Saturday, March 29, 2008

December 8th, 2006: Syracuse at St. John's

Syracuse 61, St. John's 59

The pain continues, but Monique McLean is truly coming into her own as Little Sista Christon.


I'm starting to think that this past Liberty season was actually training for this St. John's season. Injured players out the wazoo, a player who's unable to play because of silly external rules, a player who walks away from her team for no discernable reason… no, not a familiar scenario at all. *rolleyes*

When I read Nicole Michael's stats, I expected her to utterly kick ass in the game, but she was very quiet offensively. She had a stunning block and a beautiful no-look pass on a fast break (I want to say it was Sipaviciute who received it, but I'm just not sure), but she didn't get off a lot of shots. It was Fantasia Goodwin who was on fire in the first half- the woman could not miss. She shredded what you could laughably call the St. John's zone. Cintia Johnson was a little fireplug who set some mean screens. Vaida Sipaviciute, whose name I am seriously annoyed with because I can neither pronounce it or spell it properly on the first try, came on strong late, especially when she was matched against Angel or Joy, who just weren't physical enough to contain her. Riley was tough but didn't impress me, although she had a shotclock prayer go in. Syracuse went with a short bench (finals?), using Ashley McMillen as an outside shooter and the offense/defense substitution for Johnson. Last, and yep, least, the spawn of our favorite Sleestak completely and utterly failed to impress me. I think she had one good play in the entire game, and it was rebounding the shot that she left short… which she then proceeded to leave short on the follow. Honestly, she looked about as thrilled to be there as one would expect, say, Charlton Heston to be if he were an unarmed attendee at a pacifist convention. (Please, also, whoever's supplying the Syracuse uniforms- get better sports bras. Please. My sympathy pains for Riley and Miss Laimbeer are begging you.) 'Cuse did a great job cutting down on their turnovers, although a couple of iffy out-of-bounds calls and the refs' inability to count might have helped; still, great control from this junior-driven team. Also, they play a zone, which brings me back to happy memories of the Orangemen and freshman!Melo with his shirt off.

Liberty fans- do you remember that Washington game where Shameka went off and Alana Beard went off, and it was kinda cool? Well, we had a junior version of the "dueling 20s" tonight; Syracuse's Goodwin had 24, and Monique McLean dropped 23, including five 3's. This is rapidly becoming the Monique McLean show, and those of you who adore Shameka Christon might enjoy her play. Girl can drive, girl can shoot, girl can sometimes handle, although girl cannot quite defend yet. Tiina Sten also found her stroke as the first half ended, and she finished strong, although I'd like to see more interior play from her (I swear to Goddess I've written this sentence in every set of Liberty game notes evar). She also had an awesome block, as did Joy- hell, Joy had three, and I think one of hers was a "NOT IN OUR HOUSE" stuff. For the second straight game, all her boards were on the offensive end. I love that girl. Angel grabbed a whole bunch of rebounds, but the girl has GOT to assert herself more. She's too passive- although, to be fair, that's a general problem; none of these young women, except maybe Monique, were expecting to carry so much of the offensive load going into this season- they had Kia and Angela for that, damn it, their All-Big East returnees. Nikki Jo was very quiet, although this also meant that she was not making with the excessive fucking up with the ball (although, ahem, Miss Rotolo, what have we told you about leaving your feet to pass?) Charisse is still way too tentative with the ball, and when she did attempt one shot, Sipaviciute proceeded to send it into Nassau County. She did, however, have one fierce sequence where she forced a jump ball by leaping upon the Syracuse rebounder as if she hadn't eaten in a week and the ball were a chicken salad with cafeteria coupons stuck randomly in it; she also hit the three that delivered the final margin. Hopefully that'll up her confidence for Nicholls State. Allie… um, she was Allie. Which is to say she's a liability and not exactly helpful.

The refs were of the average suck tonight, and they were real refs, which I would expect from a BEast conference game; Blauch and Brooks-Clauser both work WNBA games. Only one sequence really stands out: Sipaviciute stayed in the lane ~four seconds, traveled, and fumbled the ball out of bounds. Syracuse ball. There were also a couple of ticky-tack calls at the end that I felt affected the flow of the game, and considering the final margin, all mistakes, both official and by the players, are culpable.

Tonight was autograph night, so I waited in line behind all the baby ballers and some St. John's students who were, um, an edifying experience (boys are *weird*). Victoria says she'll be back in January, although I kind of doubt it and don't know if it would be a good idea even if she could. Allie's kind of a dork, which is endearing but not enough to get past the fact that her nickname seems to be "ALLIE MOVE!" Charisse… yeah, you can tell she's a walk-on. She's not quite up on basketball terminology and strategy; when I mentioned that if Kia were back, she and Nikki Jo would've had more open shots because Syracuse probably would have doubled on Kia, she looked at me as if I had perhaps grown an extra head. Allie also seems to have a semi-hero-worship of Kia, which is kind of cute and yet disturbing at the same time. They seem, as a group, to be nice kids. (And I can call them kids now. I'm in my ninth semester. Unless Kia's birthday is really insanely early or Tiina came over late, I'm older than all of them.)

We can beat Nicholls State, right? What state are they, anyway?

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December 4th, 2006: Hartford at St. John's

Hartford 58, St. John's 46

Nikki Jo Rotolo is a maverick colt, things can actually get worse for St. John's, and referees suck in an epic fashion.


Another day, another loss. Looks like the 2006 Liberty were a good run-up for the 2006-07 Red Storm.

The band felt the need to play Christmas music. I hate them right now, although some of them are making themselves quite amusing by dancing to various musical interludes during the timeouts. Still, I don't need more Christmas music.

The cheerleaders have stopped doing their Thumper impression with their pom-poms during the national anthem, which is a relief, as I can now stop bursting out in giggles at the sight of little white poufs bouncing in time with the drumrolls.

Wow, Ikea Witt is awesome to watch. Knows how to shoot, knows how to drive, and has a nice burst of speed. Would not be surprised to see her in someone's training camp next spring. She royally abused the St. John's defenders assigned to cover her (for most of the night, it was our 'Bama girls, Joy and Angel, who were so painfully burned). Oh, and she was quick on the ball, too, with five steals. Damn, that girl really *is* good. I hadn't realized how many steals she had until I looked at the box. I was also impressed with Danielle Hood, and the one Hawk I was pleased to see have a not-bad game was Lisa Etienne. I may have deep-rooted issues with Hartford (it's a Rutgers thing), but they've got some talent there, and Rizzotti knows how to handle a team.

Much to my dismay, I have discovered that Nikki Jo Rotolo, who I enjoy watching play, has some serious issues with authority. There was one point in the game where Coach was screaming at her and she wasn't listening, at which point Coach yelled, "If you're not going to listen, you're going to sit down!" and sent in Charisse. I am minded of the breaking of the maverick colt in The Same River Twice. Charisse, unfortunately, wasn't very helpful; six turnovers, tentative on offense, and lost on defense (well, okay, most of them were lost on defense, but she was really bad). Allie… oy. She did hustle for a couple of loose balls, but she's still making a lot of bone-headed mistakes that really make her look "special". Nikki Jo, in addition to her "la la la I can't hear you!" moments, was taking some bad shots. She took a lot of good ones, too, that didn't go down, and some that did. She needs to shoot more often and quit playing silly buggers with the ballhandling. Joy had what might have been her best game of the season so far. She seems to be much more a second-half player; she takes a while to get warmed up, but when she does, she's hot- she had a quick run by herself. I like the way she plays- she's all about the hustle and the tips. All of her rebounds were offensive. She's also a leader, or at least good at keeping track of what she and her teammates are supposed to be doing. Angel needs to work on her hands; this was a really bad night for her, and let's face it, we can't afford really bad nights from anybody this season. Tiina kinda got stymied in the post by Delva and Kelley, who seem to be more familiar with this notion of playing inside the paint than she is, but she had a solid game. Prove me wrong about blonde Euros, woman! Monique was in full "Baby Shameka" mode; lots of nice shots and a solid offensive game coupled with some ugly defensive lapses and ballhandling that she should not have been doing- but then, it would have been ballhandling that Kia Wright should have been doing.

Why wasn't Kia doing it, you might ask? According to the game notes, she's reaggravated a sports hernia; the recap gives it as a muscle strain, but whatever the reason, she was in streets today, a long-sleeved black top and black slacks. Kelly was pretty in pink, Victoria was stylish in white, and Recee has earned the DeTrina White Memorial Fashion Award for "please get a new dress shirt, I shouldn't recognize the same one four games into the season!" There are way too many people in street clothes on the Red Storm bench. It makes me sad.

I don't want to harp on the fact that the refs were bad, but seriously? They were awful. The guys calling my school's homecoming game were better, and I go to a D-III in a crap conference. One rather egregious error happened during a set of free throws. Angel Tate was fouled, went to the line, and as is her wont, missed the first. Hartford called time (not sure why; how can you ice a cold shooter?) and when they broke the timeout, the refs tried to usher Monique McLean to the line. Rizzotti and her bench threw a FIT, which was understandable, since it was a foul in the act, and Angel was the one who had been shooting. Order was restored, but how do you mix up 5-11 #20 and 6-2 #45? Travels went uncalled, poor Joy got wrassled to the ground with no call, Kelley of the Hawks was almost growing roots in the lane, and the refs honestly had no control over the game. DEATH.

There were a few people in the building rooting for Hartford, but I know at least one of them to be a UConn fan who came because of Rizzotti. I hope there were at least some Hartford fans who actually care about the team and would still follow them if Rizzotti weren't the coach. That's what still bothers me about their fan base, and has been since the screw job in the 2005 tournament. How many of these people would care about the Hawks if their coach were Dana Wynne or Beth Record? Those players deserve better than people just in Husky love with their coach.

We also spotted some of the SJU men lounging about in the section behind the St. John's bench. Sadly, there was plenty of room to lounge. Attendance today and Saturday was dreadful. Come ON, New Yorkers, the tickets are seven bucks and the freshmen are pretty good, plus we've got Little Sister Christon here.

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November 19th, 2006: Army at St. John's

Army 57, St. John's 45

The fashion's really the prettiest thing about this game. That, and Cara Enright.


As my seatmate Lib Fan can attest, I spend a lot more time screaming inarticulately at college games than at Liberty games. There's a lot more stupidity going around.

It shouldn't have surprised me, but it did amuse me that Army uses a US government bus. It also shouldn't amuse me that it was neat as a pin except for one lonely water bottle in a window, and that there was a camo folder in the driver's seat.

