August 5th, 2004: The Game At Radio City

USA Basketball 74, WNBA All-Stars 58

Stargazing at an otherwise almost aggressively boring game.


Okay. Sorry. Look, I got home at twelve-thirty last night and I started a new job today, and it doesn't have Internet access. So my wonderful insights are late. Also, I'm posting the same set of notes to four different boards. If you don't know who I'm talking about at any point, you're not acquainted with who I'm talking about.

I promised the folks over at Stormfans that I'd take copious notes. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of game worth taking copious notes *on*.

Take most of the defensive intensity of a good game. Remove most of the offensive ability. If you're working with an ASG, take out all the flashy moves. Take out the crowd noise. You'll be left with last night's game. It was a combination of "let's not get hurt" and "it doesn't matter". Not a good thing in a televised game.

I didn't even know I'd have a ticket until around 1PM that afternoon, when I checked my voicemail and discovered that Admin Kate from WNBAtalk had a spare ticket because her brother backed out. So I scooted down to the Hall around 4 (shut UP, all of you!) to hang out and see what I could see. Didn't see very much other than the teams getting off the bus and being in a bit of a hurry, but I guess you'd be in a hurry too if some idiot had a camera in your face while you were just trying to go from the bus to the building. VanChan stopped, and in doing so almost abandoned his coffee. Oh, the humanity!

Major skeeviness out front right before the game- a lot of disreputable-looking guys either in need of a ticket or trying to sell theirs off. I got so annoyed tht I made up a sign saying that I didn't have an extra ticket nor did I need a ticket. I didn't get a chance to use it, but it was a warm and reassuring thought. Also, we were not in need of a DJ. That was really freaking annoying.

Found out that I'd have the pleasure of sitting with Alison and Dee (both WNBAtalkers, but Alison does most of the talking) as well as Kate. We were in Orchestra FF, and herrade (WorldCrossing), you weren't kidding about not being able to see a damn thing. We had great views of the players, but none of the floor.

Worst anthem I've heard at a game this year. Why, oh why can't they borrow Tari? Names with punch seem to turn out the worst anthems.

First play of the game made me hope that this was going to be a good game- USA wins the tip, goes on the fast break, and Cheryl Ford smothers the shot. Well, it was indicative of the shooting, but not much else. How long did it take for either team to score?

We had the exquisite displeasure of being seated directly behind the smallest wet blanket on the East Coast- she was adorable, but every time my friends or I cheered during the player introductions, she turned and looked at us like she couldn't believe that we were making noise. If looks could kill, then hers would have put any one of us in the hospital for a week, and that only because she was a kidlet. Granted, Alison had her Xena warcry going, but still. It also didn't help that the people in the few rows that were ahead of us weren't the type to show up on time or wait for a timeout to take their seats. Hello, the view stinks enough, can you NOT obscure what precious little we CAN see??

The Olympic team liked to run. There were quite a few fast breaks, or at least plays that started as fast breaks- I think I may have a photo of one that started as a fast break and ended as Sue Bird on top of Lindsay Whalen. But they were comfortable trying to grind it out, too; guess if you've got Yo, Ruth, and La Leslie you'll be fine in the halfcourt game too. The All-Stars preferred to take ill-fated jump shots and... er... more jump shots.

VanChan tended to send his players in as units- by the second half, he was basically doing wholesale substitutions, the starters on one hand and the "UConn unit" on the other. Bill subbed more like it was a traditional game, but he used the whole bench, which was nice. (This may be the only game where Bill Laimbeer calls a timeout *because* Swin hits a fast break lay-up.)

