The Game Notes have this disconcerting feeling of being in a parallel universe when Connecticut fans boo Taurasi and a Rutgers fan cheers against Pondexter.
Madam President was at this game, and for the sake of Mike Thibault's blood pressure, I hope she takes some action against the officiating team, Diana Taurasi, and Corey Gaines. But we'll get to that in good time. I'm still a bit in shock at the sound of several thousand fans booing the living hell out of Diana Taurasi in the state of Connecticut. Somehow it seems bizarre, yet soothing.
I think that's what I enjoyed most about the game- the building was full to the brim with Connecticut fans- not UConn fans, not Sun fans, but Connecticut fans. I think that was what I've been waiting for from the Sun, a way to bring together both fans of "their girls" and fans of other players. See, college and pro fans can coexist. Good, loud crowd- probably a sellout, though there were some empty seats. What I found fascinating was the way the fans around me shifted from being all about Taurasi to being all about the Sun as the game went on.
I would have liked the anthem a lot more if they'd done it as a group the entire time, instead of breaking each guy out into a solo and then bringing them all together at the end. Kind of like my Liberty, no one piece works alone, but the group effort is magnificent.
Diana Taurasi is an unbelievable basketball player, a world-class talent who moves with the ball like it's part of her body. But she'd be a lot easier to put up with if she could play with a gag in her mouth. The constant complaining got on my nerves in a hurry, and it didn't help that she was getting the calls *anyway*. I recall one play where she shoved Carey and then looked at the ref like she was wondering why Carey hadn't been called for the foul. That spurred a lot of the booing- the superstar calls, I mean. While Thibault tried to play the matchups by starting Swanier and putting her on Pondexter, it didn't work all that well, and clearly Cappie heard the people calling for her to pass. I thought she was distributing well, but I dind't realize how well until I looked at the box. Miller had a quiet game, but she's an unbelievable rebounder for a guard- strong, tenacious- the Bangs of Steel probably helped Phoenix take the edge on the boards. I thought Willingham had herself a nice little game- it was fun watching her and Whitmore get into it, though I'd put money down on Whitmore coming out the victor in that contest. Tangela Smith has a funky release- I know this is not news, but that's the kind of thing I've been noticing more lately- but it works for her, and she was really tough on the offensive boards. So was LaToya Pringle- I like the way she works on the boards, very athletic and sneaky. Mazzante also seems to have been reading the boards. Really not impressed with Gaines's demeanor, though. He never seems to be into the game until he's about to flip his shit.
IMO, Whalen did not put her stamp on the game, and whether that's a matter of trying to get everyone else involved or a defensive effort on Phoenix's part, I can't be certain. But I felt she didn't take enough shots that she should have taken, because it seemed like when she shot, good things happened. Holt was a non-factor, or a negative factor. One of those. Swanier was a firestarter, and while I wouldn't keep her in the starting lineup, I'd definitely give her a healthy whack of minutes- she works better as a change of pace player, as someone who can kick things up a notch instead of starting off at high speed. Whitmore had fun whacking around Willingham and Smith, but that was about it. Jones had a lot of great shots, but a lot more stupid shots. Carey had a lot of nice shots, which made up for Anderson not being in the groove. Turner drew the short straw and had to defend Taurasi when she was in, and that had a lot to do with Turner's foul count. I finally got my first look at Gruda- in build, she reminds me very much of Sancho Lyttle, all long limbs without the feeling that someone stretched her on a rack. And yeah, she's raw, but she'll be a very good post in this league as long as she works with a coach who knows how to use her. Raymond made a brief cameo, declined to go up with an offensive rebound, and ran to the bathroom during the game.
The refs completely lost control of this game, IMO. The shoving match between Willingham and Whitmore really pointed that up, but they let Phoenix get away with a LOT of talking. The boos were magnificent. Very uneven calls.
It looks like I wasn't the only Board Junkie at Geno's who noticed Kelly Miller. The Bangs of Steel are unmistakeable, except for The Other Bangs of Steel.
For some reason, neither the arena hosts nor the Solar Power dancers understood why I was telling them that they might not want me on camera when we had a chance to be part of the "Let's Make A Deal" game. I don't know about you, but I thought it might be tacky for someone in a Rebecca Lobo Liberty jersey to be part of the Sun promotion. Seriously, I can understand not knowing the other teams in the conference, or about the rivalries, but is basic literacy a lost notion?
I think this was the first time I was actively rooting for the Sun, instead of for selected Sun players. I found myself cheering when Swanier knocked it away from Pondexter. I found myself screaming at Whalen to shoot. It was very disconcerting. Fun, though. :D And then I won a nice little chunk of change, so woo. I may actually turn a profit on my partial plan when all is said and done.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
June 29th, 2008: Phoenix at Connecticut
Friday, June 27, 2008
June 26th, 2008: Indiana at New York
New York Liberty 102, Indiana Fever 96
This is the game that never ends- yes, it goes on and on, my friends. Both teams made sure of that, for good and for ill.
