In the WNBA, Chicago Comes Close But Indiana Wants It More

Rosemont, IL (June 27, 2010) The good news is that the WNBA's best rebounding team visited Chicago Sunday night and were outrebounded by 10. That is where the good news stops from Chicago's perspective, and that is the only reason the outcome of the game was still up for grabs with less than a minute remaining.

The rest of the stats explain the bad news what became the final outcome, and the fact is that Chicago is still unable to crack the code of the Indiana Fever.

Of the five teams with the best records in the league, Chicago has beaten four of them at least once. But not Indiana—the aptly named Indiana Fever . 

Watching the Sky play Indiana makes one suspect that the secret sauce is the way this team infects its opponents with some sort of fever-induced delirium that strikes its victims intermittently, only at the most strategic times.

How else does one explain how the Sky could have the game in hand numerous times only to commit a bush league mistake, not once or twice but every time they had an opportunity to take control. And if it was a fever, it was worst at the most critical time.

With 1:26 minutes remaining, the Sky completed a comeback from 10 points down, pulling to a 64-64 tie on the three point shooting of Erin Thorn and Epiphany Prince. In fact, Thorn made five baskets from beyond the arc, in the perimeter, scoring her only points from downtown. With the momentum seeming to flow Chicago's way it appeared the Sky would find a way to capture a win. 

Coming back, Chicago managed to deflect Indiana's next scoring attempt, but not without fouling. After Indiana made only the second of two free throws, destiny was back in Chicago hands. 

But then, the delirium. The clock was down to 26.6. Trailing by one, with possession of the ball, Chicago made a five second violation on the throw in after a time out. Coach Key would later say the officials called it a second early. Did the mystery fever infect the referees as well? But whatever the cause, the Sky went from being within striking range of a lead to having to commit an intentional foul.

Indiana hit two more free throws and Chicago had the ball back again after a time out in the front court. The in-bounds pass was thrown away. Another intentional foul, another two points for Indiana.

Another in-bounds pass for Chicago. Another turn-over on the in-bounds. Another foul. Two more Indiana points. Game over. Indiana wins 70-64.

But if it was some mystery disease, some sinister form of Hoosier biological warfare, some of the symptoms were hauntingly familiar to Chicago fans. Perhaps it was an ailment self-inflicted.

Epiphany Prince said it with one word after the previous game—a Chicago win despite putting up less than stellar stats. Consistency. Or the lack of which. 

The Sky showed that kind of consistency throughout the first half. The third quarter and half of the fourth was more typically inconsistent with defensive lapses, missed assignments, missed layups and put-backs, momentary loss of concentration. 

The result of this inconsistency was a 10-point deficit. And then, with about four minutes left in the fourth, the Sky came roaring back, primarily on the back of Erin Thorn's perimeter three pointers, but then the officials stole a crucial second—so says the coach—and after that Chicago choked to death.

After the game, head Coach Steve Key was beside himself, incredulous at the officials accelerated time keeping.   

“No one came to see that; the fans, the players, no one,” Coach Key said. “In my opinion, it was a second too early. I don't mind being beaten by shooting or defense, but not the refs. The refs don't make baskets. They don't make passes. That doesn’t matter though. So while the call was unfortunate, the game didn’t come down to that play.”

"They (the Sky) always wait till the last minute to try and pull it out," Coach Key continued. "A bad call wouldn't matter if they'd done what they could have and should have done in the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter. You shouldn't be in a position where one call like that costs you the game." 

In the clutch, Indiana made the big plays when it counted. They ran a little harder, reacted a little faster, played consistently and smart when it mattered most.

“In gut check time, we got the stops that we needed to get defensively,” Head Coach Linn Dunn said.

Perhaps the most telling sign of what Chicago was lacking was observed after the game as the players made their way down the tunnel to the dressing room. At least three of them—key players all—were laughing and talking.

Coach Key was asked if that is what he would expect from his players after a hearbreaking loss.

"I can't be their mother and their Daddy and tell them how to act,"
he said. "But I'd like my players to feel at least as badly about a loss as I do. I'd like to see some anger and some cuts and some blood. After twenty minutes, sure. They can compose themselves and be happy to greet their families but I'd like to see some emotion first. But I can't do it for them."

In the end, that seems to be the difference between a W and a L for Chicago. Their opponents wanted it more.

The outcome improves Indiana to a 9-4 record. Chicago ends its two-game win streak, falling to 6-9.