November 18th, 2009: Columbia at Long Island

Columbia Lions 64, Long Island Blackbirds 62

The Game Notes of Doom step down in conference class- but not in the quality of the experience.


I forgot how much I missed the mid-major experience, and how much I like going to games at LIU. It has a certain charm that a lot of arenas just don't possess (and they charge you for it- $8 a pop!).

There are disadvantages. I swear the Blackbirds have to be the worst free throw shooting team I've ever seen because their fans, band, dance team, and pep squad make more noise when they're shooting than when their opponents are shooting. Guys, seriously, don't disconcert your own players. It does not end well. And I think I'm still recovering from the loudness of the band. They play at a volume more suited to the RAC than the WRAC.

I do like the programs, though, and the team poster is very nifty. Sort of a cross between picture day and complete chaos. Reasons I <3 Chelsi Johnson...

Dear Mary Beato: you are not Lisa Leslie, nor are you Charde Houston. Please to be pulling your shorts out of your crotch. If I am forced to see cameltoe at a basketball game, it damn well better be from one of the dance team. Other than that, your shooting is good but your driving sucks. Jazmin Fuller did a decent job running the offense in the short time that the responsibility was in her hands. Melissa Shafer did work on the boards. Caitlin Stachon shows good promise as a reserve for the Lions- a big girl with a bit of a touch.

Everyone act surprised that an admirer of Debbie Black, such as yours truly, has great love for Sara Yee, who I refer to with great fondness as "ten pounds of crazy in a two-pound bag". She ran a fairly sharp offense, though I noticed that later in the game she was backing the ball out more and spending more time setting up in the backcourt. And of course, she was ballhawking on the defensive end and jumping for rebounds that a 5'1" guard has no right to be trying for. Judie Lomax didn't really seem to be as involved in the offense as I would have expected- she got some touches, but she was looking to pass more than I thought, and some of her moves have been dubbed travels thanks to the point of emphasis this year. Also, what's up with the soaking wet uniform? No one sweats that much. Lauren Dwyer's a tough customer. Good range, gets her shit done. Barry played well, except for occasional miscommunication- I think she was the one who had the ball in her hands when Columbia committed a shot clock violation.

Impressively, everyone got in the game for Long Island. Sure, Hetting, Obianwu, and Abrams all played a mere handful of minutes combined, but they got in. The freshman backcourt of Kayla Ramsby and Krystal Wells played well together. They intrigue me. I also like their reserve posts, Justine Stevenson and the freshman Tamika Guz- both of them big-framed players, but using it in different ways. Stevenson did more fighting for rebounds and driving, while Guz used her build more defensively and to clog the middle so she could set up shots outside (like McLaren for UConn, as an example of that type of player). And Marika Sprow gave good minutes at the guard position. (There's the problem with being a mid-major- all y'all are guards.)

Ashley Palmer was hampered by foul trouble in the second half- oh, and the inability to hit a fucking free throw, oh my God, seriously 0-5 is unfuckingacceptable. She gets very, very tentative when she's in foul trouble. There's a difference between cautious and tentative, and she's on the wrong side of it. Kiara Evans, on the other had, was trying too hard, making stupid drives when LIU was down that resulted in easy steals and fast breaks for Columbia. She's got game, but she's got to learn that she can rely on her teammates. Connie James came off as the steadying hand, even though she couldn't get her shots to fall. Chelsi Johnson came up big in the second half, when LIU let the lead slip away. If she hadn't fouled out, I think the Blackbirds might have pulled the game back out. They also got big shots from Heidi Mothershead, who came out firing from almost NBA range.

Play of the game: loose ball on the floor at LIU's end. Ashley Palmer hits the deck, grapples with a Columbia player, and is able to shovel the ball out to Mothershead. Mothershead whips it over to Johnson, who puts it in for two. I love ball movement, have I ever mentioned that?

There was precious little, but I can't say I'm surprised. Neither team prides itself on protecting the ball, and both teams scrap and hustle for anything that even vaguely resembles a ball that could be pried out of someone's hands.

And after the game, after a close loss where the Blackbirds had the lead and let it slip through their fingertips, they did the opposite of what most teams would do. The echo of the buzzer had barely faded before Krystal Wells was past the tape and up four rows of bleachers to say, "Thanks for coming out to our game tonight! I'm Krystal, how are you?" Connecting with the community: you're doing it right.

I really do think LIU has all the pieces: a good coach, better players than many in their conference, a nifty little arena, an enthusiastic core of fans, and impressive networking skills. Be ready for them to make some noise.