September 5th, 2010: Atlanta at New York

I NEED A FUCKING DRINK OKAY
What in the... world... was that... dreck... masquerading as quality officiating? Those... incompetent buffoons... in the oatmeal and orange uniforms should be ashamed of themselves for the job they did tonight. Not that the Liberty necessarily did enough to win properly, but there was no reason for the officiating to be so oblivious at the end. It was shameful.

Things started out nicely, too. (Well, except for the chocolate fondue. Dear Dave and Buster's, it should not take you the entire fourth quarter of Seattle-Phoenix to set that up. Also, please don't turn off the game we're watching, okay?) The Usual Suspects were all in place. The leis were distributed. The noisemakers were tested and approved. Kiabear and Maddie did their stretches while Kia and Maddie did their stretches in the real world. The seats were filled. The anthem was beautiful. And then we discovered that Clarke Stevens, Michael Price, and Cameron Inouye were our officials for the evening. Joy.

Érika deSouza needs to learn how to get out of the paint. The folks in front of us were screaming about three-second calls pretty much every time she was in the paint, and they were only passionately wrong half the time. I mean, I know we had no chance against her size without someone of equal girth to bang with her, and Kia doesn't have the experience to bang with her, but still. I think Shalee Lehning's shoulder is still bothering her slightly. I know she's never been a shooter, but her shots were unusually flat, rolling up the rim to go in, or falling off the underside. That makes me think that she can't get her proper motion going. She ran a fairly solid and smart game for Atlanta. Alison Bales was mostly tall and passive about being tall. Plenette did a nice job of sealing her off despite giving up five inches to her. Yelena Leuchanka- who I will confess to taunting as Basketball Barbie when she came into the game, because of her comments about the league embracing the more feminine players- relieved Bales, and was moderately annoying on the boards. I was amused when Leilani boxed her out on a play. Brittaney Raven, just shut up, okay? Your team won on the road, but you didn't play. Don't act like you hit the game-winning shot.

I don't know if this is obvious or anything, but Sancho Lyttle has absolutely amazing vertical. And what frightens me as a Liberty fan is that Meadors is now willing to draw up plays for her, when she seemed reticent to do that before, treating her as basically just a garbage collector. I think she's really going to go off next year- she probably would have this year if she hadn't made acquaintance with the deadly elbows of Sylvia Fowles. Angel McCoughtry and her whiny attitude can take a long walk off a short pier, as far as I'm concerned. I understand the role of dramatizing and diving in the game, but simulating a knee injury to get the referee's sympathy is sickening. She started getting calls later in the game and padding her stats at the line, but I don't think she imposed her will on this game as much as I would want if I were an Atlanta fan, and that scares me as a New York fan. Iziane Castro Marques were more out of control than usual. I think our PA announcer likes saying her name more than is healthy, though. Mike, she's not on our team, you know. Armintie Price has found some of the nerve that abandoned her in Chicago when she got to see Chasity Melvin's eye scream trick, and that's not necessarily a good idea. Open field tackles are generally not conducive to playing clean defense. I honestly don't remember Coco Miller doing anything except being in on a play that went out of bounds, where she was called for the foul and we taunted her that she shouldn't start crying.

Paging Kalana Greene. Would the Kalana Greene who was named to the All-Rookie team please kindly come to the scorer's table and make at least a cameo appearance in the limited minutes she's getting? Seriously, she looks like her confidence and her game have been seriously shattered. Unfortunately, Essence Carson's game fell off the cliff. As for the rap... Essence, don't quit your day job. Flow's decent enough, but you don't have the strength of voice to carry it. Please don't kill me. Kia Vaughn reverted back to being the Kia Vaughn who made me shriek in rage far too often over her years at Rutgers, last WNBA season, and publicly during the 2009 draft. She hit a couple of pretty jumpers, but her focus wasn't as much on the ball as I would have liked. Stop dropping the ball, all right? Sidney Spencer actually saw time, because of Powell's foul trouble and because we were getting nothing out of Essence and Kalana, and she wasn't completely awful. Slow as molasses in January, but she at least tried to make plays on the ball, and right now that's more than a couple of our regulars are doing on defense.

