I just thought this piece was interesting. It seems the WNBA point guard is evolving in very much the same way as the NBA. Steve Francis is the future. Not the past. Turning Point: The Evolution of the WNBA Point Guard By John Gardella New York, Feb. 27 -- With the score tied at 66 with only 18 seconds remaining in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals and Los Angeles gunning for its second consecutive title, the Sparks, naturally, gave the ball to center Lisa Leslie, the league’s most dominant player. Nikki Teasley hit the championship-winning shot at the 2002 Finals. Fernando Medina WNBAE/Getty Images Sue Bird averaged 14.4 points per game during her rookie season. Rocky Widner/WNBAE/Getty Images Ticha Penicheiro has led the league in assists the last five years. Rocky Widner/WNBAE/Getty Images Teresa Weatherspoon has averaged 6.2 assists per game for her career. Andrew D. Bernstein WNBAE/Getty Images But when the Liberty’s defense collapsed on Leslie, the Finals’ eventual MVP for the second straight season confidently passed the rock to a rookie point guard. A six-footer who ranked seventh in the league in assists (4.4 apg) and who Coach Michael Cooper repeatedly compared to his former teammate Magic Johnson because of her playmaking ability, Nikki Teasley did something truly Magical with the ball. She nailed a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds, gift-wrapping a title for the Sparks. That play, on women’s basketball’s biggest stage, highlighted the six-year evolution of the WNBA point guard from a pass-and-defend player to that of a jack-of-all-trades athlete, one who can make the right pass or shot. “We’re learning more. The younger generation is learning from the older generation and actually putting their pieces together and just kind of working out of that,” said Teasley of the point guards entering the league, including Sue Bird, an All-WNBA First Team selection as a rookie. “That makes you respect every aspect of the game right now. Point guards are not just passing the ball. They’re actually scoring now, so that’s going to make the game go a little bit faster, that’s going to make people honor you defensively.” Look up the definition of the classic WNBA point guard and you’ll find juxtaposed images of Sacramento’s Ticha Penicheiro and New York’s Teresa Weatherspoon leading breaks for the Monarchs and Liberty, setting up teammates for easy shots. Penicheiro, who has led the league in assists each of the past five seasons, however, acknowledges that her position is changing, that the Teasleys, Birds are other point guards are entering the league with offensive arsenals. She also thinks it’s good for her game and the health of the league. In her first season, Seattle’s Bird ranked second in assists (6.0 apg) and 16th in scoring (14.4 ppg). She also scored 21 percent of her team’s points. Penicheiro, a two-time All-WNBA first team selection, by contrast, has never averaged more than 8.5 points, while Weatherspoon, a perennial All-Star, has averaged as many assists in her career (6.2 apg) as she has points. “I feel like I am more like the old school point guards that pass first and shoot second and try to get everybody involved,” said Penicheiro. “I also know that I play with great teammates who have a lot of talent and when I have to score, I can score. That’s a thing I know I get criticized for a lot, that I don’t shoot enough or I can’t shoot. So that’s something that I’m working on, and that’s one thing that I want to change for the 2003 season to balance myself more as far as scoring and passing.” While Penicheiro is working on rounding out her offensive game, she also knows she must contend with the younger players on the other side of the ball. Gone are the days of being able to cheat and anticipating pass first, second and third. In 32 games last season, Bird scored 15 or more points 15 times, 20 or more points five times and 30-plus once. There were 24 games in which she attempted double-digit shots. Teasley, a rookie on the league’s most potent offense, scored double-digit points in five regular-season games and then hit for 11 points in three of six postseason games. “It’s tough guarding Teasley and Bird because you know they can do both – score and pass. And you know that they look to do both. They’re two young, very talented players,” said Penicheiro. “As a veteran in this league, I know I have a lot of competition so I have to continue to work on my game and not just rely on what I did in the past because that’s going to be gone and they can take my place.” Clearly, Penicheiro and Weatherspoon are still on top of their games – the former led the league in assists, again, and the latter started for the Eastern Conference in the 2002 All-Star Game, again. There is no doubt, however, that there is a new breed of point guard entering league. “The point guard slot is changing like every position is,” said Bird. “You have centers that are stepping out and shooting threes now. And I think that it’s a matter of evolution. I think younger point guards like myself and Nikki Teasley, we’re younger point guards who can play defense, pass the ball just like the older generations could, but at the same time we’re scoring threats.” What Bird left out is that she and Teasley are also helping to change the way the WNBA game is played.