Cara Enright's good. No, really. I was also impressed by Megan Evans. Anna Wilson's itty-bitty (if she's really 5'5", I'll eat my Liberty rain hat), but she's got some ups on her! Magarity really needs to relax sometimes. Granted, we were sitting in the fourth row, but we heard plenty from him. It was quite amusing, especially after a boneheaded foul by… oh, was it King? "WHY? WHY? WHY TRY TO BLOCK THAT SHOT?!"

The good news for the Red Storm was that due to roster mix-ups earlier in the season, I miscalculated how many players we have- we had a whole *seven* players today, and the young lady I had thought was our IU transfer was in fact freshman Charisse Curtis, who came off the bench for two three-pointers and some other miscellaneous stats. In appearance and build, she reminds me somewhat of a slightly taller Kristi Toliver. (The offense she brought today also made me wonder exactly why she didn't play against Iona, when we were desperate for anyone to sub in.)

It was dumb blonde day on the court for St. John's. Tiina Sten looked flat-out awful- I don't know how many times I muttered "fucking Euro" under my breath, or not so much under my breath. She wasn't defending well inside, she wasn't driving inside (hello, 6-3, plz to be using it), and she utterly spazzed out half the game. Your point guards should not BOTH finish with more rebounds than a starting forward, not if the name Loree Moore is not mentioned. Allie Patterson was so useless that although she started, she played the fewest minutes of any Red Storm player. Missed all her shots and should have been credited with more than one turnover. "ALLIE! ALLIE! SKIP PASS!" Poor Coach is going to go gray at this rate.

The rest of the frosh, on the other hand, acquitted themselves quite well. Nikki Jo has seven turnovers listed, but several of those are failed lobs to the Tall Blonde and Clueless contingent. Love her shooting. Love her hustle. Joy had a rough shooting day, but she tied Angel for the team lead in rebounds. She was aggressive on defense, and I'm surprised she was allowed to get away with the level of contact she was on Enright. She'll learn. She's a freshman. This is my soothing mantra. Charisse, as mentioned, shot well, although I was surprised her teammates didn't get her the ball more often- maybe they weren't sure she was there either? :) As for Kia, she didn't start, but she played the bulk of the minutes at one guard spot, and did her fill-the-stat-sheet thing.

Two plays back to back for the Storm: Nikki Jo with the ball, drives to the free throw line, shot fakes, dishes to Joy under the basket, Joy hits the open lay-up. Defensive stop, Kia drives up the right side of the court, stops over halfcourt, looks out at the crowd on the same side as the bench, and passes off to Tiina coming down on the right, Tiina hits the lay-up off the no-look. Occasionally I thought we had hope. Jen Hansen hit a heartbreaking three-point shot at the end of the first to put Army up ten, and Evans and the rest of their posts were abusing our inside defense and the backboard.

Fashion report: Monique won the day in a pink skirt, gold blouse, and silver slippers (but the Gatorade-branded towel *so* did not go with the outfit); Victoria wore a white sweater and black slacks; Recee was in black slacks, a bright blue blouse, and short heels; Kelly wore a sleeveless blue top and a nice pair of slacks.

Danielle Chambers, the tenacious rebounder who graduated last year, was at the game; she's playing professionally in Puerto Rico these days.

I keep two soothing mantras in mind when watching the Red Storm: "She's only a freshman, she'll learn better" and "If we get Monique or Recee back, things will get better".

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November 9th, 2006: Iona at St. John's, preseason WNIT

Iona 66, St. John's 56

Joy McCorvey starts out high on the awesomeness scale, there's no rest for the weary, and Iona's surprisingly bad-ass for a MAAC school.


The preseason WNIT came to a crashing halt for St. John's as they lost to Iona, 66-56, in the first round. It was a very trying game for the Red Storm, with four players sidelined by injury before tip-off: All-Big East forward Angela Clark, starting forward Monique McLean, and freshmen posts Victoria Hodges and Recee Mitchell. Just when it seemed that the gods of sport could not inflict any more injury on this team… sometime near the end of the first half, Kia Wright went down in the paint, came up limping, and did not return to the game. St. John's was left with exactly five players to go the distance, freshmen Joy McCorvey, Allie Patterson, and Nikki Jo Rotolo, sophomore Angel Tate, and junior Tiina Sten.

By the end of the game, it was clear that the Red Storm were utterly exhausted, but they fought hard to the buzzer.

Regarding the Gaels: damn, that's a big, strong, deep team for a MAAC program. If you watch that conference, keep an eye on Lauren DiFalco, Lauren Huber, Tiara Headen, and the appropriately named Jessica Anger (yes, she does have a temper). Also, please feel free to slip their coach some tranqs.

Regarding St. John's: there are some suspicious parallels between our last women standing and the Liberty bench.

Joy McCorvey: Hustles. Takes no shit from anyone. Kicks ass. Goes for rebounds and plays rugged defense. Think Ashley Battle, only slightly more offensive-minded and less able to bend steel with her bare hands.

Nikki Jo Rotolo: Long-range stroke. Takes slightly more shit than Joy does, but not by much. Also hustles. Big, stocky guard who tries to get a little flashy sometimes. If anyone ever wondered what Cathrine Kraayeveld would be like if she were half a foot shorter, I think we have our answer.

Tiina Sten: Blonde. Euro. Shies from the paint. Not quite a young Ann Wauters- for one thing, she's not skipped out on the team. Elena's shot, Ann's finesse (and natural blonde locks).

Angel Tate: Good positioning, bad hands. Likes her offense, not so attentive when it comes to screening and defense. I don't know how attracted she is to shiny objects and designer sales, but otherwise she smacks a bit of Iciss Tillis.

Allie Patterson: Flat-footed on defense, occasionally hit a shot on offense, but otherwise a lump of useless. Most of you would say Erin Thorn. I say she's more the perception of Erin Thorn, but yeah, I think if we had one more active player, Allie would be benched.

It's still hard to tell what this team is going to be, what with a dire lack of, oh, our top three players. The freshmen show promise, though, and I'm optimistic about the next couple of years.

Oh- also got to meet Kelly's parents- she's our transfer from Indiana. Nice folks. *waves to the nice parental units*

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August 20th, 2006: Washington at Connecticut, Eastern Conference First Round

Connecticut Sun 68, Washington Mystics 65

The Game Notes aren't ready for the season to end just yet, the referees persist in sucking, and various non-Sun players search for dinner.


I forgot how much I like going to Mohegan Sun for a game. It's not my homecourt, but it's a nice place to visit.

Major, major props to dts for ushering us through the STH line and being Intrepid Local Guide for an autograph collector or two. Le'Coe Willingham is startlingly beautiful up close- her photos do not do her justice at all! It was cool to see all the ins and outs, since STH are allowed in 90 minutes before gametime instead of 60. I was a bit nervous, since I'm, y'know, obviously NOT a Sun season ticket holder, but they didn't really check closely. Heck, I had less trouble than dts and the young lady he was helping out!

Lovely anthem. Harmony was a bit off- I think either of the young girls who performed could have done well alone- but mostly great. Is something wrong with the announcer? He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as I remember- no pitch changes for player announcements, which always used to be my favorite part of player acknowledgements. If he's sick, I hope he feels better!

Sales's decision-making clearly took the day off. (Maybe it wasn't awake yet?) Bad shots, and she should have been credited with more turnovers. Taj also didn't look fully herself, although she was physical. No one was shooting well, and I mean no one. Whalen impressed me, getting to the line; she and Douglas both at times took the game on their shoulders and carried their team through. Erin Phillips once again had what I felt was the backbreaker, that three.

Again, lousy shooting. I thought for sure Richie was going to flip his shit for good. By the end of the game, we were sure he was planning to get tossed, but Meadors refused to take over the team. Beard came up big, especially that bank three and the near-steal at the end. She still seems steamed at the world, and I wouldn't want to go near her in the next coupla days. I'm surprised DeLisha was allowed to get off those threes- shouldn't Taj be familiar with her from, oh, I don't know, having played against her since the freakin' ABL? I think the dynamic would have been different if it hadn't been for her foul trouble; on the other hand, I felt she should have been ejected on the flagrant. I would have put Koehn in for Teasley for the last few plays, for offense and a better matchup on Phillips, and given Blue a little more run, but I'm sure Richie had his reasons. Oh, and it made me very sad that Crystal looked awful today. Maybe this time she follows through on the retirement threat?

The refs were simply awful. Teasley's "continuation", Beard's block out of bounds, the out-of-bounds that went off Douglas's foot but was given to Connecticut… so many awful plays. By the third quarter, we were starting to wonder if Napier had made it personal with Richie. I did notice she made a lot of the appallingly awful calls, and she's living up to my "oh dear goddess, noooo, not a ref with a ponytail!" standard. Attention whore. Lots of bizarreness, too, notably Sales's T and the mess with the flagrant.

Great ovation for COY Thibault. 'Mone got a nice hand, too. We hooted and hollered when Cappie was named to the All-Rookie team.

In case it didn't get mentioned, Brooke Wyckoff and Jen Derevjanik were at the game; they sat together, and we saw them walking together on the concourse. Seimone and her folks were also present- they, like us, were among the throngs looking for somewhere to have dinner after the game.

Ugly, ugly game. Not pleasant to watch. I'm glad the Sun pulled it out, but next time, could they do it by shooting over 30%? Whatever. We'll be back next week; I'll be in my usual Rebecca Lobo Liberty jersey (y'know, only two people commented on the fact there was a Lib fan at a Mystics-Sun game?).

After the game, Laurie Koehn stormed out of the arena like someone lit her ass on fire, carrying a fugly black-and-white shirt. She was in some kind of hurry- I don't know if all the fans were even out yet. I suspect dinner reservations, since she and her old teammate Megan Mahoney were chatting a LONG time during shootaround.

Courtside, Ripley, sorry I couldn't have stayed longer, but our table awaited! It was nice to meet you guys!

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

August 13th, 2006: Washington at New York

New York Liberty 93, Washington Mystics 81

The ride's over… but there are hints and flashes of what's to come.


So the party is over here in the Big Apple, even if it's not for the rest of the league- but what a way to end it, with a game that was more than a little reminiscent of the Liberty that once were.

I was perfect (which I already knew, but it's nice to have external confirmation), so I got to the Garden at what felt like the crack of dawn. I was in the first group on account of that, and spent the rest of the time giving composition advice, since they did have a disturbing knack for losing guards among the crowd. I actually thought getting in two hours early was the real bonus, since I don't particularly like cameras. Got to settle in on a prime spot on he rail and net a couple of the Mystic rookies. (Teilane has the cutest little signature, a strange contrast with her six-seven frame.)

