June 24th, 2007: Indiana at New York

Indiana Fever 74, New York Liberty 63

Lisa Willis needs some wardrobe help, the Indiana Fever love them some MSG, and Ashley Battle doesn't seem to be herself.


Every time I get down about a loss, or about a game in general, I remind myself that I went into this season with no expectations and no hopes other than to see the kids play as well as they could, to see them grow up, and to see them never, ever give up, and that was what we got today, despite the eleven-point loss. I can't complain. I can be a little sad for the kids, but I can't be too disappointed and I can't lose my faith in them.

I got to the Garden a little later than is my wont- but please realize that my wont is about 12:30 and I got there at about 1:30… along with Ashley, Loree, Barb, and Lisa, the last of whom got ragged good-humoredly for wearing a Sparks-yellow shirt. I suppose she really hasn't gotten time to correct her wardrobe, so we'll cut her some slack. The next time, though, she better be in Liberty colors. (No, seriously, we don't bite, we just tease.)

I doubt you guys care that the boy and I finally got our season tickets straightened out, but it does mean that I'm a relieved Liberty fan, and it also meant that I got less of a chance to shoot the breeze with the Usual Suspects. A shame, really, since there isn't another space where I can talk WNBA live and in person.

This time the Fever didn't punk us the way they did their first game at the Garden. For the last few years, Indiana's been a very comfortable team on the Garden floor. With two former Liberty players (and three when they had Linda Fröhlich), Tamika Catchings's New Jersey ties, and Tully Bevilaqua's ability to fit in with any group of fans at any time, it seems like the Fever consider the Garden a second home court, a notion that can only be strengthened by their acquisition of a Rutgers grad in Tammy Sutton-Brown. I find myself wondering if they're the same way at other arenas as well, or whether this is just a New York thing.

Nice anthem today by a performer named Nicola- surprising amount of bottom on her voice for a slim woman, but a little too much oversinging for my taste. Performers of the world, please stop experimenting with the national anthem, okay?

There isn't much I can say about Tamika Catchings that hasn't already been said before- she works hard and gets the kind of respect from the referees that pretty much every player in the league dreams of having. She hits big shots and makes big plays. Likewise, Tully, who hits the floor on a regular basis, had three steals on the Liberty's first three "possessions", and always seems to come up with a three-point shot that shuts up her opponents. I honestly believe Anna DeForge would have had an even bigger game if she'd taken more advantage of the fact that, for some reason, Coyle didn't call for a defensive switch, because Shay could not check her. I wasn't impressed with Whitmore, but Tammy Sutton-Brown showed flashes of her old All-Star form; she may well end up being the second center out of the East, especially if the current vote totals don't hold up and Kara Braxton slips out of first place. Though my memory is hazy of the Indiana bench, I thought the most memorable reserve to be Ebony Hoffman, who persists in doing a lot of little things and a few big things. Tan White still needs to be reined in a little bit. I've gotten to wondering whether Alison Bales is hurt, because she seems to have racked up quite a few DNPs.

I'm starting to think the Liberty need to shake up the starting lineup. Don't let the stats fool you: Cathrine hasn't been playing up to the standard she set for herself, and I think it's because she's been playing too many minutes. She's not meant to play starter's minutes. Not at this level, not with her history. She'll have great spurts, and then she'll run out of gas. Loree's shooting is still a little off, but she looked better than she did against San Antonio. I hope she's okay; she hasn’t looked quite right for a while now, and we can't afford to have her unhealthy. Shay got the start, and both the reasons why we drafted her and the rust from being on the bench for most of the season showed- she's a hustler with no fear, as her work defending the Fever posts showed, but her handle is suspect at this level, and since she hasn't played, she's still a little shaky. That's not her fault, though I fear that Coyle's habit of quickly hooking players is not going to help build her confidence or ability on the floor. Ashley got the start for Shameka (who looked utterly miserable- feel better, Sista Christon!) and… well, she seemed to have borrowed Shameka's shooter's mentality without borrowing Shameka's shot. 0-9 and eight turnovers. I think the word "ouch" applies here. Come to think of it, she didn't look quite right either- maybe the team's got a bug going around or something. What really kept us in the game, and what's one of this team's strengths, was the bench. Janel played outta her mind. I like how she's developing, although I might trade some of her offensive points for defensive stops. Lisa, after a disappointing debut, came in and lit the place up- after her third three, she had another good shot that, if it had gone down, would have taken the roof off because it would have brought us back within four. Part of me thinks she watched the Sacramento-LA game and realized that Sherill Baker had raised the ante on determining who got the better end of this deal. She still needs to work on her court vision, but that'll come with actually knowing her teammates instead of being handed a uniform and pointed in the direction of the court at the Garden. Our post rotation made no sense. I would have given Jess a couple of more minutes (she started, but barely played), put in Barb and Tiff for a few more minutes each, and given Cathrine a lot more rest (and also Janel; there was one point when both Cathrine and Janel were on the floor and both turning interesting colors). I would also have used Lindsay a bit more.

Spoon was in the house again, looking absolutely fabulous- she's the kind of woman who will look good at any age because she has such elegant bone structure. She was sitting two seats down from the Texas coaching legend Jody Conradt (I guess she figured she might as well stay the whole weekend and take in two games- if only she'd gotten to see more of Tiffany). Spoon's floor tile, granted her last season at the ceremony, seems to be the marker for where really awesome people get to sit.

Hung out after the game with a few of the Usual Suspects, hoping to snag some autographs from the Fever. Tully and Catch signed for everyone, came straight over instead of getting on the bus. Tamika Whitmore got on the bus, spotted a fan of hers she knows from her Liberty days, and popped out of the bus like toast out of a toaster. Later, we saw Tiffany Jackson, and I love it when tall women are confident enough in their height to wear high heels, especially when they choose really pretty shoes.

I didn't get a chance to say everything I wanted to say about this weekend- I'll have to wait to fill you all in on the Usual Suspects and life on the railing, and half my routines were thrown out of whack because I'm really bad at gauging time. Some other time, I'll have to get back to using my jersey to order dinner at Mohegan Sun, and I never did get to deliver that package of cards to the wandering Board Junkie. Alas.

Yet I survived- it's back to the office now, 'cause I'm just about out of lunch break. Time for the Libkids to hit the road and hope it doesn't hit them back too hard. Win, lose, or draw, this is still my team, and I still love them- and I'm not the only one. Somehow, I feel that's important to say. I don't want them to think we've lost faith in them.