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Message: [QUOTE="azfan, post: 5335677, member: 7748"] This was a defensive game in which former Mercury guard Natasha Cloud was clearly the difference. Nate was lauded by some for his roster utilization and strategy. Clearly his strategy of resting starters before the playoffs was it best not successful but more accurately an abject failure. The million dollar Coach received a great deal of attention for house cleaning before the season turning the roster over completely. It was clear in this game that Brondello out coached him and unable to take advantage of the home court the million dollar coach could find no answer as his big three were ice cold. With 2 minutes in regulation AT misses 2 free throws and then after Stewie makes an extraordinarily difficult shot in the paint AT comes down and leaves a shot on the rim after beating Stewie with her patented spin move . The game, while still tied, was over at that point. We earlier had a discussion on the boneyard about the impact of travel east west and west east certainly didn't seem to affect the Liberty as the home team which lost their third game in a row seemed to half step slow. The deflated Merc had zero in the tank in OT as the the Liberty closed out the contest in the first 90 seconds of OT The million dollar coach strategy of resting starters as the season wound down clearly lacked efficacy. As the Mercury lost their third game in a row it did appear that in addition to being a half step slow they were a little out of sync. A little? In the post game presser AT who I thought was very gracious was repeatedly asked about defense and the shooting woes. She honestly said we got the shots we wanted they just didn't fall which was evident throughout the game. One has to wonder about the strategy of rusting starters down the stretch and the impact that might have had on both rhythm for the team as well as preparation. In any event the Mercury lost their ninth straight first round game so the coach of fresh change was unable to make any impact on performance in the important first round contest. Even with Stewie hurt I'm not certain that the Merc really are in a position to advance. We will see however if the million dollar coach can do something hard and overcome the travel issue which we've discussed on the BY. Sandy Brondello did both in yesterday's game. In the arena of skepticism I would guess skeptics of the million dollar coach may be more on point than skeptics of Sandy Brondello who goes on the road to beat the higher seated team in the all-important first game of the firstround game. What is clear is his strategy in the final two games the regular season did not work. I also wondered why we didn't see Sammie Whitcomb as regulation wound down or in the OT given the extreme cold shooting by his big three. I made the right decision in not driving down to the valley of soul crushing heat to watch this game. In the unlikely event the million dollar coach can overcome travel and the home court I'll have a decision to make this week and hope the temperature drops under 500 degrees. After the first round it's clear who is winning the race to the bottom as Mr conviviality outpaces Noelle Quinn in the failure to prepare department. We also have an opportunity to see what elite coaches like Becky Hammon, Cheryl Reeve and Sandy Brondello to in anticipation of the important first round first game. Is he worth 1.2 million? [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach