February 9th, 2008: Villanova at St. John's

You'd think a three-point-shooting Euro would recognize a three-point-shooting Euro, but that would require Tiina Sten to make sense.


You know, if we had actually bothered to play defense today, we might actually have won this game. Yeah, it doesn't look like allowing 69 points is a lot- but to Villanova? And believe me, the defensive breakdowns were absolutely brutal. I should *never* run out of room to mark an opposing player's three-point shots. Never, never, never. Playing a prevent defense really doesn't work against a team that likes to run the shot clock down and take long shots late in the clock.

For the second game in a row, the injured players were better dressed than the coach. I know it's hard to find a decent wardrobe when you're far along in the pregnancy, but there have to be more flattering ways to present one's self than in the same clothes you were wearing before. It's to the point where I'm almost going to blame this season on hormones gone wild.

Harry Peretta is certainly fun to watch coach. I'm sure he drives his players up the wall with his nitpicking, but I like hearing a coach go after his players instead of the refs on stupid fouls that ought not to have been committed. And believe me, you can hear him. Everyone can hear him. And that eccentric offense of his paid off today- twelve three-pointers, including seven for Lisa Karcic. She had some range on her, phew! Stacie Witman had a knack for evading her defender (although given that her defender was Monique McLean, that isn't saying much) and getting open on the inside. Karcic and Witman combined for 48 of the 69 points Villanova put on the board. The rest of the team seemed to be out there for the express purpose of playing hard-nosed, hell-on-earth defense and setting screens for the shooter. Any shots they hit were gravy. And they did their jobs admirably, although I wasn't real thrilled with Kurz hitting Coco Hart in the face near the end of the game- yes, I know, unintentional, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, nor did I have to like O'Connor's holding.

As much defense as Villanova played, St. John's didn't. Tiina and Monique were especially bad at losing their women- you'd think Tiina, a three-point shooting post, would know how to defend Karcic, a three-point shooting post. You'd think, but Tiina's a blonde and a Euro, and apparently she doesn't. Sky's shot just refused to fall, which led to her being tentative on offense- at least she made a couple of big defensive plays, and she seems to be working harder on that end of the floor than she has most of the season; I wonder if she recognizes that her offense is currently made of fail and if she's going to contribute, she's going to have to do it on the other end of the floor. Joy and Kia connected for a couple of absolutely gorgeous plays, although the most gorgeous one was the one Joy didn't finish. I like their chemistry- too bad Kia's career is almost over, because I don't think Joy is going to develop that kind of connection with Monique. I was surprised to see Joy get benched so long in the second half, because she's the only one of our post players who comes up at least consistent in crunch time: Tiina's a flake, Recee makes a lot of stupid mistakes, Coco is on and off like a spastic Clapper, and Sheree's only recently broke into the rotation. Kelly didn't get her shots off, but I like the way she played today- she was tough on defense, including one of her nearly patented plays on the sideline. Kia seemed almost desperate to put the team back on her shoulders, as if she's had enough of this shit from Monique and Sky, and I think she forced her offense a little bit. I'm almost glad this season is over, because I'm not enjoying the power struggle between Kia and Monique for the soul of this team. Coco and Sheree both seem to have hit their freshman walls, which isn't good when the rest of the post rotation is as described above.

A game with a lot of stops and starts, and a game that went fast and slow. Seemed to be fairly called- nothing too egregious went unnoticed. I think this was Felicia Grinter's crew, and I'm fairly certain I've seen that blonde ref before- you know the one, the one who looks like she could be Stacy Clinesmith's mother.

This was not a game we could afford to lose. I mean, not that we have very many games we can really afford to lose at all, who am I kidding? But we should have beaten Villanova, and the fact that we lost it on the defensive end doesn't bode well for the next month. This isn't the way Kia's career should end, damnit. This was supposed to make up for last year, not make last year look good!