Does Marissa Coleman Still Have a Chance to Win Rookie of the Year?

Posted by Q McCall at 1:15 PM . Saturday, July 4, 2009
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If the Mercury-Storm game the other night was one of the best games I've seen this season, the Mystics-Dream game was among the worst.

Honestly, neither team played particularly well. To be totally honest, the game felt like it was almost over at halftime for me -- the Mystics turned the ball over on 37% of their possessions (8 turnovers) and only shot 35% from the field...which was significantly better than their third quarter shooting percentage of 26.3%. The only thing that kept the Mystics in this game was their strong rebounding, including an offensive rebounding rate of 43%. The seven point lead the Dream had felt insurmountable simply because it seemed like their was a lid on the Mystics' basket.

Basically, the Dream didn't have to do a thing to win this game except pick up the Mystics' slop. They didn't really win, the Mystics just lost.

So if you had the great misfortune of watching the Mystics-Dream game last night, I feel for you and won't describe it further lest I trigger a PTSD-type reaction.

Anyway, as I was watching I started wondering how much Marissa Coleman meant to the Mystics. Coleman is actually the perfect piece for this team.

They have two players who can make plays for others in Alana Beard and Lindsey Harding. Beard is also a rather consistent scorer this season. Clearly, they are one of the better rebounding teams in the league. Defensively, they are more than capable.

Coleman just adds another person who can create their own shot. In a game like last night (in which the Dream did not play that well themselves), Coleman could have made up that seven point difference herself...

If that's the case and the return of Coleman translates into more wins, Coleman will have a strong case for rookie of the year in my book. Right now, the team is 3-0 with her and 2-4 without her. If she comes back, even after a 6 week hiatus, and helps the team win games, she will give the rest of the rookie class a run for their money when in comes to Rookie of the Year voting.

Will be interesting to watch.