Once again, Janel was in street clothes. I regret to inform Janel that she doesn't look as cool in an argyle sweater vest as she thought she did. She's limping less, so knock on wood...

Plenette Pierson, please stop shooting thee-pointers. Yes, you hit one, and I approve that message. But clearly Cathrine Kraayeveld is exerting some kind of mental influence on you through numerology. Please go inside and hit people while collecting rebounds. And stop making with the hooking of the arms, you'll give yourself another dislocated shoulder. We needed her to be the player she was in Detroit, and she almost managed it. Leilani Mitchell's back is clearly bothering her. We saw her get treatment between halves, and she was passing up looks that she would have taken a month ago. She's far too timid for my liking right now, and we need her to be available so Pondexter doesn't have to play point and limit her shots. Taj McWilliams-Franklin was as fierce on the boards as ever, but the length of the season is catching up to her age, and the awful way Donovan used her posts tonight didn't help matters. She should have had a double-double with the shots she missed. Nicole Powell's offense accepted the graceful invitation that went out via Reb's, but her defense declined to attend. Her threes were clutch, but every time I saw one, I kept thinking about plays where she backed off on defense or watched loose balls go by her. Whatever she scored, I think she gave up more on the other end. Cappie Pondexter had the most passive 20 shots I've ever seen in my life. We were talking after the game about how it looked like she was giving up the ball more- now, that had to do with her playing extended minutes at the point because Coach Donovan was experimenting with the lineup and working around Leilani's bad back, but she didn't comport herself like a go-to, star player. Maybe something was going on in her head, maybe she tried to get everyone else involved, but Cappie, this is a really bad time to choke.

I'm really not thrilled with Anne Donovan's player management in this game. If you only have three posts, you don't run them into the ground by playing them until they collapse. You have to give them quick shifts. You don't leave Taj or Plenette in for a quarter at a time. You know how I know this? Because for the last two years, I've been a fan of a college team that only has a three-post rotation. I've watched Kim Barnes Arico juggle Da'Shena Stevens, Joy McCorvey, and gods help us all, Coco Hart. I've watched her work around their foul trouble and their exhaustion. If a coach who's working with twentysomethings knows this, why doesn't a coach who's working with older players know it? Especially when she's juggling her backcourt to pick up the slack from an injury? You'd think she'd understand the principle at that point.

Of course, I would be remiss if I neglected to go into specifics about the officiating. We knew it was gong to be a long night on a disputed block/charge call. Clarke Stevens called the offensive foul on Atlanta, Michael Price called the block on Plenette. Okay, no big deal, referees disagree all the time. They went to center court for a jump ball, which is the proper procedure. And then Michael Price decided to call a double foul in addition to the jump ball. I just. WHAT? And it was all downhill from there. Bad enough that officials don't know how to call travels anymore. This crew just gave up on the last two minutes of the game. Let me make myself perfectly clear. I don't object to fouls being called on my team that they actually commit. That's part of the game. I understand that. What I object to is when all the calls seem to be at one end of the floor. What I object to is when Angel McCoughtry gets more free throws than MY ENTIRE TEAM. Hey, guys? You wanna make superstar calls so you can go play with the big boys in the NBA? Okay, fine, whatever. We have a superstar too, you know.

I applaud my fellow fans' enthusiasm, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that the MVP was already given out.

Many Knicks were at the game: Wilson Chandler, Ronny Turiaf, and Danilo Gallinari. And Toney Douglas! No, seriously, that was pretty much how they announced it, like they'd forgotten that Douglas was there. I nearly died when I came home and saw that a friend in Seattle had re-Tweeted something from Turiaf, who was in turn relaying a Tweet from Chandler, wondering if he could get fined for saying that these WNBA refs were horrible. It's nice to see the guys getting into it. Allan Houston was there too, repping the men's side.

