Los Angeles Sparks 80, Connecticut Sun 77
Play for your lives, borderline and mediocre players! Play for your very lives!
That was one of the more interesting preseason games I've ever been to. Both teams came out like it meant something, or at least the personnel on the floor did. Obviously the coaches didn't, or it would have been Jones going on Leslie in the post in the last couple of minutes, not Ervin and Page against Hayden.
Pretty decent crowd for a preseason game on a nice day with one of the marquee Sparks out of commission. And there were a few Parker jerseys running around. Really, I'm surprised so many people were allowed to approve of Tennessee alumnae in the state of Connecticut; I thought that was against state law or something. Bobbitt got a decent round of applause.
Noelle Quinn really needs to talk to Rittenhouse, because her 2008 card looks nothing like her, to the point where the only reason anyone was able to get it signed was because someone asked if she was, in fact, Noelle Quinn. Lots of people brought Leslie's book for Leslie to sign. She worked the crowd professionally and politely.
Anthem singer could probably start a second career (first and a halfth career?) as a Martina McBride impersonator. I liked her. I don't know if I'd haul back out to Mohegan to see her again, but I liked her.
So every time I wonder why I disliked the Sparks, Lisa Leslie throws an elbow or DeLisha Milton-Jones throws her shoulder, and I go, "Oh, YEAH, that was it!" To be fair, they were the only two I noticed for LA with the extracurriculars. In the time she got, though she was being surprisingly well defended, Leslie looked like her old self. She had one fadeaway jumper that was absolutely gorgeous, and she showed her familiar knack for getting the call. DMJ didn't seem to be on the same page of the playbook as everyone else- normally, I'd cut the vet some slack, but it happened a few times, with different combinations of players. Not a great game for Quinn, but Lord, she's tall for a guard, and stocky too. She seems to be buying into this defense concept (along with the rest of the Sparks- talk about lock-down D!). Lennox looked like she was shaking off rust- but it's really hard to gauge the starters in this game, since both Thibault and Cooper were using it to assess their bench. But, okay, also, it's hard to assess Tina Thompson beyond "Did the basket even move?" Someday we're going to look back on her and go, "WOW." Fernandez was going for the highlight reel every time out; Marta, you are aware that there aren't degree of difficulty points in basketball, unless you count the three-point arc, right? I wonder if that's a family trait. Hayden came in and made some plays by dint of her size. Seeing her against Chante Black made me hurt in sympathy for Black, and at one point I did call out, "Please don't break the rookie!" Harrower just looks WRONG in a Sparks jersey. FWIW, I think she ran the team a little better than Bobbitt did, but neither of them was any great shakes. MFH battened on late free throws for possession, and seems to think she's acquired a jump shot. I fail to see any point in keeping Jessica Moore on the roster. Ashley Paris will need time, but she's got the right idea. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, I'm not sure about, and with the rosters the way they are, "not sure" is not a good thing.
Erin Phillips is fucking awesome. What, you want analysis? Okay, fine. She's a maker of happening. If she is in the game, she will be good for her team. She'll hit a shot, or she'll hit the floor, or she'll get a steal, or something. Asjha Jones started off like gangbusters, but went cold very quickly, and with Thibault using this as "play for your career" time (thanks, caune!), she didn't see extended minutes. Tamika Whitmore continues to be the Tamika Whitmore I know and... er, know... from New York- she'll make a bad play, then a good play, then a bad play. There was one point when she tangled with Leslie that I thought someone was going to end up in the stands again- elbows going all over the place, good lawd. Chante Black did not have a good game, though I recall a couple of stealthily brilliant defensive plays. Lindsay Whalen was a non-factor, though see note above about time for starters. Kerri Gardin needs to learn to hit shots again. Any would be nice; her FT% was atrocious. Surprised Turner didn't get more touches, though I suppose Thibault wanted to see what the less sure things would do. Cirone looked very much like she was in over her head. I don't know that she's made a good case for herself in game situations. Hayes did not impress me like she did last time. There's something I like about Ervin, and until I looked at the boxscore I couldn't figure out what it was. I think she might be used to having to be the go-to woman from Arkansas, so she was able to step up at the end of the game. So did Danielle Page, for that matter. And Lyndra Littles, after having some of the worst games I've seen from someone nominally playing for her basketball life, suddenly turned the intensity up to eleven in the last five minutes and was EVERYWHERE. Her shots started going in, she got to the line, she was all over the place on the boards- it was like someone flipped a switch, or gave her Red Bull or something. Swanier was just kinda there.
'sup, Denise? Your linesmen are idiots. Not too many missed calls, though there were some pretty bad out-of-bounds misses. But I kind of realized this was one of those crews when she was all but whipping one of her linesmen over to the scorer's table.
Scout sightings: Anne Donovan and Pat Coyle. Donovan's kinda hard to miss, and kinda telegraphs the Liberty's interest in a game- perhaps they should invest in stilts for some interns so they can fake people out?
Cute moment before the game- while Kristi Harrower was signing autographs, Erin Phillips came up behind her and greeted her warmly.
The first quarter was really exciting- fast-paced, with enough defensive stops to keep it interesting. And the fourth quarter got dramatic in a hurry. However, if the kids behind me who screamed for the Sun to shoot the ball every time they touched it, even in the backcourt, hadn't moved down so they could shrill for t-shirts, I would have snapped before the game got good again. LA's defense really, really locked down starting in the second quarter. Very impressive.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
May 31st, 2009: Los Angeles at Connecticut (preseason)
Saturday, May 23, 2009
May 22nd, 2009: New York at Connecticut (preseason)
Connecticut Sun 74, New York Liberty 62
Close to nine hours on a bus, and the Liberty's backcourt decision-making, have the Game Notes of Doom doubting their sanity.
