Dishin & Swishin 10/25/12 Podcast: Celebrating the WNBA Finals with Angela Taylor and the Indiana Fever with chat replays of Lin Dunn & Briann January
The WNBA season has come to its conclusion, and it is time for Dishin & Swishin to celebrate a fantastic WNBA finals series.
The Indiana Fever certainly had a difficult path to the Finals, dropping game ones in both of the first two rounds, to Atlanta and then Connecticut. The Seattle Storm push the Minnesota Lynx to three games in the conference semifinals before sweeping the Los Angeles Sparks in the conference finals.
When Katie Douglas went down with a bad ankle injury in game three versus the Connecticut Sun, many people wrote off the Fever. Minnesota after all had the best record in the league, was the defending champion, and had three All-WNBA players in Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, and Maya Moore. A healthy Fever team was supposed to have no chance against the Lynx, never mind one without one of their two stars.
However, no one counted on that other star, Tamika Catchings, performing and leading the way she did in the Finals. Catchings, named Most Valuable Player for the work she put in, would not let the Fever get down, and the team lifted its game to higher heights. Erin Phillips, Erlana Larkins, Briann January, and Shavonte Zellous combined with Catchings to outplay their more renowned opponents, and brought the Fever their first WNBA title.
On Dishin & Swishin this week, we celebrate the series, and the Indiana Fever.
First, Angela Taylor comes aboard to help dissect the finals and look at what may be in store for these two teams. Taylor’s resume includes time as general manager and vice president of the Washington Mystics, vice president of business operations for the Minnesota Lynx, and ten years at the WNBA league office in various positions. I cannot think of a person better suited to help breakdown that worked so well for Indiana, and not so well for Minnesota.
Then, it is time to pay some homage to the champion Indiana Fever.
On May 24, 2012, coach Lin Dunn was a guest on the podcast. At that time, the team was 1-0, having opened the season with a victory over Atlanta. It is interesting to look back with the benefit of hindsight and listen to what Dunn expected of her team at the start of the season, and which players she thought would be crucial to their success. Why did they move Catchings to power forward? Did Dunn expect Erlana Larkins to be so important?
Briann January did not become a starter on the team until Erin Phillips left for a period with the Australian national team in anticipation of an Olympic spot that never came. However, once January stepped in on June 8, 2012, she grabbed that spot and would not let go. January, having had to watch last year’s playoffs from the sideline after an ACL injury, was determined to guide the Fever from the point guard spot, and she did so in spectacular fashion. On September 13, 2012 January was on Dishin & Swishin and discussed returning from that injury and the way the Fever were gearing up for the playoffs. A fun interview with one of the rising stars of the WNBA.
Congratulations to the Indiana Fever for winning the WNBA title, and to the Minnesota Lynx for a fantastic season. In particular, congratulations to one of the greatest people on and off the court, Tamika Catchings, on that elusive first title. Don’t miss the end of the time with Angela Taylor on the podcast, where Catchings is discussed, with personal thoughts from both Taylor and myself.
Enjoy the podcast, and it is time to get ready for some NCAA hoops!
