August 4th, 2007: Indiana at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 84, Indiana Fever 59

Y'know, there are definitely worse things to do with twenty bucks than go up to Connecticut for a good old-fashioned playoff preview.


Y'know, there are definitely worse things to do with twenty bucks than go up to Connecticut for a good old-fashioned playoff preview. Casino bus was a little crazy- looks like the word has gotten out about just how good that deal is, especially since they bumped up the free bet to $30 plus the $15 food voucher. Still got there in plenty of time to hit the rail, finish my Indiana team set, and make a very nice Sun-Liberty card trade (seriously, dts and I must have accidentally bought each other's boxes in Washington).

Someone was trying to ditch a pair of free tickets, and we spoke up a nanosecond before the people behind us in the insanely long line at the box office, so we got the tickets. The people behind us were ticked. I suppose it didn't help our standing with them that we were both in full Liberty regalia- me, of course, in my Rebecca Lobo jersey, he in his team-autographed Shay Doron jersey. (If you think that's out of place, you should have seen the woman in the Holdsclaw #23 Mystics jersey.) At least mine could always be written off as old-school UConn, and I do try to wear Sun colors with it when I go up, just to be polite. I'm always amused, and sad for New York, that I get more comments on that jersey at Mohegan Sun than I do in New York.

The anthem would have been a lot nicer if the singer had stopped trying to force her voice into a higher key. She had a decent alto that she kept trying to force soprano. My throat still hurts just thinking about it.

I'm starting to think Fever fans might have a point about Winters's ineptitude and how many errors Catch could cover up. He really did seem to be throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what stuck. It's almost too bad that Sales wasn't still injured, because with DeForge at small forward, Willingham, or even Douglas, would have devoured her. I don't want to say that Tamika Whitmore's been somewhat invisible lately, but between what she hasn't done and the Sun's habit of announcing both reserves and starters, it took me until the second quarter to notice that Ebony Hoffman got the start. Tully is still Tully, had one very slick steal and of course hit the floor within the first five minutes of gametime. Tan White, who started at the two because DeForge was at the three, had some nifty moves to get to the basket, but there's something about her play that makes me think she's not as cognizant of her teammates as she should be. DeForge… leave her open and she'll probably hit a shot, but she didn't bring much else to the table. If I were coaching the Fever, I would probably start Sam at the three and White at the two, then bring in DeForge to sub for whoever needs rest first. Sam played pretty well yesterday, in a quiet sort of way. So did Hoffman, I think. Then again, Hoffman is one of those players I just like to watch play because she does the little things right. Sutton-Brown, mask and all, mixed it up a little on the inside, but she didn't seem too fond of it- then again, I think the only coach who got TSB to consistently play her position was Anne Donovan. She played like she got scared of Dydek, and even of de Souza, and once that happened, Winters might as well have gone with Bales and Terry in key moments, because she's not an outside shooter. Indiana's bench, other than K.B. Sharp- and just where K.B. learned to be that aggressive, I'll never know; I think she thought 'well, no one else seems to want to score, I guess I'm going to have to do it myself'- and the previously mentioned Sheri Sam, didn't really impress me. Bales sets nice screens, but, well, you don't draft a player in the first round just to set nice screens. She's got to either go inside more or start hitting that outside shot if she doesn't want to be labeled a bust or buried on the bench. Strother hit some shots, and of course, there was the one that Margo sent off in the general direction of Indianapolis. I like Terry's aggressiveness, but if she doesn't finish around the basket, she'll never get anywhere in this league.

Katie Douglas is a goddamn ninja. You blink and there are five more points on the board and the opposing guard just got stripped. She's a ninja and an assassin and God she's awesome. Whalen was passing well, and she was really aggressive o nthe break and driving the lane. Sales, I don't think is fully back to herself- but then, we're reaching the point where you start wondering if she's ever going to be, between the years creeping up on her and the injuries she's accumulated in her career. Jones was doing a lot of battling inside- after her "wee, how many outside shots can I take?" contest with Cathrine Kraayeveld last week, I was relieved to see her doing what a power forward is supposed to be doing. Margo- it's nice to see her back to the form she was showing under Thibault earlier. I have a bit of a soft spot for her, so I especially enjoyed the block she laid on Strother, and I liked that she was making Sutton-Brown work inside. Disappointing night for the Sun bench, for the most part, although Jamie Carey's shooting was quite impressive. I really like her; she's a very rare commodity in this league: a genuine backup point guard. With Phillips coming back next year, the Sun really do have an embarrassment of riches and some most excellent trade bait to fill in any gaps that might- and I stress might- become apparent on that roster. Not one of de Souza's better games; her points came in garbage time against Bales and/or Terry. Eh, shit happens. Nice shooting by Maltsi. I love Megan Mahoney's hustle. There's another tough decision if Hairston comes along- it almost gets to the point where you almost hope that Sales [I]doesn't[/I] have much more time left, that you kinda hope she lasts just long enough to develop Hairston into a starter and Mahoney into a long-term sixth or seventh man.

That must have been a substitute announcer for the Sun last night, because he was the polar opposite of the new guy: no emotion, no rhythm at all. I really miss the old Sun announcer- his calls were even more memorable than the Garden guy's, and I found myself falling into my Garden habit of reciting the call as the announcement came over the speaker system. I'm sure the woman next to me and her son, who was a relatively new Sun fan, thought I was crazy. I don't mind. I'm actually fairly sure that most people thought we were crazy, what with the Liberty gear and all. But the kid was as cute as a button, and his mom was explaining stuff to him as the game progressed. They were both loud and enthusiastic about their team. It was beautiful. Less so was the elderly woman who objected to our conversation. The boy's loud; he can't help it. And anyone who doesn't react when Katie Douglas hits back-to-back shots, including a three, has no pulse.

We avoided the halftime… ah, entertainment, let's call it, since that's what they insisted on calling it. The funny thing is that I *have* one of their tracks, because the Liberty used it in an ad. It sounds pretty good. They sucked live. We're talking "what's a key" suckage. We're talking about not even knowing how to hold a guitar suckage. Why the preteen girls were all excited, I'll never know.

I can't help but think that I'll be back at Mohegan Sun on the 25th or 26th for a rematch of this game. Yes, I do believe Connecticut and Indiana will be the second and third place teams in the Eastern Conference. Yes, I do believe Connecticut will leapfrog Indiana to take homecourt advantage. At least I hope they do- otherwise it'd take a miracle for me to see a playoff game.