September 26th, 2008: Detroit at New York

New York Liberty 60, Detroit Shock 56

"And if you let it germinate/I know that it will be worth the wait/Disputed by the news that it was you/Who tried to instigate, hey, yeah/C'mon girl/Let's get it right/Let's get it right/Let's get it right" The Game Notes of Doom are kicking it Red Hot Chili Peppers style this series.


That was one of the ugliest games of basketball I've ever seen in my life. I'm relieved that it wasn't on ESPN, because that's just the kind of fuel that gets the haters going. But my team came out on top, so how much complaining can I really do?

I broke my pregame routine and had dinner at Play By Play with t6w, sambista, Keira, jersey, mathmaggie, overandback (so nice to meet you at last!) and a coupla other folk. It got boisterous up in there. I loved it! But I am NOT paying $3 for a glass of soda again, WTF.

Wonderful anthem! Always gets me fired up- there's a reason my Liberty playlist starts with a version of the Star-Spangled Banner.

Deanna Nolan is unfreakingbelievable. I know, this is not a revelation and this is not rocket science, but every time I see her, she does something that makes me go, "Holy shit, this woman is absolutely amazing!" In this case, it was the clutch plays at the end… and yes, the block on Davenport. *buries face in hands and despairs* Do you think the Shock understood what they had in 2001 when they drafted her? And Smith came up big when Detroit needed her to step it up. She's a bigtime player. Always has been. I was talking to friends before the game, and I said that stopping Smith would be the key because stopping her means stopping the ball and stagnating Detroit's offense, because while Powell is nominally the starting point guard, she barely played (though, okay, that might have something to do with the foul trouble she got herself into). Taj was shockingly quiet- when she hit a shot or two in the second half, I started to worry that we were really screwed, but then she faded away until she put Cathrine into the stanchion. Taj, please keep your wrestling fantasies to yourself. Don’t share them with your opponents. Braxton started off hot on the offensive end, but was absolutely horrible defensively. It was a sad sight to behold. Hornbuckle's been a great pick for them- like her moves and her knack for getting the ball. Any night that Kelly Schumacher has to play 20 minutes is not a good night for her team, but she knocked down some shots. I might have run Sanni more and Schuey less, but I'm not Bill Laimbeer and I'm grateful for that, thank you very much. How the hell he got away with some of the crap he got away with- I really thought Blauch was going to tech him, and I'm disappointed she didn't. C'mon, Sue, you reffed in the Olympics, you can take on Bill. Be a woman about it.

Sometimes I think to myself that Trudi Lacey is sitting somewhere with a tall glass of something highly alcoholic and saying to anyone within hearing range, "That's why I drafted her #1!" whenever Janel does something utterly ridiculous that works. She took matters into her own hands in the first half, almost to excess. She and Shameka both took a few shots that would have been better off if they'd been passes to open teammates. Sista Christon wasn't so great with the shooting, but the rebounding was impressive, though I'm still not sure how she snared eleven. 11 and 11- a propitious number for a Liberty playoff run if there ever was one. Not one of Loree's strongest nights- I felt Leilani ran the offense better, inasmuch as people actually moved when she was on the floor, while there seemed to be more standing around when Loree was running the point. Essence got burned a few times on D, but there's no real way to stop Deanna Nolan, and she came up with big shots when we needed her to. Cathrine started off fierce, then tapered off, but then her shot showed up. I feel like a broken record here. So many of the kids stepped up in the second half. Erlana was big for us, though. With the complete and utter mass of suck that Jessica was tonight, we were down to one reserve post, and Erlana did yeoman's work subbing for both Janel and Cathrine. Her work on the offensive boards was critical to our comeback. Ashley, though she does tend to do some stupid things, is a firestarter- she comes in, and things happen for us, generally in a good way. She'll hit a shot or get a steal in her first minute of play, and that'll tilt the momentum. There's a reason she's popular, and it's not just because of her awesome personality. Lisa played briefly and was involved in one loose ball play, but her play was brief, and I can't really argue with that. Erin did exactly what she's paid to do- she hit her shots and didn't fuck up with the ball (well, too much), and she tries so hard on defense.

I can't say I had too much of a problem with the refereeing, which I'm sure means that there are calls that I missed on both ends of the floor on both teams that should have been made differently or that should have been made or that should have not been made. I'm honestly surprised more Detroit fans weren't complaining about the differential.

Sue, Kym, Robin Roberts… we had us some old-school going on tonight. A bunch of Knicks, including ones I'd actually heard of. Guy from the Sopranos. Sundry Scarlet Knights. Lots of people. It was a good loud crowd. Seemed younger and blacker than it's been for a while.

I'm exhausted. I can't think of anything else that needs saying other than GO LIBERTY! All we need to do is split in Ypsilanti, and we go to the 'ship.