the best player on the team. I would hope that USA Basketball is not short sighted enough to let a dispute with her professional team impact her future as a representative of the USA.

 

[Icebear]

I'm curious how Angel would have burned a bridge with Team USA. She played her heart out during the Olympics and was arguably the best player on the team. I would hope that USA Basketball is not short sighted enough to let a dispute with her professional team impact her future as a representative of the USA.

If she was at the center of the Meadors dismissal who was a USA assistant you can be sure that USA Basketball will be very informed and very cautious of any relationship with Angel in the future. I am not saying there will not be or there shouldn't be but USA Basketball will be very careful.

 

[UcMiami]

If she was at the center of the Meadors dismissal who was a USA assistant you can be sure that USA Basketball will be very informed and very cautious of any relationship with Angel in the future. I am not saying there will not be or there shouldn't be but USA Basketball will be very careful.

I tend to go with ETT on this one. As long as Meadors isn't a coach, and I sort of doubt she will be a future HC option, I don't see how a dispute between her and Angel (if that is what went down, as we all assume) would have any affect on USA selection committees. Generally, USA basketball does seem to carry grievances about players in terms of their interactions with USA basketball, but not in terms of their behavior with other teams.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Per Mechelle's article, she whined about playing time during the games. That's an issue unrelated to her Dream time. See Geno,s reaction to Meadors firing to get his take.

 

[Icebear]

I tend to go with ETT on this one. As long as Meadors isn't a coach, and I sort of doubt she will be a future HC option, I don't see how a dispute between her and Angel (if that is what went down, as we all assume) would have any affect on USA selection committees. Generally, USA basketball does seem to carry grievances about players in terms of their interactions with USA basketball, but not in terms of their behavior with other teams.

Since we know Angel was reported to have been whining concerning her playing time on the Olympic tean and that she was suspended for a period following the departure of Meadors the situation is not likely just about her and Meadors. Geno comments, also, imply there is more at work here. Meadors track history with USA basketball will either give credit or not to the situation and the potential future. Given the potential talent available in the future for 2016 it is not like USA Basketball doesn't have other available options.

 

[UcMiami]

Sorry - but while I appreciate Michelle's reporting, she is the only person I have seen to report this 'whining' and I certainly didn't see a reflection of that on the bench or in either Angel's or other players' attitudes. The timing of the reporting was interesting as well.
As far as Geno's tweet - that strikes me as his general reaction when coaches he knows get trashed.
I have no idea if Angel did have issues with her role with USA basketball and if she caused waves behind the scenes. If she did, then she may be in trouble with them, but what I said was USA basketball would not take the situation with the Dream as a plus or minus.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Sorry - but while I appreciate Michelle's reporting, she is the only person I have seen to report this 'whining' and I certainly didn't see a reflection of that on the bench or in either Angel's or other players' attitudes. The timing of the reporting was interesting as well.
As far as Geno's tweet - that strikes me as his general reaction when coaches he knows get trashed.
I have no idea if Angel did have issues with her role with USA basketball and if she caused waves behind the scenes. If she did, then she may be in trouble with them, but what I said was USA basketball would not take the situation with the Dream as a plus or minus.

I'm with you.

Ms Voepel, quite obviously, loses a bit of her journalistic objectivity when it comes to Ms McCoughtry.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I'm with you.

Ms Voepel, quite obviously, loses a bit of her journalistic objectivity when it comes to Ms McCoughtry.

So, Geno was just being Geno and Mechelle was not using her decades of connections but just blowing smoke because of a personal vendetta against Angel?

 

[easttexastrash]

Angel performed admirably for the USA and unless some big revelation comes out that Angel was disruptive to Team USA then I see no reason that she won't be back. If USA Basketball allows the situation with Angel and Meadors to impact Angel's eligibility on Team USA then maybe it's time for some of those folks to be shown the door.

 

[VAUConnFan]

So, Geno was just being Geno and Mechelle was not using her decades of connections but just blowing smoke because of a personal vendetta against Angel?

Coach Auriemma was, likely, covering Coach Meadors' back; As he should. But, he is sage enough to understand that the pro game is a world removed from the college game.

Ms Voepel may, in fact, have decades of connections, but, in regards to this Angel McCoughtry story, she knows as much as we do. And, I have spent the better part of half an hour trying to find a women's basketball story she has actually broken. I am still looking.

