Saturday, September 17, 2011

September 17th, 2011: Indiana at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty used balanced scoring and strong defense to beat the Indiana Fever 87-72 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series and even the series at one win apiece. Indiana's Katie Douglas led all scorers with 20 points, but she and Shavonte Zellous, with 13 off the bench, were the only two Fever players in double figures. Nicole Powell's 19 points led five double-digit scorers for New York.

For three-point goals, stylized anthems, unexpected lacks of scoring, and entirely too many free tickets, join your intrepid and sated blogger after the jump.

I love marching bands. I love traveling fans. I love the postseason atmosphere. Boomdeyada! Boomdeyada!

Sorry. Some openings you can't resist, especially when there's a band on the court for halftime. And I don't really love traveling fans when they bring flags. Or when some flaming genius sits a girl in a Katie Douglas Fever jersey right behind the Liberty bench. That's just the height of bad etiquette.

The plan of giving season subscribers freebies has backfired spectacularly. Most of us have no one to give them to because all our friends are already there! And then we get irked when we realize that there are so many tickets being given away to paper the place that they might as well have a small floral print on them. And then you end up with huge swathes of empty seats in prime position. Bad planning. Very bad planning.

Nice anthem, by an actual professional singer and everything. Very impressive.

The Torch Patrol has pulled out all the stops to get the noise going in here. Very clear that we're defending our house. I think that was the right tack to take with Newark; there's a lot of pride in the city by its residents.

Kym Hampton is working the lower echelons of the room. She's also hosting a get-together at Brick City after the game. I may go to that. Obviously, by the time you read these notes, you'll already know if I'm there.

It's 50-41 Liberty at the half, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable. I mean, okay, I'm never comfortable with a Liberty lead, but too much of it is built on threes. Live by the three, die by the three; she's a fickle mistress, and she has a long history with Katie Douglas. Katie Douglas irks me because she keeps hitting shots, and I'd greatly appreciate it if she'd stop doing that at some point in the near future.

I'd also appreciate if these refs would call St. Tamika on some of her crap. If Nicole Powell picked her up and slammed her into the stanchion, she wouldn't be completely unjustified. (I do not recommend this course of action, Nicole. You have enough back problems as it is.) That non-call right before the half was crap. Or, to be topical, craaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

Hello, Shyra Ely! It feels like a long time since we've seen you. Nice passing there! Nice shooting by Jeanette Pohlen, whose hair whip seems to have tragically shrunk. I'm looking forward to seeing how her hair's Twitter explains that one. I do wish someone would guard her when she lines up in the corner. You'd think Nicole Powell would have warned someone about Cardinal alumnae's propensity to shoot that corner three; she does have some experience at that. Shavonte Zellous is easily rattled. It was fun watching her miss free throws. But I sort of already knew her shot from there was not as automatic as one would assume from her offensive prowess- I've played Pop-a-Shot against her. She reverted to the Zellous from Pitt, who was all offense and the rest of the team can go hang. Jessica Davenport did well in the later part of the game. Would someone please remember that she's left-handed and therefore has her strong side where most people have their weak side? But I'm biased towards Jessica Davenport when she's not playing New York. I accept that and welcome it. Just not in this series. Shannon Bobbitt got low for some great defense, and made even our section ooh and aah with some fancy dribbling near the end of the game, but she couldn't hit those shots that she killed us with on the 9th.

Tamika Catchings put all her energy into defense. She just didn't have it on offense. When she's missing free throws, she's just not with it. I was not amused at the foul she should have been called for against Nicole Powell at the end of the first half- it looked like a trip, and the official sitting in front of me (hi, Ray!) said it was a reach-in. (See, that's the useful thing about having a referee in front of you- you can ask him for technical advice and confirmation of your impressions!) But I can't recall a game I've ever seen where Catchings was held scoreless for so long. Katie Douglas burned us in the first half. We couldn't stop her. We couldn't get in her face, we couldn't get a hand up, we couldn't do anything. We managed to contain her a little better in the second half, which was key to getting the win. Erin Phillips took a lot of hits, to the point where I do genuinely wonder whether she likes it or not, and was pesky on defense, but called her number a little more than I think she should have. Nice little floater, though. Have I mentioned lately that Tammy Sutton-Brown gets me angry? Because she does. Not in any meaningful sense of the word, but she's a constant irritant. She did a better job than I'm used to on the boards, though. Tangela Smith seems to think she's Tina Thompson with the jumpers. Go towards the hole, Tangela. Just not against us.