Oh my God, that was epic. That was dramatic. That was- I hope a lot of people caught this while channel-surfing during the draft, because, damn, that there was a lot of basketball. I'm exhausted, and I don't even want to think about what kind of state the starters are in for both teams.
I thought it was a bad sign when my train ride started out full of crazy- we had one guy loudly inveighing on the way people talk really loudly on trains, and after he called me a blimp, one woman started screaming at him to get off the train… and then went on her own little rant about how he thought he was entitled because he was a white American man. So that was fun like a thing that's not fun.
But then the Fever were very nice- that's one thing I'll say for them, that franchise does treat folks with class- and I got to hear Katie Douglas let out a completely frickin' random primal scream/war whoop during shootaround, so that was awesome. I gambled that security wouldn't give me agita because ESPN would want seats down near the court full, so I sat behind Ali (who, in case you don't know her, sits right over by the Liberty bench- right behind Hirsh.com's usual spot, in fact) until the actual ticketholder showed up in the second quarter, at which point I headed up to hang with kw, Mrs. kw, and auntie. That was fun. I miss my old neighbors.
Ebony Hoffman is impressing me more and more every time I see her. She's always been surprisingly fast for her size, and very agile as well. Now she's extending her range and making defenses respect her clear out beyond the arc. One of 2004's hidden gems, to be sure, and as much because of hard work as because of talent. Douglas was killer at both ends, hitting big shots that would have broken any other team and making sharp defensive plays. The Tamikaze (great nickname, BCBG) was at it again, but she didn't dominate the way I'm used to her dominating. This wasn't her game the way so many games against the Liberty have been. TSB seems to have lost the hooker twitch in her walk, and was actually working for rebounds today (although that's not exactly challenging against Cathrine). Tully hit the floor, so it was an official game, and she made some critical defensive plays, but I still don't understand that last shot of hers. As for the Fever bench, I know Tan White was there, but I genuinely don't remember her doing anything worth mentioning. Ditto LaToya Bond. Bales got a few minutes, including some in a weird lineup with TSB. Sherill Baker served as the defensive switch for TSB, and I think that was about all she did. Feaster got her shtos, and hit one of them, because seriously, people we do not leave Allison Feaster open, not until at least one leg has fallen off. Bernadette Ngoyisa looks like she's put on a lot of weight since leaving the Liberty, and isn't using it at all well. She looked really lost in the offense- yes, I know, she's relatively new to the team, but catching the ball should not be that complicated an operation.
Then again, a fan of the team that has Cathrine Kraayeveld shouldn't talk about fumbling passes. Jeebus. But Cat turned it up in the fourth quarter with the tie, and in the OT. In the first half, though, she and Essence were both awful. And I got to see Cathrine look awful and awfully confused up close. When Essence started to come alive in the second half, we were joking around about what Patty said to light a fire under her, and I suggested that the best way to put the fear of God into her would be to just quietly say, "Coach Stringer would not be pleased." But in the OT she started acting like she had to put everything on her shoulders, and took some absolutely crazy shots that she had no business taking. Loved when she climbed the stanchion to avoid going into the crowd. Sista Christon- she was a fighter out there, getting her shots and forcing fouls. I was surprised that most of the boneheaded "hey, let's go out there and not win this game!" moves weren't from her- I love Shameka to pieces as a person, but she does tend to make some dumb decisions on the court. Janel- wow. Just. Wow. I'm pretty sure that's a Garden record for a Liberty player- Becky's 33 came at Minnesota, and the only other game I could think of was when Tari went for 30… against the Fever, in a game where we needed every poin to win. What do you mean, that sounds familiar? Loree is solid, and played solid, except for a couple of inexplicable passes. Miss Jackson got called on to swing between Janel and Cathrine's positions, and she brought a lot of energy. The rest of the bench didn't play all that much, which had to hurt later. Erin was basically a decoy during crunch time in the fourth and the overtimes, and I was about ready to kill her for passing up her three until Cathrine, you know, tied the game, then it was all okay. Leilani wasn't bad, and I think a couple of more minutes for her during regulation could have helped alleviated some of the fatigue problems that set in in the overtimes. Yes, I'm thinking of the free throw that Loree left short. Lisa was active on defense, but it seemed that as soon as she found her groove, she was pulled, never more to see the light of day. Erlana had a Screen of Death and one helluva tackle.
Actually, there were a lot of tackles in the game. The crew let the players play, for the most part, and it went both ways. Difference in fouls and free throws came both in the timing of Indiana's fouls and in forcing fouls. That, and missing shots that should have been and-ones. I never thought I'd see the day when I screamed, "JUNE, I LOVE YOU!" but that jump ball, overruling the male ref all ready to call a foul on Loree, saved the game for us. Things got quite wild out there.
