August 20th, 2005: New York at Connecticut

New York Liberty 64, Connecticut Sun 58

The Game Notes are on the road again, Cathrine Kraayeveld lays the Screen of Death on Jamie Carey, Katie Douglas may or may not be a harbinger, and Le'Coe Willingham's hair is absolutely stunning.


Sloppy but fun, so very fun.

To the choir doing the anthem: for future reference, pick a damn harmony and stick to it! You don't have to dramatize it. Most of us know what happened, or can intuit it from the lyrics.

Lindsay Whalen went off, which in and of itself is often a bad sign for the Sun, because it means that the big guns aren't firing. Also, she has got to stop with the holding, or at least with the innocent look after said holds. It's not charming, it's not endearing, and it makes intelligent fans act like idiots. Nykesha Sales was kinda quiet offensively, although there were times when the defense on her was 'hope that she misses'. She got a lot of exercise on the defensive end, though, so tha twas fun. Taj was suprisingly ineffective against Shameka- you'd think Taj would be able to muscle in on a slender forward who shouldn't even be playing the four in the first place. Really, it got to the point that I as a Liberty fan got more nervous when Asjha Jones got in, because she was getting it done. She's come into her own as one of the Fab Four, I have to say. Margo barely played- was Coach conserving her because she had gotten back and was jet-lagged, because he wasn't impressed with what he saw out of her, or in some sort of stupid fit of pique that she left in the first place? She does have a lovely outside shot, though. Some day she and Elena are going to run a camp and call it "Things you're NOT supposed to do as a post player". Katie Douglas... for a while, I would have thought of her as the weak link in this Connecticut lineup, but now I'm not so sure of that. She's a powerful guard who plays hard on both ends; something tells me her that her type of player is the wave of the future, and while people are going to think that it was Taurasi who spearheaded the charge of the big guards, we'll know otherwise. (You could even argue Sales as foreshadowing of the trend, but that's a debate for when it actually happens.) Brooke Wyckoff also impressed me- she's more powerful than she looks, which made the Whalen/Sales/Douglas/Wyckoff/Jones lineup less like something that came out of a crack pipe. Derevjanik didn't impress me, and obviously didn't impress Coach Thibault either, since Jamie Carey took the rest of the point guard rotations. The afrementioned Carey got her bell quite thoroughly rung when she ran into an illegal screen from Cat Kraayeveld. For a self-proclaimed nerd, she's not too quick on the uptake, though; the next time she went into the game, she was up in Kraayeveld's face, like she was completely unaware that Cat had just knocked her ass to the floor and would probably be willing to do it again if provoked the right way. Le'Coe Willingham didn't play, but it would be a travesty if her magnificent hair didn't get a mention: she has a gorgeous and intricate crown of small curls, tightly packed and (I think) highlighted gold. I mean, damn, that hair could get her pretty deep into a W diva contest.

When did Crystal start driving like that? Did someone remind her that part of being a forward is the implication that the paint isn't all that scary? Not that I mind at all, although I did find myself wondering when her defense started involving so much holding. Becky still neds to learn that the "drive the ball into the lane and go up at random" trick only works once a game, maybe twice. After that, the other team's ready to deflect the pass out, swat the shot into the next state, or swat *her* into the next state. So when she started going outside more, I was happy. Elena, on the other hand, needs to learn more about the appropriateness of a shot: if you're missing bunnies on the inside, that is not your cue to, one or two possessions later, put up a three that has no chance in hell of going in. (However, the 17 boards are quite acceptable. <3) VJ was... you know, VJ. Solid but unspectacular. Shameka, adorable as she is, pretty much lost her mojo after her first two baskets. After that, we were back to screaming in frustration whenever she did something remarkably stupid. Off the bench, Erin was rather bleh, and someone needs to sit her down and break the news to her that she's not Sheryl Swoopes: those off-balance shots work for Her Majesty, not so much for someone who's only in the rotation because we're shorthanded. Loree came in, made a mistake, and was shortly thereafter banished to Siberia. We really need a point guard that Patty can feel comfortable going to, because right now it's not Loree and it oughtn't be Erin. Sadly, August isn't really a good time to figure this sort of thing out. La'Keshia was solid in the post, hit a shot or two, basically did what she was hired to do, and I can't complain about that. But that game belonged to Cat, who decided to demonstrate why so many people compare her to Elena. What did she have, three triples plus what she got bullying on the inside? Plus those fabulous screens, although she has to get her arms into position faster- this isn't college anymore, and if she doesn't learn, she's going to start getting called for illegal screens because people run into her elbows. For homework, compare/contrast Cat's screen in the backcourt that clocked Carey with Elena's screen in the flow of play that leveled Whalen. Good thing the "poor man's Elena Baranova" has the real Elena in the locker room to teach her, isn't it? What is it about TV games that brings out the worst in every team? You'd think they got stage fright or something. The amount of sloppiness in this game couldn't have won any converts. Ditto for everyone's favorite complaint, although I'll admit that they benefited the Liberty more than they did Sun, if only because Cat wasn't ejected on a flagrant-2. And am I the only one who missed the memo that Cameron Inouye is female? If you were part of that foot-stompin', hand-clappin', chant-screamin' crew who hung around the box office a good hour after the game, holla! That was the most uncouth fun I've ever had in my life. You know the fans have gone crazy when Patty's receiving approbation. (I didn't go so far as to join in that chant. I do have some pride left.) There are no strangers on the road. If the regional rivalry isn't on now, y'all Sun fans are just dead. I think we scared Shameka. I'm fairly sure my boyfriend did. He's the, er, gentleman who launched into "Sister Christian" for her. We had so much fun it's not even funny and probably shouldn't even be legal. But just to throw a little more fuel on the fire, just to make sure y'all Sun fans have a pulse, I got one more thing to say: if y'all think we're bad now, if y'all think we're crazy now, y'all should see us after we win a few playoff games! We'll take the roof off any house in this league. Yeah, even yours. (Heh. I haven't talked trash like this in ages. I forgot how fun it could be.)