July 15th, 2004: Minnesota at New York

Minnesota Lynx 69, New York Liberty 66

The Game Notes were on to Patty before the rest of the bandwagon.


Ugh. What a frustrating game. So much stupidity it kills me. Do I begin with the refs? After all, they included everyone's favorite dude, Bryan Enterline. They botched the last significant possession by overruling the three-point call.

Or perhaps I should start with the defense. As in, that only occasionally seen entity that spent most of its time on Katie Smith, never mind that Vanessa Hayden beat the [redacted] out of Bethany and Amber Jacobs has the sweetest stroke of the last three drafts. As in, that which let Tamika Williams, Nicole Ohlde, and Vanessa Hayden into the paint for a crapload of offensive rebounds and putbacks.

Maybe the offense was the problem? After all, missing chip shots isn't going to help your score, and neither is passing the ball to the ladies in green. Too many times the shot clock ran down and the offense went into pure desperation mode. The outside shots weren't falling with the kind of regularity that the team was expecting, and that meant that going inside was the only other option- except this team isn't equipped to do that, because Goddess forbid that Elena be 6'5", and Goddess forbid Bethany hit a damn shot or get a damn pass, and DeTrina, while I love her to pieces, is damn good at cleaning up the mess but little else.

Me? I blame the coaching. Yes, the coaching. Between the red face and the lack of subs, I'd swear that was Richie in drag over on the Liberty bench. Play-calling is something I'm not good at sussing out (though WHY half the offense isn't run through the team's best shooter is completely beyond me). But when it came to player management, Patty made me look back at Richie with fond nostalgia. She left them out there too damn long, which led to fatigue, which led to short shots and defensive lapses. Would a few more minutes for DeTrina have caused too much harm? Or La'Keshia? Or K.B.? In my seats for the game (109, row A), I could see that Elena was exhausted midway through the second half. How long did it take Patty, not even fifty feet away, to notice and send in a sub? Why did she leave Bethany in so long with severe foul trouble? I can understand having Vickie and/or Crystal in at all times- they're our ace defenders. But the rest periods were too short, the minutes too much consecutively. In the end the team wasn't in a position to win because they had place themselves in a bad position previous to 4.4. I'm ready for Harry Potter to work her magic now. Hell, she took the Mystics to the playoffs- I think she's got another miracle left in her.

Yeah, I know, there was another team on the court. Hard not to. For starters, from my vantage point, Suzie McConnell-Serio looked like what Becky will turn into in ten years. (Presumably minus the husband and four kids, though. I can't see Becky in a minivan with a bunch of rugrats.) Teresa Edwards moves pretty well for 39 and 361 days, but missing a wide-open fast break layup is inexcusable. Vanessa Hayden is a helluva lot of woman. I mean, damn. (Of course, my bizarre mind pondered the clashes between her and DeTrina as 'D-train versus V-train', but that's just me.) And she moves mighty well for a big. Gosh, wouldn't she be handy right about now? Wait, she already is- for the Lynx. Remind me again how good Shameka is supposed to be. Ohlde was kind of quiet tonight- Elena's too similar a player to her, only older and more experienced. But all can be forgiven if we can just borrow Amber Jacobs for a few games. She's sneaky. She's smart. No one watches her because they're just a little more worried about Katie Smith. Then, bam! "3-point goal, three points for Amber Jacobs." Or a slash to the basket. Her defender starts paying attention again, and she goes quiet. A pass or two, maybe a brick. The defender gets careless. "3-point goal, three points for Amber Jacobs." Isn't she what we thought Erin was supposed to be? Tamika Williams is just a rebounding monster. It's like, missed shot, and suddenly she's there and you're fairly certain she wasn't in that position before. Not much to say about the rest of the lot, other than that Amanda Lassiter is part of the Sisterhood of the Smiley Face- her, Fro, and Alicia Thompson so far.

Slightly more random observations: the Lynx take the longest of any team to warm up. Jacobs and the Basketball Godmother didn't stop shooting till half an hour before tip. Michele VanGorp practiced with the team initially, but then changed into street clothes and was announced as injured. So yeah. I think she's learned that opening your mouth doesn't necessarily equal a good thing. Scored about half the Lynx autographs because many small children served as an effective roadblock. However, said kids kept me from getting my Teresa Edwards card signed. I couldn't help but wonder how any of them knew the significance of her to women's basketball. I forgot my '1000 Points of Light, 1 Dim Bulb' button today. Bad Democrat. No chocolate. Vanessa Hayden ran into the locker room early in the game, before she'd even played- what was the deal with that? Obviously she was fine, 'cause, you know, she was kind of with the butt-kicking.

And then I get home and find out the Nets traded Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets. Ugggggggggh, what an awful basketball day. *counts days until 2004 Fleer Ultra come*