June 21st, 2009: San Antonio at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 71, San Antonio Silver Stars 58

The Game Notes spend Father's Day at the casino, appreciate Asjha Jones, and are tempted by cookies (but who isn't?)


And once again, the eleven-woman roster takes a giant bite out of a team's chances of winning. Considering that San Antonio started off both halves even up with the Sun, then faded in the second and fourth quarters, you can't tell me that doesn't have to do with fatigue.

Girl Scout Day. I have got to learn to read the schedule more carefully. I hate kid-themed events. I know it was also Dads and Daughters day, but I tend to ignore that because otherwise I start laughing at the idea of my dad at a basketball game. Not his scene, to put it mildly, and I had to do a lot of groveling to go to this particular game.

Kids, anthem, nothing to write home about, except for the one bass. If it was coming from the stout blond kid, then I think we may have had a crossover from an animated universe, which should not be happening.

So the Stars' bench was even shorter tonight because Crossley's knee flared up. Katie Mattera did better against Tamika Whitmore than she did against the Liberty posts, but that's not saying much. Belinda Snell took a lot of shots, but the biggest one was the one she took from Chante Black's elbow to right under her left eye, which opened a gash 'bout an inch long that bled like the dickens. It took several minutes for them to track down all the blood on the court, since she'd crossed the timeline by the time they could get an injury timeout. Frazee didn't do as well as she did against New York, but I suspect her time will still be considered "quality" minutes, the same way a barely acceptable start is considered "quality" in baseball.

Lawson-Wade switched with Snell, and while the Roaring Rampage of Revenge factor did not come into play, she had a decent game. Sophia Young seems to be over the flu- either that, or her teammates noticed she existed again. With Lawson-Wade's shots not going in quite as much as they did Friday, and with the all-intents-and-purposes absence of Erin Perperoglou, they went to her early and often, and she showed off some real range. Darling- and Lawson-Wade, for that matter- seemed to be defining defense as reaching out and latching onto their assignment whenever she had the ball. I thought Darling ran the team better on Friday than she did on Sunday, but I will grudgingly respect her vocal leadership on the floor- there was one point, either before a timeout, or during the stoppage of play while CSI dealt with Snell's libation to the gods of sport, where she had the team around her and was giving them whatfor. Riley looked good. Though the folks around me were bitching about how she'd become a dirty player, I really didn't see it, except maybe one elbow, and Tamika Catchings will testify to how long Riley's elbows have been flying. But she was hitting that pretty little outside shot, and her teammates actually seemed to be looking for her this time. I'll credit that change in the game plan to Dan Hughes.

Dear Ms. Whitmore: especially after putting on weight, you are most definitely not a 3. Please return to the painted area of the court effective immediately, and remain there until August 19th. It's one thing to take those shots and hit them the way Young or Lauren Jackson does, it's another thing to take them and miss them badly. I did, however, approve wholeheartedly of the wicked pick that sent Darling crashing to the floor like the car hitting the wall in those crash simulations. That's a good use of extra weight. Tan White's settled nicely into the Sun rotation- though I thought she was more of a slasher than a jump shooter? Might just be me being an idiot. I'm good at that. Kiesha Brown was solid but unremarkable. I thought Lauren Ervin played Mattera really well on the defensive end- maybe couldn't get position against her on offense, but taking Mattera out of the play might well be a more important contribution. She also kept a lot of balls alive. She and Black might make a good pairing on the floor. Turner... I just don't know anymore. I suspect Thibault doesn't either.

Whatever Thibault said to Lindsay Whalen at halftime, he needs to say it more often, except when they play the Liberty. The first half was uneventful for her, then she came out and made some amazing defensive plays. She should have been credited with at least two steals. Chante Black looked really good. She was going for putbacks, mixing it up inside, and hitting that pretty little midrange jumper. The injury really freaked me and my neighbors out, because we still have no idea what the hell happened- there was no contact! Phillips came on strong in the second half. So did Gardin, whose game I really like. Her block at the end was the exclamation point on the game. But the night belonged to Asjha Jones, who showed off her range, her power, and her moxie. She looked really good. Really smooth.

I think this was the same crew from Friday, and I don't know whether they were tired, or Dan said something they didn't like the other day, or there were just more reasons to make bad calls in this game, but they weren't so great this time. San Antonio got eight points on blatant procedural mistakes- a three off what should have been an eight-second call, another one on an up-and-down, and a two on another obvious travel. Not quite as much dicey stuff as the Sun fans thought there was, but still not up to the standard they set in Friday's game. Both Thibault and Hughes were hot- funny, I don't remember Hughes having that much of a temper, but Brondello had to guide him back towards the bench on one particular play.

Very quiet crowd, except when there were t-shirts being thrown. I think I did more yelling than some of my neighbors, and this isn't even my team.

Made of win: the contingent of Silver Stars fans in section 17, especially the lady in the Sophia Young shirt and the lady in the Perperoglou jersey. I only saw one piece of Hammon gear, and a couple of Hammonites that I knew from New York; I suppose those who bought tickets just to see Hammon decided either not to come or not to wear their colors.

Post-game included watching Brondello and Lange try to parent an adorable little boy. I'm presuming he's theirs because he looks just like Olaf. Lots of awwwwing ensued, though I can't help but think that kid's going to have an odd accent when he starts talking a lot- German dad, Australian mum, raised in Texas. Also: Megan Frazee at Geno's. The WNBA might be "flush with worldly temptations", but just about the only one a second-round draft pick can actually afford is a big soft chocolate chip cookie at Geno's. Nom nom nom nom nom.