FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 2010
KLMNO PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
Mystics ready for a final playoff push Washington’s struggle for consistency remains a concern as the regular season winds down
Mystics vs. Lynx BY KATIE CARRERA In 12 games since the WNBA’s
all-star break, the Washington Mystics have found only flashes of their early-season success. Op- ponents are no longer surprised by their style, which challenges the Mystics’ lack of consistency by forcing them to maintain an even level of discipline and focus for an entire game in order to win.
On Tuesday in its 84-74 win
over Connecticut, Washington demonstrated the unwavering commitmentto a cohesive style of play that it will need to secure a playoff berth and, should it ad- vance, experience success in the postseason. The Mystics managed to get
every player who entered the gameinvolved offensively against the Sun and avoided predictable patterns. Their lively defense thrived off a resolve to capture contested rebounds and loose balls. “This win was really good for
the team to just get in that kind of flow,” said Crystal Langhorne, who will lead the Mystics (17-12) as they attempt to tie a franchise record for wins when they host the Minnesota Lynx (11-17) on Friday at Verizon Center. “We were all struggling there
for a little bit—I was struggling a bit — so to get a game like this where we were all on the same page was great for our confi- dence,” Langhorne added. “When the whole team is doing well it makes it easier on us individually.
go-to players such as Langhorne. Sometimes the problems were
self-inflicted though, asWashing- ton occasionally fell into routines that made the team easier to defend against, like relying on only a fewselect players. “You can tell some games
when we’re not playing our best because the options aren’t there,” point guard Lindsey Harding said. “When we’re running hard and everyone is working hard — it’s hard to stop a team when they have that many options. If [oppo- nents] target Lang or someone, we can’t stop as a team and put it all on her shoulders to keep go- ing.We will lose that way and we have lost that way.” By reminding theMystics that
their strongest attributes have the greatest impact when they play as a multifaceted team, the win over Connecticut could sig- nal the end of Washington’s sec- ond-half doldrums. And the realization couldn’t
come at a better time, with only five regular season games re- maining. “It’s about coming with some-
RICHARD A. LIPSKI FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Monique Currie and theMystics have won just 5 of 12 games since July 15 but can tie a franchise record for wins with a victory Friday.
We’re so much of a better team when everyone’s contributing.” Of Washington’s five wins
since July 15, four were the result of a balanced attack that comple- mented the third-best scoring de-
fense (73.8 points per game) in the league. During the losses, usually two
players carried the offensive load as the Mystics failed to counter- punch when opponents limited
SOCCER
thing every night,” Katie Smith said. “So much in this league is about consistency. For the most part we’ve shown we can do that, but recently in a whole 40 min- utes there have been stretches where we weren’t fully there. That’s what we need to get better at for the playoffs.”
carrerak@washpost.com
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Nationals slugger Adam Dunn leads theNational League in home runs and, at 30, is not just getting older, but getting better.
THOMAS BOSWELL A couple of needed signs boswell from D1
Mike Rizzo reached a deal for Strasburg with 77 seconds left. My over-under this time around: seven seconds, in honor ofHarper’s favorite player,No. 7,MickeyMantle. The contract debate will
focus on finding comparables to the supposedly incomparableHarper. Is he more like Arizona all-star outfielder JustinUpton, whose $6.5-million deal in ’05 is the record for a player at age 17? TheNats would like that comparison. Or, as Boras proclaims, is
the Las Vegas teenager really much more analogous to power hitters like Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez. Both of them were all-stars at 20. “I’ve never seen a 17-year-
old player with power like Harper, and I’ve seen ’em all,” Boras said Thursday. “Griffey and A-Rod were not close to Bryce at that age. “Actually, I didn’t see
MickeyMantle. But I found a scout who once talked to a scout who sawMantle at 17, and he saidHarper has more opposite-field power than Mickey.” Boras practices negotiation
by inundation, but at least he interrupts the flow of data to laugh at himself once every hour. The facts on Dunn should
be unquestionable. In the end, Harper’s future is a projection. Dunn’s is a straight-line extrapolation. The sport hasn’t realized yet that Dunn has learned to expand his strike zone this season, drawa third less walks but build anN.L.- leading mountain of extra-base hits and homers. After working with hitting coach Rick Eckstein, he’s actually improving at age 30 as a run- producing slugger. TheNats better wake up. This guy isn’t just getting older; he’s getting better.Weigh the two. And he’s found a defensive
position—sort of. After getting jerked around all year without any contract offer, then being named in every trade-dead-line deal and finally put on the waiver wire, it’s a minor miracle he still wants to stay in D.C. But he does. Getting both contracts done
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
“We wanted this to come out now,”United PresidentKevin Payne said of JaimeMoreno’s announcement, “so other teams, if they so choose, can recognize him and so our fans can say goodbye.We didn’t think it would be appropriate after the season.”