Kym did the anthem, a tradition the Liberty have managed to not fuck up. Lots of power and emotion, but the technique needs a little polishing. I still enjoy her rendition. I wonder if she and Tari can switch off once Tari retires.

Beard was unstoppable. She's got that quirk in her shot that drives me crazy, that deep knee bend after the release, but it works for her, so I won't argue. I suspect that if she'd been all out on defense, Becky wouldn't have had 21. Fierce lady. Teasley didn't play much, presumably because Richie wanted to see how Blue and Miller handled, and how Alana could play at the point. Sanford impressed me on the glass- she's tough, man. DeLisha Milton never seemed to be hitting shots, and yet she finished with 15. Stealth mode on! But only 2 rebounds? Melvin didn't do much, although I'm not sure how much of that was play-calling, how much of it was Liberty defense, and how much of it was lack of motivation. What really impressed me about Washington today was their bench. I'm lovin' Nikki Blue and Zane Teilane. Blue's got that… not necessarily desperate aggression, but she's trying hard to prove that she shouldn't have been #19, and I think she's making a very good point. She had one amazing bounce pass through the legs to DeLisha, who should have hit that shot. She's a little over-aggressive, but I think she'll learn. Teilane has a lovely soft touch- saw her warming up. Great knack for positioning, too. She combined European finesse with a nose for the ball, and I think she could easily be a rotation player next year. Coco Miller- who, up close, is rather terrifying because you can see the veins in her arms like she's about to turn green and rip her jersey- seems to have settled in as the swing guard off the bench. Koehn didn't get a shot opportunity, which made me sad.

Sista Christon. Wow. A double-double with authority- her first if the stats in her bio are correct! She just turned it up today, and I hope it was a sign of things to come instead of yet another flash that drives fans crazy. Cathrine was also unbelievable. She looked like she was playing for her 2007 roster spot. Brutally efficient, and rebounding, and a Screen of You Shall Not Pass! And as if two stupendous performances weren't enough, Becky put on a show. If it had been a closer game, she might have had a chance at a triple-double, with 21/6/5; the rebounds impressed me, but looking at the boxscore, the 6/0 A/TO impresses me more. Barbara's passing really caught my eye, and I can't help but wonder if she was part of the reason Melvin didn't play well. Loree kind of ended on a sour note- no rebounds, WTF? I'm sure she'll bounce back next year, though. Ashley brought the D and Sherill brought the flash. Iciss decided to launch threes, and while the last one helped break the record, I still don't think it's something she ought to be doing on a regular basis. Someone check the numbers, but I'm starting to wonder if Iciss saves her big games for the rivalry games with former Dukies. I seem to recall her playing well against Houston (Williams), Charlotte (Currie), and Washington (Beard). Other than that, the Liberty bench was a whole lot of nothing.

I like the post-game ceremony- maybe someone got the memo that the players were a little out of touch with the fans? I think it was actually Kiesha who started the whole going up and down the line to shake every fan's hand, not just the one who was getting their jersey, because Iciss and Erin backtracked to do it. Barb's description of this as a tumultuous season cracked me up- understatement of the year.

After the game, the boy and I headed to the side door, because we wanted to hang out with some of our posse for the last time, and also I had the sentimental notion to thank some of our players for making this last game one to remember. Of course, everyone and their mother was there, and ye gods, was it disorganized! It scared me a little. By the time Loree came out, there were people under the awning, which is part of the walkway from the door and generally considered to be off-limits to fans. Becky and Loree were the only Liberty players to use that exit, but several Mystics came out that way, including their draftees. (Thanks for the help on Tamara James's 'graph, sootz!) Iciss was lurking around the security desk area, but even though people were shrieking for her, she didn't come out. Honestly, I don't blame her. I would have feared for my safety if I were in that position.

All in all, I'm glad that last game was one to remember. A few lottery balls one way or the other won't make too much of a difference, especially if LA mails it in and we end up tied with Charlotte and Minnesota again. I'd much rather walk out of MSG feeling like I have more of a reason to come back in '07 than simple addiction, than leave with a bad taste in my mouth.

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August 11th, 2006: Charlotte at New York

New York Liberty 64, Charlotte Sting 62

All in all, it looked like a game that both sides were kind of trying to lose for the sake of ping-pong balls. Sad, really, at the end.


One cool thing about the Sting that I haven't noticed about most teams is that not only does their inactive player travel with them, she watches shootaround with their coach. She seemed surprised to be recognized, and I have to admit it was a lucky guess on my part (well, that, and Yelena Leuchanka looks nothing like either of the Sting assistants). A lot of folks almost didn't recognize their cards tonight; I think the orange of the Sting uniforms struck them blind, and McCarville's card against an orange roster is enough to make anyone swear off color.

I'm sorry. Tammy Sutton-Brown still walks like an 8th Avenue hooker. She has her moments as a post player, but I'm starting to think 2002 was the best we'll ever see out of her, and gee, who was her coach that year and the year before? She *did* go to the floor once, which was something I don't see out of her very often. Helen Darling continues to work my nerves, and I swear at the end of the game she looked like she was under orders to tank. Tangela Smith went to the deck HARD after one play- we heard the thud in the upper deck, and for the longest time she was very still on the ground. She got up eventually, but she had a woozy look about her, as if she were wondering exactly where she was and why all these people were wearing orange tinfoil. She does have a soft touch. Currie had a shot or two go off on her- does the NCAA use the smaller ball or not? I think that might be part of her shooting woes if it doesn't. Also, is the hair thing a Duke thing? I'd be more certain if Beard went the same color as Currie and Iciss. Sheri Sam was matched up against Loree Moore a lot, and I'm surprised they didn't try to take advantage of that. Of course, Loree's a tough cookie, so it's possible that it wasn't as good a matchup for Charlotte as you'd think. At one point in the first quarter, Muggsy had had enough of this shit and sent in a bench unit, and it was at that point that I started to realize Janel McCarville's problem. Part of her is aware of the fact that she is 6'2" and possesses substantial girth, and thus ought to be setting brutal screens and muscling in for rebounds… but I think part of her thinks she can still grow up to be Lindsay Whalen; she passes well, has a decent jump shot, and tries to handle the ball. If she were trained in Europe, she would probably be an All-Star by the time she's off rookie scale. Allison Feaster and Kelly Mazzante brought the threes (I thought Feaster's shot was before the buzzer in the first, but I could be wrong), and Mazzante had an interception that Paterno would have been proud of. LaToya Bond didn't impress me as much as the last time I saw her, but the last time I saw her was one of her best games of the season, so I'll cut her some slack. She tries to do too much, which isn't the greatest idea when the only other person in the league who knows your quirks from having played with them for four years is on the floor. Ayana Walker had one impressive putback, and Ty'esha Fluker one big hit. Muggsy still needs to get his suits tailored, but they're not as bad as they used to be. He was rather unanimated for a coach who had a couple of rather big calls go against his team.

Barbara. Oh, Barbara. If there's any good time to pull a field goal out of your ass, the last basket of the game is the perfect time to do it. Believe me, folks, she wasn't exactly setting the world on fire until that last putback. But pulling the game-winning field goal out of your ass does preclude any further analysis of a player's game, so we'll be moving on now. Becky looked close to her old self- not completely, she wasn't as quick as she usually is, because Darling can't usually keep up with her, but she was close, hence the scoring. She was also pretty fierce when going for rebounds. She played a lot of minutes, as did Loree, who found her three-point shot for this game. Sherill, Erin, and Kiesha were buried on the bench; I don't think Erin got more than five minutes and Sherill ten, and of course Kiesha was DNP-CD. Shameka… she didn't impress me all that much, although she had one fierce rebound near the end of the game that had me hollering. Cathrine… man, she was going up strong, and setting solid screens. Not Screens of Death, but possibly Screens of Just Where Do You Think You're Going, Young Lady. She could teach Barb a little about screens, seeing as Barb was called for at least one illegal one early in the game. Iciss… oh, dear god. If she's in the right place and the ball comes to her, you might get a putback out of her, and tonight she was in the right place more often than usual, but she doesn't fight for what she wants and she has too much of a tendency to linger outside. I actually thought Christelle was the better post off the bench tonight. She fought for balls and rebounds. Now, if we could only get the girl to hit her free throws, we might have something here… but let's be honest, she'll probably get cut next year, because why would we want to keep a player that might actually develop into something?

Most embarrassing basketball moments: surprisingly, none of them named either of the blowouts by Houston, or the ones by Indiana, or the one by Seattle, or the ones by Washington, or… Christelle's was my favorite: since Romance languages such as French place the adjective AFTER the noun being modified, she once, early in her American playing days, referred to a fast break as a "break fast". A surprising number of them involved shooting at the wrong basket. Come on, you mean to tell me none of them have come onto the court without part of their uniform on? Ad-Libs: AB is horrible at soccer- "you don't want to see it, it's pathetic". Barb is the funniest player on the team, per Becky: "but she doesn't mean to be".

Anthem was yet another Sweet Adelines chorus. Seriously. Blaze's secret passion.

Sue and Kym were at the game. Sometime in the second quarter, Sue wandered down to section 16 to say hi to Kym, and I swear I've done the 'tap friend on the shoulder without warning her of your presence' thing. The boy observed, and I agree, that Sue wears tight jeans well for being almost forty.

All in all, it looked like a game that both sides were kind of trying to lose for the sake of ping-pong balls. Sad, really, at the end.

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August 8th, 2006: Indiana at New York

New York Liberty 80, Chicago Sky 69
Indiana Fever 77, New York Liberty 44

Please note that the "game notes of doom" for the Chicago game, aka Spoon Night, comprised two profane sentences, not worth reposting. We're skipping right on to the Indiana blowout now.

You know the season's gone bad when you lose track of which blowout was which.


You know the season's gone bad when you lose track of which blowout was which. Also, you know you're bad when your coach takes her sweet time bringing in the scrubs, plays her starters deep into garbage time, and you STILL get outscored in the fourth.

So apparently the Liberty players have taken to once more using the front entrance; we saw everyone but Loree, Ashley, and Sherill. Cathrine came with an older couple. I'm willing to stake money on them being her parents. Also, yay for tchochke pins in exchange for school supplies. Lots of tchochkes tonight: they were handing out water bottles in the lobby and playing cards as the giveaway. (Lame playing cards. The only Liberty thing about them was Maddie as the joker and the 10th anniversary logo on the back.)

