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Maya Moore, Tulsa Shock and the 2015 WNBA draft

On April 11, 2011, the Minnesota Lynx selected Maya Moore first overall in the draft. The Tulsa Shock picked second, and drafted Liz Cambage. Since then, Cambage has played in 53 games, started in 27, has collected 322 rebounds and 706 points. Maya has appeared and started in 130 games, pulling down 801 rebounds and scoring 2,326 points.

On Saturday, August 2, 2014, Liz Cambage was somewhere in Australia allegedly preparing for the upcoming World Championships, and Maya Moore was visiting the Tulsa Shock with the rest of the Minnesota Lynx.

Minnesota began the game quickly, and pulled to a fast lead. Early game leads, however, are fairly misleading, and Tulsa fought back until they were within one point at the half. At the end of the third quarter the Lynx had gained a five-point advantage. Then in the fourth Tiffany Jackson-Jones tied the game at 69-69 with 5:24 remaining, but unfortunately Tulsa was not the team that drafted Maya Moore back in 2011. Minnesota did. Moore was already beyond her season average of 24.7 points per game, but then Maya seized full control of the game. She scored an additional 13 points in the last 5 minutes of the game to bring her game high points to 40.

Despite Maya’s preeminence the box score indicates that a primary difference in the game came down to free throws. Although Tulsa attempted 10 more free throws than the Lynx, as a team, they missed 7 free throws. Skylar Diggins leads the WNBA in free throw attempts and makes, but she shot only five free throws making four. Odyssey Sims shot just 50% from the free throw line. The Lynx also out-rebounded the Shock 37-30.

Odyssey Sims shot a blazing 50% from beyond the arc, ironically matching her dismal 50% from the line. She finished the game with 25 points. She also added four assists and three steals. She played hard and smart. At one point she held Glory Johnson back from getting into a scuffle with Janel McCarville. This intelligent peacekeeping leadership led to McCarville being T’d up instead of the common double technical.

Glory Johnson had 17 points, and logged her 16th double-double of the season. She finished with only two fouls, although she and Janel McCarville were battling for position under the basket the entire game. Her physical game was effective and McCarville picked up her second technical and was sent off with less than a minute left.

Seimone Augustus also scored 22 points to help her team to a 84-75 final score. She has gracefully transitioned to the second best player on the team without sacrificing her production, and coming off injury has quickly returned to form.

The Minnesota Lynx have already clinched a playoff spot, and Tulsa is three games back from the LA Sparks for the fourth and final spot. Although Shock fans would like to see their team finally in the playoffs, they would probably be better served by somehow getting lucky enough to land the #1 overall pick. They desperately need discipline, defense, and veteran leadership, but the Shock could also benefit from a great three-point shooter at the small forward position, such as Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis from UConn.

Any player from UConn would add some much needed basketball perspective coming from one of the greatest coaches and college programs in the history of women’s basketball. Only four teams in the history of the WNBA (2012 Fever, 2005 Monarchs, 2001/2000 Sparks and 1998/1997 Comets) has a team won a WNBA Championship without a UConn player on their roster.

The Tulsa Shock couldn’t get Maya in 2011, but maybe they will acquire Mosqueda-Lewis in the upcoming draft.