May 5th, 2007: New York at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 61, New York Liberty 60

It's been a long time coming, but now the snow is gone- the Liberty take the court again, Jessica Davenport shows promise, and the Connecticut Sun need some serious uniform help.


The game notes of doom are baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack...

"Hello, blackbird, hello, starling, winter's over…"

I missed my team so much. Doesn't matter that half this roster is new. This is my team. I may complain about them, I may swear at them, I may wish some of them were used in other ways, I may even occasionally wish some of them were on other teams, but [I]this is my team[/I], no doubt.

It's a pretty ride on Metro-North. We were on a Connecticut-owned train, so it went express through the Bronx and Westchester and local through Connecticut. It's more expensive than the gas to get to Bridgeport, but it's more comfortable, so long as you get lucky and the game lets out in time to catch the train.

I think the announcer was either drunk or really indifferent. He mixed up Tiffany Jackson and Cathrine Kraayeveld when announcing the reserves and mixed up Barbara Farris and Jessica Davenport when announcing the starters, which I think also means he managed not to announce Barb as a reserve. The starters for the Liberty were Loree Moore, Erin Thorn, Shameka Christon, Cathrine Kraayeveld, and Jessica Davenport. I think this is the lineup we'll be seeing on the 20th, too, unless and until either Shay or Sherill proves worthy to start over Erin, or Tiffany can oust Shameka or Cathrine.

The new Liberty jerseys don't look half bad, although it seems clear that the names are being put on in a hurry. The font is iron-on and ugly. I like the new cut, and the blue seems slightly more tolerable (but I still want my black back, damn it). It might simply be because I don't like change and the Liberty made the smallest changes of any team.

Who looked good? I loved seeing Jess and Tiffany in action. If Jessica can quit it with the extra steps and keep up with the rebounding, I'll consider her to be honoring the number she chose. More than that, she takes up space and makes her presence known on both ends of the court in a way I haven't seen since Kym and then Tari in her prime. If only she could sing. ;) Tiffany, I like because I like the way she moves and the way she thinks. She's got good instincts, and as long as she doesn't let Coyle's yelling dissuade her from those instincts, she should do well for herself. Among returning players, Ashley looked really good- her shot was on and she was hustling, and she's clearly making connections with her teammates; she was chatting it up with Janel and encouraging Martina. Of course, Loree was doing that rebounding thing we love about her. (She also got some hearty boos from the section next to ours just as soon as she was announced as being from Tennessee. *sigh*) I would kill to have stats, because that might give me an idea of what might have been going on with players I didn't happen to be looking at at any given moment. Erin started out with some fire after being knocked over with no call, but she faded by the second quarter; if we have to hire someone to goon her in every game for her to play well, this could be unpleasant.

Shay barely played, ditto for Martina Weber and Lindsey Bowen. Barb and Sherill saw fewer minutes than I think they're used to. Shameka and Janel both looked awful, and Janel not only looked awful in play, she needed to be introduced to this strange artifact known as a comb. Bedhead at 5PM=not cool.

The Sun… oh dear. My high school had better uniforms. The design is flatout ugly- those suns on the shorts look like pawing hands, and the plain white needs more accent than the thin red lines give it. Then there was the lack of names, the fact that the Connecticut on the butt is in UConn's font, and oh, yes, the peeling numbers. By the end of the game, Kristen Rasmussen was losing her front 5, Kameisha Hairston was losing her 1s, and Jamie Carey was close to being 0. NOT COOL, whoever's in charge of this. NOT COOL. As a Liberty fan, I was embarrassed for the Sun.

As for the people *in* the jerseys… well, okay, they weren't any great shakes either. I mean, Douglas was Douglas, although I thought her defense was more aggressive than it was last year. Carey impressed me- she ran the team well and hit her shots, but what really stood out was that she was the most communicative player on the floor, calling out screens and the clock on a regular basis. Out of the rookies, I was actually most intrigued by Miss Irrelevant, Kiera Hardy. I can see her as the last keeper. Just out of curiosity, what was Davie doing in #24? Is Mahoney a goner?

I'm looking forward to the game on the 12th. From what I saw of the Liberty and read of the Comets, it should be a fun matchup.

But even if it isn't… at long last, winter's over.

(PS- Glenn, I think the Rasmussen hit was real: http://www.spmsportspage.com/images/WNBA/2007/Connecticut-Sun-61-New-York-Liberty-60-05-05-2007/medium_IMG_7269.jpg)