June 12th, 2005: Detroit at New York

New York Liberty 72, Detroit Shock 69

Becky Hammon has a good point guard day, Deanna Nolan is remarkable, and both Patty Coyle and Bill Laimbeer need to shaddap already.


I had to leave this game with nine minutes left in the second half. They had an eleven-point lead at that point, as Becky had just canned her third trey of the half. If they gave it up, I will be seeking Patty's blood on Saturday.

VJ was a monster- 19 points by the time I had to leave. She looked good. Real good. Likewise, Elena's offense arrived in the second half, which was good, because previous to that she had been trying to shoot her way out of the slump, and it, um, wasn't working. Ann was a beast on the glass, although there was another blonde outjumping her. But Becky gets her own paragraph today. Crystal was kinda quiet, came up limping on one play, but I think it was just a cramp. She does, however, need to find a jersey that fits, or make herself fit her jersey, if you follow my meaning. Only saw Tamara, D-Train, and Sameka come off the bench, but happy birthday, La'Keshia. Tamara looks like a nice addition, but it would be interesting to see her play beside Becky a little more often. Except... well, that's next paragraph. DeTrina did her thing, including a nice lay-up. Shameka... eh, not so much. Everyone's entitled to a bad day.

To my utter surprise and amazement- and joy, I should add- Becky looked fantastic today at the 1. Time and time again, she drove the lane and I started wincing that she was going to throw up a shot that had no business being in the air, but instead she dished. The passing game today was great- they only had six or seven turnovers when I left the arena- and I think she had a lot to do with it. And when they needed to extend the lead, to make sure that if Detroit had a run they had enough of a cushion, sehe started hitting the threes, and they were beautiful. I still don't particularly like her, but today, she deserved all the plaudits she could get.

Detroit. Swin looked marvelous. Well, duh. Ruth Riley- what's up with her? She's not even getting the chippies. Getting chippy, maybe, but not hitting them. Cheryl got back on the right track- she wasn't quite all that when they came to MSG last time. Tweety- I swear, there isn't a spare ounce anywhere on that woman, it's all muscle- looked fabulous, speedy and sharp and if she's not an All-Star there ought to be a recount. She didn't get off a lot of shots, which I'd like to attribute to the Liberty defense. No one else for Detroit made an impression, although I gotta say, this extended absence for Swin is giving SFO a helluva bench player in the form of Ayana Walker; she's getting better and better. Of course, the big man himself couldn't keep his mouth shut.

I was sitting with the crazy women with the boas today. Close enough to have Patty nearly take out my eardrum with a shriek of anger. Sitting behind the bench is ever so much fun.

Beautiful, beautiful anthem today from Anthony of American Idol fame. Great voice. I was a little put off by his arrangement, but he got the lyrics right, and that's always a positive.

Kym sighting. Big girls and track/sweatpants do not mix, trust from someone who knows.

I'll be in 109 on Saturday, having bought a ticket off a buddy who's an STH. Jeez, for someone who doesn't go to the box office, I get to a lot of games .