November 15th, 2009: St. John's at Stony Brook

St. John's Red Storm 89, Stony Brook Seawolves 52

Guess who's back? The Game Notes of Doom are back again. Tell a friend. While you're at it, tell them about Shenneika Smith, Nadira McKenith, and Eugeneia McPherson.


Sorry for the delay- the layoff was so long that I started getting spam comments. If it makes you sad, then tell the Liberty and the Sun to make the playoffs so I can go to their games.

There are things that are just good for the soul. A 30-point win in the season opener is one of them.

We got bumped out of the bigger gym for a craft fair, but that's okay, because the bigger gym is dark and dingy and occasionally leaks. Pritchard Gymnasium is small, but at least it's brightly lit and has good seats. The sound system is designed for a larger building, but that's not important once the music's off.

Things that are not smart: playing "Thunderstruck" when your opponent is the Red Storm. Especially since that's how St. John's starts their games. Right at the start, Sky did something that almost made me snort tunafish out my nose, and I wish I could remember what it was.

Stony Brook and St. John's have very similar uniforms with the exact same font for the numbers, which is very confusing.

Reason 425 why Joy McCorvey is one of my favorite players in the history of ever: she has an eye for faces and she remembers people. I admit that I blushed like a schoolgirl when she smiled at me, but that's because I have a crush on players who do all the gritty little things, keep their eyes and ears open, stay involved in the game, and appreciate fans.

For a very long time, the only offense Stony Brook could muster was "throw the ball to Misha Horsey, let her drive the lane, and hope that the runner goes in". She was aggressive, because it was very clear that no one else was going to get anything done in the first half. Destiny Jacobs is a big, bulky woman who knows how to use her size. Kirsten Jeter, who I recalled being rather good from having seen Stony Brook before, couldn't get started in the first half- all her points came in the second, when she started to get more aggressive. Joia Daniels didn't score all that much, but unlike many of her teammates, she wasn't completely awful and did things that benefited her team.

I'm trying to be nice, but we won by 37. It's hard.

Lot of bench play for the Seawolves, obviously. Crystal Rushin had a nice block. Gerda Gatling played up-close-and-personal defense. Sometimes a bit much. Taylor Burner, the big freshman from right down the road, impressed me the most- she knows how to use her size and wasn't afraid to do it. A little hot-headed, and prone to freshman mistakes, but she has potential. Unfortunately, I don't know that she'll reach it at Stony Brook. Not with Michele Cherry as coach.

It was a very physical game from Stony Brook. It got worse in the second half. And those are just the fouls that were called...

Speaking of benches. We have one! And we have freshmen! And they're really good! And I have to remind myself that bad things happen when I get optimistic and if I keep thinking we're good, someone's going to rip open her knee. That being said, we have a point guard- Nadirah McKenith did a great job distributing and getting to the line to make herself a viable option. We got to see Elón Sidney on the court for the first time, so congrats to her- she picked up a steal on a joint play with Amanda Burakoski. Amanda played tenaciously, though she wasn't able to get her shots to go down. Jennifer Blanding looks so much like Kia Vaughn in body type that it's frightening- she walks like Tammy Sutton-Brown, though, which is not a good thing. She was willing to get physical and get inside, though she's got to learn when to move and when to back down- she got into a little bit of foul trouble. Britney Murphy made a cameo, but with Nadirah's distribution and Eugeneia McPherson's tough, tough defense, she wasn't really necessary, and she was a bad match-up with Stony Brook's guards. I'm worried about Coco being our primary reserve post, though, because while she crashed the boards harder than I remember seeing from her, she's still prone to making boneheaded plays, which we can't afford from our bench.

Da'Shena, we see you! We also hear you... as your free throws bounce off the rim. 9 of 10 from the field, with a lot of those being contested shots (3 of 'em were and-1s), is a fantastic percentage. 4 of 15 from the line is absolutely abhorrent, appalling, shameful, and other such words. We are not amused. Sky's offense was good early, but she started trying to force the issue, and she really shouldn't have looked for her own offense late in the game, up 30, with scoreless Elón and scoreless Buzz in alongside her. Shenneika showed a lot of what made her such a highly touted recruit- very athletic, very fast, very aggressive. She made a lot of rebounds happen. Joy is as persistent as ever, going hard to the boards, going to the ground, and keeping her eyes and ears on the game. Kelly didn’t get a lot of touches and was really a non-factor in the game. I'd like to see her get back to making the big baseline/sideline plays on defense- sometimes I wonder if that helps her get into her offensive rhythm.

The game got physical, and I don't know that the refs were ready to handle that.

It was very emotionally satisfying. I missed my team.

Many thanks to Kelly's folks for the lift home. And dinner. And company. I think there were more Red Storm fans there than Seawolf people. At most it was a draw. There are advantages to recruiting locally after all.