June 21st, 2006: Washington at New York

New York Liberty 72, Washington Mystics 66

Alana Beard is a bad-ass, Crystal Robinson is welcomed home, and Loree Moore's starting to grow up.


That was a very unexpected win. A pleasant surprise. I don't think the Mystics are reacting well to the lack of DeLisha.

Anthem- again with the Sweet Adelines! Seriously, when Blaze gets run out of town on a rail, one of the sordid little secrets that will come to light is that she has a secret jones for the sound of many middle-aged women singing sweetly. Not that I mind, but last year it got ridiculous.

Alana Beard is really out to prove that Taurasi isn't better than her, isn't she? She just turned it up in the second half. I think she even tossed in a hook shot at one point, and you know me, I think hook shots are the sexiest damn thing in basketball. But either Richie was brain-dead or she just didn't have it defensively, because Becky… but the Liberty are a different paragraph. Onward, then, to Teasley, who just couldn't find the basket all night. I think that was part of the problem for Washington- they need her to be a threat, and at her size, with her shooting ability, she should be. It wasn't her night as a distributor, either, but then, it wasn't really a night for assists. Melvin and Sanford both played tough and rough inside- I don't think I've ever seen Chas go after that many rebounds. She had three and-ones, which impressed me. Sanford got into it with Maddie at the beginning of the game, because she was standing on the logo, and the Liberty always have Maddie jump on the letters of the logo for call-and-response. I'll grant that the video really drags on, and that the A/V guys sucked tonight, but get offada logo! And she was LOUD! After one call, *I* could hear her barking at the refs- and I'm in the upper deck! Meanwhile, poor Crystal couldn't hit water if she fell out of a boat- I think she hit two of her first three shots, ended up 2-12. Ugly. And if she was assigned to Shameka on defense… meanwhile, Richie's back to his usual tricks with the rotation, basically playing seven, with Koehn as a situational shooter. Coco Miller didn't impress me; I might have taken a chance with Blue and shifted Teasley to the off guard. Byears played well, fighting for rebounds. Though the Mystics ended up outrebounded, I think they were rebounding better; if Loree Moore didn't have such a bizarre knack for pulling down boards, the Liberty would have been screwed. Richie nearly lost his temper a couple of times, and that shirt was horrendously ugly.

Ah, New York. Stubbornly resisting the 24-second era of higher scoring. Gotta love the throwbacks. :P For example, someone noticed this earlier, and now that I look, it seems more obvious, but dang, does Loree physically resemble Spoon if you're not looking carefully. Not as good a scorer (and yes, I know exactly what I'm saying) but I've never seen a guard rebound like her. There was one board early in the game that she just took from Nakia Sanford, and since Sanford had been pulling shit on the logo, I cheered loud and long for that. I just wish she'd take some shots from inside the arc. Five out of eight shots being three-point attempts is NOT ON. Becky was incredible tonight; it was one of those nights when all the circus shots, or at least most of them, went in, which allowed her to both drive the lane and put up the long balls. Likewise, Shameka started going inside more. It was a beautiful thing, seeing her work in the paint; not only did she score baskets, she got herself to the line more than I've ever seen. Brava! And more, please! Barbara had so much trouble finishing that I wanted to scream, and she and Schuey (and Cathrine) were letting the Mystics' posts have their way inside all night. If Sanford could actually hit, it would have been ugly. Schuey seems to have gotten tentative on the inside. Not good. Cathrine looked awful, in more ways than one. She couldn't score, she couldn't defend, and near the end of the first half, she couldn't do much of anything. No, seriously, she was wiped. It's a little easier to see with the white players; they turn bright red, and Cathrine was approaching shades I've only ever seen on Richie. I honestly thought she was going to collapse right there on the court for the last minute. She kept looking over at Coyle to pull her, but no dice. Most of the Liberty bench disappointed me, though Ashley seemed solid. Sherill really showed her rookie colors.

Damn it, if Richie was going to put Koehn in, and Patty was going to match with Erin, why, oh WHY didn't they just get out the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and have Dueling Three-Balls? Clear everyone else out and have them go at each other. That would have been awesome. Just one of a few botch-ups by both sides. Note to Patty: if your players are turning bright, BRIGHT red, get someone up in the pen. Also, Loree Moore? Not a small forward. Note to Richie: Nikki Teasley? Likewise not a small forward. Also, I'd really like to know why Nikki Blue's fallen out of the rotation. I know James was never in it, but you'd think a second point guard (and NO, Coco Miller is NOT a point guard) would be a necessity.

The refs were weird tonight- most of the fouls, but very few of the violations. Very few travels, palms, carries, five-seconds… the only violation I saw being called on a regular basis was three seconds. Maybe they couldn't get all the way up to five? ;) (KIDDING.)

The crowd was disturbingly dead. If that was 8K, I'll eat my bucket hat. I think the most animated anyone got was when a catfight broke out in the endcourt stands. That was weird.

Spotted Kym and Sue in the crowd; one of my friends also spotted Spoon. I s'pose everyone was there to welcome Crystal back to town. Maddie certainly did; he hugged her and stood next to her for the anthem.

I'm still not optimistic about this Liberty team. They rely way too much on the three-point shot: 23 of their 64 attempts tonight. They also give up big leads and big nights. About the only thing this game has changed my mind on is my early assertion that Washington will win the East's regular season. I may be leaning back towards Connecticut.