WNBA All-Star Game 2009
The WNBA's 9th All-Star Game took place on July 25, 2009 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville , Connecticut . The league leadership awarded the game to the Connecticut Sun on February 3 , which had already hosted in 2005 . As in previous years, a selection of the best players from the Eastern Conference competed against a team from the Western Conference . As part of the event, there were several competitions and official dates on the days before.
The best players of the WNBA took part in the event. In a worldwide vote on the Internet, the starting formations for the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference were determined, while the remaining positions in the squad were allocated by the trainers within the Conference. The coach had to decide for six players each, including at least two guards, two forwards and a center. In addition, the head coach was not allowed to vote for a player from their team.
Teams
The players in the starting line-up, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference could be selected on the internet on the official website of the WNBA or via SMS with the mobile phone. Each fan could vote as often as they wanted. On July 14, 2009, the starting line-up for both teams was announced. With Sue Bird , Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson , the fans chose three Seattle Storm players to start the Western Conference team. With Candice Dupree , Sylvia Fowles and Jia Perkins , although only the first two made it into the starting line-up, the Eastern Conference team included three players from the Chicago Sky .
- 1 Lisa Leslie was unable to play because of an injury. Nicole Powell was nominated for her. Leslie was replaced by Thompson in the starting lineup.
- C = center; PF = Power Forward; SF = small forward; SG = shooting guard; PG = point guard; F = forward; G = guard;
Three-point shootout
At the three-point shootout , the six best throwers of the two all-star teams competed against each other. Each player has five by five balls available, which are distributed in five different positions around the 3-point line. Shall be the last ball of a 5-series is the so-called Moneyball that if two points is worth transforms. All other transformed balls count as one point. The time taken to throw the 25 balls only once is 60 seconds. The winner is the one who earns the most points after an elimination round in the final.
This competition was dominated by Becky Hammon , who won both the elimination round with 14 points and the final with 16 points.
| # | Player | team | 1st run (points) | 2nd run (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
 Becky Hammon
|
San Antonio Silver Stars | 14/30 | 16/30 |
| 2. |
Sue Bird
|
Seattle Storm | 11/30 | 12/30 |
| 3. |
Katie Smith
|
Detroit Shock | 12/30 | 12/30 |
| 4th |
Shameka Christon
|
New York Liberty | 10/30 | not qualified |
| 5. |
Katie Douglas
|
Indiana Fever | 9/30 | not qualified |
| 6th |
Diana Taurasi
|
Phoenix Mercury | 9/30 | not qualified |
Skills Challenge
Two teams from each conference competed in the Skills Challenge . This competition consists of several tasks such as free throws, lay-up, passing, dribbling, etc. The team that completes all tasks the fastest wins this competition. The West 1 team consisting of Cappie Pondexter , Sophia Young and Charde Houston opened the skills challenge and finished the parkour in 34.8 seconds. None of the following teams could undercut this time.
| team | Player | team | time |
|---|---|---|---|
| West 1 |
Cappie Pondexter
|
Phoenix Mercury | 34.8 |
 Sophia Young
|
San Antonio Silver Stars | ||
|
Houston Charde
|
Minnesota Lynx | ||
| East 1 |
Jia Perkins
|
Chicago Sky | 35.4 |
|
Tamika catchings
|
Indiana Fever | ||
|
Sancho Lyttle
|
Atlanta Dream | ||
| West 2 |
Swin Cash
|
Seattle Storm | 43.0 |
|
Nicole Powell
|
Sacramento Monarchs | ||
|
Nicky Anosike
|
Minnesota Lynx | ||
| East 2 |
Alana Beard
|
Washington Mystics | disqualified |
|
Asjha Jones
|
Connecticut Sun | ||
|
Sylvia Fowles
|
Chicago Sky |
All-Star Game
The Eastern Conference could not repeat their successes from the last two matches and lost the ninth All-Star Game with 118: 130. The game was balanced over long distances, although the West and the East were able to break away again and again in the first three quarters, but neither team managed to maintain or expand this lead. The decision was made in the last quarter of the all-star game with the most points in WNBA history. In the fourth quarter, the West was able to quickly expand its lead to ten points. In the further course the East came back to five points, but Nicole Powell brought the West clearly in the lead with two 3-point throws in the fourth quarter. The East then did not manage to get closer than seven points to the West and thus lost the seventh of nine All-Star Games.
After the game, Swin Cash received the award as most valuable player in the All-Star Game, which she had earned with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Furthermore, she set a new all-star game record with ten transformed throws.
| July 25, 2009 | Summary | Western Conference 130, Eastern Conference 118 |
Mohegan Sun Arena , Montville Visitors: 9,518 Referees: |
||
| Points per quarter: 25-27, 38-33, 36-33, 31-25 | |||||
|
Points: Cash 22, Powell 21 Rebounds: Pondexter 9, Young 7 Assists: Bird 10 Steals: Anosike , Houston 3 Turnover: Pondexter 5 |
Points: Fowles 17 Rebounds: Desouza 9, Lyttle 8 Assists: Jones 6 Steals: Perkins 4 Turnover: Christon 4 |
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ WNBA All-Star 2009 Set for Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena. WNBA, February 3, 2009, accessed July 26, 2009 .
- ^ WNBA Announces All-Star Starting Lineups. WNBA, July 20, 2009, accessed July 26, 2009 .