May 22nd, 2009: New York at Connecticut (preseason)

Connecticut Sun 74, New York Liberty 62

Close to nine hours on a bus, and the Liberty's backcourt decision-making, have the Game Notes of Doom doubting their sanity.


I'm assuming you don't want to hear about the Bus Trip From The Pits of Hell Itself. I left Flushing at eleven in the morning and got to Mohegan at quarter past five. That's six and a half hours, for the math challenged among you. JayhawkNYC shares my pain; however, she didn't have to deal with a pair of whiny old coots.

I'm starting to think Mohegan comps those lower bowl endcourt tickets, because this is the second time in a row someone's been trying to dump those tickets on the line. Not that I care; I get good seats at what I'd pay for upper deck seats. Leilani tended to disappear behind the stanchion, though. Tiny bunny is tiny.

Tiny bunny also did not play very much, both because Coyle was tinkering with the lineup and because she got into a lot of foul trouble. Since Loree was inactive, that left us slightly shy of PGs, to say the least. Abby played a few minutes there, and wasn't great at it. I think they tried having Spencer run the offense, and that went as well as you could expect, though she had a couple of good passes to Jessica. Of all the makeshift options, Essence was the least godsawful, but that's really, really damning with faint praise there. Loree, you're under orders to heal up and stay healthy, damnit. Also, iron, plz to be using it on your pants. The usual suspects started, but Cathrine and Janel both played very light minutes. Cathrine wasn't big statwise, but she's starting to do the things that Erin used to do- she's calling out screens, she's counting down the shot clock, she's encouraging her teammates. You can hear her even when she's not on the floor. It's a good thing. Janel looked good in her limited minutes. Very Janel-like. Shameka seemed kinda discombobulated, but maybe she was up late taking in the Mohegan nightlife. She's a diva, she does that kind of stuff. ;) Abby had her moments, but overall, I don't think she's ready for the next level. Spencer was overall unimpressive. Lisa was up and down. Ashley hustled, but we could have assumed that simply because she's breathing. Erlana... eesh. Lark didn't do herself any favors tonight. Jess looked much better than her line against Washington; the only caveat was that she was mostly playing against the Sun's reserve posts. Kia played all right- a little bit of good, a little bit of bad. She seems to need some warm-up time to get her groove on. It's good to see Miss Jackson again, but she too needs a little time to get back into the flow of things.

So far, it's looking like the Sun picked up a good one in Chante Black. It's been a long time since I've seen someone use her height so comfortably. She did a great job keeping rebounds alive and blocking or changing a lot of shots. She'll get pushed around because of her build, but she'll be very useful for the Sun in a few years. Everyone, quick, pretend to be surprised that Whalen and Phillips looked ready to play. I hope Phillips is okay, though- she took a pretty hard conk to the head in 'bout the third quarter, and I don't think she went back into the game. Asjha Jones just keeps getting better, smoother, and slicker. Goddamn, look at this fucking power forward, man. Tamika Whitmore looked like the Tamika Whitmore we knew and... er, knew... in New York. Barbara Turner looked to be in over her head, which isn't good for a returning veteran. Danielle Page blocked both Jess and Lark, which is kind of embarrassing for New York. Littles, Gay, and Ervin didn't do themselves any favors. Cirone played very briefly and was all but handed a steal on a really awful pass that resulted in a Sun fast break. Hayes stepped it up later in the game- I don't know what it is, but I like her a lot, and if she doesn't make this roster, I'd like to see her try to stick somewhere else. I think she could do it.

I swear to God, Bonita Spence is stalking me. I don't think I can even count anymore how many arenas I've seen her officiating in. The crew wasn't egregiously awful, although I do wish they'd called Amber Holt's attempt to check Spencer into the nonexistent boards a foul instead of just an out of bounds.

Smallish crowd, and most of the enthusiasm was still for the Huskies on the various rosters. The people all around me were Husky fans, and I got used to reciting, "For Connecticut, #11 is Ketia Swanier, #22 is Barbara Turner, #15 is Asjha Jones, for New York, #22 is Ashley Battle." I befriended themw ith the duplicate Barbara Turner cards in my bag. This is one of the reasons I carry spare cards.

Best plays on the court: for Connecticut, Erin Phillips's twisting lay-up down the lane; for New York, I'm partial to Jessica Davenport's left-handed hook shot.

Favorite moment away from the play: either Ashley, Lisa, or Loree yelling "LET'S GO WEINER!" at Abby. I heard the yell, but by the time I looked over there, all three of them were covering their mouths and laughing. Runner-up: half the bench looking at Ashley like she forgot something when a three was good and she didn't immediately high-five everyone.

Sometimes life just hands you a punchline, and if you're like me, and you have vaudeville in your blood like I do, you can't do anything except grasp it firmly with both hands and pull. At halftime, I walked the concourse because my legs were cramped (see the beginning bit, with the six hours on the bus). I spotted Blaze (the fake blonde, not the fuzzy orange one) and we exchanged polite nods. Not long after, I ran into a friend of mine, and we started chatting about the game. Spencer came up and I asked, "Why did we trade for Sidney friggin' Spencer?" He told me not to ask him. I turned around, and there Blaze was, buying herself a drink. So, being the incorrigible loudmouth I am, I belted out, "WHY DID WE TRADE FOR SIDNEY FRIGGIN' SPENCER?" With as much aplomb as is possible while buying beer, she ignored me, which I don't blame her for doing. Like I said. Sometimes life just hands you a punchline.

So good to see everyone again. Now I want season, damnit.