Rebecca Lobo's pregnant again. Either she wants an entire front line or she wants a boy. Other than that, she looks good. It's disconcerting to see her in flip-flops, though. (Weird fact of the day: all three players who have ever worn #50 for the New York Liberty were in the house, with Rebecca working as a commentator, Bernie on the Fever, and Jess on the Liberty.) She was chatting with Kym Hampton before the game- soliciting tips, maybe? Because, you know, she totally hasn't done this before…
Gorgeous anthem. Fucking amazing. Boring contests, though. And for the love of God, I don't care if he's the sweetest guy on the planet, that guy in the Christon jersey is enough to make a woman wish she could turn gay.
Whole lot of Charlotte going on tonight, and at one of the quarter breaks, Janel and TSB were chatting it up about something.
Late-arriving crowd. These 7PM tips dick with everyone's schedule.
Favorite moment of the game, of sorts- Katie Douglas gets off a three as Erin Thorn closes on defense… and out of Erin Thorn's Utahn, possibly-Mormon, mouth comes a short, hard word starting with F. Our little Cougar is growing up and learning how to sling the local lingo. *sniffle*
Not amused by Coyle's bench management. She does know you're allowed to use reserves in the second half, right? On the other hand, she managed her timeouts much more effectively than Dunn did, and Dunn *was* forced into using her bench by the foulouts of Hoffman and Catchings.
I think that's about all I'm coherent enough to write. That was just epic. That's the only word left for it.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
June 22nd, 2008: Phoenix at New York
New York Liberty 105, Phoenix Mercury 72
A historic day at the Garden as Tiffany Jackson and Ashley Battle are only the vanguard of a whole lot of butt-whoopin'.
This is what we've been waiting for. As I left the Garden today, in my Lobo jersey, passing people in Spoon jerseys and Wicks jerseys and the old green warm-up shirts and the old orange shirts- through all these colors, all these schemes, all these mottos, all these players, we've been waiting for something the frakkin' Utah Starzz did in their first season.
I had a good feeling about the day on the way in- the E train I was on included a baller strapping on some serious sneakers and already in uniform, with a loving partner in the next seat sharing earbuds, heading down to West 4th- but the supportive partner was a guy, and the baller was female. Of course, this meant that oh, brilliant, the Liberty managed to schedule opposite a tournament at West 4th, sheer brilliance.
And then I had less of a good feeling, because it was clear the Cagers Club was there for Cappie and not for Essence, and there were way too many #3s that weren't Tiffany Jackson, and the anthem sucked and the Mercury started off on a 7-0 run. I was so afraid Phoenix had finally found their groove and we were going to be the latest victim, because we were a team that couldn't shoot with them like Chicago or Connecticut.
Well. Um. Then Janel happened. And then Cathrine happened. And then the floodgates opened.
Where do you begin with a game like this? Cathrine of the three threes to break it open and get it rolling, who got on the boards and only missed a double-double because she was pulled? Janel, who laid a hurtin' on inside? Loree- oh, God, have we ever missed Loree, who just opened it up? Or how about the bench? How about Miss Jackson tearing it up inside? How about Ashley Battle and that unbelievable shot she made that ended with her on her ass? How about Lisa Willis's shooting and hands? How about Erlana Larkins, who hit the historic bucket? HOW ABOUT THESE LIBKIDS? Tiffany was unbelievable. Ashley played like she was saying "Fuck you, Patty!" with every basket and every stutter-step. Leilani was solid. Lisa looks like she's been learning from Loree and Ashley. Essence worked hard enough on defense that we didn’t need her offense. Shameka was the only one who didn't really produce- but can you imagine what the score would look like if she was in the groove? And I love how into the game they get for each other. Loree and Lisa were all but dancing when Ashley scored.
Taurasi was determined not to lose. Perhaps a little too determined. Maybe she got a little too into it, hence the ball spike that drew the T. I think Cappie was trying too hard to get the foul on some of those shots, because that crew wasn't calling much at all. Le'Coe Willingham was the only other Mercury player who really, really impressed me- it looks like she's put back on some of the weight she lost in Connecticut- I'm not saying this as a bad thing, because she was starting to be a true tweener, too thin to be effective in the post but nowhere near a small forward, and at least now she's got the girth to throw around. Miller was just completely stumped- stop the engine and the car doesn't go, I guess. Smith seemed to be settling for too many outside shots. Off the bench, I like Pringle's athleticism, but she still has a lot to learn- I'm wondering now if that's Farris's role more than actually playing is. Yuko Oga reminds me of a very young, very raw Michele Timms. But yeah. Defense? What defense?
"Rapper's Delight". No, seriously. White girl rapping! White girl rapping! Ashley and Lisa were into it, though. The question becomes "how much booze was involved and who drank how much?" No "Bohemian Rhapsody", but definitely a hoot.
