September 4th, 2009: New York at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 88, New York Liberty 85

If it's going to end, better with a bang than with a whimper; better for the bubble to be popped in a well-played, well-coached, and not-horribly-reffed game.


And now the season officially means shit.

Vols should not go to Geno's. I don't care that the color scheme is orange. When Spencer walked in, I held my breath waiting for the matter/antimatter explosion to end the world in fire. It didn't happen, much to my relief. (I don't want the world to end. That's where I keep all my stuff! /Tick)

Someone thought it would be a good idea to present Erin Phillips with a Yankees t-shirt. East of New Haven, that is not a good idea. She got ribbed for it, and I think some of the Sun fans are planning to give her a Red Sox shirt come the 13th.

Anthem was okay. Nothing spectacular, nothing that made me go "OH GOD NO MAKE THE HURTING STOP".

Apparently the WNBA does not follow the NBA dress code. This is the second game Asjha Jones has worn jeans to. Not that she looks bad in a pair of jeans, not at all, and the shirt was very nice too. It's just... they're jeans.

Shameka tried to do the late-arriving Meeksiah thing, but it fizzled out for her, and for the life of me I have no clue why she was anywhere near the ballhandler when she had five fouls. I don't get it. That block on Jekabsone-Zogota was pretty, though. Loree still has time management issues, but she showed her old cojones for the first time in a long time, snatching down rebounds, driving the lane, and hitting jumpers. I hope she doesn't let the results of this game dissuade her from taking a more active role in the last few games this season and into next year. Cathrine wasn't able to look for her own shot, whether because of play-calling, defense, or lack of initiative, but she continued her solid work on the boards and set a couple of nice screens. Essence started off hot, and had a decent defensive game, but again, stupid in the overtime. Janel still doesn't look like she's all there. I mean more than usual. She's not going up with any authority and she's settling for outside shots, plus she seemed to be under the impression that she was still on the same team as Whalen. Sit her ass down and keep her healthy.

Ashley had a lot of big plays, a lot of hustle plays- but her man-to-man defense was pretty bad. Holt blew by her a couple of times. Tiffany went to the Loree Moore school of clock management and took a lot of dumb (either contested, off-balance, or out of range) shots early in the clock, which didn't help our offensive flow all that much. Kia- girrrl, hit somebody! This isn't college. The sportsmanship rules are different, and if you don't hit them, they'll hit you, and it ain't gonna be pretty. Leilani was a decent match-up against Phillips, but she didn't do anything, and especially against a team that tinkers with lineups the way the Sun do, we need everyone to contribute, not just to not fuck up. Spencer got in briefly when Shameka had to sit down, whether because of exhaustion or stupidity, and didn't do anything. *sigh* Used to it by now.

Lindsay Whalen doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit". I think calling her the Sun's quarterback is appropriate, not just because of her solid build but because she orchestrates everything so well. She made sure the Sun kept their cojones by driving the lane- and our defense parted for her like the Red Sea. Jekabsone-Zogota continues to impress me not just with her shooting form and accuracy, but with her smarts on the court, both defensively and offensively. She shows a lot of hustle that I don't expect to see from European players and can't in my life remember seeing from European guards. She had the play of the game that was so amazing that it gets its own paragraph later. Gruda looked out of sorts, but I think that's as much to do with Janel keeping her out of her comfort zone and the constant doubles coming at her as it did with any attitude she may be showing. Tan White seems to be after Tully Bevilaqua or Debbie Black's record for most times laid out on the floor. Not exactly the world's greatest defensive plan, but it shows nerve. Kerri Gardin got the start, but I don't really remember much she did except for the three.

Erin Phillips may be crazy, but she makes things happen. Keeping her as a point guard is a waste of her talents. I don't know that she has the... not temperament, but the word will do... for the position. Holt drove the lane hard. She threw up some stupid shots too, but I think she kept the fire burning for the Sun. Whitmore was useful as a screen-setter, and, hey, it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it, especially when your roster makeup means you're taking a lot of threes right now. Black was pretty well neutralized. Woo-hoo. Brown got in, didn't do much.

There were some dicey calls in the game, but I'll be fair and say a lot of them went the Liberty's way. Not as many of them were bad calls as the Sun fans two rows behind me thought- one of them was so pissed that he called out Spence... and Spence did a double take and glared up at him. Bonita takes shit from no spectator.

Play of the game: one of the previously mentioned doubles comes at Sandrine Gruda. She throws a wild pass towards Jekabsone-Zogota, who leaps into the air and saves the ball from going into the backcourt by maybe two millimeters to Erin Phillips. Phillips makes a move, then sinks the jumper from the free throw line as the shot clock expires. Unfrigginbelievable. The first two times I saw the replay, I thought Jekabsone-Zogota was over and back, but the third time showed just how close she was to the line. Helluva play. Quick, name the one thing all three of these players have in common. Mike Thibault, this is why I think you're awesome.

What I liked about this game was that it was well-coached. Donovan recognized that Gruda was the only legit post threat left for the Sun with Jones's injury, so she made sure that Gruda wouldn't be able to use her height and outside shot effectively against us by having Janel pressure her and always having someone come double on her. Unfortunately, that strategy left the perimeter open, and the Sun took advantage of that with 11 threes. That's probably why Holt was taking so many more long shots than usual. Attack, counterattack; IIRC, when the Liberty started to defend the perimeter, the Sun started to go inside, forcing the Liberty back in.

All in all, it was a good game, and one that I enjoyed right up until the part where the Liberty lost.