September 13th, 2009: Washington at New York

New York Liberty 86, Washington Mystics 65

And boom, it was over, just like that.


It's a bittersweet ending, because it is an ending, and it's an ending that we've known was coming for a week and more. It's not like we were part of the group fighting for the last berth on the 12th. We were already out. It's a discomfiting feeling for a Liberty fan, something that just doesn't happen all that often.

Today was perfect attendance picture day. Thanks for getting me on the list, Megan- my ticket for the July 26th game hadn't been scanned, so I never got the letter, but Megan was kind enough to put me on after I sent her a link to the GNoD for that game. (If necessary, I also have a signed ticket from that game- good thing I never sent it to Frisco!) The pictures were pretty quick, though they paused between each fan shot to get a team photo. Janel kept bumping Cathrine. Cathrine's body language was "OMG, stop it, I can't take you anywhere." Seriously, though, we didn't even have time to say "Cheese!" (or "Liberty!" like the group before us) before they hustled us off. I was the one who put the devil horns on. It's amazing how many people had normal conversations with me while I was wearing them.

Vicky Bullett is still awesome and great to talk to. And her penmanship is exquisite. I've had a soft spot for her since her Sting days, so that was OMGyay! *squee*

Dear choir: "purple mountain's majesty". Majesty is singular, like Liberty. It's not majesties. Nice job otherwise, though.

Oh, Kym. The voice is still beautiful, but it's not been treated well. Repeating phrases is really annoying. The team gathering around her is also starting to smack of cheese, given that none of them played with her, and only four of them even played with someone who played with her, and if she weren't hammered into everyone's heads as a Liberty legend, I honestly think Essence is the only one who might know her from a hole in the ground.

(Does anyone else wish FFO would kiss and make up with Tari already? Those were some pipes.)

Big, big contingent of Mystics fans in attendance. Very enthusiastic before the game, not so much during, but that's 'cause the Mystics were trying to keep everyone from getting hurt and didn't really care about winning it because the seeds were locked.

I really don't like Matee Ajavon. I was glad that she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the first half, and that the first Mystics' possession ended in her losing the ball to Essence. I don't know what happened in the second half that lit a fire under her ass, but I did not like it one bit. Also, kinda jerky that she kept going for her own and not spreading the wealth to scoreless teammates when she had an opportunity. Melvin didn't play a lot, and I don't remember her doing anything remarkable. Harding ran the team all right, but there was something about her performance that I can't put my finger on that would have bothered me if I were a Mystics fan. Currie still maintains that attitude that endears her ever so much to opposing fans and to referees. I think I yelled, "Shut up, Monique!" at least three times in the first half. She was hitting her shots today, so I have to at least give her credit for that. Langhorne was relatively quiet, because the outside shots weren't falling and she was getting exploited in terms of height- she's one of the few players the Liberty can do that to, especially when we're going to our bench, where the taller players are. (well, and Erlana)

Nakia Sanford still has a chip on her shoulder, and at this point it really should have fallen off. She kept holding and kept getting annoyed that she was getting called for it. Blue kept getting into it with Leilani- I don't know what it was, either. Mosby probably would have been more effective if she hadn't been so rudely introduced to center court. When she came back into the game, she was limping and I think things were still a little fuzzy. Coleman had a wicked block, but couldn't get her shots to fall. Mann looked all right, but honestly, you could tell it was going to be a reserve-heavy night when she got into the game in the middle of the first quarter. No disrespect, but we all know the only reason this game mattered to New York was to not cause the fans to rise up en masse and storm the court in a fit of rage- and it certainly didn't matter to Washington, except in the "let's try not to demoralize or injure ourselves before we have to go to Comcast and take on the Fever, kplzthx?" sense.