 

[Icebear]

Ms Voepel may, in fact, have decades of connections, but, in regards to this Angel McCoughtry story, she knows as much as we do.

Neither you nor I can say that. We do not know what we know nor from whom.

 

[RadyLady]

Conclusions are being drawn here without substantive knowledge.
Geno may tease in public, but he doesn't bring the public into matters that (he feels) should not be public.
Mechelle may/may not have insight into this, and we don't know for sure.

And what will happen with Angel? Will she/won't she, did she/didn't she? We simply don't know, and as with many other incidents involving these types of tricky situations, we likely will not know as the wise keep these things confidential -

Would I like to know what really happened? yes, a little, but it won't rock my world if I never find out..

 

[UcMiami]

Conclusions are being drawn here without substantive knowledge.
Geno may tease in public, but he doesn't bring the public into matters that (he feels) should not be public.
Mechelle may/may not have insight into this, and we don't know for sure.

And what will happen with Angel? Will she/won't she, did she/didn't she? We simply don't know, and as with many other incidents involving these types of tricky situations, we likely will not know as the wise keep these things confidential -

Would I like to know what really happened? yes, a little, but it won't rock my world if I never find out..

What is this - sanity and reason on a forum!!!
I absolutely agree with everything you have written - At the moment we have single voices commenting on things they are not actually first person involved in - unless we get a few more credible voices coming in on any side, it is really a big unknown.
I did try to state that myself. But not so well.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Neither you nor I can say that. We do not know what we know nor from whom.

We know next to nothing, and from the reporting, neither does Ms Voepel. This, on any scale, is a big story in women's basketball, yet there is very little insight into what is going on behind the scenes in Atlanta Dreamland. Unspecified team rules? A reporter with connections would not have a hard time specifying them. It is hard to imagine that among a team of 11 players, one of them does not anonomously break her silence. Unless, the team is firmly behind Ms McCoughtry, and the entire team had issues with Coach Meadors. Yes, we are all speculating. We would not have to speculate with better, more insightful reporting. For all we know, it could very well have been a generational issue.

And then for Ms Voepel to throw Ms McCoughtry under the bus after gushingly praising her play and her attitude in the Olympics does not sit well. A clear case of trying to get out in front of a story that had a huge headstart on her. There was no talk of Angel whining about a lack of playing time either during the Olympics not immediately after. Let's say, hypothetically, that a comment was made to the effect that they would like to get more playing time. Is that whining or is that a competitor's natural inclination to compete? Do we not hear similar quotes all the time about wanting to play more, working harder to make that happen, etc...?

 

[JoePgh]

Back to the question of why Renee is playing less and both Tiffany and Allison Hightower are playing more, there are several factors:

1. If you've followed the Sun this year, you know that for the year as a whole, Allison has had a MUCH better season than Renee. For most of the year (including the entire season before the Olympic break), Renee couldn't hit a 3-ball to save her life. That meant that she and Allison were about equal offensively (Hightower has more offensive weapons than you might think), but Renee still makes more mistakes than Allison and (as we know) defense has never been Renee's forte. By contrast, Allison is rivaling Kalana as the best perimeter defender on the team. One of their big assets is that they have two defenders who can handle the job of containing the other team's best perimeter scorer.

2. Regarding Tiffany, has anyone noticed how extraordinarily well she has been playing for Atlanta? When Angel was not playing, her name got called in broadcasts more often than de Souza or Sancho Lyttle, or so it seemed to me. She has been doing everything she did well at UConn, except that I haven't noticed her fading in big games. One reason for that may be that none of Atlanta's regular season games get the kind of spotlight that UConn's big games got, so we may see a falloff if Atlanta makes the playoffs.

3. Also generally regarding the Sun and the temporary absence of Asjha Jones, there is no doubt that they have had trouble adjusting to life without Asjha, but they may be overcoming that issue as much as possible. Kelsey Griffin (who has been harshly criticized on this board in the past) has been playing VERY well in Asjha's absence, even scoring a double-double recently. Her rebounding has occasionally been sensational. She and Mistie Mims have nearly (if not completely) replaced Asjha's points and rebounds during Asjha's absence. Obviously, when Asjha returns for the playoffs, the Sun can only benefit from the extra minutes that Kelsey and Danielle McCray have been getting in her absence.

Meanwhile, the Sun need to beat the hapless Mystics tonight. They are only up by 4 with 5:49 left in the game as of now.