July 18th, 2004: Charlotte at New York

New York Liberty 75, Charlotte Sting 58

Tari arrived on time, Elena missed a free throw, and a shirt landed in section 209, and yet the world didn't come to an end. Amazing.


pardon the lateness... I wrote these at 11:30 and was too damn tired to go deathmatch on my dad for the computer...

Tari arrived on time, Elena missed a free throw, and a shirt landed in section 209, and yet the world hasn't come to an end. Amazing.

Let me state for the record that I've long thought the Charlotte players and coaching staff were the classiest lot in the league (which is why it amused me so much that they got Andrade). If I were a knowledgable fan of the league who had no local connections to a team, Charlotte would probably be my team. And my opinion had no reason to change today- they're a genuinely nice bunch of people, and I hope to whatever powers might be out there that the older players are teaching the younger players so that when this crop of younger players are the older players they do the same thing. I was cracking up during warm-ups, because while Crystal was on her side of halfcourt and Charlotte Smith-Taylor was on hers, they were chattering away. All of this makes dumb move of the day #2 even more reprehensible.

Dumb moves of the day: #1- Glenn and I were parked over by the railing by the tunnel to and from the locker rooms, and the MSG guys were fiddling with their special features. This one was on Dawn Staley, and it had her stats and her Olympic appearances, and her Sting consecutive starts streak... and Becky Hammon's photo. We laughed so hard that the fan tunnel kids, who were standing right behind the desk where the monitor was, looked at us like we'd gone nuts. #2- Half an hour until tip-off, and the Sting were just finishing up their practice with some halfcourt shooting. Yo heart the halfcourt shooting, so I was riveted. Blaze got antsy, and she finally sent one of her flunkies out to clear the players from the court so that the dance troupe could get on. Now, I know they paid for their time, but hello. For one, there was a lull between the completion of the routine and the entrance of the Liberty- she couldn't have waited another minute? For two, I thought this was a basketball game, not a dance recital- basketball stuff should take priority over non-basketball stuff. Tres rude. #3- this one is a little far-reaching. I know I'm not the only one who'd like to hear Tari sing the National Anthem. According to Trish, the security boss lady, Tari would like to sing the anthem- if the front office would let her do it. Jeez, it's not like she's doing anything else at the moment...

So then the sound system went die. And when Maddie got that "Let's go Liberty!" chant going, I felt so warm and fuzzy that I prayed they never got the music amped back up. I loved that feeling of just thousands of voices raised in harmony at the direction of a big furry dog. I'd have loved to hear an entire game of just a fired-up Garden crowd screaming. Bet it would still be louder than half the arenas in this league. And, uh, did I mention I really am not digging this substitute announcer dude? It's "Yih-LAY-nuh", and roll the R!

Loved that first interaction between Crystal and Allison Feaster- after Feaster hit the first shot, Crystal gave her a low-five and then stuck a three in her face. I kept a running tally of shots they hit on each other- that was tied at 3, but Crystal won the face-off with that monster stuff. Yo heart Crystal. También yo heart Elena and her hook shot and her toes juuuuuust behind the line threes. Becky and her drives got the place rocking. Erin didn't do a whole helluva lot, but what she did was hella impressive- one lay-up that looked like something Sue Bird might hit to win an overtime game, and one twelve-inches-behind the arc three-pointer. VJ had a steady hand- didn't score much, but kept things smooth and helped keep a lid on the offensive threats (except for Mazzante, but we'll get to that). Bethany actually fought for rebounds- I saw it and everything! And she hit two free throws in a row- some kind of freaky, eh? Big props go to La'Keshia for going from the waiver wire to the starting lineup in less than two weeks. DeTrina was... well, she was the D-train: tough, just a little undependable, and not fun to be run over by. There were some gorgeous passes- Becky over the shoulder to Elena, Elena through traffic to Erin- and as a whole, the team is moving better, both with the ball and without it.

The Sting look like they're wearing orange aluminum foil, their uniforms are so shiny. Andrea Stinson... how can I possibly phrase this without sounding offensive? Her, er, natural double-team wasn't quite as... imposing. Neither was she- she didn't even start the second half, though she did start the game. I think as long as she's breathing and in a Charlotte uniform she'll start. The Starting Hyphens- Sutton-Brown and Smith-Taylor- were tough on the glass, but S-T was ineffective otherwise. S-B was a bit more use on the offensive end, but I don' tthink taking her in VGM today would have been a good idea. The Bench Hyphen was essentially a foul magnet and a little bit of eye candy (just a little- and that's my dad's take, mind you!) Dawn Staley doesn't move like a 35-year-old, but she shoots like one, though she came on a bit late. She also yakked at the refs more than anyone I've ever seen. Kelly Mazzante kept getting open and kept hitting. Tell me again why teams passed on her? Tynesha Lewis was a sparkplug- when she went in, she made things happen. VanChan must be headdesking every time her boxscores come in. The other two rookies and Mery Andrade were basically warm bodies- correction, Andrade was essentially the towel. Smirk. Yo heart karma.

The refs weren't bad, and the mistakes they made were in the Liberty's favor, so I really shouldn't say any more.

I'm not usually big on Kids' Day, 'cause I'm not big on kids who aren't old enough to behave themselves. But the ones in my section were good. *applauds* Wasn't impressed with the anthem, but remember that I had Dumb Move #3 on my mind, so I don't think I would have been happy with much of anything. When are they going to have Basketball Fans' Day, where they don't play stupid games during timeouts and talk turkey? (Although they can keep the Liberty Ad-Libs. I find those hilarious. Though the only reason I can see for Bethany spending more time on her hair is if she does Tari's hair.)

Who else saw Elena pulling on Maddie's tail before one of the tips?

Either Camille Cooper was in the house, or Camille Cooper's dead ringer was in the house, in either case traveling with a guy about her height and age. Passing through the corridor at the Garden after the game, I saw a vaguely familiar-looking woman who was damn tall. And if I say someone is damn tall, they are DAMN tall- I'm tall enough to be a decent-sized combo guard (and weigh enough to be a post player, but that's neither here nor there). Perhaps she and Bethany are starting the "Put-Upon Liberty Posts" club? Kym and Ariel (sp?) were also there. I still maintain that a child that young should not be exposed to the Garden. That's just evil. I think Tynesha Lewis might also have had family in the house- there was someone leaving the Garden through the front door who looked something like her and had an NC State backpack, but I didn't know if it was actually her or not.

Then a batch of us went to Café 31 and ran into a few more board types, and pretty much the whole restaurant gave Trudi Lacey a rousing ovation when she came in for dinner, 'cause we're cool like that.