I'm assuming you don't want to hear about the Bus Trip From The Pits of Hell Itself. I left Flushing at eleven in the morning and got to Mohegan at quarter past five. That's six and a half hours, for the math challenged among you. JayhawkNYC shares my pain; however, she didn't have to deal with a pair of whiny old coots.
I'm starting to think Mohegan comps those lower bowl endcourt tickets, because this is the second time in a row someone's been trying to dump those tickets on the line. Not that I care; I get good seats at what I'd pay for upper deck seats. Leilani tended to disappear behind the stanchion, though. Tiny bunny is tiny.
Tiny bunny also did not play very much, both because Coyle was tinkering with the lineup and because she got into a lot of foul trouble. Since Loree was inactive, that left us slightly shy of PGs, to say the least. Abby played a few minutes there, and wasn't great at it. I think they tried having Spencer run the offense, and that went as well as you could expect, though she had a couple of good passes to Jessica. Of all the makeshift options, Essence was the least godsawful, but that's really, really damning with faint praise there. Loree, you're under orders to heal up and stay healthy, damnit. Also, iron, plz to be using it on your pants. The usual suspects started, but Cathrine and Janel both played very light minutes. Cathrine wasn't big statwise, but she's starting to do the things that Erin used to do- she's calling out screens, she's counting down the shot clock, she's encouraging her teammates. You can hear her even when she's not on the floor. It's a good thing. Janel looked good in her limited minutes. Very Janel-like. Shameka seemed kinda discombobulated, but maybe she was up late taking in the Mohegan nightlife. She's a diva, she does that kind of stuff. ;) Abby had her moments, but overall, I don't think she's ready for the next level. Spencer was overall unimpressive. Lisa was up and down. Ashley hustled, but we could have assumed that simply because she's breathing. Erlana... eesh. Lark didn't do herself any favors tonight. Jess looked much better than her line against Washington; the only caveat was that she was mostly playing against the Sun's reserve posts. Kia played all right- a little bit of good, a little bit of bad. She seems to need some warm-up time to get her groove on. It's good to see Miss Jackson again, but she too needs a little time to get back into the flow of things.
So far, it's looking like the Sun picked up a good one in Chante Black. It's been a long time since I've seen someone use her height so comfortably. She did a great job keeping rebounds alive and blocking or changing a lot of shots. She'll get pushed around because of her build, but she'll be very useful for the Sun in a few years. Everyone, quick, pretend to be surprised that Whalen and Phillips looked ready to play. I hope Phillips is okay, though- she took a pretty hard conk to the head in 'bout the third quarter, and I don't think she went back into the game. Asjha Jones just keeps getting better, smoother, and slicker. Goddamn, look at this fucking power forward, man. Tamika Whitmore looked like the Tamika Whitmore we knew and... er, knew... in New York. Barbara Turner looked to be in over her head, which isn't good for a returning veteran. Danielle Page blocked both Jess and Lark, which is kind of embarrassing for New York. Littles, Gay, and Ervin didn't do themselves any favors. Cirone played very briefly and was all but handed a steal on a really awful pass that resulted in a Sun fast break. Hayes stepped it up later in the game- I don't know what it is, but I like her a lot, and if she doesn't make this roster, I'd like to see her try to stick somewhere else. I think she could do it.
I swear to God, Bonita Spence is stalking me. I don't think I can even count anymore how many arenas I've seen her officiating in. The crew wasn't egregiously awful, although I do wish they'd called Amber Holt's attempt to check Spencer into the nonexistent boards a foul instead of just an out of bounds.
Smallish crowd, and most of the enthusiasm was still for the Huskies on the various rosters. The people all around me were Husky fans, and I got used to reciting, "For Connecticut, #11 is Ketia Swanier, #22 is Barbara Turner, #15 is Asjha Jones, for New York, #22 is Ashley Battle." I befriended themw ith the duplicate Barbara Turner cards in my bag. This is one of the reasons I carry spare cards.
Best plays on the court: for Connecticut, Erin Phillips's twisting lay-up down the lane; for New York, I'm partial to Jessica Davenport's left-handed hook shot.
Favorite moment away from the play: either Ashley, Lisa, or Loree yelling "LET'S GO WEINER!" at Abby. I heard the yell, but by the time I looked over there, all three of them were covering their mouths and laughing. Runner-up: half the bench looking at Ashley like she forgot something when a three was good and she didn't immediately high-five everyone.
Sometimes life just hands you a punchline, and if you're like me, and you have vaudeville in your blood like I do, you can't do anything except grasp it firmly with both hands and pull. At halftime, I walked the concourse because my legs were cramped (see the beginning bit, with the six hours on the bus). I spotted Blaze (the fake blonde, not the fuzzy orange one) and we exchanged polite nods. Not long after, I ran into a friend of mine, and we started chatting about the game. Spencer came up and I asked, "Why did we trade for Sidney friggin' Spencer?" He told me not to ask him. I turned around, and there Blaze was, buying herself a drink. So, being the incorrigible loudmouth I am, I belted out, "WHY DID WE TRADE FOR SIDNEY FRIGGIN' SPENCER?" With as much aplomb as is possible while buying beer, she ignored me, which I don't blame her for doing. Like I said. Sometimes life just hands you a punchline.
So good to see everyone again. Now I want season, damnit.