September 22nd, 2008: New York at Connecticut

New York Liberty 66, Connecticut Sun 62

Essence Carson and her poofy hair crank up the intensity, Shameka Christon snares a rebound, Mike Thibault misplaces a shooter, and a playoff series is decided in the last minute of the last possible game.


¡Vive la Libertad! What a night! I wouldn't have missed it for the world! HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THESE KIDS? More than is possibly legal, that's how much. They dug down deep and pulled this one out.

Yeah, so I wasn't planning to go to this game, but, um. I kinda find myself at liberty, no pun intended, so I figured, hey, if I don't actually have to be anywhere at any particular time tomorrow, and I'm not doing anything today, why don't I go to the game? It'll make me feel better, win, lose, or draw. And I was the beneficiary of a random act of Sun fan kindness- a guy had two $30 seats that he was trying to give away. Combine that with a fellow fan who needed a seat, and voila! I CAN HAZ BASKITBAW.

That anthem was doing so well until the guy lost the key at the very end and started causing grievous harm to my ears.

I think I would enjoy watching Whitmore battle in the post more if her defensive bag o' tricks didn't seem to consist entirely of *shove in the back* and *shove in the back*. She was setting some nice screens tonight, though. I love a good screen. Asjha Jones started off red hot, then went ice cold. Again with the good screens, though. Whalen is fearless, and I like the way she communicates on both ends of the floor. It's easy for a point guard to run an offense- few can run a defense, and even fewer to both as well as Whalen does either. She still rubs me the wrong way, but I can't say I don't respect her game. She brought it. She probably wishes her teammates had come with it. Gardin was really a non-factor, though she had a couple of nice defensive plays. Abrosimova was a surprise inasmuch as when she didn't play. I know she's late to the party and all, but I really thought Thibault could use her in the fourth quarter- she's got quick hands on D and a nice stroke on offense, and he was getting nothing out of Holt and Phillips, and he's usually so good at spotting the hot hand and going with it, so… what gives, Mike? For all that Holt was taking bad shots, it was just as bad when she wasn't taking the good shots she had. There was one play where she was so open *I* was screaming for her to shoot just as a fan of the game. I think she let the importance of the game get into her head. Turner was jacking them, but to be fair, she had good shots and a defender who should have known better than to leave her alone like that- after all, Ashley played alongside her for how many years at UConn? I think Thibault had a good plan- I'm just not sure, for a change, whether he used the right personnel to execute it, or whether his personnel could be arsed to execute it at all. They had their chances, and they panicked.

Scarlet R, bitches! Essence more than made up for the dumb foul with her second-half play, and it warmed my heart to see her doing so well against Connecticut. It's karmically pleasing somehow. And I don't think Sista Christon has had a bigger rebound in her life than that o-board in the last minute. She was fierce on offense tonight, but spent way too much time lollygagging on defense. Unacceptable against whoever we face next. Cathrine's best play of the night was when she kept Janel from going after the ref. She was very firm and very physical. Sitting where I was, I also got a closer look at her defense- she's never going to stop her man once she gets caught out on a move, but if she can prevent the move from being made, she's great at keeping the shot from going up. Janel was streaky, but also I think her back was flaring up. (So was Erin's, I think- she was wearing something wrapped around her back before the game- saw her during shootaround, and her jersey was riding up to reveal a pad of some sort.) It would have been nice if Loree could make a goddamn layup- those were some ugly misses. Ditto for Erlana and free throws, but she hit the one we needed. Fluffy little bunny bared her nasty pointy teeth tonight. Don't fuck with the bunny. Ashley was a firestarter- maybe not much statistically, but as soon as she came in, she made something happen, which made other things happen, and y'all know the rest. Lisa had some very dramatic plays, for good and for ill. She does that. She needs ot be a little more consistent if she wants to be in heavy rotation.

The referees were inconsistent and somewhat incompetent, but at least they were evenhandedly so. I know there were a couple of plays where I wanted someone's head, and there were a couple of plays where I said to the people next to me either "Yeah, that was a foul" or "That's a make-up call/non-call."

Great crowd noise when the Sun needed them most, and I think what impressed me most about it was that it was so organic. No PA, no annoying hosts- you know how you could tell? One of the loudest moments of "LET'S GO SUN!" came while the arena folks were trying to do the Bud Light shuffle contest (you know the one- three items, one of which is marked, shuffled around and you have to find the marked one). The place was rocking. Even if it wasn't my team or my energy, it was a wonderful thing for a fan of the game to experience, and I wish ESPN had been able to catch it somehow.

Some of you guys may remember a bit of a ruckus a few years ago when we celebrated in the box office after a win against the Sun. The only thing better than that is gathering with other Liberty fans and welcoming back some of the conquering heroines. We greeted Janel, Erin, Lisa, Ashley, Loree, and Shameka with rousing cheers and hearty congrats. It was a perfect way to end the night.

Sun fans, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have some very good young pieces to put together, a coach who knows how ot find the pieces and put them together, and an understudy or two on the bench (I'm thinking both his lead assistant and Tamika Raymond) to carry on the tradition when all's said and done. It was a pleasure going to your place this season, and even after what had to be a heart-rending loss, I got more than a few congratulatory remarks from Sun fans who wished the Liberty good luck going forward- and yes, more than a few "beat Detroit!" requests. Other than one woman who thought I was being loud during the game, I had no trouble with Sun fans at all- and in that incident, the guy next to me basically scoffed and said, "Do what you want."

I'll miss Mohegan, that cozy little arena, those fickle slot machines, the smell of the fountain, the paninis at Geno's, and the Usual Suspects NE up by the hotel. See you in May, Uncasville. See you in May.

MSG, on the other hand, I hope I'll be seeing you Friday night.