Basketball On The Internet.

THREE factors stood out today as New York clinched the WNBA championship over Minnesota in overtime of Game 5 - the league was desperate to accommodate a Liberty title, my theory of tech fouling coaches who allow flopping was vindicated, and going to a "best-of-7" probably isn't in women's basketball's best interests.

Yes, this easily may have been the greatest WNBA Championship Series in the league's 28-year history and the fact it took until overtime in the deciding game to separate these teams showed just how close it truly was.

It also gave us a WNBA champion in coach Sandy Brondello, who steered the Liberty to safety and not only created history for this foundation franchise but also secured her second championship after winning it all a decade ago with Phoenix Mercury.

Brondello also is a Coach of the Year winner in the WNBA and with today's success, proved yet again she is perfectly cut out to coach at the pinnacle of that league.

Do those philosophies and practices translate for the Australian team? Well, that's a different story, as starkly was revealed when the Opals tried that style against the USA in Paris.

But in these environs, Brondello has the answers, although to the casual observer without a stake in the result, the officiating also did New York more than its share of favours.

The foul on Lynx's superstar Aussie forward Alanna Smith that put Breanna Stewart to the free throw line to tie the game at 60-60 near the death knell of regulation was a total phantom. 

Minnesota led 60-58 and would have iced it but its No.1 star of this series - and who should have been series MVP - Napheesa Collier, missed a layup for 62-58. It would have left insufficient time for the Liberty to fashion out a win.

But she missed it and instead the refs determined that Smith, arms straight and making no contact, legs away from Stewart's driving heave, was not in "legal defensive position".

Sorry but that was rubbish and again pointed to which franchise was the more favoured.

When Stewart tied it from the stripe, Kayla McBride still had enough time to get off a good shot for a Lynx win, but those fickle basketball gods did not smile on her.

Just a minor segue here but for years my theory to end the curse of flopping has been to give an automatic technical foul to the coach of a player who does the over-acting.

That would clean up this blight on our game in super-quick time. Coaches ALL claim they are against it but are equally happy to look the other way when a flop call favours their team.

In this grand Game 5 and TV going into a Brondello time-out, she gave a direct instruction to "embellish" contact by Minnestota.

The Defence rests Your Honour, because to me and my fellow prisoners of Jurassic Park, flopping, over-reacting, over-acting, embellishing, staging, throwing your head back on contact, falling unnecessarily to the floor - all of that crap that Leroy Loggins, Ken Richardson, Michele Timms, Robyn Maher or Larry Bird, Kareem, Cheryl Miller and Tamika Catchings never did - is designed to trick/fool the referees. We used to just call it cheating but in these modern times, we have to pretend it's "outsmarting". If we want it out of the sport - which Eurocentric FIBA, with its soccer affiliations would never endorse - just give the coach a T.

But enough about that. New York's 67-62 victory in front of a raucous, sold-out Barclay's Center was well deserved after the Liberty had to reel in Minnesota's early leads.

This series became the first in WNBA history to include two overtime games, Minnesota winning Game 1 after a five-minute extension. It had big shots and big plays but today, in Game 5, most of the participants appeared to have hit the fatigue wall.

New York shot the ball at 30.6 per cent and at 8.7 per cent (2-of-23) from beyond the arc. Minnesota was hitting it at 37.1 per cent and 15.8 per cent (3-of-19) from range.

One of the Liberty's two 3-pointers for the match opened the overtime when Leonie Fiebich struck it from the right wing. New York scored seven points in the extension for its 67-62 victory.

Minnesota did not manage a field goal in the five minutes, its only points coming from the free throw line when McBride hit two with 1:51 left.

There were five lead changes and the scores also tied five times but with players giving their all and mostly running-on-empty, the WNBA's decision to go to a best-of-seven for the championship next season surely is ill-conceived.

Yes, yes, I know in this "woke" world of ours, the goal is equality in all things but men and women are built differently. There's a reason why tennis Grand Slams feature men playing best-of-five sets and women best-of-three.

The pressure, tension and action in today's Game 5 was satisfying for any lover of basketball.

Did it provide a better standard than the preceding four matches? No. The drama of the circumstances completed an epic series. Would we need a Game 6, or a Game 7 now?

There's just no need for it and risks dilluting the product further. And I cannot speak for those viewers and fans who marvel at the level of access but I cannot stand cutting in-game to the coaches - who are trying to focus and win a championship - to barely hear their often laboured responses to questions from the main commentators.

Why do we, as viewers, need that? I think it shows a total disrespect to the product and to the roles coaches have to play on game day ... and for what? To be able to say "Look how much access we give our fans?"

It is clear it's a league directive and the coaches have to do it but really? What happened to lengthening the break between the first and second quarters, and the third and fourth to speak to a coach? In truth, I hated that too. Such an intrusion in what they are really trying to do.

But in-game takes it to a whole new level.

Don't you worry though. Willing to wager we will be seeing this soon adopted by the NBL who remain slaves to all things American.

It is a far greater comfort to know two Australians, a coach and a star player, had such important roles to play in determining the championship result of the best league in the world. Kudos.