D'you think Tamika Whitmore is still a little bitter? Still enjoys rubbing it in with the Liberty? Because she was up and hollering as Indiana built that ridiculous lead, to the point where it was really classless. There's enthusiasm, and then there's "In yo' face, bitch". At least hers seemed to have reason; why Ebony Hoffman was up with her, the world may never know. Anyway. Tully may have set the record for fastest "official game by Stormfan standards"; she was flat on the floor within thirty seconds. She was in the ballhandler's shorts most of the night. She and Catch both read the passing lanes well; to a lesser extent, so did Tan White (or so I thought, although I might be confusing her plays with Atkinson's, now that I look at the box). Whitmore played like she had something to prove, especially in the paint. Indiana knows how to finish on the foul. Catch was relatively quiet, although she didn't play much. There were some sequences when Erin Thorn was her defender; why Indiana didn't exploit that, I have no idea. Likewise, people kept leaving DeForge open, and I have no idea who thought that was a good idea. I had no idea she was such a good rebounder, either. Atkinson- I like her. I like her a lot. And I think she's on the right team to develop her. I developed a distaste for Olympia Scott that I didn't recall before; she seems to have gotten more physical and greedier since I last saw her play serious minutes. Seeing Fro and K.B. come into the game together made me happy. I miss Fro and her rebounding and her silly fouls. I miss K.B., too, even if she's more reluctant to shoot than Loree. There were a couple of priceless moments between K.B. and Erin, once before the game when Erin was coming off the court and K.B. was coming in, once at the end when Erin was "guarding" K.B. for the final four seconds. Interesting note: three Indiana players were wearing red headbands tonight, and all three of them were the former Liberty players.

I still don't think Becky should have been activated for this game, because of the risk of further damaging her ankle and affecting the 2007 season, but she did play reasonably well. I'm not sure if she's 100%; it didn't look like she was cutting well side-to-side, as that pass from Barbara seemed to prove (the one where Barb passed between Loree and Becky and Becky was all *deathglare* "WTF?") Ashley was looking for her offense more than I'm used to… sometimes a little too much. Cathrine was workin' inside a bit, but she still has too much of an eye for the three-ball. Other than that, I'm really not remembering much about actual Liberty players. Oh! Christelle! She shoulda been 3-3 from the field; her misses rimmed out or bounced out. Love her. LOVE her. WHY is she not playing? Then again, our coach seems to think starting a guard means you don't play her; she finally starts Erin, and our starting guards proceed to play fewer minutes than our bench guards (and Becky aside, our bench guards and our starting guards are rapidly becoming indistinguishable). Kiesha put up the dreaded billion- two billion, in her case; two minutes, no stats. Shameka, other than that awesome redemptive block on Catchings, was awful tonight. Dreadful. Not that most of the Liberty were much better, and Sherill was even worse.

Schuey looked like she was at the career fair. I know she wasn't, but the long black skirt and the white blouse made her look very business-like. Ambrosia was cute in a ruffled white skirt and a striped top. (And flats. After all, heels are sinful. ;))

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August 3rd, 2006: Detroit at New York

New York Liberty 75, Detroit Shock 67

The Liberty show signs of potential, the Game Notes mix up a couple of Shockers, and Deanna Nolan gratuitously shows off her abs.


It was very hard to believe we actually won this game. I know we did, what with having been there and everything, but things just quietly piled up without me noticing. Strange game.

Anthem singer seemed to be trying to transpose the anthem into a different key, which is not cool. She wasn't all that good, although she did a good job on the last few notes.

My apologies to Sabrina Palie for mistaking her for Angelina Williams (in my defense, I didn't know who was active, no one was wearing their numbered warmups, and I didn't know Mlle. Palie was black). In any case. Swin worked it inside- I know there are too many Cash/bank jokes, but she really is good with glass- the theatrics, however, are quite annoying; she had one rather blatant dive near the beginning of the game where she went all the way into photographers' row. That's the kind of not-thinking that leaves one in the orchestra pit, ya know. ;) Has Katie Smith always been this… um, excessively physical? How she only got called for one foul all night, and that deep into the second half, utterly eludes me. She was grabbing and pushing- and not just a handful of jersey here and a gentle shove there, we're talking arm hooked around stomach here. Her passing eye's pretty good, though; guess she needs that when her shot's not falling (and why did she only have six shots, anyway?). Tweety didn't look like herself today. I mean, in part she did (yay for gratuituous ab flashing) but except for a couple of rebounding plays, she looked very… 2001, 2002. Six turnovers, the most notable being that pass to no one in particular where it seemed that Kedra Holland-Corn might have cut but clearly decided not to. Ruth needs to lay off that outside jumper and use that big frame of hers; again with the no free throws, and if she couldn't take Cathrine or Iciss, she really needs remedial post training. I know having an outside shot is a good thing for a post, but only when coupled with an inside shot. Ford, on the other hand… oh, man, she's one hell of a rebounder. Fuck with her at your own peril. I suspect she'll go to Beijing. Shock bench played extensively, which pleased me. I *like* Batteast. I think she's got potential. Doesn't seem to make a lot of mistakes. Braxton, on the other hand… um, jerseys are not supposed to fall like that. I crossed my arms over my chest in sympathy whenever she started running. WHY did she get 10 shots? From where I sat (which I will grant is pretty far up) she looked out of shape. How long has it been since she had the kid? She's running out of excuses. Holland-Corn's instant offense impressed me, and she was surprisingly social at the shootaround. She was also pleasantly surprised that people in New York knew how to pronounce her name; to me, it seems obvious, but she's been in the league for so long, the "Key-dra" pronunciation seems normal for a name that visual logic dicates would be "Ked-ra". One other thing: I'm still waiting for an explanation of why Smith spent so much time at the 3. It doesn't work. That makes the matchup her and Shameka, and the way Shameka's been playing on defense, I wouldn't purposely arrange that.

Patty, Patty, Patty. I'm so glad you've finally figured out how to play your bench. Now, um, could you not run the *bench* players into the ground instead of the starters? Not that 35-36 minutes wasn't ridiculous for Cathrine, Barb, and Shameka, but for Erin it was nuts. I'm fairly certain Loree could have contributed more than nine minutes, even with foul trouble.

I'm loving the way Shameka's defense is developing. The way she's playing, more and more I think she's far less Baby Swoopes and more of a Baby DeLisha. She's going inside more, she's rebounding, she's playing defense… if she continues this trend, I'll be a very happy camper. Barbara played like a woman on a mission. I think she's trying to make the Shock regret ever letting her go. (After her play, compared to Braxton's, I'd regret it.) For Loree, the hook was out… again… which is really bloody ridiculous, seeing that she is the only REAL point guard on the bloody roster. I *am* worried, however, about the rough edge her play has taken on; girl better be careful she doesn't turn into a Spark all of a sudden! Sherill still needs to work on the passing thing, but she's improving. No assists tonight was not cool, though. She continues to take ill-advised shots. How much longer is that learning curve? Two more years? Is that how long it took to make Nolan a force? Cathrine… kinda forgot the court boundaries once or twice, but I love her rebounding in the last few games, and she almost had Nolan on a Screen of Death. Erin had some nifty passes, although she's trying to get too fancy at times, and her judgment still isn't completely sound. I don't think she's used to these minutes, and it shows on both her and Cathrine. If I, in the 200s, can see that a player is turning red and her ponytail is stuck to her neck, the coach damn well better notice. In any case, yay for Erin getting to the line, too. Ashley brought unexpected yet wonderful offense. I kept wincing whenever she lined up a shot and cheering when it went in. Iciss. Oh, Iciss. Though Barbara has helped her past her fear of flying chest bumps, she still has much to learn about paying attention to her defender, her teammates, or the ball. Very lackadaisical on D. Christelle, in her ninety-four seconds, looked good. Why don't we see more of her? She's a third-round story, she's smart, and she's not afraid to mix it up. Against Detroit, I think we could have used a little more mixing up than ninety-four seconds' worth. Kiesha, blink and you miss her. Story of any Lib benchie's life, isn't it?

Very ragged game. A lot of missed shots. A lot of very rough play. Michael Price's crew, so I'm surprised Pierson didn't get a second T just for breathing. Detroit got away with a lot of physical play; the Liberty got a few generous calls. Things even out. How the Liberty won with 20 turnovers, the world may never know.

At least Spoon's back to one hairstyle at a time, but the shirt needs at least an ironing, and possibly to be in a slightly smaller size. I swear, that woman knows how to work a room, and it doesn't matter the size of the room.

I honestly don't know if we'll extend this… not quite a streak on accounta CT, but trend of not losing most of our games… on Saturday. Obviously, they better if they don't want a riot in the stands, but I'm worried about our starters. Unless the reason Becky didn't play was that Patty was saving her for Saturday and Chicago…

The visors are very nice. And free! Free is good. Plus, I found spare roster sheets by one of the towers for the first time in ages, so yay.

Liked Becky's outfit, couldn't see much of Schuey's; I'll cut Schuey's hair some slack tonight because of the humidity, because I know my hair goes floomp in weather like this.

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July 30th, 2006: Minnesota at New York

New York Liberty 78, Minnesota Lynx 69

The Lynx cubs are awesome and Bryan Enterline is a hazard to basketball.


Riddle me this: why should the win against Minnesota feel less satisfying than the loss to Connecticut? I don't get why my brain was happier with the Connecticut game. Unless my subconscious is rooting for the team to drop the table, there's no good reason for it.

I will never speak ill of the Lynx again, and y'all can hold me to that. Classiest bunch of players. Before the game, every single player on the active roster came off the court from shootaround and signed for pretty much everyone who asked. Many, many thanks to all of them for stopping for a bunch of Liberty fans. (I hope those little Lynx fans who were wandering around also got their share, because they were cute and came from Massachusetts for their team, and that's cool.)

Seimone is as amazing as advertised. Near the end of the second quarter and for a stretch of the third, she looked like she was gunning for Katie Smith's record. She was, for that stretch, unstoppable- she had a couple of hook shots, including one that Kareem himself would have been proud of. Not bad for a six-foot 2/3. Megan Duffy also impressed me- she's got good poise for a rookie; if it weren't for the fact that she and Jacobs pretty much go 20/20 on the minutes, I'd say she should start. She hit back-to-back threes that had us screaming for someone (someone being Loree) to cover her. As for Vanessa Hayden, if she could get in condition, she'd be a force, especially when Ohlde is playing as timidly as she did today. As it was, she changed the dynamic of the game when she was in, and perhaps if it weren't for bad conditioning and some questionable calls, we'd be talking about this game in a different light. The rest of the Lynx didn't impress me all that much, although you'd think people would have learned to box out Tamika Williams on big plays- that's what she lives for, the key rebound (and some old time rock'n'roll, but that's neither here nor there). I like that Jenkins goes deep into her bench- was that McConnell-Serio's policy as well? It's nice to see a coach trying to use her players' strengths, even if she doesn't have the strongest team.

