Sunday, December 30, 2007

2003 New York Liberty open practice

Tari sings, ice cream is served, and foolish optimism continues to reign

Because I love you people ever so much, I hauled my baby to the Garden so this report could be fresh. I arrived here at sometime after four. Only a few of the dedicated had arrived. I had words with a couple of folks about which draft Crystal was acquired in. The party started a little after four-thirty, because this is the Garden and everything at the Garden starts late. They gave out ice cream. It was lovely. Chocolate, pistachio, vanilla, and chocolate chip were among the options available. Then they asked us to move up. For a change, they didn’t give me agita because I happen to be a season ticket holder who’s not going to be buying any more bloody tickets, thank you very much. Tari was supposed to show up. She didn’t. VJ, Miko, Spoon, Crystal, Becky, Linda, Lindsey, and the rookie guards were all there- so everyone but Elena, basically, ‘cause Tari might or might not have arrived.

Lindsey and Erin both seem to have a finely honed sense of humor. Kristen seems a little more shy. I somehow suspect that Becky would rather be elsewhere. And it seems that everyone wanted ice cream- Spoon actually mock-yelled at someone for not thinking of her before being told the ice cream was being given out outside. I guess if you’ve got a whole day of practice, ice cream sounds mighty good.

After scoring ink, I retreated to the lobby and set myself down with my laptop. Maddie came by and seemed to approve of the endeavor; our favorite mascot also says hi to y’all. It’s a small crowd so far, but the line is getting longer. The good news is that I don’t recognize a lot of the people; in my mind, that means a lot of new faces are showing up and becoming acquainted with our New York Liberty. *says this last part in announcer voice* Hmmm… a little after five. Supposedly there was a Tari sighting, but she fled immediately after. And now she’s back. This is all very confusing.

My favorite part of this so far has been the role reversal I saw on one Liberty fan- a gentleman in a Tari Phillips jersey. I get a kick out of seeing a guy in a girl’s jersey instead of a girl in a guy’s jersey for a change.

The crowd increased as time ticked closer towards open practice. Not only that, but the casual fans faded away. There were more familiar faces, more people wearing Liberty gear. This is the time when you recognize the devotees. (A random note: the fashion trend definitely seems to be Becky-ward; the vast majority of the stuff I’ve seen today and at the preseason game was #25. Spoon and Sue are distant seconds. Spotted a couple of Tari pieces. No VJ, nor Crystal, nor Miko, nor Kym. Sigh.) (Another random note- was just asked what was going on here by a random guy; he seemed surprised that so many people were here just for a practice. Obviously the Knicks and the Rangers don’t have fans this devoted. Or if they do the devotion is less obvious.)

Practice has begun; the starters are going through their second set of plays. Everyone’s here but Elena. Lindsey’s running with the starters while Tari practices with the second team. Tari doesn’t look like she’s all there, and the new guards are having a little trouble learning the offense. The girls are being even stranger than usual. They had to introduce each other, and Spoon messed around with VJ, of course, and Tari stumbled over Lindsey’s name. Crystal had the queen wave going on; I’m starting to see why her teammates call her the funniest one on the team. Miko’s hair has gone wild a la Chia Pet, but since that’s how she wore it when she dropped 28 on Phoenix, I have no objections. They all look toned and in shape, which is a very nice change. I notice they’re not letting Tari and Lindsey help out with the ballhandling drills. I can’t imagine why. The kids know how to handle, I mean dang! I’m very impressed.

Quote of the day: A kidlet asked Becky what made her want to play basketball. Becky’s sarcastic response: “My height.” She brought the house down.

Someone just asked what Tari’s childhood dream was, and she couldn’t hear. She’s been silly. Then she told us she wants to sing at a sold-out Carnegie Hall. Then she sang “Stand By Me” for us, and everyone was gettin’ their groove on behind her. I love hearing Tari sing. Then there was Liberty triv, which of course was so rigged. After much giveawayness, the girls got their groove on. Linda has some nice footwork! And Becky can groove.

They look really good this year. I mean really, really good. I mean like the Easter n Conference is only a prelude to bigger/better things. Odd years seem to be the best for the Liberty, ya know?

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Saturday, December 29, 2007

May 18th, 2003: Houston @ New York (preseason)

New York Liberty 67, Houston Comets 64

The Comets come to New York to kick off 2003, the Game Notes Of Doom debut, and I am horribly, horribly wrong about Teresa Weatherspoon and the Liberty's season.



*waves hand eagerly*

I was there! Okay, first things first, I have to apologize to Linda Fröhlich. *embarrassed, grovels* 11 rebounds today. Granted, Thompson wasn't around, nor was Tiffani Johnson, nor was Tammy Jackson, but still. She subbed quite nicely for our All-Star posts (Tari and Elena are, I believe, still overseas. Neither played.). She's a keeper.

The rookies played, as did Lindsey Yamasaki and Maren Walseth. I was moderately to very impressed. Our neoyorquina, Sonja Mallory, made a major impression pretty much as soon as she came in the game; she blocked a shot into the seats, rebounded when the possession continued, showed off some fancy footwork, and proved that she fears no ref or player; she LEVELED Sheryl Swoopes. Sorry, Swoopetastik and the rest of y'all Comet fans, but I loved every second of that. She's a keeper, and I no longer miss Bernadette.

