McCarville: Whalen's the MVP

A meeting of the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun also means the reunion of Janel McCarville and Lindsay Whalen, two of Minnesota's most famous basketball alumni and leaders of that 2004 Final Four team. They were and remain great friends, and worked off each other beautifully while teammates. Part of it is because they're both so versatile, another because they're both, as New York's Shameka Christon put it, "crafty."

"She’s a great post-passer with all the cutting around the basketball," Whalen said of McCarville. "She was great at it. We played off each other really well."

They also still cheer for each other. Whalen has McCarville's vote for MVP.

"With the team they (the Sun) have had and the experience they had coming in, losing the people they did, I would not put it past her (to win MVP)," McCarville said. "She definitely has my vote. And I’ll be as happy as all can be if she ends up getting it. She definitely deserves it."

Of course, unless McCarville ditches her Liberty jersey for a Newsday press pass, she won't be voting for MVP. She's not alone though.

Said New York coach Pat Coyle: "Whalen easily could be the MVP in this league. She would probably get my vote because she’s had an unbelievable year."