Light day for the Liberty starters, too. Cathrine looks good for jetting back and forth from Prague. (No, not really seriously, but apparently her name is showing up in the boxscores for her overseas team. I doubt she's been flying back and forth- she'd look like four miles of pounded crap- but it's funny.) Janel hit one of those "oh God, oh God, oh God, OH MY GOD!" underhand shots she's inordinately fond of. Shameka didn't look quite right, but recalling that she lost seven pounds from the flu, and that she doesn't really have that much spare weight to lose, I'm okay with that, as long as she rests up and gets herself back to fighting trim for Russia and 2010. Essence was the lucky one who got to play swing shift, and someone lit a fire under her ass at halftime too. (No, seriously, I wonder if Stringer wandered into the locker rooms, because that's the only thing I can think of that would encourage both Essence and Ajavon.) Loree didn't end on a high note, though again she had good hands on defense.

Credit where credit is due: Sidney Spencer actually had a good game. Her shots were falling, and she was aggressive on defense- she had one wicked block and a couple of plays that were either steals for her, led to steals by teammates, or led to rebounds by teammates. Of course, I do reserve the right to scream, "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG NOT TO SUCK?!" Leilani ran a pretty smooth game, except when Nikki Blue was hitting her with her ass. Nothing ends well when someone is hitting someone else with their ass. I could have sworn that was Kia's Screen Of Death, but other people are saying Erlana, and this is what happens when you wander off to the ass-end of Queens after a game and have to pick up your notes the morning after on six hours sleep and all kinds of reactions churning in your gut. Whoever it was, it was a truly awe-inspiring Screen Of Death. They nearly needed a scraper to get Mosby off the floor. If it was Lark, I'm not surprised. She had a very concentrated game. In that regard, I like Donovan not using her much. It's like she bottles it up and saves it all for the one in four games she gets into. If Donovan used her every night, she might not be as effective. Kia was pretty solid, too. 3-4 from the line is good for her. I'll take that percentage from a post every night and twice on Sundays. Ashley had a couple of big plays, brought the energy. Tiffany came to life in the second half, weaving her way into the paint for baskets and boards.

Essence, I love you as a player and respect you as a person, and if anyone could talk logic into Kurt Walker, it would be you, but... you can't talk logic into Kurt Walker. The calls were both odd and uneven- some seemed random, and there was no consistency.

There were a lot of highlight reel plays in that game. The one that still stands out to me a day later is Leilani's save to Spencer for the deuce. That was pretty sweet.

Shameka spoke to the crowd afterwards. I applaud the sentiment and the words, but it seemed really stilted, like she wasn't comfortable being the one to do it. I guess they figured that Shameka was the only one who'd get a completely positive reaction from the crowd, given Janel and Loree's inconsistency this season. I'd have still picked Janel, though. She seems to be best at off-the-cuff large-scale fan interaction out of the three captains. Shameka's good on a small-scale basis, while Loree doesn't seem to be very good at sociability with strangers at all.

We got to see Ashley do her MC Hammer thing again. Still LOLing forever. She gets so into everything she does, whether it's a rebound or a parody.

What do you mean it's over? It can't be over! September's only half-done! There's slightly over two months to the college season! What do you mean I don't get any more basketball? You're kidding, right? This is a joke, right? YOU LIE!

I wish I could be more optimistic about 2010, but we don't have a first-round pick, everyone will be a year older, and all the other teams have a chance to improve. I don't even know that there are any free agents out there that could help us, and I don't trust the FFO to make a deal that isn't fucked up the ass. And I can foresee a power struggle between Donovan and Blaze, and I don't know that Donovan has the backing to win this, which means she probably wouldn't come back, because I can't see Donovan agreeing to another round of Blaze's fuckery. So, woo.

So... I guess you guys won't see me again until November, because Washington will have to make it back to the Phone Booth for me to even consider going down there for a playoff game, and I don't find that likely. Come college season, the GNoD will return, just as snarky, observant, random, detailed, occasionally analytical, subjective with attempts at objectivity, and rambling as you've grown to love. I hope to see you at St. John's... and the Garden... and Princeton... and Iona... and Columbia... and LIU... and Fordham... and maybe Marist... and possibly Monmouth... and maybe Wagner... and possibly Bridgeport... and maybe New Haven... but definitely in the bleachers at Carnesecca. I'll be the one with the purple clipboard, writing. Always writing.