September 8th, 2009: Indiana at New York

Indiana Fever 69, New York Liberty 63

It's a moral victory. Here, Libs, have some chicken soup.


I'll take my silver linings where I can find them. I'll savor what little victories there are to be had. In my view, forging a tie in the fourth quarter with three starters sitting on the bench speaks volumes to the grit and guts of some of these Libkids. Cutting four points off a ten-point halftime deficit for the final, with Catchings, Douglas, and Hoffman all playing their usual minutes in the second half, is a satisfying achievement, because I know that under Coyle we would have lost by twenty instead of clawing back.

Long hair, straight down, loose, suits Ashley's face very well. Damn, she looks pretty like that. Poor Loree looks like she needs a few weeks with some Tylenol, a bag of ice, and nothing vaguely resembling basketball in her life. Her face is getting scowl lines worn into it. :( Feel better, Loree!

For all the nonsense that goes on during play, Indiana is one of the most sociable teams in the league when it comes to schmoozing with the Liberty and the Liberty fans. Jessica Davenport was warmly greeted by a few of her former teammates- she and Leilani spent forever chatting at midcourt. Janel and TSB caught up, as did Janel and Katie Douglas. AD and Tully had a long talk, and don't think that didn't look silly with the height difference. Ashley smacked someone's ass, and it was one of the Jessicas, but I can't remember if it was Davenport or Moore.

Cathrine has awesome taste in music, if indeed she picked that mix (I have wondered all season, but I have no reason to doubt it, as I remember actually recognizing and liking one of the songs in her first playlist). She blushed stoplight red when they actually played it. Cat, if you ever see this, you shouldn't have blushed. Not only do you have awesome taste in music, "Runaround Sue" is actually Sue Wicks's old Cheesy Musical Hook, and I've always thought that was the appropriate old-Liberty comparison to what you bring to the table.

Should I have LOLed at Essence singing/rapping along to "Hypnotize"?

Continuing on the "Cathrine does awesome things" theme, all season I've been impressed by her throwing arm- she hits the 100s with regularity, without going all the way to the edge of the court. Tonight she must have felt like airing out her arm, because she stepped up and got one into the first row of the 200s. Fuckin' A. If she gets cut by the Liberty, the Sharks or the Justice should snap her up in a heartbeat.

The anthem singer's fashion sense was deplorable, but his rendition was one of the best I've heard at the Garden all season.

Speaking of fashion sense, Shameka had on tight black pants (someone else swears they were leather, but I refuse to speculate about Shameka in leather pants), a long blue-green top, and a broad black belt. Hair down, longish, crimped. I didn't realize Shameka had that much ass- it doesn't show up at all in the shorts.

Okay, wow, we can haz basketball notes nao. First off, screw you, Lin Dunn. I rocked the Davenport tee tonight for Jessica, and you put her in for a total of two minutes? Whatever. At least she gets to go to the playoffs. We have to buy tickets. Christina Wirth... I can see, a little bit, why the Fever fans are down on her, or at least down on her place in the rotation- she's a dirty work player with a sweet little shot, who'll get you rebounds and not fuck things up too badly, and I don't know that that's worth 11 minutes a game. Maybe it's not and Wirth just got more time because of the wonky rotations. January really needs to learn to judge her angles to the basket a little bit better. Her body's too sharply angled, and she flails her arms too much when she's trying to get to the rim. Calm down, Briann. No need to throw yourself quite so headlong into things. Dixon still has a little bit of the old magic, or maybe that was just because Spencer was guarding her on those baskets and Spencer has no foot speed. Jessica Moore got into foul trouble, really couldn't contribute as much as she'd like. I suppose she deserves some credit for making Kia's life miserable, though.