The UConn trio on the Olympic team works like they have one brain for the lot of them. I don't mean it as an insult, simply that they worked so beautifully in tandem that it was a joy to watch. They also seem to have brought Ruth Riley into that little fold of theirs. LL had her moments, and her USA-colored hair ribbons. I guess she didn't want to say that she didn't match. PeeWee runs a mighty fast offense and can even hit a shot or two. Yolanda was a monster, an absolute monster on the glass. I want her on the Liberty so the announcer can always say her name with panache. Ruth has the shooting range necessary for success in international play, which was nice. Tamika Catchings was what you would expect. I mean, come on. We all know these players already. But if there's a weak link on this team, it is, alas, Dawn. (Sorry, pilight.) I don't think she can maintain the initial pace this team wants to work at, although she'll be good for when the big-n-toughs are in the game and VanChan wants to slow it down. Sheryl and Katie didn't play tonight- Sheryl wore a nice dress, Katie a white blouse and black pants. It frightened me to realize that I have essentially the same haircut as Katie, only not blonde.

Becky had a nice pass and a nice bucket off a steal. She actually had a couple of steals, which surprised me greatly. Lindsay Whalen had a nice drive and the willingness to be run over by Sue Bird at full speed. Have I covered enough so that if you're here to drool you can drool? All right then. Taj went behind the back on Dawn and lived to tell the tale- that was my personal highlight of the night. Mwadi had a nice streak going for a while, shooting-wise, but also went brain-dead on defense a couple of times. Cheryl committed dumb fouls, which isn't terribly smart when you're one of three post players on your team. Nat Williams fought hard, especially when Yo was in there. Allison Feaster revealed some defensive ability that I hadn't noticed before. Sure, get closer to perfect. No one will notice. (Look, if a person has good looks, the brains to get into Harvard, the ability to play All-Star basketball, and a general niceness about them, that person is far closer to perfect than most of us, right?) Anna DeForge had an iffy game, but there was a logical reason for that. No one else really left an impression on me.

Since I was a free agent (no mom to tell me to go home), I got to stay after the game, lurking outside the stage door like the crazy woman I really am. We got to see some, but no all, of the players make their exits. Natalie Williams was in a shirt that would have sent New Socks over on Stormfans into a tizzy- an American-flag vest/tank top sort of thing. Nikki Teasley looked frightening. La Leslie actually raised herself a notch in my estimation- she came out laden with bags and told the lot of us that she needed to get her stuff onto the bus. I figured she'd just stay on the bus with the bags. Instead, she dumped the stuff and came off the bus for us. Way cool. Way nice of her. Birdy was nice, albeit slightly confused- after coming through the stage door, signing for the passel of us, and getting on the bus, she disembarked and ran back into the Hall like someone had set her shorts on fire and told her that there were free fries in the building. A possible explanation lies in the next paragraph. Allison Feaster came out looking sharp (damnit! another indicator of perfection!). Cheryl Ford and Deanna Nolan shared a livery cab. 'Kesha Sales hailed a taxi (only in the WNBA, folks, only in the WNBA). Lindsay Whalen seemed to have a van. Anna DeForge left with Nancy Lieberman. Hello, lack of subtle...

Luminaries at the game: Rebecca Lobo was sideline reporter, although she broke out of her role once or twice to deliver comments to Lisa White on the WNBA bench. They honored Olympians of the past, so Ann Meyers, Nancy Lieberman, Donna de Verona, and a couple of women whose names I don't remember were there, plus they dragged Becca off the sidelines and Anne Donovan out of the huddle. Taj brought Maia, her younger daughter, and I squeed at high volume for a while when they were together on stage after the game. T-Spoon was sighted, as was Asjha Jones, as were the current UConn Huskies. (I wouldn't be surprised if Geno threw one of his Final Four-esque parties; we saw none of the Huskies except the running Bird, and I bet that's where she was headed off to. This is complete conjecture on my part, of course.) Val and Blaze were both in attendance as well; they chatted with Ann Meyers on a street corner, and for a second I thought I'd accidentally been shunted through Knoxville on my way to the stage door.

All in all, it was more an event than a game, so anyone watching at hom ebasically got the shaft because they got all of the crap and none of the fun social activities.

All right. One more slightly self-centered note; among the 5,945 in attendance were the coach of the defending CUNYAC champions and her starting point guard (who, if form holds true, will hit the title-winning shot against Staten Island to clinch the program's fourth consecutive title and automatic bid to the NCAA D-III tournament). I used to dorm down the hall from her.