Megan, Irish do not tan. Trust me on this one. Unless you're talking fake tan, what you're going to be working on is your sunburn.
Megan and Jess were coordinated today. I found that somewhat disturbing.
I've never been thanked for asking someone for their autograph before, but Oga did so. Phoenix seems like a nice bunch.
I'm still not sure what my favorite play of the game was. I mean, yeah, AB's circus shot, but also, Cathrine's three threes and Tiffany's two and-ones. Or the one play where Cathrine got it downcourt to Janel under the basket.
We spotted Epiphanny Prince after the game. A couple of folks hollered that they'd like to see her on the Liberty.
History, baby! History! No matter what else happens, we'll always have this.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
June 14th, 2008: Minnesota at New York
New York Liberty 77, Minnesota Lynx 76
Dueling morons at the Garden, and the Game Notes are not as amused as they should be.
We cannot afford to keep blowing leads. Do you really think we're going to have just enough in the tank next time? Does anyone here really think that Cappie and Diana are only going to combine for 20-something points ever again? Right, I didn't think so.
I'm starting to understand why there are people who don't like Candice Wiggins. Maybe it's just the vantage point I have, but I don't like her attitude on the floor. She comes off as a newly crowned Pretty Pretty Princess, sure that every defender who breathes on her has committed a foul and just as sure that she's never committed a foul in her life. That being said, she's money in the clutch and Zierden uses her the way I always advocated using Hammon- more than a catalyst, more than a sixth woman, but as a way to completely demoralize the opposition beyond all hope. "Okay, we've held them, we've forced them to bring in their bench… aw shit, we're fucked." Seimone started off fast, got slowed up, and then got started again in the second half. She absolutely humiliated Essence on one play. Has Anna DeForge always been this good a rebounder? She was outrebounding our frontcourt players for most of the game, and while that's not necessarily hard, that's reasonably impressive for a guard of average build. I can see why they keep her in the starting lineup. Quinn was very quiet, and we saw an awful lot of Wiggins at the point. Seriously, what is it with WNBA coaches trying to turn shooting guards into point guards? DO NOT WANT. Ohlde was- well, for one thing, I was very confused when she was introduced as Nikki, although that was corrected when she scored her first bucket deep into the second half. Says something that her name wasn't spoken until the fourth quarter. Anosike had one of those rookie nights. We all have them. Oh, God, do we all have them. I think Janel managed to get into her head a little bit- she looked very disconcerted by Janel. I don't understand why Zierden doesn't play more of his posts, such as they are. The only constant I have found about Kristen Rasmussen is one I learned from sportsfanswhine back in the Sun days- if Rasmussen comes in the game, boneheaded mistakes are bound to occur. Not that she doesn't hustle, and not that she can't hit a shot or two, but it always seems that things go wrong when she's on the court. We had a brief and unmemorable Navonda Moore sighting. Houston was aggressive, perhaps a little too much so, and it's very disconcerting to see Lynx players wearing #20 and #30 who aren't Williams and Smith. Also, any lineup that has Charde Houston playing the 4 in a WNBA game is made of 100% organic fail.
Balance was the word. Balance and That Moron not knowing what to do with the pieces she has on her bench. We need defense because Minnesota's top two shooters are their starting three and their sixth woman? Sure, only give Ashley Battle two minutes and bring in Lisa and Megan. Granted, Lisa seems to have taken a page from Sherill Baker's book- her hands have been very active these last couple of games. Need offense in the fourth quarter? Well, of course you ignore the shooting guard who's been shooting and go with the shooting guard who's got the back and neck injury that's causing her to use a thermal thingy on her neck. That's what frustrates me most about That Moron- the pieces are there, whether they're offense-shaped, defense-shaped, energy-shaped, or go-out-there-and-make-people-cry-uncle-shaped, but she doesn't use them properly.
It's nice to see Cathrine rebounding, but defensively that was a mess. Solid, quiet game from Janel. Solid all-around game from Sista Christon. Essence had her hands full on the defensive end, but she still put in her points. Leilani also had the difficult task of checking the veteran DeForge. Not fun for a lil bit like her. Much love for Miss Jackson, who's either taking over Ashley's firestarter role or angling for Cathrine or Janel's starting spot. Also much love for Lisa and the four-point play- all the more reason to either use Erin as the third point instead of Megan or to just sit her until and unless she becomes necessary again. And… again, please do not kick, kill, drown, or eat That Moron's puppy. That's the only reason I can think of for AB, and now Erlana, to be on disturbingly short leashes. Also, clock management tonight sucked. Two shot clock violations, that unspeakably fucked up eight-second call, the general inability to get off a shot faster than the average Scarlet Knight- seriously, I saw enough of this offense at Rutgers, dear God, why must I suffer through it again?