Hey! It's an Alex Montgomery sighting! Nice of Whiz to remember his future defensive ace. Offense is not her strong suit, but she made up for it by covering three-point shooters. Kara Braxton's line is deceptively low- she was a presence in the middle, and one of those missed shots spun in and out- she did nothing wrong on it. If she's one of those players who feeds off the crowd and gets better as the arena gets louder, we better find a way to hang onto her until we get back to New York, because she'll blossom there. Essence Carson turned on the offense at the start of the fourth quarter, just in case Indiana tried to force the door open. She did a nice job snagging bad passes, but threw a few of her own. Quanitra Hollingsworth continues to be a rebounder and a defensive player who really needs help on offense. Actually, so do most of our bench players. I think I detect a trend here. Sydney Colson made a cameo near the end of the game and did nothing worht mentioning. She did, however, give the opening speech to get the crowd pumped up. We're 3-0 when she has the mic; I've already heard suggestions that she steal the mic in Indiana to get us the Game 3 win.

I was worried about Nicole Powell before the game. She looked like she might have had a sleepless night, which made me think her back or her knee was bothering her, which meant that we wouldn't have been able to count on her, and since Nicole is the wild card that pretty much decides whether we win or lose, I figured we were toast. This is why I don't have a doctor in front of my name. Nicole did hers and then some. She was red hot in the first quarter, and she kept up the rebounding and got her hands in the passing lane. For once, I will forgive her inability to get out to the corner. For once. Leilani Mitchell's threes got the crowd fired up, and when she stuffed Katie Douglas (yes, the box says Plenette, don't believe it, that was Leilani's play) the place went off. Tiny but fierce! Cappie Pondexter actually played more of a point for long stretches of the game- judging from how horribly off a lot of her early shots were, I think her ankle may have been acting up again. And hey, even if it wasn't, she's going to say it was. I think she saw the crew and thought she was going to get superstar calls, and she doesn't realize that she doesn't have that cachet when she's on the fourth seeded team. Go for the shot, not the foul. I like the give and go two-man game she's got going on with Nicole, though. Kia Vaughn didn't get a lot of touches, but she made them count when she did. We're going to need her to be big at Indiana, though. Smith and Sutton-Brown had too many easy shots and chances for putbacks. Plenette Pierson was steady. I really wasn't sure if she could hold up playing starter's minutes, but she's proving me wrong, and I'm okay with that.

As much as I have screamed about Whiz being dogmatic and set in stone about his rotations, I have to give him credit for being a lot more flexible today. He went to his bench early with Quanitra and Essence, he got Kara a fair number of minutes, he remembered the existence of Alex Montgomery, he played with match-ups- he looked like a coach who could win a title. It was refreshing to see him trying different things.

Lin Dunn, burn that jacket when you return to Indiana; maybe then the afterimage of it will fade from the backs of my eyelids. You shouldn't be coordinating with Cappie's ill-planned fashion ventures!

And then there was the officiating. No one I've spoken to or read anything from knows how or why Cappie got the technical; when we saw Michael Price signal T for #23, we started cheering because we thought it was on Douglas for chasing the ref! When they announced that it was on Cappie, the place turned ugly. There were a lot of late whistles, and the calls tightened up considerably in the second quarter and thereafter. (And again, I had this assessment confirmed with a referee. Thanks, Ray!) I was starting to wonder if Byron Jarrett had something against Nicole Powell, the calls she wasn't getting. But we forced Indiana to be stupid. That's useful.

It was a late-arriving crowd. A distressingly late-arriving crowd. As in, there were people still trying to find their seats with gameplay going on in the fourth quarter. Frankly, I was freaked out at how many free tickets were being given out, and I actually approached my rep after the game and said, “Why did I bother paying for playoff tickets when everyone's getting them for free?” (This is one of the reasons I tend to refer to him as “Chris, the poor unfortunate bastard who has to deal with us”- we're high-maintenance subscribers.) I'd say a good half of the crowd didn't show up at tip-off, and even factoring in the many and myriad reasons to be late- PATH issues, NJ Transit issues, traffic, trouble on 21- a good quarter of the seats weren't filled until the third or fourth quarter. It seemed pretty damn sketchy that that many people were coming in late. Combine that with the wads of tickets that were being handed out by both Liberty staff and the city of Newark (this latter assessment coming via a fellow season subscriber), and the fact that a fair number of these people took their sweet time finding their seats once they did show up, and we were a bit affronted. We missed several sequences because people wouldn't sit down, or were arguing with people who were in their seats, or in one case, because security was in front of us trying to get people out of seats that weren't theirs. And then they got mad at us when we asked them to sit down so we could see the game! I suspect that the Liberty actually deflated the attendance number; there were more than 8508 tickets scanned and more than 8508 people in the general vicinity of seats, but I'm willing to bet that 8508 matches up with the tickets sold and the ones given away to season subscribers.

