July 6th, 2004: Sacramento at New York

New York Liberty 73, Sacramento Monarchs 66

The Game Notes welcome Pat Coyle to the head coaching job, notice some disturbing trends, predict Kara Lawson's future, and aren't sure what Coach Whiz is doing.


"Mr. Adubato, how does it feel to watch your former assistant get a standing ovation simply because she is not you?"

Oh, my, that was refreshing. How long had it been since we left the Garden with a win? Too long, no doubt. From start to end it was fun- starting with the cross-pollination of board people, ending with a loud, spirited rendition of "We Are Family" and the discovery of a spare set of coasters. Becky was frickin' unconscious tonight, and for a change there were no heinously bad plays on her part. Still, the two best plays of the night belonged to Elena- the banked-in, desperation three pointer near the end of the first half which gave the Liberty a two-point lead, and what looked like a cross between a scoop and a hook in the second half. Yo heart Elena.

Shameka started fast, then slowed up. But after halftime, she started playing like she was a Meek or something. Someone lit a fire under her butt; my theory is that Crystal slapped her upside the head a time or two. Once she hit her first three, she really looked like she was comfortable out there. Same with Ann- most of the game she looked like she was waiting for an important message from the mothership, but Patty talked to her and suddenly she was doing that whole rebounding thing we've heard about from a couple of other players. Oh, and speaking of rebounding, DeTrina had the third-best play of the night- flying halfway across the court to snag a rebound (while Ann stood there going 'duh?'). And of course the jump ball against... who was it, Walker or Griffith? One of the ones who had five inches on her. A very solid game from Elena, and the kind of game we've come to expect from VJ (although VJ got crossed up on a couple of plays- very odd). Bethany had one of the Liberty boners on the night, fouling Yo Griffith as Ticha (?) let fly a three. Four-point play does not make me happy when it's not my team.

The big question, of course: Patty's coaching style. For starters, she had a neat habit of sitting down with a player immediately after said player came out of the game, presumably explaining what she did right and what she could improve on (I mean, I don't know, I don't sit that close; for all I know, they could have been discussing how to bet the Mets-Phillies series). What really came in handy is that after the discussion the player seemed to go back in and be effective. She also has a rather herky-jerky substitution pattern, and she seemes awfully comfortable riding the starters. But I was very proud of myself- I predicted her first two moves. Then again, I left my precognition on the last couple of days; setting up today's lineup yesterday, I had Thibault and Becky. Marianne Stanley seems to be behaving herself reasonably well- no sudden moves to undermine Patty's authority. A coach the players listen to- there's a concept.

Were there rough patches? Yeah, the beginning of the second half was a large rough patch. Blink, and we were down four. Come back late from getting your halftime meal, we were down seven. But it seemed that Sacramento's runs coincided with Yolanda's presence in the game, right up until the end; this is definitely Yo-Yo's team, and if she retires after this year it would be a shame. Kara Lawson shows all the marks of future occasional All-Stardom, Hamchétou Maïga is so damn athletic it's painful, and Mighty Ruthie is still mighty mighty.

What I liked about this game was that the team committing the boneheaded mistakes at the end wasn't New York. Ticha, under a minute left, down by three, should have taken the layup instead of passing out to Kara Lawson. And what the HELL was Ruthie Bolton not doing in the game when they needed a three like water in the desert? I mean, I was yelling at the Sacramento coach, "YOU JACKASS! Why isn't Ruthie in?" (and since I sit up in 210, this was not appreciated) *ponders* Oh yeah, there was also the DeMya Walker flop that wasn't bought, much to her disgust. Someone over on the Sacramento bench threw a temper tantrum at one of those calls.

We seemed to have an unexpected guest in the person of Anne Donovan. Either that, or we had an unexpected guest in the person of Anne Donovan's identical twin sister. Extremely tall, skinny as hell, and with that helmet of brown hair (and the same features, as far as I could tell)- scared the crap out of me. She must have been there to welcome Patty to the head coaching family- either that, or to take notes on her style and how best to knock her out of her rhythm. We were also privileged to have Sue in the house. It felt good to have her back again. As for other extracurriculars- Crystal kept it simple (white blouse, yellowish-creamish pants, and those damn slippers), though we discovered that she has a figure. (Stop tittering back there!) Tari, of course, was dressed to the nines: all in black, with at least two-inch heels. She didn't manage to find a designer wrist brace, though, more's the pity. She took her sweet time coming out, both before the game and at the half.

Okay, props to Kate and Alison for getting on GardenVision, boas and all. *waves at everyone*