but 11th defensively.Los Angeles won the three regular-season meetings | Forum

Byun ByuN Hyun Woo took down Jin Air Green Wings Kim sOs Yoo Jin, 4-1, in the Global StarCraft II League Season 2: Code S finals to earn a seed into the World Championship Series Global Playoffs and Finals. Mfiondu Kabengele Clippers Jersey . ByuN was the first teamless player in professional StarCraft history to make the finals of a premier South Korean league and absolutely rocked the competitive world with his GSL victory.Byun is the first player in the 15+ years of professional Korean Starcraft to make a final while being teamless pic.twitter.com/rXZ50AnVtx- The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) September 2, 2016When the GSL finals began, sOs was the bigger name with an experience edge in tournament finals (as a two-time world champion) and strong macro play. He was a fixture in the modern competitive StarCraft II community and scene, but the dark horse, ByuN, was ultimately too much for him. ByuN possessed better micro and pinpoint control and made the series a blowout. He dominated the set after his initial one game blunder and made it a simple and quick finals. ByuN routinely took down sOs defenses despite a weaker composition because his ability to kite and out-micro his opponent was just worlds above.In the matchup of Byuns Terran against sOs Protoss, Protoss needed a high worker count to marshal the resources to create its area of effect units and clear the Terrans early forces. However, ByuN constantly marched into the heart of sOs defense with straightforward armies of marines, marauders, vikings, and sneak-attack liberators. He took down sOs economy with multiple-angled widow mine strikes and attacked the front with incredible marine control. Despite sOs best efforts to counter the composition with colossi, void rays, and even dark templars, his disadvantage in unit control and micro led to his elimination.The lone highlight for sOs was map one. He utilized his macro play and created a better army to take down ByuNs defenses. But, then it was all ByuN after that. ByuN dominated games two and three with early pressure to sOs economy and better micro on timing pushes. Many of the fights came down to both mistakes in sOs reactions and ByuNs sheer ability to control marines. The last two maps demanded that sOs alter his style, and he attempted to mitigate his shortcomings with a strategic change of pace. He used dark templars, early aggression, and even all-in timing attacks to steal a win, but could not.With ByuNs victory, he can claim the title as the best player in the game with the greatest unit control of any professional in the scene. He may just be the face of a new generation of StarCraft II pro gamers. Paul George Jersey . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Maurice Harkless Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. https://www.clipperslockerroom.com/Customized/ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. The Sparks have felt underestimated all year, and that might not change as we head into a new chapter of the WNBA postseason with two best-of-five semifinal series.The Minnesota-Phoenix matchup pits teams that have won six of the last nine WNBA titles. The other semifinal, Los Angeles versus Chicago, has a team that won its last of two titles 13 years ago and a team that has never won a championship -- and has felt underestimated since losing 2015 league MVP Elena Delle Donne to a thumb injury on Sept. 7.But one of the most intriguing things about the semifinals is how very little that went on in the regular season is actually an indicator of what were about to see.Phoenix had a losing record and was the last team to secure its playoff spot as the No. 8 seed. Yet the Mercury have ousted the Nos. 3 and 5 seeds in the single-elimination format and seem to be playing as we initially expected they would.Despite losing Delle Donne -- whose return doesnt seem likely -- the Sky still secured the No. 4 seed and then won their second-round playoff game 108-98 over No. 6 seed Atlanta.Los Angeles had one identity before the Olympic break, and a different one afterward. Now, with a week and a half away from competition to prepare for the semifinals, will the Sparks reboot and return to their more dominant selves of May-June-July?Then theres the team that wants the playoffs to go exactly as the regular season did: Minnesota, which finished a league-best (and franchise-best) 28-6. The defending champions wont beat themselves. If theyre to be defeated in a best-of-five series, it will take an extraordinary effort. Are any of the other three teams capable of that? Heres a look at both matchups.No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 8 PhoenixBeing a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament is usually not much fun. It means you have a first-round game against a team thats almost indistinguishable from you. So you and your near-twin, the No. 9 seed, duke it out just to see who has to face the top seed. (Save for 1998, the one year in the womens tournament when a No. 16 beat a No. 1. We wont mention the details, Stanford fans.)However, this isnt the NCAA tournament, where the gap between a No. 8 and a No. 1 is typically quite vast. Going into this season, most people expected Minnesota and Phoenix would be the top two in the 12-team league.The change in the playoff format, which did away with the division between conferences, was supposed to