Fever forward Tamika Catchings 3rd in WNBA MVP balloting
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Tamika Catchings has done so many impressive things the past four months that it’s hard to point to one above the others.
I’ll try.
Perhaps it’s that last year’s WNBA MVP actually posted better numbers this year. Maybe it’s that she did it playing a different position than last year, moving from small forward to power forward.
Surely, it’s that she made a seamless transition from Team USA role player to dominant scorer when she returned from the Olympics.
The player of the month award for August? The four player of the week awards?
Nope.
The most impressive thing is that she’s doing all this at age 33, in her 11th year in the league.
Think about this for a moment. Most basketball players have retired or accepted lesser roles by the time they approach their mid-30s. Catchings is actually getting better.
Catchings finished third in this year’s MVP balloting behind winner Tina Charles of Connecticut and runner-up Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks. Still, just being in the conversation with the youngsters is impressive.
Catchings said earlier Thursday that she wasn’t worried about the MVP award. She was focused on trying to win her first WNBA title. The Fever host Atlanta on Friday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
It’s definitely a great award, it’s a great accomplishment, but at the end of the day, you guys know what I want, she said. I want a championship. If I don’t win MVP but we get a championship, I will be the happiest person in the world.
In her quest to get there, she posted one of the most impressive seasons by a veteran player in WNBA history.
Here is the tale of the tape for Catchings from last year to this year, and in comparison to her career as a whole:
Year Pts. Reb Ast. Stl. Mins.
2011 15.5 7.1 3.5 2.0 31.5
2012 17.4 7.6 3.1 2.1 30.3
Career 16.6 7.6 3.6 2.4 32.7
Catchings, named one of the 15 greatest players in WNBA history last year, actually surpassed her career scoring average and matched her career rebounding average in year 11.
Even among the all-time greats, Catchings’ effort in year 11 was special. I looked at the careers of every player on the 15 greatest players list, and few, even among the greats, were nearly so effective so late in their careers.
Cynthia Cooper, Dawn Staley and Teresa Weatherspoon retired before playing that long. Yolanda Griffith was injured during her 11th year and retired after three games. Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi are active players who haven’t been in the league that long.
That leaves eight other players.
Sue Bird, also in her 11th season this year, averaged 12.2 points, 5.3 assists and 0.9 steals. Very good, but not MVP caliber.
Lauren Jackson was injured and played just 13 games in 2011, her 11th season. She averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game. She gets credit, though, because she won her third MVP award in her 10th year.
Ticha Penicheiro was playing just 24 minutes per game when she reached year 11 in 2007. Katie Smith averaged 13.7 points in 2009 at that point. Nice, but not MVP caliber. Sheryl Swoopes averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game in 2008.
Just three players had comparable seasons to Catchings’ 11th year.
Lisa Leslie averaged 15.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.5 steals in 2008. Tina Thompson averaged 18.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while playing an insane 36.3 minutes per game in 2007. And Becky Hammon averaged 19.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals in 2009. Those numbers ought to give hope to everyone who thinks it’s time to surrender the game to the next generation.
It’s easy to take Catchings for granted because she’s done what she does so well for so long. Don’t. Even among the greatest of all time, what she’s done is extremely rare and special.
I don’t think anybody does all the things that Catch does, Fever coach Lin Dunn said. She defends, she rebounds, she’s inside, she’s outside, she has assists. I just don’t think there’s anybody more versatile than Catchings.
