Description:
Well if you missed the Mercury vs. Liberty game on Friday you missed a good one. Much anticipated return of Cappie Pondexter had the crowd energized and excited. With much support for Cappie during the Championship ring presentation it was safe to say at that point that the fans were excited to see Cappie on the court once again. With that said.....
As the game started and continued through the first half it was easy to see that Cappie was back to make a point of some sorts. She was definately on a roll keeping the Liberty within a couple of points. She was hitting outside shots, driving in, on top of causing the Mercury to foul her. She was doing it all. Sitting in the arena I wasnt sure if I should cheer for Cappie everytime she scored. I was torn between rooting for a past-Mercury player or holding firm to my allegiance to the Mercury. So, I clapped a couple of times upon her scoring. Feeling a bit guilty and once I saw that she was the main threat to the Mercury that night, I stopped quickly. The Mercury came out from tipoff with one goal in mind.....to take control of the game and keep it! That was obvious to see. Everyone contributed in one way or another. Taurasi seemed a bit "off" in the first half getting called for offensive fouls as well as missing some fairly routine shots for her. (I know, we expect her to do it all) Anyways, the Mercury held their own going into halftime and the energy on the court was high. Tangela Smith got into an early groove hitting 3's like nothing. It was awesome. She has her confidence back for sure.
The second half of the game proved itself to be of much intensity and energy. Alot of body contact and a fast paced game of which is an advantage to the Mercury. Then finally it happens.....A hard foul to Penny Taylor, her reaction, and we got ourselves a bit of a "girl fight". Not that I am a fan of "girl fights" but I was the one in the crowd yelling "FINALLY"!!. Finally, the emotion, the intensity, the missing link that I have wrote about before was HERE!! I have to tell you, I liked it. It was good to see a reaction from a Mercury player, even though it might have not been the "right" way to react, atleast it was a reaction. I will take it. Fair to say, after this incident the Mercury were charged up even more and with the ejection of Cappie Pondexter the Mercury were unstopable. It might be also fair to say that if Cappie had not been ejected this game could have gone either way atleast in my opionion. I am glad the Mercury won, they needed it. I am glad Cappie was back in town, they needed it. I have said before that Cappie has an exteme energy on the court and it was visible in this game. I think the Mercury players knew that with Cappie back on the court even as the opponent, they had to bring their"A" game and they did. So, we thank Cappie for coming back to Phoenix. It was a good game and I am glad I was there to see it.
As the Mercury take on the Sparks tonight we can only hope that they will continue to keep the energy level at its highest. Despite the Sparks record, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE this team. Sure the Mercury are a better all around team but again, they have to bring their "A" game again tonight.
Much love to the Mercury team. Good luck, keep the winning streak going and lets remind LA who the Champions in this league are.
WNBA.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.