Maddie needs to do the trick with the ladder and the flag again. That was nervy. And the “This is our house. We will not lose” banner was made of win.

I think we have a chance in this series. Do I think Tamika Catchings will go 1-7 from the field with 6 turnovers again? No. Do I think Nicole Powell will go off again? No. But I think we have a legitimate shot to make Game 3 competitive, and if we can do that... well, that's why they play the games, isn't it?

Cory Booker, Newark is not the New York Liberty's home. I realize that you're required to say that as part of your job, but this is not your team and this is not our home. This is an exchange program. This is an extended-stay hotel. This is the place we're staying while home is being renovated. We'll defend it, but you can't claim it as yours. Back off.

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

September 11th, 2011: New York at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tina Charles's 23rd double-double gave the Connecticut Sun homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, as the Sun pulled out a 69-63 win over the New York Liberty. Charles's 18 points and 11 rebounds were game highs, the latter tied with Asjha Jones. Nicole Powell led New York with 14 points.

For epic road trips, sore vocal chords, flames on the side of my face, presence of mind, shiny objects, and how Kara Braxton got her groove back, join your intrepid and traffic-bound blogger and 50 of her closest friends after the jump.
Good evening, everyone ,and welcome to beautiful not-Uncasville, Connecticut! Our first trip to Foxwoods is going swimmingly. We're ensconced in the MGM Grand, with a phenomenal view of... well, woods. We haven't seen any foxes yet, though.

The bus ride up was fun. I wish we could have gotten something other than the Tulsa game, though. I'd have liked a more interesting game, or at least not one from this season. I see what people mean about Petrolino and Hampton as announcers. Petrolino sounds like a promoted sideline reporter. Hampton sounds like she's chilling on the couch with a couple of friends, passing around the popcorn and flipping at commercials. The hot mic moments were good, and Kym was rather hilarious at the end. “Dang. My trains are 6:08, 6:15, and 6:54.” Story of all our lives, Kym.

A lot of the Usual Suspects made the trip, and our numbers will swell in the morning. We met up with some reinforcements who drove up and got discounted rates at the hotel.

I'm intrigued by the casinos of Foxwoods, and I don't think they're exaggerating the looseness of the slots. The dining variety isn't great- you either get top-shelf restaurants that cost $40 a plate, or you get glorified fast food. We found one of the few medium-level restaurants, Golden Dragon, which does good Chinese.

The brunch was great. The home fries were delicious, and I loved the white chocolate “stirrers” in the fruit salad “martinis”. We got a lot of speeches (with that many Taras, I was starting to miss Tari) and some classic footage: Ashley Battle's “U Can't Touch This”, Sue Wicks's cameo in Maddie Gaga, Kym Hampton and Teresa Weatherspoon's guest spot on “The Cosby Show”, and the legend that is Liberty Thriller. (I still say Shameka should have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nod as the ingenue.)

Our bus had the good fortune of having Sue Wicks and Ashley Battle on it. Sue's quiet, but occasionally snarky. Ashley is working the room. More on the way back to New York than on the way up.

Your intrepid blogger and her equally intrepid husband were almost tourist attractions. If you took a picture of the couple dressed out in throwbacks and leis, shoot me a line. There are few enough pictures of us that we like to show them off.

I got as close to an NCAA championship ring as I'll ever get when Ashley had hers on display. Shiiiiiiiny. (St. John's, if you're reading this: THAT IS A CHALLENGE. BRING IT. I want shiny!)

We were not amused at the Sun's front office allocating us tickets in the upper deck. And though they mostly kept us together, there were Sun fans scattered through our sections, who probably wished for death for someone. Security was a hassle, but that was to be expected and it meant that we could skip most of the 9/11 memorial.

Many thanks to Amanda at the Sun box office and Amir (whose name I have probably butchered) from security for helping me get my camera back when I realized after leaving the arena that I had left it there. I called out enough Sun employees after l'affaire d'laptop that I feel like I should give credit where credit is due.

For the record: I would like to apologize for the people who booed the senior dance team. That's much of a muchness. We kept it rocking, but we tried to keep it within the bounds of the game.

Kara Braxton earned her Liberty stripes today. She was the one who noticed us up in the upper deck, she was the one who waved most ferociously, and she was the one who led us in the opening chant that Maddie usually leads from the Liberty logo at home. She didn't have a Liberty logo to jump on for the letters, but we knew what she was doing and chanted as loud and as hard as we could. I'd say there were a few hundred of us in the building, and over a hundred in our bus troop. (And if you thought I was hard on Cappie, you should hear some of the people in front of me. I'd say a fair number of people hate her guts.)