I'm trying to remember if Tully hit the floor or not. I mean, it's not a game if Tully doesn't hit the floor. That's one of the by-laws, dontchaknow. Sutton-Brown's block was memorable because Janel should have known better. It was a very dismissive swat. Alas, she didn't score, so we didn't get to hear the distaste drip off Mike W.'s voice as he said her name. Hoffman had the worst kind of luck on offense- her shots all rimmed out or didn't get the bounces, it was ridiculous. She was living hell on defense, though. She was part of a lot of critical double-teams that forced steals from the Liberty. People keep forgetting that she's a dancer. She has very quick feet for her build. *ahem, announcement* KATIE DOUGLAS IS LEFT-HANDED. SHE WILL GO TO THAT HAND. GUARD HER FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK. *end announcement* Some of those shots were impossible, except that she's Katie Douglas and impossible is a word for mere mortals. Also, see note on doubles. Tamika Catchings... my mom says, "I don't like what Tamika Catchings has become," and I can't say I don't think that's the best way to describe her. Her recklessness on the court has crystallized into an unpleasant tendency to shove people around. Ashley was the unfortunate recipient this time 'round, getting a dose of the Tamikaze's upper body and ending up on the floor with no call. She's still a talented player, with the ability to get in the paint for big boards (though she'll occasionally shove her own teammates out of bounds, good Lord) and a nasty knack for sinking jumpers in New York. But... she's not a player I necessarily want on my team anymore.

I hope Janel's gonna be okay. She played pretty well in the first half, even though she was obviously hurting... and then she didn't start the second half, Lisa White was probing her right ankle, and she spent a brief stint in the locker room. So that sucked. Loree also didn't start the second half. (Dear Briann: Loree's shoulders will not move if you throw yourself into her. This will only cause you pain, and to look like a right idiot. Love, Queenie.) Cathrine looked good in the first half, except when dealing with Hoffman, and then she barely played the second half (if at all). Ashley got the start for Shameka, and she alternated fucking awesome plays with OMG WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT plays. I swear, the refs must have felt pity for her, the way Tamika Catchings was beating her up- she just kept getting to the line. Essence was hot like fire in the first quarter- could hardly miss, and she was pretty tough on Douglas and Catchings, depending on how the assignments ended up. But Ashley and Essence did the bulk of the work making up for the lack of Shameka, and I think it wore on them. I don't think either of them will want to move until they absolutely have to.

Erlana got into the game early, and I liked that she threw her weight around a bit. Indiana'd been getting away with a bit of nonsense, so she put the fear of Liberty into them. Rebounded well, too, but damn, girl, hit a lay-up. Spencer got extended minutes, and did not suck on offense. Defensively, yes, I had Yamasaki-on-Sales flashbacks, and I can place the nine points she allowed. But for all that I bitch about her, she was open on a couple of possessions and should have got the ball. It was one of the better games I've seen her have at the Garden. Kia... I don't know. She's gotta work on her hands, whether the strength or the ability to catch the ball. I liked her work on the o-boards, though. Leilani did yeoman's work at the point- I don't think she's played this much in a single game since college, but with Loree unavailable for most of the game, FLB had to step up. Couldn't get her shot to fall, but she read the jumpers well and got the rebounds, plus kept the offense running smoothly through Indiana's chaos. I can't remember a damn thing Tiffany did, but I know she was out there.

What did we do to deserve June Courteau again? I mean it. There was some slop by both sides that should have been called for the sake of everyone's safety, and some ticky-tack calls that didn't benefit the flow of the game, but it wasn't as bad as last time (then again, good ol' Diamond Jim wasn't around this time). I pity anyone Indiana plays soon, though. I do think Catchings is going to put someone out for the season one of these days.

Also, what did we do to deserve that rendition of "New York, New York". OMG. Don't any of you Libkids quit your day jobs. Can't sing, can't dance, can handle a ball a little. (All right, all right, Essence. At least you know what a tune is, and the proper method of carrying it. But don't quit either your day job or your night job.) Dear FFO: we are past the days of Kym and Tari. Make the hurting stop.

Also, can we please recruit people who know how to play Tic-Tac-Toe? I'm tired of epic strategic fail in a game as simple as that. You try to make three. You block the other guy. Not rocket science. For that matter, if you see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and are asked where it is, don't hesitate before picking Italy. (Though Essence was in Venice, so shouldn't we have gotten some canals instead?)

Disappointingly tiny crowd. There were sections with one or two people in them. This is what happens when you schedule a game the night before the first day of school. Real women of jeenyus, eh?

Patricia, if you don't try out for the Timeless Torches, I will never forgive you. But if you do, and you block my mother from making it by taking the spot, I will be very pleased.

I'm almost up to my fourth page in 12 point Times New Roman, so maybe I should wrap this up. And I haven't even mentioned Erlana's awesome steal, or how cheesed off Shameka was by being on the bench, or Erlana's sneezing during a timeout that has me worried the whole damn team's gonna be sick by Detroit. But I guess it was an inspirational game. I love my team. <3!