The Mystics

[Jay81]

i couldnt care less but this is more of a reflection on how Ted runs basketball teams. We have the worst franchise in the NBA and the WNBA. Coincidence?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/lo ... story.html

[Knighthonor]

You forgot NFL as well. DC is a cursed city sports wise.

To break the curse you must first find the source of it. Can't blame the players 100%

[doclinkin]

Not coincidence. Tanking for Britney Griner. Following the ji plan: when in doubt TANK!

When the going gets tough: PANIC! SURRENDER!!! BEG FOR MERCY!!!

[Dat2U]

Not coincidence. Tanking for Britney Griner. Following the ji plan: when in doubt TANK!

When the going gets tough: PANIC! SURRENDER!!! BEG FOR MERCY!!!

That's what I was thinking too. If there was any year of an WNBA team to tank, this is the time to do it.

[FAH1223]

I don't follow em but weren't they in the conference finals two yrs ago? I remember hype on that.. Anyone got cliff notes

[DMVleGeND]

I don't follow em but weren't they in the conference finals two yrs ago? I remember hype on that.. Anyone got cliff notes

Yeah. They fell off hard.

[Rafael122]

It's Britney Griner or Skylar Diggins for the Mystics. I dont know if the WNBA has a lottery but if Mystics finish with worse record, they are getting Griner.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Mystics are on a break and nobody cares about the WNBA. I was digging up another thread and came accross this from a few weeks ago.

I see some parallels between how the Mystics are doing and what I think is going to happen if the Wizards don't win a fair share of games next season.

Sparse crowds rarely even fill half the lower bowl at Verizon Center these days, and Johnson confirmed this week that the franchise hasn’t been profitable since its inception in 1998 and will once again lose money this year.

After leading the WNBA in attendance in six of their first seven years (1998-2004), including an all-time high average of 16,202 in 2002, the Mystics averaged a league-high 10,449 fans per game last season. They rank second in the WNBA through 10 home games this year with 9,207 fans per game, behind only WNBA champion Minnesota (9,272). San Antonio (12-5), the most successful team this season to employ one person as GM-coach, ranked third in attendance at 8,407 fans per game.

The Mystics currently have 1,649 season-ticket holders, which is about 300 less than the previous two seasons and more than 900 fewer than 2008, when the team reached an all-time high of 2,593 under the stewardship of Johnson.

But Johnson maintains the team has improved its bottom line since 2010. The Mystics lead the WNBA in sponsorship revenue after recent agreements with Inova and Kay Jewelers and have combined their sales and guest services staff with the Capitals and Wizards since all three franchises are run by Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the ownership group led by Ted Leonsis.

The empty seats, though, haven’t gone unnoticed by the players.

“Who wants to come see a team that’s losing all the time? I wouldn’t want to come,” said Currie, a Washington native. “It used to be packed up to the 400 section, and they weren’t that good, either. Maybe people had enough of watching a losing team.”

Interviews with more than 20 longtime season ticket holders revealed that some fans question whether the Mystics are worth supporting anymore.

One such person is Judith Schaeffer, a 15-year season ticket holder and one of the creators of the women’s basketball blog DC Basketcases. This season, Schaeffer informed her readers that the site would no longer regularly write about the Mystics.

A courtside mainstay when Washington had losing records in 10 of its first 14 seasons, Schaeffer feels betrayed and rarely attends games anymore. The past two years are different for fans, she said, because in 2010 the organization “had finally gotten it right.”

“It’s like a morgue now,” said Schaeffer, when asked to compare the crowds now with the team’s attendance heydays. “Management put up their middle finger to the fans when they got rid of [Taylor and Plank], and I think that’s why so many people just feel utterly disrespected by this franchise to the point that it’s just destroyed the feelings of passion and affection that we felt.

“It’s gonna cost them so much more to bring back the fan base they destroyed.”

If the team and the league survives, I guess Brittney and RGIII could once again be in the same city.

[miller31time]

^^^^ The WNBA doesn't have a lottery. Instead, they go with whoever has the worst record as the team that receives the #1 overall pick.

