July 7th, 2005: Connecticut at New York

New York Liberty 89, Connecticut Sun 79

The Maalox Moments return home, Vickie Johnson does not seem to be present despite all appearances, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin is (ahem) solid in more ways than one.


Ah, the Maalox Moments, how I love thee. They lose to Charlotte and San Antonio, and then they whip Connecticut. It makes my brain hurt.

A minor miracle occurred during warm-ups: Katie Douglas stopped and signed for all of us. Taj and Lindsay didn't join in the pre-pregame warm-ups, dunno why; someone said that Lindsay had been and gone, and they've been talking about Taj's back spasms, so maybe those are their alibis. *shrug* I was a bit miffed, though, 'cause I need Taj for my collection.

The anthem sucked. Emoting and histrionics are all well and good, but they don't disguise the notes that the guy beat to death and the two words he muffed. Save the drama for your mama, dude.

Ann! Holy cow, Ann! She was amazing tonight, inside and out. Her shooting touch was on, she was rebounding, and she set some mean picks- though she didn't have to do that very much (a lot of the plays went to her). She played like an All-Star. So did Becky. She came on in crunch time, which had been one of my criticisms of her earlier on in the season. And she dished. Dishing is good. Shameka was... tonight, she was a Meek. I refuse to use that silly Meeksiah nickname, but tonight she earned the right to be spoken of in the same breath as Chamique and Tamika. She had some awesome moves that left us gasping in awe, and then there was that block on Nykesha Sales- 'get that shit out of here!/not in my house!' kind of stuff, man. She took control late. She's looking more and more confident every day. If she can keep that up, I may be somewhat converted. VJ has been replaced by a Pod Person. If you see the real VJ, please return her to Madison Square Garden; there's probably a mondo reward. But she and Crystal brought defense. Payton may be the Glove, but what good does one glove do you? We've got two. Crystal also contributed a key three and a lovely reverse layup that had us oohing and ahhing. Elena sucked. Period. Loree was quiet, La'Keshia was quite handy, and everyone else warmed the bench. (And Amisha Carter lies about her age. Why you'd want to do that at 23 is completely beyond me.) Kraayveld needs to get into a game so I can find out how to pronounce her last name, since she's going to be around for the rest of the season. Patty finally blew her top at the refs and got a T. I was yelling for Marianne to leash her after that. And DeTrina actually scored a 7/10 on the fashion scale- new shirt, even.

Okay, I have seen Lindsay Whalen go off. Remind me again why she's not on the All-Star team. Oh, right, because Dawn Staley is starting. Right now I'd take her over Dawn, or Alana Beard even, and I'm partial to Alana. She's a playmaker who knows when to dish and when to swish, when to shoot it long and when to drive. I don't particularly like her- something about her style, or her personality, or something, just rubs me the wrong way- but I have to admit that she's got game. Taj also looked very solid tonight. (Very solid. Anyone who was there can attest to that after she took her jersey off.) She's a wicked awesome rebounder, and I wish to Goddess we had her. Margo looked off tonight- wasn't in position, wasn't working for the rebounds, wasn't going inside. She does, however, have one of the prettiest releases and followthroughs on her jump shot. Maybe it's just that everything she does is magnified because of her size, but her followthrough is much clearer and more pronounced than any I've seen on someone other than VJ, and y'all know how exaggerated VJ's jumper is. Katie Douglas is an awesome defender, the kind of woman who will not give you an inch of space unless you physically move her somewhere else- and don't leave her open, for Crissake! Keesh was off early tonight; I think that got into her head, and then the rotation of VJ and Crystal on her really rattled her cage. The block by Shameka was just icing on the cake. Asjha Jones got a lot of minutes- more than Dydek? She was the one Coach Thibault preferred to go with down the stretch. She's another tough one, a banger through and through, and she's got a nice stroke. I like Brooke Wyckoff- she's a servicable spare part. The rest of the Connecticut bench didn't do anything for me, though I admire Coach for sending everyone in during the foul derby. It's more than Patty managed. *rolleyes* And yes, he was deserving of that technical. Considering the incompetence of the referees, he really shouldn't have been complaining.

Dancers with balls just don't do it for me, but then, I spent most of halftime on the concourse, chatting and buying a large soda to soothe my throat. I spent two and a half years in theatre training, so I know how to breathe deeply and let it out on a "deeeeeee-fense!" sound, but it takes its toll after a while. Plus, it scares small children.

Kym sighting! And A'riel! Such a cuuuuuute kid. (And her mommy's not bad either. )

I love this team. But I do wish just once that they'd stop driving me crazy.

Wooooowee, WNBATalk party behind the bench! I was so tempted to stay, you have no idea.