C. Vivian Stringer was there, as she was last time. Apparently this time she scared the daylights out of her former players.

For me, by the end of the night, the high point was, "oh, hey, that's Eugeneia McPherson!" on the E platform. (One of my favorite current Johnnies. Eugeneia, if you're reading this, take a lesson from this game. Be more worried about getting a good shot than getting into position to be fouled, because they won't call it.)

I still have some faith left in this team. We've beaten them in Atlanta this year. Anything can happen in a single game. It would be nice if we could get even half of Janel back, though...

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September 1st, 2010: Indiana at New York

Janel? What the hell are you doing in street clothes?

Survive and advance. That's what it comes down to in the last game of a series. Survive and advance. And we survived, somehow. I'm worried about how things will be, of course, with Janel's injury, but I'll take the win.

It was lovely to have the Garden full and rocking again, especially at the end where it seemed like everyone up to Ronny Turiaf was on their feet screaming. Unfortunately, they let in some riffraff with the rest of the fans, and I wish nothing but agony and humiliation on the... gentlemen... in the next section who decided to root for Indiana just for the sake of being contrary and acting like jackasses. DO NOT BOO MAMA TAJ. Don't append "sucks!" to the end of the L-I-B-E-R-T-Y chant, especially not during "Gotta Get Up". Did I mention DO NOT BOO MAMA TAJ?

Shoutout to the two guys in Douglas shirts, though. I like dedicated fans who travel to support their team and cheer hard. I can respect that. But don't cheer on the opposition when you don't even know who they are.

Good music. I approve.

Shavonte Zellous was pretty much just a placeholder while Douglas and Catchings got their well-deserved rests. She had one defensive play that I thought was going to turn the game; fortunately for my sanity, it didn't. I'm not sure Jessica Moore knows how to set a legal screen. Her feet always seem to be moving. She was supposed to be in for defensive purposes, but I wasn't impressed with her. Jessica Davenport at least tried to bring offense, but she was unusually passive, even for her. She'd been more aggressive lately, and I thought she would bring more of that for them. (Not that I mind that she didn't. I like Jessica despite her affiliations, but not against my team.) Briann January is an enigma wrapped in a black belt. She could have won the game for the Fever; you could make an argument that she lost it for them with her questionable decision-making and lackadaisical ballhandling. She really needs to get control of her game and her emotions, or she's going to find herself out of a job.

Dear everyone: DO NOT LEAVE KATIE DOUGLAS OPEN THIS IS NOT COMPLICATED WHY DO YOU LEAVE HER OPEN? She was even peskier on defense than usual, too. There was one play where Taj warned her off with a half-lowered elbow, as if to say, "Katie, I know we go way back, but the next time you try that, I'm breaking your face." Not that anyone ever wants to lose, but she REALLY didn't want to lose. Tammy Sutton-Brown was obnoxious in the paint, but ineffective. That makes me happy. She sort of annoys me. I admit that it's fun to taunt her at the line, though. But then, making fun of Canadians is an old family tradition you didn't need to know about. Ebony Hoffman was really trying too hard. She was forcing her offense and being over the top on defense. I wonder if Plenette got into her head. She wasn't Captain Popularity by the end of the game, I can tell you that. Neither was Tully Bevilaqua. Save the drama, mate. Leilani's smaller than you are. She did her job in bugging the daylights out of our PG, but offensively, I don't think she was able to get the Fever properly set up to take advantage of the night Tamika Catchings was having. Of course, Catch has the advantage of being rarely called for the fouls she commits while she's rushing headlong for the ball. Her flops are getting more and more frustrating. I love to watch her move, though.

