CATCHING UP WITH TAMIKA!!

The L.A. Sparks shoot for their third straight win, Thursday night, here in Indianapolis. They are 2-1 on their five game road trip and they have played all of those games without Candace Parker who was sent back to Los Angeles after the Tulsa loss to get treated for a bone bruise to her right wrist which was limiting CP's motion and causing the Sparks leading scorer and rebounder a lot of pain.

Candace is still listed as day-to-day, but her husband, Sheldon Williams, and her daughter, Lailaa, were on my flight to Indy today and I saw CP's mom at the team hotel tonight. Can Candace Parker be far behind? Could she be back in action against the defending WNBA Champs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse?

One All-Star who will definitely be playing in that game is Tamika Catchings. The WNBA Finals MVP has been holding down the Fever's fort while they try to overcome a rash of injuries to key players including Katie Douglas, Jessica Davenport and Erin Phillips. 
Indy started the season 1-7 (worst start in franchise history), but they are getting healthy now and have won 9 of their last 12 outings. Catchings told me that it was not easy going from the top of the WNBA world to the bottom of the heap.

TC- "It was definitely a test of character for us as a team. We just had to keep our confidence high. When we were going through our losing streak, we did not want to focus on the losses. We had to focus on getting better every game. When we started doing that, we started winning. We won a game and said, 'Okay, now let's focus on the next game,' and we got another win and another. We built on that and now we've got Erin and Jeanette back. Hopefully, we'll get Katie back soon."

Last month, Tamika Catchings became an All-Star for the 8th time. She has been the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year five times. She is the league's all-time leader in steals (TC needs one steal v Sparks to become the first WNBA player to reach 900 steals). Catchings is #4 on the WNBA's all-time scoring list. Last year, in her 12th season, "Catch" finally captured the WNBA championship that she coveted and earned a visit to the White House. Now, at the age of 34, what motivates the Fever's star during this roller coaster season?

TC-" My goal now is to continue to be a better leader and work on those skills. I talked about the test of character. There were a lot of times, this season, when I questioned myself as a leader just , 'How can I get the most out of my teammates that are playing right now?' It came down to challenging everybody individually. It wasn't like, 'WE WANT TO WIN! WE NEED TO WIN,' but rather 'What can you bring to this team?'

When everybody started stepping up to the plate, we started winning games, our confidence was high, and we started seeing the potential of every single player and what they could contribute to making us successful."

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Catchings and company will be in action against the Sparks Thursday night on Time Warner Cable Sports Net. Coverage begins at 3:30 (pt) with my play-by-play to follow at 4:00 (pt)

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