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On one hand, you have the Sparks -- a WNBA powerhouse who, if they win, would go on to face the Seattle Storm, who they've developed a bit of a rivalry with.
The Sparks current coach, Brian Agler, coached the Storm for like 6 or 7 years. The league had them play two of their three games this year on ESPN.
I don't think it's a "conspiracy theory" to assume that the league wanted to give this matchup exposure to prepare fans for a playoff matchup between the two teams.
The Atlanta Dream facing ANYONE without Angel in a best-of-five series should and will be a ratings bomb, so they need a good series to even this out.
I guess Storm/Mercury would be a nice draw if Mystics were to win, but I just can't see the Sparks and Lynx both not being in the final four.
On the flip side, you have the Washington Mystics, who I believe have been far and away the second best team this year, both by talent and results. If they had Meesseman, they would be the best team in the league by a wide margin.
Their coach, Mike Thibault, is sort of the Marvin Lewis of the WNBA. He's a top coach who can win in the regular season, but he hasn't shown it yet in the playoffs.
I really think this was the Mystics "warmup" year, and they're going to go down yet again. I think Meesseman comes back next year, along with a more experienced trio of Atkins, Powers, and Hines-Allen.
I'll go with Sparks ML here as their "last hurrah" season before some of their older players start to break down. Beard is on her last legs, and even players like Carson and Lavender are on the decline now. But, I think they can pull this one out, for the sake of ESPN and the league as a whole.
Either way, I'm really excited to watch this game. What do you guys think?
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