Excellent anthem tonight. Well done, you with the strange combination onf names.
So much love for the Golden Maddie. I love when the ladies get into their roles. But is it just me or are they doing fewer of the silly things than they used to? Used to be they'd have the Golden Maddie *and* the Ad-Libs; now it looks like a choice.
Thank you, MSG, for not shoving the fucking Arthur Ashe game in our faces until the fourth quarter. Please to be advertising the rest of the season so the crowds don't look so sad.
To the two dimwitted demonspawn sitting behind us- no, it is not cute that you chant the advertisers' names during play. Actually, it's kinda creepy, and your dad encouraging you sucks even more.
So exactly what was going on with Cathrine and Rasmussen? They were going it at it something fierce for a couple of plays. I realize Rasmussen has backstory with every team in the league, but this seemed personal, and unless Rasmussen is defending Jamie Carey's honor after the Screen Of Death two seasons ago, it was out of place.
The refs sucked. At one point I was fairly convinced that one or more of them had Wiggins in Pick One. But the refs always suck. Can't keep complaining about that unless I get the ear of someone who can fix them.
The longer we win, the longer That Moron stays employed. But I don't want to see them lose. Oh, the dilemma.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
June 8th, 2008: Sacramento at New York
Sacramento Monarchs 80, New York Liberty 73
The Game Notes are not pleased with the New York Liberty, but think Monique Ambers is awesome.
Look, guys. If you're going to phone it in, please let us know in advance so we can know not to expect anything from you. On the other hand, if you're going to rock, knowing that in advance might be cool too.
Let me say this publicly and for the record so that all and sundry can see: Monique Ambers is completely and totally awesome. I was down by the rail, the autograph hangout at the Garden, and the spot I took happened to be right next to where she was hanging out, watching a few of the Monarchs do stretches. I had a Scholanda Robinson card on my little clipboard, because she was the only Monarch I wanted a signed card from- I already had the others. Coach Ambers caught a glimpse of me and remarked something along the lines of "Look at you in the Rebecca jersey." I told her I'd been a fan since the beginning, and that I remembered Phoenix- and Cleveland, as Coach Boucek had come up behind her by that point. She reached across, took my card and marker, went out onto the court, presented both to Scholanda Robinson, and brought me back my marker and the signed card. "So you don't have to wait," she said, or something along those lines. (She didn't know I was also waiting on the rookies; I didn't know the rookies were in protective packaging until gametime.) So if anyone out there is from the Monarchs front office- you guys are doing something right, and I just thought I'd let y'all know that, from someone who wishes her franchise would do something right.
Missed the anthem, which I hear might have been a good thing. Didn't miss our own kwnyc as season subscriber of the game, though, no sirree.
Where the hell did Ticha Penicheiro find a jump shot? She's been in this league for how long now with the reputation as a pass-first, pass-second, pass-third, what-do-you-mean-I-should-shoot player, and suddenly she's got a jump shot? Now, okay, part of that might have had to do with having a little teeny defender on her, but seriously. I'm still in shock. 17 points and 2 assists is a line I expect to see from Kara Lawson, not Ticha Penicheiro. Speaking of Lawson, she definitely got her shots, and if she'd hit more of them this would have been a blowout. Powell somehow got to her average after a quiet start. Adrian Williams still has it. She might not score a lot, but she'll score enough, and she'll get her rebounds. She's a nice piece to have. I'm really surprised more didn't go through Brunson, considering that the natural matchup would be with Cathrine, who doesn't like that whole defending inside thing. Harper seems good at doing the little things- I think the question is whether she can learn enough from Williams and Brunson to start doing the big things on the professional level. Didn't see too much of Kelly, saw a whole lot of fouls on Smith, didn't see all that much of Aqua Franklin despite Ticha's foul trouble and sudden hamstring issues in the fourth quarter. Chelsea Newton, of course, brought the defense- there were a couple of plays where Megan Duffy was damn near wearing purple, Chelsea was so up on her. At the same time, I see why Sacramento fans are frustrated- they spent a lot of time in the backcourt, including the eight seconds, and the rotation is a bit inexplicable. But only a bit, compared to the mess That Moron has left.
