September 7th, 2008: Chicago at New York

New York Liberty 69, Chicago Sky 61

Cathrine Kraayeveld rebounds and the Magic Corner saves the day, but what of Janel McCarville?


Okay, so Cathrine finally learned to rebound again. Okay, so Erin found her shot again. Okay, so we won. But is Janel going to be okay? That's the important question here.

I've almost given up whinging about the crowd, although today I'm not really surprised, given that there were Jets and Mets and tennis matches, oh my. But it was pathetic. Like, seriously, people.

The anthem did not suck, although the anthem singer was apparently late, which was why the gates opened late, for anyone who's into that kind of thing.

This was what I was expecting more of from Fowles- a lot more low post play, a lot more aggressive rebounding- what I think makes her such a dangerous opponent is that she's long, and has long arms, and knows how to use them. In addition to the offensive goaltending call (which, thank you for not fucking up your knee again, Sylvia), there was one play on the boards where she tapped it off the bottom of the backboard to herself. Very cool. There was little we could do against her, especially without Tiffany. Dupree seemed off- it's almost as if she's regressed under Key and gotten more tentative on the offense and rougher on the defense. It looked like they were having trouble finding Perkins early, but then they started finding her- I think if Chicago had stuck with the hot hands, they would have pulled this one out. (Except, of course, that we had the magic corner. ) Canty's been hanging out with Price too long- she's getting a bit reckless out there. We do not leave Brooke Wyckoff open for threes. We DO NOT. Is that understood? Okay, then. Price needs to be more disciplined. She's the Tamikaze on speed. One of the fouls called on Jessica was actually Price fouling Dupree. Sheesh. Chicago reminds me a lot of Indiana, except in fast forward- you won't be able to get into your offense against them, because they will make your life hell and get their hands on every ball, but they're not going to beat you with their offense unless they get lucky and one of their major players gets hot, whether it's Perkins from the outside or Fowles and Dupree on the inside. Also, if they want to get anywhere, not making boneheaded mistakes would help them. Canty committed a couple of pointless fouls, but the single dumbest play I have ever seen a basketball player of any ilk- including my high school gym class- make came from Fowles early in the game. The rebound came loose, and two players went into the seats for it (I remember at least one Afro, so Canty and/or Loree). The ball squirted out to Fowles, who just stood there and held it. In the backcourt. The eight-second violation was called, and the Liberty regained possession.

Whoever this pod person is in Cathrine Kraayeveld's uniform, I like her. Can we keep this one? I'd rather sacrifice the scoring than the rebounding- we can get scoring if we need to, but especially given how injury-plagued our frontcourt is, I'd rather have the rebounding. Especially late in the game, after Janel went boom, Cat just kicked it up into a higher gear. Very clutch. Janel was hitting big buckets, too- her footwork amazes me, especially for someone with her… proportions, shall we say. Lisa… not so much what we needed from her. I hope she's saving it. Essence quietly put up 10 and had some great steals- we'll need more of that against Quietly Do Everything Liberty Shooting Guard, version 1.0, on Tuesday. Loree played a solid all-around game. We got a lot of good minutes from Ashley (who is going to get herself hurt one of these days, considering that today she not-quite-chest-bumped-because-chests-were-not-involved-but-that's-the-closest-word both Cathrine and Janel, and just makes me tired looking at her sometimes). Once Erin found the magic corner in the fourth quarter, that was it. Game, set, match, let's go Liberty- Erin hit back to back, then Janel hit her shot, then Ashley from the Magic Corner, and O HAI WE HAZ 10-PT LEED. We're going to need Leilani to bring the awesome on Tuesday, because the awesome was not brought tonight, though the awesome was not needed. (I mean it, Leilani. You and Lisa better be saving the awesome for Tuesday.) Jess learned the hard way that Sylvia Fowles is in another class from Katie Feenstra. For the record, though? Two of those fouls were flat bullshit. Jess gets a lot of bullshit calls. Though I might be biased. Just a touch. *looks at Lobo jersey* *looks at Davenport tee* Erlana was more effective, and more aggressive, though I'm worried about the fact that she had her ribs wrapped at one point during the game.

Much better, Sista Christon. Stylish, colorful, and not looking like you were working 8th Avenue before the game. Tiffany was also very well put together. *applause* Shameka is easily distracted by, um, just about everything. She wasn't even pretending to pay attention to the huddle, though her interest in the singing bee game was explained when she was supposed to be singing the line. You could see her facepalm from the upper deck as the scene played out on Gardenvision.

There is something soul-numbingly horrifying at "Pee-Wee Cowboy Cheerleaders". Their only saving grace was that they were so unenthusiastic that their moves were nonexistent. Still, little girls in cheerleading outfits make me throw up in my mouth a little. Worse, they were in the section in front of ours, though they left rather quickly. I can't imagine why. We weren't even yelling cusses!

I will not get started on the referees. My family has a history of high blood pressure and I'm not allowed to nick my mom's medication. Suffice it to say that there were a lot of boos, and one egregious call was actually overturned. I know Shock fans will disagree, but Brooks-Clauser has a good handle on the game. (Also, excellent fashion sense- we saw her after the game in a crisp pale blue suit. Stylin'!)

You know who else came out the side entrance? Libkids. They haven't done that all season, but suddenly there's Tiffany, and then there's Lisa, and oh, hi, Jess, and Erlana had an entire posse waiting out there for her. Maybe the word will spread that we don't bite, especially after wins.

If the game on Tuesday were against any Western team but San Antonio, I'd say, don't stress it, I'd rather not get Indiana in the first round anyway, tank it and play it safe with Janel and Tiff and Shameka. But it's San Antonio. If we lie down and die in that game, we'll never hear the end of it about the trade. So we have to fight and scrap more than usual.

Be okay, Janel. We need you to be okay. *sends vast quantities of good vibes towards the Liberty, lots, like whoa lots, so many*