Even though it probably isn't her season high in anything, I think this was Shameka's best game. She went inside and got herself fouled; she took good outside shots; she played solid defense- four blocks, one of them absolutely stupendous; she rebounded; she passed. It was beautiful to see. It was the kind of performance I've been waiting for from her for a long time; I think it's the kind of performance a lot of people think she can put up every night. It was also nice to see Barbara scoring, although I'd wager that between turnovers and lackadaisical defense, she gave up almost as many as she scored. Still, I was glad to see her doing what we actually pried her away from Detroit to do. And watching Loree rebound always does my heart good, and today was no exception, especially when she was going up against Amber Jacobs, who seems to enjoy rebounding as much as Loree does. I was not impressed with Sherill's passing eye, although she's gotten better; I still think she takes too many ill-advised shots that have the good fortune to go in. The ones who really disappointed me on offense today were Cathrine and Erin. At least Cathrine rebounded (and set a Screen of Death! Woo-hoo for the Screen of Death, even if they called it an offensive foul, which it totally wasn't, but we'll get to that later). Erin just… I think she took too much to heart her role as a second-string player, even though she and Sherill play very similar minutes. She made one boneheaded pass to cause a shot clock violation that had me muttering "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" well into the resultant Minnesota possession. Also, how in the hell did Iciss get four turnovers in her eight minutes? How did she even get the ball that often!? And someone really needs to remind Ashley that she's hired to rebound and defend, not so much with the shooting, so if she'd kindly not hoist more shots than the more offensive-minded members of our bench, that would be nice.

I think one of the reasons I was so disappointed with this game was the refereeing. Bryan Enterline is bad for the league. There were some awful, awful calls. The block on Tamika Williams should have been a charge on Shameka Christon; the offensive foul on Cathrine Kraayeveld was NOT a moving screen. There was far too much harmful physical play: Shameka and Tamika's head-to-head collision near the end of the game while Williams was going for the ball, Barbara's pile-on tackle against Hayden, Ashley's falls, the scrum that led to a Minnesota shot clock violation, Mann's flagrant on Barbara… if I were Carolyn Jenkins, I would send a tape of this game to the director of officiating and to the Prima Donna, and if I were either Tamika Williams or Megan Duffy, I would actually take Enterline up with the players' union, because by losing control of the game, he creates a dangerous physical environment, even more than is to be expected on a basketball court. One of his games, someone's going to be carried off the court on a stretcher, and that's not gonna be pretty.

Also, I was very disappointed in the Liberty. After the game, I went around to the employees' entrance, where players used to come out on a regular basis. I don't know how long we stayed, but we left at ten to seven, and while we didn't see anyone exit through that door, we saw Becky and Christelle make a turn to use a different exit. Now, if someone who was hanging out up front tells me he or she saw the team leave that way, I'll let them slide, but if they've all taken to using the secret exit in order to avoid the fans, that's not cool. We don't bite, honest, not unless we're asked to. Especially not after a win! If anything, we'd want to congratulate them. They're our team, come hell or high water. When contrasted with the Lynx's behavior as a road team, the Liberty don't come out well at all. Maybe that's why I walked away feeling unfulfilled, feeling like the team that deserved to win wasn't the team that did.

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July 24th, 2006: Connecticut at New York

Connecticut Sun 89, New York Liberty 71

OMG ERIN THORN.


This was the most strangely satisfying blowout I've ever watched my team suffer. I don't know what it was- after all, we lost by 18- but it was actually fun being at the game. Okay, except for the lady who kept yelling at me to bring my "Deeeeeeeeeee" (as in defense) down an octave when she had a higher-pitched voice than I do. Oh, and getting through the gates 15 minutes late because there was an exploded faucet in one of the bathrooms (which also meant that one of the women's restrooms was closed, which was not cool). And yet I had fun.

Katie Douglas- man, she's tough. One play, Loree nailed her good in the shoulder, to the point where we thought she had dislocated it, and she proceeded to make the steal on the next Liberty possession and throw up a nifty right-handed shot. She's awesome and if I were picking players for a game of pickup, I'd take her in a heartbeat. Taj was also amazing- she got pissed off at one call (there were some very late whistles in the game) and turned into a force of nature. For that matter, Asjha was pretty tough; Connecticut's not going to lose much when Taj finally hangs them up. Margo didn't shoot very well, but she did that rebounding thing she does, and she and Maddie seem to be settling into a strange relationship. Goddess help us all if she ever comes to New York. Whalen… don't get into a game of HORSE with her unless you're up for a real challenge, because she loves those circus shots in the lane, but despite her gaudy numbers, the only play of hers that stood out to me was the behind the back flip to Taj. The fifth starter was Erin Phillips, presumably to match up with Sherill, and she was a pesky little thing. Reminded me a little of another little #31 who played a bit in Australia. The rest of the Sun bench, they looked good. Carey's stubborn, isn't she? She was very tenacious on defense.

Tonight seemed to be "shut the boardsters UP" night for the Liberty. Erin played well, Cathrine actually played in the paint, and Shameka actually played like a forward. Those two- TWO!- shots by Erin were amazing. I thought the banker at the end of the first quarter was amazing, but that over-the-head heave at the end of the third? I mean, dude. Nothing but net. Je suis incoherent. At the end of the quarter, when they kept replaying it, Kiesha and Ashley were watching again and again, and after the second replay, Ashley did the whole heave motion, and Kiesha kept looking back at the Jumbotron like "are they going to show it again? huh? huh? are they going to show it again?" Does her defense leave something to be desired? In a set play, one-on-one situation, yes. So does most of the team's. And Cathrine! She drove the lane! She got rebounds and putbacks! And then she stepped outside and hit! It's like a brilliant game plan or something! Now, if she would just *keep* doing that, we might have something. As for Shameka, I've been very pleased with her defense the last few games- that block on Dydek was nothing short of amazing! I like that she's become more willing to go inside, to go for layups, to go get rebounds. I can deal with her offensive game suffering (even though I can't deal so much with the fumbles) if it means she's keeping the other team from getting those points at the other end. I don't mind a low-scoring game. Sherill is making me crazy with her ballhogging the last couple of games. I realize we don't have the world's greatest assemblage of talent, but that doesn't mean you take crazy or stupid shots or pass into a double team because you've been catching hell for not passing. She's got to relax and learn to trust her teammates. As for Loree, she seems to be regressing back to '05, and we can't have that, not when she's the only player who's shown measurable improvement since last year. I also don't like the more physical nature of her play; she's become rather reckless. Not cool. I really don't want to talk about our post players, other than Cathrine, because Barbara's continued inability to hit a fucking layup makes me see red, Christelle is so raw it hurts, and Iciss has way too many moments where she looks like she's not quite sure why she's on a basketball court. (However, Iciss involved herself in a backcourt trap with Ashley on Phillips, which made me squee and think fondly of Sue and Becky in 2001.) Ashley played some excellent minutes tonight. Remind me again why she doesn't play all that often? Oh, that's right. PATTY IS AN IDIOT. I'd love to see more of AB and much more of the backcourt trap/full court press. Full court presses are sexy.

Didn't see Keesh on the Sun bench, and didn't catch Brungo's outfit, but I was lovin' Schuey's Capri pantsuit, even if I am perpetually seized with the urge to attack her with a hairbrush when I see her with her hair loose. Becky seemed to be presentable.

Lots and lots and lots of Sun fans. There was a large obsession of them in the section next to ours. Very cool gear, including one guy in a Megan Mahoney shirt. That, my friends, is fan devotion. And one of them left a Courant, which allowed me to see that they commissioned an article for the San Antonio game. Jeez, we can't even get home coverage, and they get road coverage. Graaaaah.

Interesting note: they did NOT play the rally song tonight, though they tossed the tees. I think they got one too many complaints about breaking the tradition. But was there an autograph section?

Ah yes, the 1st Annual New York County Spelling Bee. Becky: "Cathrine Kraayeveld... can you use that in a sentence?" Asking poor Christelle to do it was just mean. Barbara, on the other hand, is probably in soooooo much trouble for not even getting the C part of Cathrine right (she seems to think #33 is a Katherine).

For the first time in a while, this team showed fire and passion. We still got our asses handed to us by a more talented team, but it was so very nice to see that the Liberty still cared.

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July 22nd, 2006: Seattle at New York

Seattle Storm 89, New York Liberty 54

Keyword of the game? Substitute.


Well, at least I'm sure the Seattle fans enjoyed it. Lord knows someone had to.

I'm seriously convinced that Blaze has a yen for Sweet Adelines- either she wanted to be one when she grew up, and she was tragically turned from the calling because she just didn't have the voice for it, or it's her secret turn-on. Whatever the reason is, it's a harmless vice, and the groups tend to do a beautiful job on the anthem. However, seating them in, essentially, the rafters at a game with less than 50% of the tickets sold is tacky beyond all belief. They were up in the 300s, the highest level sold. Even if it's center court, that's just not on.

Crowd ambiance? We don't have that anymore, not until they start throwing t-shirts, and I've noticed that they're doing that later and later in the game- I think someone's noticed that during blowouts, people leave as soon as the t-shirts are thrown. Personally, I wouldn't want those people hanging around to the end of the game; I think those are the boo-birds, and if I were in charge at MSG, I wouldn't want boo-birds hanging out at the end. It could get ugly. Of course, I also have issues with playing the rally song when down 39 points, but I recognize that it, just like everything else about my gameday experience, has been commercialized.

Keyword of the game? Substitute. Substitute announcer, substitute Maddie (surely I wasn't the only one who noticed the body language was all wrong), and lots of time for the sub players. (Except for Seattle, who has very few sub players, and lost one when Barbara Turner got hurt.)