Susan Moran had a season of pent-up hustle waiting to burst out; she was all over the place. She broke up two Comet fast breaks. Her ballhandling is nothing to write home about, but she's not Becky.

Of the three rookie guards- Molly Creamer, K.B. Sharp, and Erin Thorn- I was most impressed by the latter two. Creamer made some stupid mistakes. Sharp was the best of the point guards, and Thorn shows the potential to be a Hammon-type, only taller and with better defense.

Yamasaki was inconsistent but talented. Walseth was quite capable and seems to be a good utility player, someone in the mold of Sue Wicks. Bethany Donaphin, another New Yorker, played well but not well enough; her basket, however, was the one that gave the Liberty the lead in the second half.

Now for the rundowns y'all been waiting for... Spoon was fabulous, simply fabulous; whichever rookies survive the cut will have a helluva fight for minutes, she's playing ten years younger. VJ looks like she's put on some weight, but it might be muscle; she was, of course, herself, except for one pass into a crowd which I like to think of as getting her mistake of the season out. Crystal... Crystal is Crystal, but I thought she was wearing a padded bra. TMI, I know, but she might have put weight on too. Miko looked fantastic, running great, moving well, scoring at will. Becky drilled three threes, but her defense sucked ass- at least seven Houston points could be traced to her losing her assignment on defense. Camille Cooper, on the other hand, SUCKED. Her offense was atrocious, her defense nonchalant, her skills overall lacking; she missed layups, let passes bounce off her hands, and committed bad fouls. I move her up on my cut list, especially with Tari, Elena, Miko, Linda, and Sonja ahead of her on the depth chart.

There were stupid things, but the chemistry seems to be working. Blessedly, Richie sat the starters for about half the game, with Fro' getting a bit more time. My rough estimate, I'd have to check the box for exact numbers.

Moving on to Houston ... Swoopes was... well, she was Sheryl freakin' Swoopes. Cynthia Cooper is in cornrows *shudders all the way to the Finals*. She's lost a step at least; one image ingrained in my memory is of VJ literally freezing Coop in her tracks with a jump-stop before swishing a jumper from about the foul line. She's not the Coop of old. Chancellor played a lot of point guards, trying to figure out which one worked best. The offense seemed to move most smoothly with Ukari Figgs in the game, with Janeth Arcain coming in second. Michelle Snow is improving quite a bit; she backed down Sonja Mallory a couple of times, which is a pretty neat trick when it's 158 versus 210 at the same height. No dunks, sorry. A couple of players with unpronouncable names, Mfon Udoka and Itoro Umoh-Coleman, impressed; looks like they might have a place, which is good since they've been kicking around training camps forever. Tina was injured, so was Tiffani Johnson, so no post game except when Swoopes took it inside or when Snow was in the game. They seemed disorganized and confused. I think Tammy Jackson's departure might have destabilized locker room affairs a little bit; there's no real veteran, calming presence there anymore.

Don't worry, it's almost over. Sue Wicks was at the game, of course, with someone I believe is her significant other; saw the lady once or twice before with her. She was sitting with Kym Hampton and some truck-driver type guy. I wonder if it was a double date? She dressed well and was gracious to everyone around her. Nice to see retirement hasn't changed her. They were front row, right across from the Liberty bench. The Garden was pretty loud. Lot of Girl Scouts. And of course, season subscribers who are stupid enough to scream their throats raw at a preseason game. I'd put attendance at between six and seven thousand.

So right now, my predictions for the Liberty are all sunny. My cut list of four is: Camille Cooper, Molly Creamer, Bethany Donaphin, and Erin Thorn (and the last two or three are quite questionable and either could stay without me screaming bloody murder). Sonja Mallory is a keeper, and I'd love to keep Maren Walseth around. Of course, Tari and Elena throw off these calculations, and of course one game should not decide a player's fate. But if I were Becky Hammon, I'd watch my back in the next couple of years...

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"Please allow me to introduce myself…"



My name is Rebecca. Some of you might know me as Queenie, others as NYCScribbler, yet others as "HEY! You in the Lobo jersey! Pipe down!" I've been a WNBA and New York Liberty fan since day one, and a college fan since about 2004. I hold season tickets to the Liberty and the Red Storm of St. John's, but I have a tendency to pop up in a lot of other places as well.



This is going to be home to the game notes I have painstakingly written for almost every game and/or major event I've attended since the 2003 WNBA season. I'll be going back to the beginning, since those notes have otherwise been lost to public consumption since WNBATalk shut down, and working my way back through the present... hopefully I'll be caught up by the time the 2008 WNBA season starts *g* These notes are being copy/pasted as written, keeping the... occasional misplaced piece of optimism, shall we say... intact for posterity.



I swear occasionally. My language is not always as polite as it ought to be. I often reference people I know from various message boards and/or the in-jokes of said boards.



You'll notice an evolution in the notes from in-game action (when I had an iBook I could bring to events) to sketchy post-game reports to more detailed reports (inspired by cross-posting Liberty/Storm notes to stormfans.org) to the notes in their current form. Usually you'll be able to tell a win or a loss from the tone, but I'll be looking up boxscores and final tallies as well.


Comments and e-mails are welcome- want to share a fond memory of the game described? Got an active link to a game article? Better box? Gimme.

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