WNBA: Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury
The Mercury stand at 4-1, atop the Western Conference, with their 104-80 win over the Minnesota Lynx. Diana Taurasi put up 28 points, and rookie Dewanna Bonner had a double double with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Generally speaking, after a few games, you get a feel for the style of the team (if they have one) and the tendencies, both good and bad. Understanding the team allows us a better opportunity to catch moments, and make some nice photos.
For example, I’m sure that Diana Taurasi has a chip on her shoulder. Was it from not making the playoffs last year? Does she see that perhaps this team has the talent to go far, and wants to display a level of intensity as a standard for her team? I don’t know what the answer is, but I like it so far. Every game has had her reacting to foul calls and non-calls. Every game, she’s been playing very aggressively (which may explain the fouls). I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up MVP and leads the league in technicals.
So what else am I noticing two weeks into the season? More after the jump.
Dewanna Bonner. She’s actually ranked as the top rookie pick in the league. While she doesn’t have a polished skill set, she’s a very talented player, and plays hard. You can teach skills, but talent and heart are hard to come by. Photographically, I find it difficult to get a nice shot of her on offense. Rebounds? Defense? No problem. But a sweet jumper or play at the basket? Nothing that looks good. Hoping she cleans up her post game.
Temeka Johnson is a great fit for the Mercury. She’s tiny, but she really pushes the offense, allowing the offense to run at a high tempo (the Mercury are leading the league in points per game, and already set a single game record). She’s fearless and scrappy. I like seeing her slashing against obviously larger players without doubt, and on defense, she’s very scrappy (even if it does look funny when she covers a player a foot taller). I could use a good scrum image of her, maybe a loose ball dive. She’s already dove into the stands a few times. At least the fans won’t need to worry as much as when Shaq is on the rampage.
There’s a lot more I could cover, but I’ll save that for later in the season. Needless to say, it seems like the Mercury have the right mix of longtime players, veterans, and a rookie. As the season goes on, I’ll keep looking for tendencies and try to work with them to come up with the right images.
Lastly, I’ve now switched my image gallery over to Photoshelter’s own gallery feature. I even mentioned it last year in a quick update post, but hadn’t really used it for more than archived images. The gallery is listed below, can be displayed in fullscreen, and works in slideshow format. And all I had to do was upload the images. If anyone is really interested in Photoshelter, I’ll be glad to answer any questions about it, and even have a discount code for anyone really interested.
As always, comments and questions are more than welcome.
WNBA: Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury – Images by Max Simbron