June 3rd, 2006: Los Angeles at New York

New York Liberty 89, Los Angeles Sparks 79

The Sparks are obnoxious, the Gardenvision guys can't spell, four outspoken women don't get to talk, and Erin Thorn needs to lose the argyle.


We won! Joy and bliss! Shrieks of excitement!

No autographs for me today. Depressing a bit, to get down to the railing only to see most of the Sparks' roster trooping into the locker room as one. The ceremony, such as it was, cut into the warmup time, which kind of sucked a little.

The ceremony was not all that great. Part of it may have had to do with ABC and getting the game tipped exactly at 4, but I also suspect that Blaze thought it might be a bad idea to hand a mic to four rather outspoken women and let them talk. The PA guy read off their accolades and brought back their old intros. I had forgotten how Rebecca Lobo's name came over on the PA.

Anthem by Girl Scouts. Very nice harmony, but I still maintain that if you have Kym Hampton in the building, you don't farm out the anthem singing. Silly Garden. I feel the urge to blame this on Blaze going blonde- at last, her hair matches her brain!

Schuey was inactive and absent. Though I heard afterwards that there's something up with her family, I much prefer the theory that she was deactivated for a sore wrist or something and promptly forgot when the game was (it's not unprecedented- read [I]The Same River Twice[/I].) In any case, best wishes to her and hers. (And to Holdsclaw and her family, too. Can't be unbalanced here.) Erin, while in a very nice skirt and with gorgeous hair (I have *got* to find out what conditioner she uses), needs to lose the argyle like NOW.

Lisa Leslie is a force this year. Triple-teamed and she still made shots. There were points when she was outrebounding the entire New York Liberty. If she had a Robin, she and the Sparks would run away with the West at the rate she's playing, but with Holdsclaw out, Mabika a shadow of her old self, and Johnson's penchant for choking, and after the loss of Teasley and Milton to the Mystics, she doesn't have that sidekick she needs in the new and improved WNBA. And unfortunately, the evil that hangs over Los Angeles has infected the aforementioned Temeka Johnson, as well as Christi Thomas. Thomas committed a flagrant on Christelle, and Johnson used her size to trip people up- I'm remembering it as Sherill and Ashley, but I might be wrong- and seemed to head-butt Cathrine's legs. Tsk, tsk. Mabika, other than charmingly shoving someone out of bounds (Ashley again?) left no mark on my memory. Page, like Leslie and Thomas, fouled out. Johnson hit the shots late, but her fumble in the closing seconds of regulation- so reminiscent of the Tennessee game- cost the Sparks a chance to win in regulation. Tamara Moore and Doneeka Hodges-Lewis impressed me, and one or both of them should be starting. Bryant has even less of a clue about the end of his bench than Patty does about hers, and if a Liberty fan is remarking on bench management, your bench management pretty well sucks.

On the other side, we were surprised by Becky's early reticence to drive the lane, but she got over it- I wonder if she was afraid of getting mugged. She looked really good. W00t! Cathrine was so clutch. Not only did she hit the big tying three that caused me, and I'm sure many other Liberty fans, to go utterly hoarse, she also got our first official offensive rebound (Christelle got fouled on an earlier attempt) and had a couple of monster blocks. Screen of Death, Glare of Death, Shot of Death…. I detect a trend here. Sherill is flat-out amazing, and after this game, I would like to jump on her bandwagon. She's something else, and she needs to make with the starting NOW. Nothing against Loree, but Sherill is more effective for longer periods- maybe if Loree can learn to adjust to in-and-out substitutions, she can serve as a sparkplug off the bench, which might be a good way to use her short bursts of effective play. I loved Christelle's play today- she looked like yet another late-round steal the Liberty seem to have a knack for picking up (a trick we have yet to manage for first-round picks, although Sherill is changing my mind on that…). I also liked Ashley Battle's play- she's solid, and I like that. Barbara continues to disappoint me- where did her Bad Girl nature go? Shameka, I think, needs to look more for her midrange and inside game- use those long legs and long arms and big steps to get herself space for easy baskets inside before she starts stepping back, because she's not all that consistent an outside shooter. The substitutions at the end were quite intelligent, and while I was all ready to give Patty the credit for having a brain transplant, my more observant half claims he saw Marianne Stanley making the signals for the subs. Whichever of them it was, she handled her bench smartly. I just wish Emilie had gotten a few minutes.

Note to the scoreboard/Gardenvision guys: Sherill Baker. Kiesha Brown. Yes, I know Keisha looks better, but it's Kiesha. Please to be spelling it right, thanks.

The Golden Maddie is hysterical and needs to stay around, much like Liberty Ad-Libs and this year's lyrics to the rally song. Although, must we raise the roof? I do not do Comet things.

What a crowd. What a team. What a game. Welcome home, New York Liberty!