help prevent a matchup such as the Lynx versus Mercury happening before the WNBA Finals. Theyve met in either the Western Conference semifinals or finals four of the past five years.But for a lot of this season, the Mercury were as up and down as a thermometer in the Midwest during September. In their two playoff wins, though, the Mercury have been more like a thermometer in Phoenix in July: up, up, up.One can imagine Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve saw this coming during the Olympics, if not earlier. As an assistant with the U.S. team, she witnessed Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner coming alive during the Rio de Janeiro Games. She knew how much potential Spains Marta Xargay had to impact the Mercury, which won WNBA championships in 2007, 09 and 14.Minnesota had a couple of hiccups during the season, but nothing more than that. The Lynx won all three regular-season games with the Mercury, although its been awhile: Their most recent meeting was June 7.The Lynx -- who won WNBA titles in 2011, 13 and 15 -- led the league in both offensive and defensive rating. They have kept their cohesion as a unit ever since their first championship, which is amazing.You can look at this series through the prism of the aforementioned star power, led by Minnesotas Maya Moore versus Phoenixs Taurasi, two do-everything legends. Or the Lynxs Sylvia Fowles versus the Mercurys Griner, two classic-style centers.But even those who are more role players in this series are also stars in their own right. Such as Minnesotas Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Bruunson, and Phoenixs DeWanna Bonner, Candice Dupree and Penny Taylor. Terance Mann Jersey. Both teams are getting older -- Taylor will retire when the season ends -- and so its a good time to really appreciate what these two organizations have brought to the WNBA. Even if theyre not meeting in the seasons last series.No. 2 Los Angeles vs. No. 4 ChicagoIts probably helped the Sparks cohesion to have a no one picked us to win the 2016 title chip on their shoulder. That way, they can direct any irritability more outward than at each other.And its definitely helped them to have the change in format. In the old system, the Sparks would have been facing Seattle in a best-of-three series and then, if they won, either Minnesota or Phoenix in another best-of-three.That would have been daunting for a team that went 21-3 before the Olympic break and 5-5 afterward. Not to diminish the Sky, but in this set-up, they are now all that stands between Los Angeles and the Sparks first WNBA Finals appearance since 2003. (Chicagos lone WNBA Finals appearance was in 2014.)Much to their credit, the Sky have won four of their six games since Delle Done was hurt. And Chicago rested some of its starters in one of the two losses -- the regular-season finale against Seattle -- because there was nothing to gain from that game. So kudos to the Chicago players and coach Pokey Chatman for the mental toughness and pride it takes to compete this well without one of the biggest stars in the league.The Sky put in another inspiring performance in Wednesdays playoff victory against Atlanta. But the Dream were vulnerable in the post with Sancho Lyttle being hurt and Elizabeth Williams, although she was Most Improved Player this season, still being a young player in growth mode.In short, the Sky go from facing a team that had difficulty exploiting Chicagos potential weaknesses without Delle Donne to a team that should be able to expertly take advantage of her absence, both offensively and defensively.L.A.s Nneka Ogwumike is the favorite for MVP; Candace Parker also is a candidate for that award. And the Sparks bring Jantel Lavender off the bench. That is a fearsome post trio. As for the perimeter, Alana Beard is still one of the most potent one-on-one defenders, and fellow guard Kristi Toliver has improved her defense while still being a feared 3-point shooter. Veteran Essence Carson and youngster Chelsea Gray have been good pickups for the Sparks at guard, too.This wouldnt be a good matchup for Chicago even with Delle Donne in the lineup. Without her, the Sky really need some players to overachieve the entire series to get three victories.The Sky have a true, experienced point guard in Courtney Vandersloot, who is coming off her best overall performance in a playoff game. Cappie Pondexter, who won two WNBA titles with Phoenix in her career, is still very capable of being a big-time scorer. They have some youthful, athletic posts to go along with veterans Jessica Breland and Erica de Souza. And guard Tamera Young has been with the Sky longer than anyone; this is her eighth season in Chicago.But the numbers dont add up very optimistically for the Sky. The Sparks were second in the league in defensive rating, third in offensive rating. The Sky were second on the offensive side -- but 11th defensively.Los Angeles won the three regular-season meetings -- one in May, one in June, one in July -- by double digits. But that was before the switch flipped during the Olympic break.Los Angeles lost 2-1 to Detroit in the 2003 WNBA Finals. Despite having franchise icon Lisa Leslie until 2009, and having her career overlap two seasons with that of Parker, and then adding in another No. 1 draft pick with Ogwumike in 2012, the Sparks have not been in that final showcase series for 13 years.This is their chance, if they can play up to their abilities, to end that drought. ' ' '