Okay, so maybe Leilani used up most of her store of awesome against Houston. Not that she wasn't passing well, but she wasn't getting or hitting the shots she had against Houston. And no one really picked up the slack. Janel, I'm looking at you. Stop fouling and start shooting. I'm kinda hoping that her dad gave her hell for how little she was into the game. You too, Cathrine. Seemed that every good play she made was sandwiched around a play that was pure bonehead. I'll give her credit for being on the boards, though. Sista Christon- okay, she was rebounding, too, but they're all too tentative on the shot. Guys, it's okay. Really. This isn't Rutgers. Speaking of, I thought Essence was solid, and it would have been awful nice to have her in at crunch time. Or if she couldn't go for whatever reason, Ashley Battle. Seriously, what in the nine circles of Dante's Inferno did AB do to Coyle that's got her superglued to the bench? Whatever it is, AB, either don't do it so you'll play or do more of it so we don't have That Moron to kick around anymore. Lisa was hot in the first half, but by the time That Moron remembered she existed, she'd gone cold. Mom, who's got a different vantage point from the other side of the arena, says she saw Lisa open two or three times that Leilani missed. I'll credit the Sacramento defense for that, though. Tiffany was on the boards like whoa. Think there's any chance of Miss Jackson starting sometime soon? Because we need to whack someone in our frontcourt upside the head with a cluestick, and Tiffany might be a reasonable facsimile of a cluestick. Erin… I have learned not to expect defense from her, and at least she scored some. Megan is stil painfully slow to watch, and it did not help that she had an old Big East foe on her like white on rice. Erlana… er, she seems to have found the wall as rapidly as she hit her stride originally.
Dear refs: calling a game evenly does NOT mean that you call every foul on Sacramento in the first half and call every foul on New York in the second half. We were seriously wondering if Ticha offered you favors at halftime, the superstar calls you were giving her. Also, whichever one of you nitwits tried to gyp Erin out of her free throws on the fifth foul of the second quarter, please learn to count before I use That Moron as a blunt instrument on your fool head.
While I'm thinking of it- Coyle, you do realize that if a player is doing well, you leave her in the game, right? You don't wait for her to do well and then yank her. The glasses, they do nothing. Not to mention, Erin Thorn is not a small forward, nor is Lisa Willis, and WTF are you doing running three-guard sets when we have been sucking rocks on the glass?
It was very nice to see Sue there with probably her mom, although either that was a horrible camera or she's using Wyckoff and Douglas's old yellow dye from the rookie cards. And you know a game has gone down the shitter when the alumnae head for the door before the buzzer.
It's probably for the best hardly anyone showed up, but, um, WHERE THE HELL WAS EVERYONE? The Yankee game was over before tip. The Mets are in San Diego. The Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees aren't in season yet. The weather was too disgusting for even the beach. And yet the place was emptier than even the weekday games. It's like the team forgot to market the rest of the season. And I'm going to have to smack a bitch if I get this stupid Outdoor Classic thing shoved down my throat much longer.
No, seriously. I'm this close to using my mom's cane as a cluestick. And if they lose to Atlanta, That Moron should decline to board the flight back to New York out of shame.
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6th, 2008: Houston at New York
New York Liberty 81, Houston Comets 73
A Liberty point guard with the initials LM kicks four kinds of ass- but not the one you might expect.
I feel like some sort of riddle has been posed here, such as "how many pounds of badassery can one stuff in a point guard?" Seemed to be a couple of answers on the floor tonight.
Got to the Garden pleasantly early for a change- I love a job that lets me out at 4 on Fridays for the summer- and got to see 'bout half the team coming in. Yellow is a good color for Jess, and Leilani was as cute as a button in a little blue frock.
Cut to 6:30 or thereabouts; imagine our surprise when we saw Megan Duffy dressed out… along with Leilani and Erin. Uh-oh, someone was hurt. Sure enough, Loree sat out the game with back spasms. If I'd known that, I would have nicked one of my dad's Lidocaine patches for her.
The anthem would have been much nicer if the singer could hold a note, because she had a very pretty voice. Also, seriously, people, get up on your feet and STFU. Even if you don't consider the anthem to be worthy of respect, respect the singer.
Tina's still got it. She beat the hell out of Cathrine on defense, a trend that's starting to appear distressingly often in the Game Notes Of Doom. Perhaps she's heard the criticism leveled towards her, because she seemed to be playing much more inside than I'd been led to believe. Michelle Snow seemed to be just kinda there, but she finished with 15, and I have to assume that they were on putbacks, because Houston was all over the offensive glass. Tante was strong defensively, and I think one of Coach Thompson's big mistakes was not having Tante on Shameka nearly enough. Pee-Wee started, and I thought Leilani played well against her- perhaps that step was lost somewhere? Off the bench, I was very impressed with Erica White- my, she's fast, isn't she? I got to see Houston doing a footwork drill, and she was just lightning quick. I mean, damn. I love good footwork, and she was flashing between the rungs of that ladder thing like she was going to try out for a tap troupe one of these days. Mabika is still Mabika. Not as fast as she used to be, but still decently fast, and you can take the woman off the Sparks, but you can't take the Spark out of the woman. Was surprised that we didn't see much of either Williams or Lyttle- or if we did, they didn't do much. No wonder I don't remember Lyttle- funny thing is that it looked like she was set to go in at one point, unless she's no longer #21? I dunno.