I had a bad feeling about the way this game was going to go when Betty Lennox opened up on fire. I figured she'd be streaky, so maybe we'd have a chance with LJ and Bird hurting, and Burse benched with the shoulder. Of course, then Lennox hits her first few shots and Sherill can't do a thing to stop her. Mmmm, feeling of impending doom. Also, LJ played amazingly well for a woman who looked like going off the ground hurt like the devil. There was very little elevation in her jump shot, and she was kicking out her feet unusually after the release. She's got a surprisingly soft touch for a big player, I must say. Leaving Bird alone is, of course, a terrible idea, because that jump shot of hers is beautiful, but in a different way from LJ's soft touch. Not too much with the fancy passing, though, not tonight. Tiffani Johnson set one amazing screen for her on a coast-to-coast play that bloody well better make SportsCenter. I miss seeing open court Screens of Death. TJ was hustling more than most of the Liberty players, which is a sad state of affairs indeed. She was the starter who drew the short straw on being the starter running with the benchies. Turner demonstrated a peculiar love of dives early in the game- worked for her, too- but got hurt later on a real fall. It looked like she hit her tailbone- mucho ouch! I think I'm in love with Izi's jumper. I love me those high arching rainbow shots, especially when they're three-pointers. It took me the longest time to notice her scoring, and then suddenly I turned to my boyfriend and said, "When the hell did Castro Marques put up 23?" She got a little fancy at times, though. Ashley Robinson had one monster block that I think later resulted in a shot clock violation, absolutely stuffed… um, someone… clean as a whistle. Of course, she later threw a shoulder into Cathrine Kraayeveld, which did not make me a happy camper. I'd forgotten how much I liked Edwige- she was with the Liberty for a while, you know, before she was –Wade. I like her speed, I like her court vision, and I don't really mind her distributor mindset. Tanisha Wright, on the other hand, didn't impress me. Erin got a lot of her points on her, and also defended her well, and really, what does it say about your offensive skill set that Erin Thorn can successfully defend you?

Seriously, though, if I hear one more denigration of Erin Thorn on any of the message boards I frequent, I think I'm going to resort to violence. Save it until after Becky comes back and she returns to scrub status. Right now, she's our only consistent scorer, and for long stretches seemed to be the only Liberty player who gave a flying about the game. Loree, of course, was our leading rebounder again, and at one point snatched one away from Cathrine, who at times seems to think that this rebounding thing is beneath her; however, she has GOT to lay off the fancy dribbling. Sherill=ball hog. She took a lot of ill-considered shots on breaks where she was outnumbered, or simply didn't have the angle. I think she has about as much faith in the rest of the squad's chances of putting the orange-and-oatmeal thing in the round thing as we do, and feels that she has to do it herself. She needs to ease up on that a bit, and stop trying to be fancy. Barbara had one of her better games as a Lib… which doesn't say much, considering that she had 8 and 5, while her presumptive defensive assignment, Johnson, had 9 and 4. I honestly cannot remember a damn thing Shameka did. Not.a.damn.thing. Iciss looked lost, but Christelle looked fiery. Why isn't she getting more minutes again? The eternal question on all Liberty fans' minds when looking at the front of our bench and the end of our bench. Kiesha is way too fond of the sideline by the press table. She spends an awful lot of time over there, either attempting to hassle the opposing point guard or being hassled herself. She also seems to like looking for her own shot. It was very nice seeing Ashley Battle get extended playing time, especially against a couple of her college mates. She reminded us that we didn't hire her for her shooting prowess, but for her toughness on the glass and her dogged defense. Again, minutes? It was very nice to see Ambrosia play- she's so enthusiastic. I wish she'd look for her shot in her minutes; today she kept passing out, although she was in position. She had a nifty steal within a minute of coming in. I think I like her, so long as she learns how to be confident on the offensive end. Perhaps pairing her with Erin, instead of putting her in when Erin leaves, would work better, unless Patty's afraid of being countermanded.

Some very classy moves by the Storm. I think Donovan was aware that with all the injuries, she was going to have to play starters even in the midst of an utter blowout. I also think she ordered her team to slow it up so as to not run up the score. Granted, part of it may have been so she could figuratively look her former coach in the eye without shame, but I think it was mostly because Donovan is old school and smart. I have a lot of respect for her.

The refs were letting a lot of things go, especially traveling. Some rather ticky-tack fouls, I thought, and some blatant mistakes- a foul before the inbounds is FTs and the ball, hello? I also think Iciss running down one of the Seattle players (I'm remembering high socks, a double name, and a single digit jersey, but that only brings it down to Izi or Edwige) should have been a flagrant. Running players down is not cool. But really, I shouldn't have expected any less from Lisa Mattingly.

Still looking on the bright side, I got to meet several charming Stormfans, a couple of whom brought signs supporting the [b]Seattle[/b] Storm. I like them. They're shiny. I also got a load of cards from a friend who was looking to unload her non-Liberty stuff, which means I now have enough Kedra Holland-Corn rookie cards to possibly trade with God for world peace, or at least a Katie Feenstra auto (the only way I can get it without utterly shredding my dignity).

I'm trying very hard not to think about the 37-point margin of defeat. Trying hard. Trying… oh, frell.

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July 12th, 2006: All-Star Game

East 98, West 92

Tamika Catchings for All-Star MVP! What do you mean, it doesn't make sense?


Dupree and Whalen both hit half-court shots, FYI, and Douglas came close on *all* her attempts, which is pretty damn impressive.

When did dancing become All-Star tradition? And why did the East do something that resembled the Electric Slide?

Coach T was hysterical- got in a few good digs. He took a whack at Taurasi when they had kids up for a shooting contest and the young lady in a Taurasi jersey missed badly- "shooting just like the real one did" or words to that effect. He also got in a shot at Laimbeer regarding Katie Smith at the point- "you've been used as a point guard all year and now you don't want to shoot" or words to that effect. Just to put the capper on the East injuries, he's also got a boot on his foot. Yes, even our coach is injured.

More player sightings in the stands than I've ever seen at a practice. Someone brought up Shay Doron. I also spotted Crystal Robinson (in a gods-awful green and poop-brown striped shirt), Vickie Johnson, Chantelle Anderson, Kristen Mann, Kayte Christensen, Elaine Powell (is anyone surprised she spent as much time as possible schmoozing with the Shock All-Stars?), Kristin Haynie, Ruthie Bolton, Ashley Battle, and a very tall, very attractive (looked a bit like a slightly darker Tangela Smith), very familiar young black woman who came in with Haynie- problem was I couldn't ID her! Taj spent the skills challenge up in the seats with Maia, who is sooooooo cuuuuuute in her mommy's jersey, although Mama Taj probably shouldn't have let Keesh do the kid's hair.

LJ looked about as thrilled to be there as if someone had told her she was the test subject for Katie Smith's mad dentistry skillz. Seriously, she was in pain. She sat out practice, and I honestly don't think she should be playing. Keesh on the sidelines also looked miserable. Catch was at least healthy enough to handle passes for her team.

Appreciative vibes go out to Cheryl Ford, who turned back from her quest for the locker room three times in order to acquiesce to an autograph or picture request. But the award for participation definitely goes to Diana Taurasi. A group of kids behind us were shrieking her name and shrieking her name, so she ran into the stands. I'll have pictures in a bit.

Oh, wow. Wow. I witnessed history, man. History!

Got to Summer Jam around 12 on account of I was *trying* to sort out my open practice photos. Walked up and down a bit. Walked up and down a bit more. I sheepishly admit to chasing Dupree for an autograph. Netted Seimone to complete the set. Also got Whalen... on the blank part of a poem someone out in Minnesota had written in her honor. It's very nifty.

Summer Jam, of course, went completely kaflooey when the thunderstorms hit. I never did get to do the Hannspree thing with the recording of the commentary, and I'm not big on shooting contests, so most of my time at Summer Jam was spent looking for fans and convincing them that I wasn't crazy for wanting a picture. Sadly, I failed the census- didn't see anyone in Silver Stars gear, didn't get a picture of the woman in the Sting jersey, and forgot to photograph a Liberty fan in gear.

I love how Sacramento fans travel. They come loud and proud, and with a different outfit for every occasion. I saw almost more people in Monarchs gear than in Liberty gear. It was amazing. Also saw a few Seattle fans (as compared to Bird fans) and, of course, a few Phoenix fans (as compared to Taurasi fans). More details about the fans are in the photo gallery.

Here's my outlandish statement of the night: Tamika Catchings for All-Star MVP.

No, I'm not crazy. No, I'm not hallucinating. No, I'm not flashing back to a game where she was healthy. I mean that Tamika Catchings, by way of her injury, helped the Eastern Conference win their first-ever All-Star Game.

Consider this: if Catch had not been injured, Katie Douglas, our ASG MVP, would not have started, and probably not played as many minutes. Also consider this: if Catch had not been injured, Candice Dupree would not have been named to the team. Would we have won with a 50% Catch, less time for KT, and no Dupree?

I'm not wishing injury on her. I never would. But this was possibly the biggest silver lining ever.

Why must we hear the pop tarts singing the league's theme song live? It's not like we haven't heard it eight hundred times already. I'm still holding out for real chicks with picks, although at least those two pick.

Heather Headley *nailed* the anthem. She has wonderful range and emoted the song quite a bit- almost too much for my taste. Almost.

Whoever suggested Becky, on her crutches, make a speech to the crowd ought to have their ankle repeatedly hit with a lead pipe, after which they will be expected to stand for long periods of time and smile. She was hurtin', man, absolutely hurtin'.

Lisa Leslie had the worst game I've seen her play all year. Helluva way to prove you should have started, huh, LLL? Not that Yo was much better on offense, but she contributed defensively. Jackson didn't play much, looked hurt. The rookies looked like they were most into the Western Conference style of All-Star play; Cappie and Seimone looked like they were having a lot of fun out there, especially Cappie with the neat passes and the trick dribbling. I don't even remember what half of the Western All-Stars did out there, to be honest with you. I do think Swoopes looked good- took an NBA three or two- and Staley was apparently untouchable (I swear, players were backing off as soon as she got involved in a play, and if I were Coach Whiz, I would have exploited that). Snow may have been the best center of the group tonight, and I'm not just talking about that real, live, honest-to-God, grab-the-rim-and-don't-get-your-fingers-stuck dunk she put up.

