Standing outside of the Washington Mystics' locker room yesterday at
Verizon Center, DeLisha Milton-Jones paused mid-sentence to search
for the perfect analogy.

"We need wins," she said, gazing upward as she considered the best
way to convey her team's desperation, "like people in hell need
water."

With a burst of laughter, the playful Mystics forward reveled in
having found the right words, but then she became contemplative. As
humorous as her comparison was, she knew it was all too accurate.

Entering tonight's 7 p.m. home game against the New York Liberty, the
Mystics (10-15) are within striking distance of the Eastern
Conference's fourth and final playoff spot, which is currently held
by the Chicago Sky (12-15). But with only nine games remaining,
including a brutal road trip next week against four of the Western
Conference's top five teams, time is far from an ally.

"Our window is becoming a pinhead on a needle, so we've really got to
get off our butts and win some games," Mystics interim coach Tree
Rollins said. "This is going to be a make-or-break weekend for us.
That's the way we're approaching it."

Coming off losses against Detroit and Indiana, Rollins and Milton-
Jones were direct when speaking about the team's immediate future.
The Mystics must beat New York (11-15), which snapped a seven-game
losing streak last night, and Chicago at home on Sunday, or the
probability increases that this season will be defined by the team's
0-8 start, rather than its perseverance and a second straight playoff
berth.

"We let two great opportunities slip by with the Detroit and the
Indiana games and we can't let any more slip-ups like that happen,
because now it's really crunch time," Milton-Jones said. "If we want
to have any hopes of making the playoffs, we've got to get our work
done before making this West Coast swing."

Despite the Liberty's recent woes, "disciplined" was the word used
most often yesterday to describe its style. Overall, the Mystics have
nothing but respect for a team they already have lost to twice this
year.

That said, both of those defeats came during Washington's horrible
start; the Mystics dropped to 0-8 in New York more than seven weeks
ago.

"They're a totally different team," Rollins said, "and so are we."

(Washington Post)