And unfortunately for the Mystics, they' terrible but not terrible enough. Looking at WNBA.com's standings page, at 4-14, they still only have the 3rd-worst record in the league.

[DMVleGeND]

^^^^ The WNBA doesn't have a lottery. Instead, they go with whoever has the worst record as the team that receives the #1 overall pick.

And unfortunately for the Mystics, they' terrible but not terrible enough. Looking at WNBA.com's standings page, at 4-14, they still only have the 3rd-worst record in the league.

The WNBA does have a draft lottery.

[NortheastWiz]

My ranking for the mystics in this draft is

1. Britney Griner
2. Ella Delle Donne
3. Skylar Diggins

Della Donne is just as unstoppable as Griner, and she can play the 1-5 and score a ton of points at 6-5.

[miller31time]

The WNBA does have a draft lottery.

Hmm, don't know why I thought they didn't have one. Do you know if it's always been this way?

[DMVleGeND]

The WNBA does have a draft lottery.

Hmm, don't know why I thought they didn't have one. Do you know if it's always been this way?

I don't know if it's always been this way. Like you, I didn't know they had a draft lottery until I looked it up like a month ago.

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

The WNBA still exists?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My ranking for the mystics in this draft is

1. Britney Griner
2. Ella Delle Donne
3. Skylar Diggins

Della Donne is just as unstoppable as Griner, and she can play the 1-5 and score a ton of points at 6-5.

Delaware's Elena Delle Donne absolutely lit up the Lady Terps. She might be the best player, Griner included.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Delle_Donne

Dela, Ella, Delle, Donne is alliterative.

[dlts20]

I watch more women's ball than anyone on here. The Mystics are tanking this year. Everyone knows it. They just wanna have one of the 3 worst records to get one of the big 3 of Griner, EDD, or Diggins. Combine them with the former Terp of Langhorne who is currently on the roster and they should get good very quick.

They were very good a couple of years ago and then they went cost cutting & tanking. Next year then will try to sign some people to combine with the top pick & Langhorne, which should make them pretty good again instantly.

One thing that set them back big time was the Marrissa Coleman pick. A local HS star, who dominated at Maryland, was drafted by them with the # 2 pick, but was never anything but a role player at best and she's just an average one at that. If she wouldve been a stud like most thought she would be then that wouldve changed things but it didnt. She was also a local girl so they thought it would drive up ticket sales and they could get a 2 for 1 special but she never turned into anything

[Wizardspride]

Delle Donne


http://www.draftsite.com/wnba/mock-draft/2013/

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I watch more women's ball than anyone on here. The Mystics are tanking this year. Everyone knows it. They just wanna have one of the 3 worst records to get one of the big 3 of Griner, EDD, or Diggins. Combine them with the former Terp of Langhorne who is currently on the roster and they should get good very quick.

They were very good a couple of years ago and then they went cost cutting & tanking. Next year then will try to sign some people to combine with the top pick & Langhorne, which should make them pretty good again instantly.

One thing that set them back big time was the Marrissa Coleman pick. A local HS star, who dominated at Maryland, was drafted by them with the # 2 pick, but was never anything but a role player at best and she's just an average one at that. If she wouldve been a stud like most thought she would be then that wouldve changed things but it didnt. She was also a local girl so they thought it would drive up ticket sales and they could get a 2 for 1 special but she never turned into anything

Yep, dlts20, Marissa Coleman is real cute but she's not a good WNBA player.

Surprisingly, Kristi Tolliver is doing very well for the LA Sparks as their starting PG. I thought she would not be a good player and Coleman would, but things turned out just the opposite.

[Wizardspride]

Yep, dlts20, Marissa Coleman is real cute but she's not a good WNBA player.

Surprisingly, Kristi Tolliver is doing very well for the LA Sparks as their starting PG. I thought she would not be a good player and Coleman would, but things turned out just the opposite.

I wouldn't give up on Coleman just yet.

And as for Tolliver, she also was considered a bust until fairly recently.