As for the East… OMG Katie Douglas. I thought she was gunning for a triple-double in that first quarter. Bing bing bing with the threes. She's amazing and consistent and can we pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease keep her in New York? Likewise, Candice Dupree. She is so smooth. So, so, so smooth. She combines the finesse of a perimeter player with the moves of a post, and she is so… wow. I've never been so wrong about a player as I was when she came out of college, and I've never loved being wrong so much. I wouldn't mind her either. Lindsay Whalen had one sequence where she was just throwing up circus shots and they were falling. Show-off. I say that with a smile tonight. Taj and Cheryl Ford were tough on the inside, but Ford has GOT to work on her hands. Margo had a couple of monster "not in my rented house" blocks that got the crowd roaring. Tamika Whitmore played like she had something to prove- maybe she did. I think she was happy to be back on her terms instead of Blaze's. I wanted to see Tangela Smith score, but near the end of the game, she just didn't get herself in post position for the basket. Tweety didn't impress me except for some of her passes, and I really wish she'd stop trying to dunk in games, because it has yet to work and it looks kind of sad when they have to clear space from halfcourt on. I'd rather have seen T. Smith hit a lay-up to round out the totals and hit 100. Nice outfits on the bench for the East, with special attention to Keesh's cute little dress; she never struck me as the type to wear frocks, but she does. It's disconcerting.

We hung out for autographs after the game. Those people, not the usual crowd, were INSANE. They rushed the bus! When Dawn Staley and Tangela Smith tried to board, people were running after them, grabbing them… it was freaky. I've never seen so many crazy people, and I'm a little crazy myself. Coming out of the employees' entrance (which I keep calling the stage door after the Radio City stay), we saw Wendy Palmer and her scooter- didn't get to hear the horn, though- Ticha Penicheiro, Iciss Tillis, and Tamika Whitmore. We saw Ashley Battle go back in- she must have forgotten something. Lots of players at the game. Obviously VJ, Palmer, Mabika, Dixon, Spoon, Lobo, Mighty Ruthie, and Ticha, but someone also spotted Shameka Christon, Mistie Williams and another player came through the bus entrance (holy SHIT, does Mrs. Williams clean up well!), and Erin Phillips was kind enough to sign for me from her seat. A few collegiate sightings- I think we saw RU's Katie Adams in the fast food place down in Penn Station, while my mom spotted Mercedes Dukes, Kia Wright, and Lisa Claxton of St. John's. Someone also said they saw Crystal, which… actually kind of sucks if you went early to their party, doesn't it? My mom actually has the funniest one of those stories to tell: as she told me, she was sitting next to the "most obnoxious little kid", who kept screaming in her ear. Normally, this would be a cue for her to tell the kid to shut up. The problem? The kid's name was Jordan. Yes, that one. He was sitting with daddy dearest; presumably Mommy 2 was closer to the action.

I will gladly live through horrible Summer Jams and wretched weather in exchange for an Eastern Conference win. That was… if you had told me we'd pull that off with three injured starters, I would have laughed in your face. Wow.

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July 9th, 2006: Phoenix at New York

Phoenix Mercury 94, New York Liberty 88

Becky Hammon gets hurt, Shameka Christon probably is hurt, and the Liberty just hurt.


Argh. ARGH, I say.

Becky didn't look good- she grabbed both knee and ankle; I'm thinking the major damage is to her ankle, and she just twisted the knee. If she doesn't sit out the All-Star Game, I'm going to be firing up the Angry Letter Generator (aka Microsoft Word). Again.

I think Shameka's also injured. No WAY she only plays 13 minutes healthy. I'm willing to bet the Evil Hands did not help the twisted ankle after the buttcrack:dawn game against Connecticut, or whatever it was she grabbed after... Sacramento? San Antonio? Jesus, the losses just blur together. I'd shut her down for a while to let it heal.

I'm fully aware that leaves us with Sherill, Loree, and Erin as our starting perimeter, with Kiesha and Ambrosia as the bench, maybe with Cathrine and Iciss sliding to the three (although catering to their small-forward delusions might be bad for the future). Since I'm not as convinced as some of you lot that Erin either has blackmail photos or is fucking the coach as the sole reason for her place on the roster, I'm not as freaked out at the possibility (granted, I also sat through Erin-at-the-power-forward at Radio City... 'nuff said there), but it is still a very, very bad thing. Still, it's not like we're going to magically cease sucking with a gimpy Shameka in the lineup. I'd rather suck with Shameka sitting down, staying awaaaaaaaaay from Lisa White, and getting healthy than suck with Shameka playing hurt and exacerbating her injury.

What this team needs right now is an intervention. Unfortunately, half the people who ought to be giving it are employed by other teams. But if it were possible, I'd have Sue, Kym, Spoon, Elena, Tari, VJ, and Crystal storm the practice facility, throw the coaching staff out on their asses, and declare, "You are NOT LEAVING this building until you learn to set some ----ing screens, hit your ----ing layups, play some ----------ing defense, and show some *long string of bleeps* pride!" Kym, Sue, and Tari could take our bigs aside and do the whole screens/hitting layups bit. Spoon could take Loree in hand. VJ could do the same for Sherill. Crystal would once again take Shameka. Elena would get Cathrine re-aligned towards that whole balance thing. And we would make magic on the Garden court again.

Gah. The anthem was dreadful. DREADFUL. I could have done better, and I'm untrained, tone-deaf, unable to locate a key or a note, and currently nursing a cold. *sigh* At least she knew the words...?

All the cheering from the UConn fans for Diana and the Rutgers fans for Cappie (and I'm sure there was a little tiny Staten Island contingent waving little tiny #34 banners when Derevjanik played her 2:30 and got her rebound) made me think this was a Mercury home game or summat... especially after running into a couple of Brigadiers. It made me SICK, especially when I saw Liberty gear among Cappie's booster section.

It can't be easy being Kamila Vodichkova. It really can't. She's the only true post player active, so she gets all the grunt work. (To me, Rasmussen and Christensen are marginally post players, comfortable mixing it up for rebounds but not so much for the scoring.) It looked like she played a lot more minutes than the boxscore showed. No wonder she couldn't shoot.

During the third quarter, it looked an awful lot like Cappie and Diana didn't want each other to play in their sandbox. I half-expected one of them to throw a toy truck at the other. Westhead yanked Diana, who stomped to the end of the bench and hurled her jacket. She settled down later, though. I think she and Cappie both just panicked because OMG signs of life from the wrecks in white.

I was surprised by Barb's lack of PT, too. Though she was kind of like bringing in a cannon to clear a wall of foam rubber (sorry, Merc fans, but as mentioned, you have less of a frontcourt than we do {HOW did you outrebound us?}), it would have been an advantageous matchup, especially when Vodichkova picked up four or five fouls.

I actually liked seeing Erin's offense and Loree's defense (ESPECIALLY on Taurasi; I don't think Taurasi was ready for someone to be so physical with her, especially not someone with Loree's build), and Loree and Erin have a pretty good rapport, along with them and Cathrine. But Erin's defense leaves a lot to be desired, and Loree has to learn how to not foul. And have I mentioned lately that I love Loree's rebounding? because she was fighting in there with Vodichkova and Taylor. And Patty claims she doesn't play hard and that's why Sherill is starting. Uh-huhhhhhhhhh. I think she only thinks Sherill is playing hard because Sherill goes for flashy steals all the time. And while that's hustle, so is Loree trying to rip rebounds from six-four centers. But... well, you can't start both of them unless Becky is benched, and the warmer parts of Hell will freeze over and the lowest circles sprout palm trees before THAT happens sans injury excuse.

Great shootaround moment: the Mercury are stretching, and suddenly Ashley Battle walks into the scene and she and Taurasi hug like long-lost siblings. Big long hug. It was sweet.

For all that this was "Dads and Daughters Day", the cutest dad and daughter moment I saw was on Mulberry Street. Because all of today's were totally and horribly contrived, and it was painful. Also? Trying to sell people on the joy of the game by saying it's a beautiful day outside? Not a good idea. Not if you don't want them to think "oooooh, I could be at the beach or in Central Park or in Times Square watching World Cup instead of once again inflicting the sweet, sweet pain that is Liberty basketball upon my wounded soul". And let's not even start on the second-string announcer, although his false start on Kamila Vodichkova and forgetting to attribute Erin's first three are shameful gaffes.

BTW, Bridget Pettis had a very sharp suit going on. It had so much going on that at one point Shameka was magnetically attracted to it and there was a collision. I can almost imagine the conversation on the bench afterwards. "See, I wear this, and young beautiful women throw themselves at me. How much would you pay to borrow it?"

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July 6th, 2006: Sacramento at New York

Sacramento Monarchs 79, New York Liberty 58

Half a Yolanda Griffith is better than a New York Liberty frontcourt, lots of shot selections blow, and Becky Hammon has apparently had it the fuck up to here.


I'm starting to understand Jayda Evans's frustration with the inaugural Storm, and we're at less than half the number of losses she had to cover. Jayda, I raise a Diet Coke to you.

Note- honoring the emergency services people is shiny and brilliant and awesome. In the future, though please ask them not to bring their bagpipes. The arena was dead enough, it didn't need to be deadened further. Also, the anthem singer? So very glad he doesn't rely on his voice to save lives. I liked the full color guard, though. Very nice touch.

Yolanda looked like HELL during shootaround. When she came off the court, she had a look on her face that suggested that she might sign autographs for us, but she would either much rather be lying in bed with bonbons and painkillers or hot-wiring people's innards. Obviously her knee was bothering her. And yet, on one good knee, she was better than our entire frontcourt, which has about six healthy knees among them. Ugly as this was, it would have been ugly as an old hooker if she'd been fully healthy, because then she would have hit more shots and stopped more Liberty shots. As for Erin Buescher… someone seems to have neglected to tell the Liberty how well she's playing. Holy shit that girl is good. (And sweet, too; she was the only Monarch to sign autographs before getting on the bus.) Can we trade Erins with you guys? Please? We'll even remember to FedEx Nicole Powell's game back to Arco for you… because it was here all along, who would have imagined? Very solid game for her. Ticha wasn't her old self, but she had some very nifty passes, especially one over the shoulder near the end of the game to Yo. (Wow. Players who have spent eight seasons on the same team play well together. It's like they know each other's tendencies or something.) I wasn't impressed with Dorrell, although wow, is she a showstopper looks-wise. DeMya *does* look broader in the bottom than I remember, but it probably does help. I wasn't paying too much attention to her feet, because she was mastering the bankshot all over again. Gawd, and she comes off the bench. I love the hustle this Sacramento team shows. Even though Brunson and Lawson didn't really have statistically great games, they kept a LOT of balls alive. Tante did her defensive thing, and that was about it, although she was also in the mix when it came to going after balls- there *was* a reason they outrebounded us by 13. Wasn't impressed with Smith (or her autograph- initials are NOT ON, young lady!) and I can see why she's slid down the depth chart.