Leilani Mitchell, good gracious. Keep this up and I'll take back everything I ever said about you and do it to your face. Houston's penchant for giving up threes was fully in force tonight, because Leilani was hitting from outside- y'know, I kept wondering if Leilani could miss, and it turns out she couldn't. *beams* And Cathrine was lighting it up from beyond the arc, too, although having *all* her shots be threes discomfits me a bit. Might have had to do with the foul situation, but one can never be sure with Cathrine. She also had a monster block on either Thompson or Snow that was just totally awesome, and set some very solid screens. Ahem. Solid, refs. That means they don't move. Essence on Ajavon was an interesting matchup- Ajavon faked her out a couple of times, but then Essence made a couple of great defensive plays on her and the balance was evened out again. Shameka got clocked pretty bad on a jump ball- looked like she got an elbow in the eye or to the temple; we weren't sure if she was seeing straight, because she wasn't walking straight and she came out for a few minutes, but then she came back in and hit a three, so Coyle's gamble worked. Janel was solid- it's the hair, I tell you, because glory be, the blonde streak is gone and she no longer appears to have a racing stripe down the middle of her head. Good thing we got good play out of the starters, because we didn't get a whole lot out of the bench. Tiffany brought energy, but not particularly well directed energy. Erlana, except for one key stretch where she turned around the momentum that had swung Houston's way, looked like she was in over her head a bit. But she's a rookie. These things can be forgiven. Megan backed Leilani up, and she looked rather slow, especially against White. Lisa… maybe she was nervous because her dad was in town? I don't know. And Erin mostly got called for fouls and complained about them. Erin expresses her frustrations very openly. They can be seen from the upper deck. If you blinked, you missed Ashley; she barely played at all, and not at all in the second half. Probably for the best my mom missed the game, because otherwise there would have been a beating with a cane.
As mentioned, Lisa's dad was in town- guess this was a holdover from Seattle- and so were Tiffany's parents. Also, duh, Coach Stringer was in attendance with the staff. I think one of them was wearing the Rutgers scarf Coach Stringer had last year in the tournament, and if so, I need to find out where she got it so that I can put it on the Christmas list with the Cappie Patch Doll.
To the 53% of you who screwed up the trivia question- okay, thinking VJ inbounded to Spoon for The Shot, that's understandable; at least VJ would have been in the game because she was a starter and the starters would have been in for crunch time. To those of you who said Becky Hammon… no. Just no. You fail. I should mention in passing I do a surprisingly good Matt Devlin impression and have the entire call memorized.
To the folks in my section who got up the DEFENSE chants when the sound system didn't provide cues- y'all rock so hard. To the wet blankets in front of us- seriously, don't give us dirty looks for making crowd noise. We hadn't even started cursing at the refs at that point.
Because we needed to curse at the refs. Some of those calls were inexplicable. And then there was the one with the ponytail who felt the need to make late whistles. Considering one of them was Cathrine's… fifth, I think?… that was quite annoying.
Dear Coach Coyle: if a player is doing well, you leave her in. If a player is playing badly, you take her out and try to figure out what's wrong with her. You do not yank a player when she is kicking ass. This is what got Nancy Darsch fired. Not that I would mind seeing you get fired for the same mistakes, but that means screwing up my team, and this is a thing I do not approve of.
The Liberty have a couple of awesome t-shirts out. Can't wait to see those T-Fense tees all over MSG. The J-Mac and Cheese one… I can live without the pun. In general, though, I'd like to see more people in gear- there really don't seem to be a lot of committed fans among the folks in attendance, and that makes it hard to get crowd noise going. These kids deserve the kind of ruckus the Garden crowd used to bring. These kids deserve to have us blow the roof off. MAKE SOME NOISE!
There's always another game to look ahead to, at least when it's June, and Sacramento might be a bunch of question marks, but they're still the Monarchs. In the meantime, I'll rejoice in the victory and marvel at Leilani.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
June 3rd, 2008: Seattle at New York
New York Liberty 77, Seattle Storm 63
Shameka Christon brings the offense, Loree Moore brings the defense, Tanisha Wright brings the spark, and the refs bring the batshit crazy.
Now I know what happens to the worst referees: they become official scorers. By all the forgotten gods, that was a debacle and a mess, what was done with that scoreboard. Almost overshadowed the game, it did.
Seriously, MSG. Don't you guys check your own schedules? Maybe, just maybe, approving a Liberty game the same night that Cyndi Lauper and the Indigo Girls are at Radio City is a sure bet that you're going to get less of a walk-up crowd than you'd like, especially in June. And that the crowd that does show up is going to be a lot more tilted towards the Long Island girl and her team than you'd like? In all seriousness, there seemed to be as much crowd noise for the Storm as there was for the Liberty, and that is not on. WTF, New York City. WTF.
