June 3rd, 2007: Phoenix at New York

New York Liberty 83, Phoenix Mercury 82

Jessica Davenport!


What a game. What a gut-check game. I am so glad I was there, and I wouldn't have been anywhere else for all the money in the world. I just love this team like whoa.

Surprisingly little crush down by the tunnel for the local heroines. I guess the UConn fans got their dose of Taurasi at Connecticut yesterday, and Cappie doesn't have quite the same cachet as The Diana. In streets, Adriana Moises Pinto looked quite lovely. O-Scott was a hoot when she was trying to get off the court and Pettis had to call her back on for the other half of shootaround.

Anthem was choral, and beautiful. A good anthem always gets me off on the right foot for a game, even if we're still stuck with the substitute announcer (the guy who screws up Cathrine's name because he doesn't realize that her Cheesy Musical Hook is tied to the proper announcement of her name).

Compare/contrast with yesterday: the Mercury were a lot more aggressive, and the guards were rebounding even better than they did against Connecticut. Taurasi and Pondexter were both driving more, and as a result getting more and better shots. Less of Tangela Smith jacking bad shots meant a smoother offense for the Mercury, although I persist in being confused as to why Penny Taylor doesn't get more touches. In general, Phoenix looked better organized and better overall than they did against Connecticut, which is probably why the game came down to a three-point play in the last ten seconds. Smith and Schuey need to be ashamed of themselves; they were both outrebounded by guards, and Mazzante and Miller aren't exactly built in the big guard mode. Fast team, though, I'll say that; a lot of Liberty fast breaks broke because all five neon purple jerseys were back. And I thought the Merc were crazy for taking Mazzante in the dispersal draft, because exactly what did they need with yet another guard? But with the three-guard set they run, Mazzante is the perfect sixth woman, and she might well have been one of the most important players to take the court for Phoenix. At the very least, she was the most efficient. I was surprised Westhead went with such a short bench on a back-to-back; it's not like he gave his Big Three that much rest yesterday. I don't think exhaustion was a factor- at least it didn't look like it was, although I suppose the last foul could be chalked up to "OMG end it already!" It just surprises me, that's all.

Okay, everyone's probably commented on the spooky resemblance between Loree Moore and Teresa Weatherspoon. (Personally, I think Loree looks more like VJ when she's got the braids tied back, but then, Spoon and VJ did have a lot of the same body language, and very similar socks.) Today, Loree split the difference- what a shooting night! I love watching her play, because she's so gung-ho and so strong- those shoulders, man, those shoulders. Not one of Erin's better days- her biggest weakness, lack of foot speed, was all too evident against Cappie, who has really great footwork. Shots weren't falling too well, either. Not the world's greatest day to be walking around with a bunch of write-in votes for her. Early on, Cathrine couldn't hit a damn thing, her shots were way off, but she settled down later in the game, and of course she was tough on the boards. Shameka wasn't shooting well, but the shots she did hit were the clutchest of the clutch; she was also victimized on some rather craptastic foul calls. Ashley got a tough assignment today, since she was the defensive stopper assigned to, most of the game, Taurasi. I think she tried to compensate for the impossible shots Taurasi hit by taking some, um, ill-advised, badly positioned, awkward shots. Sherill actually got playing time- and did really good things with it! She hit her two shots, and she made Kelly Miller's life pretty miserable, which doesn't sound like a big deal, until you realize that Miller's the distributor. Stop her up, and no one else is getting the ball. I was very satisfied with what she did today. Likewise Janel, although 1) she needs to hit the wide open layup when she gets it, and 2) I do NOT like her and Cathrine on the floor at the same time. I was also relieved that Tiffany got into the game- she's gotta learn to watch her feet in this league, because they won't give her nearly as many generous calls as she got in college, but I like how hard she works.

Oh, yeah. Our starting center. Kid's earning her number. She's not perfect yet, not by a long shot- she needs to work on her vertical, on moving her feet, on moving herself in general, and on hitting the close shots- but she came up big when we needed her. When she hit that lay-up, I thought the roof was gonna come off, at least in my part of the building. 'Course, this might be because I have an affinity for Liberty centers who wear #50.

Ah, refs. The usual array of bad calls, on a theme of "Okay, you're on the ground. You must have done something wrong. FOUL ON YOU!" I thought the three seconds on Barb- when they hadn't called three seconds all damn day- was going to turn the tide. Obviously, I'm glad it didn't. I was surprised they gave Cathrine the three, but like I'm going to complain? Gods alone know there were enough bullshit calls, and BTW, Taurasi was lowering the shoulder today and yesterday. I wish refs would be more consistent with that call.

How's this for a star-studded row? Teresa Weatherspoon, Marianne Stanley, C.Viv, and Kay Yow. How many wins is that among the three coaches? Gotta be well, well over a thousand. They were all sitting right by Spoon's number, which I suspect is the official "hello, you are awesome, please sit here" spot for women's basketball folks. Kym was also in the house. Oh, and yes, RU was honored. Standing O that lasted a good two to three minutes. The only thing better than loving my team is loving my teamS.

I'll gladly admit that I have little love for Taurasi, at least as a player. I respect her talent, but I get the sense that she feels like she's supposed to win just because she's out there, and if things don't go her way she's going to let the entire universe know that. She pushes the envelope at times, and sometimes she shoulders it right off the table. That being said, after the game, when the boy and I were leaving, we passed the Phoenix team bus, and several Merc players were signing through the raindrops… including Taurasi. After a game like that? That takes guts and manners.

In conclusion, same as it ever was: I LOVE THIS TEAM.