Kalana Greene- ahem, All-Rookie team member Kalana Greene- made a brief cameo at the end of the first half for defense. The way Essence Carson has been playing, that's not a bad decision- not that that's anything against Kalana, but Essence has some experience in the playoffs, while Kalana just has the NCAA tournament, which is a different beast. Essence cracked a little under the pressure in the second half, but her first half was superb. She was the spark plug we needed off the bench, since that role couldn't be played by its usual performer. Kia Vaughn stepped up admirably when we needed her. She hit the shots that she usually misses, she caught most of the rebounds that she usually drops, and she wasn't afraid to use her body. I was glad to see her do well, and I hope she continues to prove me wrong throughout the playoffs, because I think we're going to need her more than ever.

Why, you ask? Well, we all freaked out a little bit when the woman three rows in front of us asked, "Hey, where's Janel?" And sure enough, far too close to tip-off for my liking, out limped Janel McCarville on crutches. Yes, she dresses very snazzily, and I get the feeling she should be in an alt rock band or something like that with that look, but I'd much rather see her in uniform getting ready to unleash pain and short jumpers on the opposition.

So Plenette Pierson got the start, and she does take time to get warmed up. She had a nice offensive game, but I was very disappointed in her rebounding. I know Indy was pulling her off the ball a lot, but I expect fiercer out of Plenette. Taj McWilliams-Franklin was the reverse: she cleaned up on the boards, but her shots kept going short. I'm starting to worry that she's really running out of gas now that we're at the end of the season. I love Mama Taj, but I don't know how much she can take. Nicole Powell's been abducted by aliens again and replaced with a really awful Pod Person. Either that, or the emotion chip she had installed last month has started to malfunction and she's going to make like Data in "Descent", and yes, I'm a Star Trek nerd. I don't expect a lot of defense out of her, but I do expect her to be able to hit the broad side of a barn, or at least look for the barn so she can attempt to hit it with something. I wasn't expecting her to keep up with Catchings, but again, I expected her to at least make a go of it. No such luck. She didn't even start the second half, Donovan had such little faith in her. Leilani Mitchell still looked frazzled by Bevilaqua and the Fever fouling, though she started the third quarter looking like someone had lit a fire under her. We're going to need more from her next round. As for Cappie Pondexter- well, there were a lot of reasons why the Garden was serenading her with M-V-P. She started the first half on fire, then went cool when Dunn adjusted the defense and Donovan gave her the two minutes of rest she gets every night. Then the fourth quarter came and so did crunch time, and she rose to the occasion. I was wrong before. This was the game we brought her in for. She knew this was her time to shine.

Lots of luminaries in the crowd. Seems like half the Knicks roster showed up. I was tempted to pass along word to Patrick Ewing, Jr. that there was a guy in a Reggie Miller jersey in the upper deck so that someone would take out the garbage. (I mean, really. That's tacky on so many levels.) Ronny Turiaf was enchanted by one of the cute kids who exhorted the crowd to make some noise. I think he wanted to take her home and give her cookies. Danilo Gallinari was probably bummed that he couldn't get any hair care tips from Janel. They have very similar styles.

I don't want to get started on the referees, because I had a very nice night and I don't want to have an aneurysm. I don't object to fouls being called that were committed. I object to fouls being committed and not called. And when the fouls on one end are called and the fouls on the other are not, eyebrows go up. Of course, that reversed in the last minute, and you don't know how many times I crossed myself in that final minute of game time.

They made a point of announcing that Tina Charles was here to root on the Liberty. Given that she and Kalana were four-year teammates, and given that the only Husky on Indiana was class of '05, I didn't need that confirmation, but I understand why they did it. Kept the Rutgers fans off her back. External sources confirmed a lot of semi-random and random WNBA players at the game. Me, I thought I saw Renee Montgomery, but she doesn't seem to have been there, so I might be going crazy. It's the playoffs. Insanity is always an option.

The people in front of us are taking the playoffs extremely seriously. They have cowbell, as well as bike horns. I approve of this message.

Basically, I came to the conclusion that the lack of offense that people find at Rutgers has to do with a time warp that channeled it all to this game. That's the only explanation I can find for Kia's sudden brilliance.

Go Liberty! Beat Atlanta!

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