Moreno closing out his run with United united from D1 “Before the season, we agreed
to talk in the summer and decide on the future,” United President Kevin Payne said. “We wanted this to come out now so other teams, if they so choose, can rec- ognize him and so our fans can say goodbye. We didn’t think it would be appropriate after the season.He’s deserving of a longer thank-you.” United, on pace to miss the
playoffs for the third consecutive year and finish with the worst record in club history, has 11 regu- lar season matches remaining. It also will play in theU.S.OpenCup semifinals next month. Moreno was part of four MLS
Cup championship squads and helped the club win several other trophies. He spent all but the 2003 season (NewYork) inWash-
ington and is the only player in league history to appear in a regu- lar season match every year since MLS’s launch in 1996. He is first in goals (132), in-
cluding a league-high 43 penalty kicks;fourthin assists (102); third in appearances (335); and tied for fifth in starts (292). Moreno also has 12 goals and 10 assists in 32 playoffmatches,madethe all-star squad eight times and wasnamed to the Best XI (the postseason all-league team) on four occa- sions. Before rejoining United in
2004, Moreno was nearly forced to retire because of back prob- lems. However, he came back to enjoy one of his finest campaigns with seven goals and a career- high 14 assists in leading United to a fourth title. The following season, he equaled his career best in goals with 16.
This year, after an impressive preseason,Moreno’s playing time faded and he had a difficult time coming to grips with his reduced role. In his Facebook comments, he
wrote: “This was not a very good year for the team. I did not have differences, but there were things that happened that shouldn’t have happened [with the club]. Management saw that it was the right moment. “It hurts me because it’s not
theway I wanted to say goodbye. I know I can contribute a little more. Unfortunately, I was not given the opportunity this year for ‘X’ reasons.” Besidesbecomingpart ofUnit-
ed’s fabric,Moreno, with his wife and five children, embraced the Washington area. He has been involved inmany community and charitable initiatives.
“This is my second family,” he
wrote of theD.C. area. “I have lots of friends here. I’ve made my life here.” Payne, who has been involved
with the organization since the first year, said Moreno’s immi- nent departure “hasn’t sunk in yet and probably won’t until he plays his last game,” which, bar- ring a stunningrunto the playoffs by United, will come Oct. 23 against Toronto FC at RFK Stadi- um.
“It will be strange to gotoRFK,
go to practice, go into the locker room, and not see Jaime. His combination of skillsandlongevi- ty— it will be a long time before we see another player like him in our league.” To United’s supporters, More-
no wrote: “You will always be in my heart.”
goffs@washpost.com
would cap a crucial credibility- building period in the stewardship of the Lerner family. However, ifHarper is
fumbled away or Dunn wanders back to his hometown ofHouston this winter as a free agent, then the old worries return. Do theNats, even as Stephen Strasburg’s arrival gives them entree to the town’s good graces, know what it takes to win games and fans? In theHarper case, the
contract debate will probably have Rizzo and Boras screaming at each other as midnight approaches, just as they did last year over Strasburg. But this time, the argument will be over a few million, not $10 million. Besides, as such mongoose- cobra relationships go, Rizzo and Boras slither along together fairly well. Their silence so far, with no feuds, bodes well. Harper will probably get
more thanUpton, who was drafted by Arizona (whose farm director then was Rizzo). Harper has proved he can hit with a wooden bat against junior college pitching. That
edgesUpton, who signed out of high school. However, there’s no way
Harper rates as highly as the top amateur hitter ever,Mark Teixeira, who got $10 million in 2001 baseball dollars. Teixeira was 21, full grown, a model citizen at Georgia Tech and had destroyed the best college pitching, not just JUCOs. As recently as this spring,Harper was still talking in awe about the need to adjust to the first “91-mph fastballs” he had ever faced.He did. But there are no 17-year-old mortal lock hitters. Still, the list of teenage
hitters takenNo. 1 overall is jam-packed with superstars. The chances ofHarper being great, and staying healthy for many years, are probably better than the odds on any pitcher doing the same—even Strasburg, who’s just back from the DL. Harper has tweeted about
going back to his junior college in the desert again next season. Riiiiight. To do what?Hit 31 homers, sweat bullets and win the Golden Spikes Award?He already did that. Harper is going to sign.
Why? Rizzo knows his value. The Lerners know they’re getting either a bargain or a great bargain. Boras knows Harper has pointed for this day all his life and will never be worth more. They all know the Upton-to-Teixeira salary comps —adjusted for inflation. And all the adults at the table know if this deal gets screwed up, they’ll all be drawn and quartered. Getting a Dunn deal
finished shouldn’t even be that hard. For weeks, reports have said Dunn wanted $60 million for four years. “That’s not true,” said one of Dunn’s best baseball friends, who talked with him recently but requested anonymity so that Dunn wouldn’t hurt him when they hand-slap at home plate after his home runs. “Adam said he wants $13 to 14 million for three years. That’s it. And he wants to stay in Washington. “Isn’t this a no-brainer?” Compared to Ryan
Howard’s borderline-insane $125-million, five-year contract extension in Philly, it sure is. But the clock is ticking.No
300-home run hitter has ever re-signed with the same team once he finally got his free agent freedom. TheNats have pushed the idea for weeks that Dunn can still be signed in the off-season.Nonsense. They’re either deluding themselves or deceiving their customers. For 20 months, the Lerners
have been passing basic baseball tests. They’re learning a newbusiness. But the climb doesn’t stop. Take a step backward, and the fall can be further than you think.
boswellt@washpost.com
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