Storming In With a Plan for Containing Hot Sparks

Is this how it’s going to be? A sweep to the WNBA championship? Six in a row? Can anyone beat the Sparks?

It certainly didn’t look like it in the first playoff round. The Sparks made Phoenix disappear, winning the two games by a combined margin of 40 points.

If there’s a coach out there who may have figured out the Sparks, it’s Seattle’s Lin Dunn. Her Storm had the league’s worst record (6-26), but had less trouble playing the Sparks than any other team.

Seattle defeated the Sparks in a May exhibition game, 75-69, beat them, 69-59, in overtime June 13 at Seattle and forced them into another overtime last Tuesday before losing, 60-52.

So we called Dunn on Monday, and asked her for a game plan against the Sparks, who open the Western Conference finals at Houston or Sacramento on Thursday.

“To have a chance to beat the Sparks, step one is you must get Lisa Leslie in foul trouble,” Dunn said.

“If she plays 30 or more minutes, you’re in trouble. If she gets a second foul in the first half, she’s out of the game. One reason Houston has struggled with the Sparks is because [the Comets] don’t have a big post player on the low block who can go after Lisa.

“You simply have to attack her down low, then hope the calls go your way.

“Step two is you cannot let Lisa catch the ball in her comfort zone, the mid-post area, with her back to the basket. You have to force her out of there, either lower or higher on the block.

“Step three is you must force their wings, [Tamecka] Dixon and [Mwadi] Mabika outside, and not let them drive into the paint. Force them to the baseline.

“Step four is don’t allow them to outlet the ball after a rebound and get easy transition buckets.

“Step five is make sure you’re prepared to attack that two-three zone. They’re winning games with that zone. They play a man for 25 minutes, then go to that zone to beat you at the end.

“You can beat any zone by shooting over it, and Houston has good outside shooting. But when you do that, you’re getting away from step one, which is to get Lisa in foul trouble. And if you shoot a lot of threes, you better make ‘em because they get all your misses.

“Step six is no turnovers. When you turn the ball over against the Sparks, it’s like watching a bunch of wild animals in a feeding frenzy.”

Here Dunn paused, then added: “If you do all the above--that’s just to give you a chance. They have so many players who can hurt you. To me, Dixon is the most improved player in the league. Her decision-making is so much better.

“Everyone says it’s because she’s faster after losing a lot of weight in the off-season, but what’s that got to do with her brain? It’s her decision-making that is so much better. Dixon has added a whole new dimension to that team.”

Dunn, who has the first draft pick next spring, will be in Sydney, watching Australian center Lauren Jackson in the Olympics. Jackson is thought by many to be the probable first pick. However, Dunn says she hasn’t ruled out trading that pick for, say, Utah’s Natalie Williams.

“I want to take a long look at Lauren in Sydney before making a decision, but right now I’m exploring all options in order to get as much help as I possibly can in the draft,” she said.

LAYUPS

Attention Spark President Johnny Buss: Staples Center wants to know how much longer it’s supposed to hold next summer’s game dates for you to make a commitment. . . . Speaking of Buss, it has been learned what the “philosophical differences” were that prompted him to fire coach Orlando Woolridge after last season. Turns out Buss’ assistant, Brandi Bratcher, refused to leave the Spark locker room after a late-season loss at Washington when asked by Woolridge. “I represent Johnny,” she said, according to three people who were in the room. Video chief Michael McIntyre attempted to escort Bratcher from the room and things became nasty. There was another Woolridge-Bratcher exchange outside the locker room. Woolridge was fired shortly after the season. So was McIntyre. In fact, Buss, with one of the WNBA’s smallest staffs, has fired at least 13 people in four years. Under new Coach Michael Cooper, Buss and Bratcher have stayed out of the locker room. One of those Buss fired, ex-coach Julie Rousseau, was recently added to Stanford’s coaching staff by Coach Tara VanDerveer. . . . New York’s Tari Phillips was named the WNBA’s most improved player Monday.