Y'know, I thought and I thought Shameka was having a great game driving for midrange shots and lay-ups… and then I look at her shot selection and 6/9 are threes. I still don't get it. She gets to the line or gets space for a sweet little jumper when she goes inside… why, oh WHY does she persist in long bombing? STOP IT. Also, please stop with the passes to people in colored jerseys. Becky couldn't buy a bucket tonight, although I'd like to credit the Sacramento defense for that. Lots of bad passes in this game- either that, or lots of great reads. Schuey and Barb were driving me crazy with the bunnies they missed; also, guys, again with the being outrebounded by guards, which is frelling ridiculous. I'm glad Loree's laying off the excessive three-point shooting… now, if we could get her to hit her free throws, that would be shiny. And if we could get Coyle to stop dragging out the hook every time she makes a mistake, that would be super. Sherill seemed at times to be suffering from 1-on-5 syndrome; there were quite a few plays where she seemed to have forgotten that she had teammates. Otherwise, I was impressed with her aggressiveness. Cathrine did some scoring, and we had a Screen of Death (or at least a Screen of You Will NOT Be Hawking My Ballhandler, Bitch) sighting versus Haynie, but no rebounds in 19 minutes is unacceptable. Back inside, woman! Ashley made with the scoring and the hustle, woo-hoo! We had a Christelle sighting, two rebounds and a coupla points, and she should have been credited for a third rebound. We also had an Erin Thorn sighting, and she looked awfully out of it. Obviously Iciss kicked the puppy this week- a 21-point blowout, and you get a DNP-CD? Either that, or Coyle thought she was still on IR. Or possibly Coyle was medicated not to give a shit; from upstairs, it looked an awful lot like she was barely paying attention to the game.

God, this is getting nuts. This team is 4-12. They've lost three-quarters of their games. WTF? What the holy fuck?

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June 30th, 2006: San Antonio at New York

San Antonio Silver Stars 91, New York Liberty 78

The Game Notes are tired. The Game Notes are sick. The Game Notes miss Vickie Johnson.


Ugh. I'm still trying to sort out my thoughts from this game, but they keep turning into a diatribe against the incompetency in the front office.

We started a "Blaze must go!" chant. It didn't get very far, but it was there. We're seriously considering bagheads. Keira and jersey can attest to this: last night I was spittin' mad after the game; first thing I did when I saw Keira was ask why she wasn't trying to kill Blaze.

I'm a Noo Yawka. I live and die by my New York teams, and it's all the Liberty's fault. Now I find myself turning against them. The last few games, I've found myself rooting against this team, even as I sit in their arena in their gear. I'm tired of watching Becky hoist up shots for no discernable reason, looking for all the world like she should be wearing Iverson or Marbury's #3. I'm tired of seeing Shameka out of control, control that could have been taught if she'd been mentored for one more year, especially by Crystal but maybe even by VJ. I'm tired of seeing Cathrine regress, tired of thinking that one more year with Elena could have done her a world of good. I'm tired of seeing the hook return on Loree, tired of being sure that Spoon could teach her more than Patty's ever forgotten.

I'm tired of seeing Patty without a clue about how to coach a team and how to run a team. DNP-CD for Ashley and Kiesha is unacceptable when Dan Hughes put Jae Cross in the game and was class enough not to call for a last shot when they got the last offensive rebound. Swear to God that woman is trying to kill Cathrine in the second quarter- I should NOT be able to discern how exhausted a player is from the 200s; why did you guys think Feenstra went off on her?

I'm sick to death of Blaze's smarmy smirk, tired of this whole goddamn circus, tired of no freebies and hiding the extra roster cards postgame. Anyone notice that they didn't announce autograph sections the last couple of nights? Or that there haven't been team photos? Or that they didn't mention Play-By-Play? I swear, this is approaching the Alumni Hall game experience from the bottom.

Most of all, I am sick to my stomach at the realization that last night, the only Liberty player who owned the Garden floor, who played with the fire in her eyes and the torch in her heart... was the only Liberty player who still wears black.


WTF is up with the boxscore? It wasn't an OT game; how does Shameka play 40:19?

We win this game if we have VJ; we win this game if San Antonio doesn't. She was so smooth, so clutch, so damn good.

Damn, but Katie Feenstra is huge. She was running a bit funny last night, almost limping. Her entrance into the game was also greeted by a lightbulb inthe rafters exploding. Tres strange. She gets around people surprisingly well. Of course, it helps when the people she's getting around are wheezing for air and glancing at the bench begging for relief. She and Anderson make an interesting pair in the post.

Sophia Young... she's slick. I was going to say she didn't impress me, but then I went to the box and there she was with 13 points and leading the Silver Stars in assists.

Is it just my imagination, or did San Antonio make their decisive first-half push with Ivanyi at point instead of Pee-Wee? I'd bet a dime on her being in the most effective +/- lineups. (I can't bet a quarter. I already have it on Greenwalt being picked up by the Liberty. )

I think the PA guy loves Biba's name. A'course, I have no idea whether he got it right or not. She's bigger than I'd thought.

I will not rant about Loree rebounding better than every post except Schuey. I will not rant about Loree rebounding better than every post except Schuey. I will not rant about Loree rebounding better than every post except Schuey. I will not... oh, fuck it. Barbara, Cathrine, Iciss, Shameka, WTF?!

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June 28th, 2006: Charlotte at New York

Charlotte Sting 73, New York Liberty 67

Helen Darling should STFU, the Liberty should be finding their teammates on the fast break, and the Game Notes shouldn't have ordered that burger at Café 31.


If it hadn't been for that third quarter, I don't want to know what the final score would have been. That game was brutal and ugly and painful. It was the worst of times crossed up with the best of moments.

I think my count of people trying to sign with the button of my retractable Sharpie is up to seven with two Sting today. It's a silly stat, but it's a fun one. The Sting are a nice bunch. I like them. Well, most of them. Monique Currie seems to be making the best of her time in Rookie Hell; she was chatting with us and shakin' her groove thang at every opportunity.

I would give good money, or possibly part of my soul, to know what Allison Feaster and Iciss Tillis were talking about before the game, knowing that they both have economics degrees from prestigious institutions. The state of the national economy? The league's finances? Or the best way to look good and stay smart?

Lovely anthem by a lady named Nicole Napolitano, who we later found in the section next to ours. Boooooo to the Liberty for a cheap complimentary seat with indifferent sight lines, especially for a woman who hit the crescendo at the end of the anthem and just kept going.

Great biddy game by some cute PAL kids, one of whom I think was convinced she was Becky; knee-high to a grasshopper, and there she was cranking up regulation threes.

Charlotte did what we could not: they set screens to free up their shooters (read: Sam and Mazzante). Sam seemed rather fond of our defense; she kept coming at it, and Shameka just kept letting her come. There was one play where she stopped dead like she thought she'd heard a whistle. I proceeded to irritate the people five rows down from me with my shrill frustration at that laughable excuse for defense. She also helped put the clamps on Becky, simply by dint of being six feet tall and broad. Helen Darling obviously took drama lessons from Mery Andrade during their years as teammates. My God, that woman does not shut up and pulls some crap that should make her blush. I don't usually call someone a bitch, but I spent a lot of the game hoping that bitch would be knocked on her ass. Currie couldn't hit, but she got to the line- is that her, um, MO? I can't imagine her being anything but fantasy poison until she starts hitting from the field- 7 points doesn't do much to negate 0-11. Tangela Smith still seems addicted to the outside play- stop it, Tangie, you're 6-4 and built. I also wasn't impressed with her post presence. Tammy Sutton-Brown, on the other hand, played like this was an on year. She had strong post presence and finished in the lane. Very impressive. (She also, unfortunately, carries herself like the first thing people look at should be her tits, and, um, no, on so many levels.) Janel McCarville, despite a haircut that honestly made her look like she should be a Bobcat, was solid on the inside- she set some of the best screens of the night, along with TSB. LaToya Bond looked *good*. I *like* that kid. And she saved my ASS in VGM, so I'm inclined to like her even more. Fluker's bigger than I thought, though if she's 6-5 I'm a small forward. She used her size well on the inside, and she had one monster block on AB that was all, "NCAA rings don't matter in the W, byotch!" Allison Feaster… sadly, I don't think she'll ever be the player she was, a shooter that you could not leave open. I think that player is now Kelly Mazzante, who also earned my ire by attempting a slide-tackle/grab on Loree. Tsk, tsk. I swear, you wouldn't think they taught such physical play at Penn State.

Sherill, Becky, look over there. See those other women in white? They're your teammates. Please to find them on the fast break, kplzthx? Sherill especially. I realize that Becky spent most of the night with a much larger defender on her- and why the posts didn't set screens for her, I will NEVER know- but Sherill should not be taking more shots than Becky. I don't care how much of the future she is. Also, guys? Please not to be watching your point guard lead the team in rebounds, okay? Yes, I realize there were a lot of sixes and fives scattered about (mwah! to that, Sherill, and wow, was Iciss trying to show Mo up?), but this comment is mostly addressed to Barb's 2 rebounds in 19 minutes and Schuey's 4 in 26 minutes. Especially Schuey. My God, but did she look lost tonight. She blocked shots, but that was about it. Barb probably would have turned it up in the second half were it not for the fouls; I don't know so much about Schuey. One of these days, Loree is going to learn to score, and her teammates are actually going to hit their shots, and she's going to pull down a triple-double on us. It won't be a very impressive triple-double, probably a 10-10-10, but she pads the stat sheet nicely. Shameka turned it up late, but she seems to have bought into the Phoenix/Seattle idea of defense: score more than your opponent, except that she didn't. I liked her rebounding tonight. It was good to see her mixing it up inside- she needs to keep that up, especially when the threes aren't falling. Cathrine played well tonight, but damnit, where have the Screens of Death gone? Yeah, I like offense, and I like threes and taking it to the hoop, but getting your shooters open is also of great importance, as is covering on the defensive end.

Idiot refs. What else is new? Equal opportunity suckage, though, so I suppose that's fair. Darling and Mazzante were awfully physical. And I nearly died laughing when I saw how Becky fouled Darling during the endgame foul derby. No wonder she missed the first free throw- the touch probably traumatized her!

After the game, the boy and I went out to dinner at Café 31- the wings are as good as advertised, and they've improved the Italian portion of the menu, but don't order a burger because they're dreadfully dull. We saw Coach Stanley when we came in, glued to the Sacramento-Seattle game with a soda and presumably her dinner eventually, and Lisa White when we headed out (in the company of an awfully familiar bleach blonde, but I wasn't quite sure if that was Becky's bad bleach job or not).

If it hadn't been for that third quarter…

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