Before the season began, the San Antonio Silver Stars had big aspirations. New city. New arena. New faces. The team had their eye on the big prize.
"The Championship is our goal. We need to pick up where we left off last year and then just add some," said forward Adrienne Goodson. " We have all the pieces necessary to get it done."
"Some of our bench players can be starters on another team," commented Marie Ferdinand. "So I know our depth will pay off later in the year. We have the type of team that can make it further than last season."
"It's just one more step for us," said Tausha Mills. "We have the right players, management, coaches. We are right there."
But twelve games into the short WNBA season, the Silver Stars find themselves at 5-7, including a horrific 40-point loss to the Seattle Storm last Sunday night.
All season long, the Silver Stars have been searching for their flow.
Now there's no time to keep searching, they need to just find it, fast.
Currently the Silver Stars average the second most turnovers in the league at 15.4 per game. In addition, they dish the least amount of assists at 12.3 per contest. Those numbers adds up to ugly basketball -- and losses.
Though San Antonio had four of their five starters returning this season, the team has a new look. With rookie Gwen Jackson and newcomer Sylvia Crawley sharing the duties at power forward, the team is more agile and athletic than last season. The team's veterans have taken some time to jell with the new faces.
Floor general Jennifer Azzi's numbers are down from her career averages. Azzi is averaging only 3.4 assists and shooting only 36.4% from the floor. Veteran Adrienne Goodson is banging the boards, but only hitting 31.9% of her shots. And those numbers trickle down through the rest of the team.
The team is only averaging 62.0 points per game -- next to last in the league.
Things started to look up last week when all five starters scored in double-figures and the team committed a season-low 11 turnovers against the Houston Comets. But then came the debacle against the Storm.
The Silver Stars committed a season-high 22 turnovers, shot 34.6% from the field and gave up 93 points in the worst loss in Utah Starz-San Antonio Silver Stars franchise history.
"There are no excuses to make for the team," said Silver Stars coach Candi Harvey. "It is what it is, and that was a poor lack of effort."
After their demoralizing defeat on Sunday, the Silver Stars responded with a come-from-behind victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Tuesday night for their first road victory of the season. Now they have an opportunity to turn their season around with a matinee game against the league-leading Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday afternoon.
If the Silver Stars can manage to pull off a victory, it will not only improve their record, but also their morale and confidence. This could be the turning point of their season.
Game time on Thursday is 12:00 noon at the SBC Center.
