May 17th, 2008: Atlanta at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 100, Atlanta Dream 67

Welcome to the WNBA, Atlanta! Here's your ass-kicking. Please enjoy. The Connecticut frontcourt, in both senses of the word Connecticut, goes to town on the Dream, and the Game Notes come home somewhat sore but somewhat wealthier.


So we missed the hoopla of the season opener because we were trapped on a bus in Connecticut. You'd think leaving Lower Manhattan at 12:30 would leave enough time to arrive for a 4:00 tip, but noooo. So I still don't know who started- Haynie or Latta, Feenstra or anyone at center. We only found out that Kristen Mann had the historic first basket from fans who did get there on time, and even then the boxscore proves our informer a liar. We are not amused. Our late arrival also means you won't get my usual critique of the anthem. I'm sure you miss all these fine details.

Atlanta has a problem. They don't seem to know what a rebound is. At one point, the boy swore that Katie Feenstra was afraid of the ball, and I'm not sure he didn't have a point. She had a lot of trouble tracking and keeping passes, and then there was the shot Lindsay Whalen blocked on her. One hustle play where she got the ball out from Ann Strother stands out, though. I'll give her credit for that. Stacey Lovelace was surprisingly effective as a post player, but after the play where she hipchecked the hell out of Whalen, she was pulled from the game and seemed to lose her groove. Liked Camille Little's hustle, but she showed the rust of being on San Antonio's bench. We missed most of Jennifer Lacy's effective minutes. Iziane Castro Marques had some gorgeous shots. I love to watch her play- I think she'd be the first guard off the bench for my fantasy "this is the team I would happily fork over my entire paycheck every fortnight to watch" team. Lennox looks… well, like Lennox, although she bricked a shot she ought not to have bricked. Kristin Haynie seems to have won the starting point guard job, and it says a lot both about Atlanta's frontcourt and their backcourt that Haynie and Lennox were the two best rebounders on the floor. Nnamaka didn't show me much. Strother showed me that Husky fans really have issues trying to focus. Atlanta in general- okay, okay, according to Lennox this was the first time they'd all played together, but still. Although maybe that's why things went more smoothly when Feenstra and Latta were on the floor together, and when Lennox and Castro Marques were on the floor.

Tamika Whitmore decided to show up on offense today. I question her shot selection, though; Atlanta brought three very soft post players, and she's talking about how tough she is, so why isn't she going inside to beat the hell out of them? Her defensive lapses also forced Whalen to work harder on defense than she should have had to. But Thibault knows a hot hand when he sees one- Turner was hot from all over the field today, so he played her over the rookie starter Holt. Good choice, sir. Whalen, at least at the offensive end, actually got a chance to step back and play pure point, only shooting when necessary, because she had such good offensive options in the post. Lots of pretty passes in the game- then again, pretty passing is a staple of Connecticut posts, so I shouldn't be as surprised as I am, especially as the proud wearer of a Rebecca Lobo jersey. Jones was badass. Raymond would have been just as badass if she had the ability to hit a damn layup. Seriously, she bricked two or three she should have had. Her :60 feature was hilarious, however. It's nice to meet a fellow worshiper at the altar of bargain prices. I really like Gardin. Really really. As in I think I'm taking her in Pick One the next game I see the Sun with a marked advantage in the post. The Connecticut fans I was hanging out with after the game were bitching about Jamie Carey's playing time, because they thought Swanier should play more, but Carey quietly and efficiently got the job done. And Jolene Anderson was a very pleasant surprise- I know she came in with the reputation of being a gunner, but she worked her ass off rebounding, almost running out of the arena at one point after a rebound. If she does that on a regular basis, I can see why he didn't think he needed Gahan.

Okay, so maybe whooping ass on an expansion team that's still working on nametags isn't a big deal, and maybe the Connecticut posts won't look nearly as sharp against Janel McCarville, Erlana Larkins, and Cathrine Kraayeveld (if you count her as a post ;)). But to me, this showed Thibault using his personnel to the max, and said personnel taking full advantage of the lineup.

Afterwards, we went to hang out with Connecticut's version of the Usual Suspects. One Dream player went by with a couple of state troopers wandering in the same direction; another had a kid by the hand. And Danielle Page still seems to be holed up in the hotel, which makes me think that yeah, she's the odd woman out when Gruda and Maltsi make their entrances.

Yes, Teresa Edwards most definitely called the game… and she seemed to be accompanied by one of her former Lynx teammates, Svetlana Abrosimova. At least the woman she was with looked an awful lot like Abrosimova.

No rosters. Connecticut's always managed to suck at giving out rosters, but one woman I was talking to said she heard that the WNBA isn't printing them anymore, which would BLOW. That's one of the little things that really makes me enjoy the league. Besides, now what am I going to have the rookies sign? :P

Oh. WHERE THE HELL WAS EVERYONE?! There were a LOT of lower deck seats in small clusters open. Who the HELL no-shows opening day? Come ON.

Betty has very cool Dream-colored sneakers. Ivory Latta knows how to work a small crowd. Huh. And it just occurred to me that both of the advertised Dreamgirls are now coming off the bench. Let's see how long *that* lasts.

I can't wait for the next game. But I never can.