You can take the girl out of Detroit, but you can't take the Detroit out of the girl. I don't know what Cash did to Janel, but I did not approve of it. And the kvetching. Oy, the kvetching. Swintayla, STFU and play. As a Liberty fan, I was worried about LJ, because I know there's no way in hell she'd shoot 1-9 again, and she did make Cathrine look awful on defense, but she seemed to be settling for a lot from the outside. Especially when Cathrine was in foul trouble, I was surprised not to see LJ go inside more. Swoopes was very quietly badass. I knew she was doing well with the steals, and that she was scoring late, but I didn't realize until I got home that she was one board away from a double-double. Yo… every time she seemed to be edging towards getting into a rhythm, she committed a foul and that was that; threw her right off her game. Bird was statistically unimpressive, but I think she's made a commitment to keeping herself in shape- physically, I thought she looked faster and better than she has in the last couple of years. As for the Storm bench, I don't know if it was because he has no faith in Ashley Robinson or because Tanisha Wright was the hot hand off the bench, but Agler went small an awful lot- there were a lot of center minutes available with Yo's foul trouble, and yet Robinson barely played. Wright is an excellent reserve shooting guard; use her as anything else at your peril. I was honestly surprised at how little we saw of Gearlds and Beck- then again, I guess if Wright is on, Gearlds is a luxury, not a necessity, but that still doesn't explain why Beck only came in under three minutes.
Sista Christon, my oh my. The long ball was going in, which meant that her game was on. And Loree brought her all-around game, too. (However, somewhere in Knoxville, Pat Summitt had conniptions when Loree passed the ball straight to Swin Cash.) Janel was solid if unimpressive, although the poor woman ended up on the floor far too many times without a call in her favor. Also, the hair. No. On so many levels. One long stripe of stringy, longer-than-the-rest, bleach-blonde hair gives me bad mental images, especially when coupled with "Whoa, Nellie!" and the piggyback ride thing from last year. MOVING ON… Essence started off well, and she was a big help on defense later in the game, but there were a couple of stretches where she still looked like a rookie. Don't get me wrong, I'd still prefer her as the starter. Lisa was red-hot when she first came in, but she exhausted it all in that one burst and wasn't very much use afterwards. Cathrine, as mentioned, got beat pretty badly on defense, but held her own on offense, and set a couple of excellent screens. Erlana is a badass, but I doubt this needs further mentioning. Oh. More badassery- the ballsiest play of the night was, no doubt, Lisa Willis attempting to guard Yo Griffith… and adroitly forcing the travel. I don't care who you are, if you're a guard, you gotta have moxie to go up against Yo, no matter how far advanced in years she is. Not the night I would have expected from Tiffany, though it wasn't like she was bad or anything. Erin barely played. While it was for the best, I was surprised at how quickly she went from starter to last player off the bench. From the looks of her face at the end of the game, I'd say I wasn't the only one. Leilani, aside from the occasional identity confusion where she gets this crazy idea that she's Becky Hammon and starts driving the lane with no rebounders in sight, is rapidly becoming… well, okay, I'm still not very sanguine about Loree going to the bench, but I don't freak out quite as much as I used to.
Patty. Sweetie. You didn't suck tonight, for the most part. I was very impressed. But seriously, if Agler's sending in Kimberly Beck, who hasn't played all fracking game, you *can* take the starters off, no, really, you can, there's nothing more to prove, unless you want to prove that you're utterly classless. Just my two cents.
The refs sucked. The sucking was more or less equal opportunity. I'll just point at the free throws for the only important differential when officiating is concerned, and shut up from there. I will say that I'm surprised Cash got as many favorable calls as she did, and that Bird didn't get as many favorable calls as players of her caliber normally get.
The official scorers sucked even more. There was one point where the Liberty were up by… well, one point. Shameka hit a three. They gave it to Seattle. And then they gave it to Seattle again. And then it took them several minutes to finally take the six points back from Seattle, give the Liberty their hard-earned trey, and then put the fouls back because the fouls had gotten all fucked up. And then the fouls got fucked up again and they didn't correct them, and the rage, it rose mightily.
Nice of Lisa's folks to make it out cross-country.
Whoever sat Kym Hampton next to a Storm fan needs to be keelhauled.
Whoever was in the Maddie suit tonight needs to never be in the suit again. There's being a jerk by taking a kid's sign, and then there's grinding on a grossly fat guy in an overstressed Christon jersey. I can haz brain bleach?
Ad-Libs, no Golden Maddie. Cathrine likes the sun (as compared to the Sun, where the only enjoyment she seems to get comes from Screens of Death). Erlana thinks of New York as a party. Erlana's a bit of a dork. I like her. Ashley seems to have spent most of the game hooked to an IV of caffeine, ginseng, sugar, and Mountain Dew, possibly cut with a hallucinogen. I don't know if hyper describes it enough.
Winning is good. Can we play better next time, though?