I was surprised that Alex Montgomery didn't see any time. It's not like our perimeter defense was any great shakes; perhaps someone who doesn't leave the corner wide open would have been a good move. Essence Carson started off red hot, then disappeared. I don't know if she was trying to use her energy on defense or if she got defensively frustrated, but she was done. Quanitra Hollingsworth put forth a lot of effort on the boards and on defense, but she was overmatched. Off the bench, really, it was Kara Braxton who showed out. I think she fed off our energy, because she came ready to play, and why Whiz stuck with his strict rotation in the fourth quarter is something I'll never understand. He's so dogmatic that there are times I think he should work at the Vatican. I mean, she committed her usual stupid mistakes as well, but Whiz, if Kara bleeping Braxton is 5-5 from the field, you press your luck and put her in the damn game, it's not complicated.

The words I have used elsewhere to describe Cappie Pondexter's performance, and my opinion thereof, are not suitable for this forum. I will say that she pursued loose balls well, but that was it. She couldn't hit water falling out of a boat (and there are a few people on this bus who wouldn't mind testing that theory in the real world), she was awful form the line, and her defense was deplorable. We pay her to win games. It's her job. She's the superstar. She lost us this one. You want the mantle, Cappie? Here it is. Feels awfully leaden, doesn't it?

I thought were going to blow a hole in the roof when Leilani Mitchell hit that three to end the first half. She showed out in the first. I don't think the size mismatch helped us there at all. Nicole Powell's back was acting up- we saw her with the radiator at one point, looking utterly miserable. But she was playing great on-ball defense- she had a lot of deflections, a lot of tapped balls. Hit a couple of timely shots, too. Plenette Pierson gets no respect from the refs. I understand that she has a reputation. I understand that she played for Detroit. I understand that she has a tendency to flop. But at some point you have to realize she's taking the contact and make the call. She was doing work on defense, though. Boom, boom, shake, shake the room on those blocks, Plenette! Kia Vaughn let the matchup with her old rival Charles get into her head, for good and for ill. Great work on the boards, and that one putback was ace.

Kelsey Griffin made a cameo, missed a shot, and played a nice little bit of defense. Allison Hightower played surprisingly extended minutes as a defensive presence, and she got her hand on the ball a lot. I wasn't impressed with Jessica Moore, but I've rarely been impressed with Jessica Moore. Kara Lawson seemed to be a little off her game today. I remember her being in, but I don't remember her doing anything. Tan White had a nice defensive game and some killer threes from the corners, because someone who will remain nameless can't guard a chair if she doesn't feel like it.

Tina Charles, I bow down to you. She beat the shot clock, she hit shots that had no business bouncing in, she was fierce, she was intense, she wanted it more than anything. Can't fight that, can't guard it, can't argue it, can't stop it. You go, Queens girl. You go. Asjha Jones had herself a very good game as well. She's quite flexible when she wants to be. We saw her busting her butt down in the paint. Danielle McCray hit a big three, but was otherwise mostly benched for White and Lawson. That's an interesting way to solve that dilemma, Mike. Kalana Greene had a stretch of dumb plays where we were heckling her (“you're playing great for us, Kalana!”) and then she hit a three and ramped up the defense and we left her alone. Renee Montgomery- again, she was there, and she didn't play badly, but she didn't play memorably, except for one long three that everyone in the arena except her defender knew she was going to freakin' take. I suppose that's a good thing for a point guard sometimes.

I'm really not sure how these refs reckon jump balls sometimes. Insane and stupid come to mind as words to describe those calls. There were two odd shot clock violation issues that I thought were mis-called that I can't remember now- one was a shot clock violation even though it hit the rim, and one wasn't called when it seemed to have missed everything. Again, I really don't think consistency is too much to ask for when it comes to officiating. Call it both ways and have done with it!

Sue, I love you. I really do. You kept me loyal to Rutgers for many years. But you have lousy taste in movies. Adam Sandler? Really?

We rocked the place. I don't think the Sun fans got as involved as us until the last minute. We went wire to wire, and we represented. Our heads are high, even if our mouths are foul.

Go New York, go New York, go! Go New York, go New York, go! We need to bring it on Saturday, no matter who we're playing!

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Saturday, September 10, 2011

September 9th, 2011: Indiana at New York

Just The Facts, Ma'am: Essence Carson's 18 points led a balanced Liberty attack, and New York held the lead virtually wire to wire in an 83-75 win over the Indiana Fever. Katie Douglas had 17 for Indiana, while Shannon Bobbit's 16 made her the only other Fever player in double figures.

For free t-shirts, Michael Jackson routines, permutations, calculations, friends who need new friends, and why a real green dress is cruel, join your intrepid and overheated blogger after the jump.


Vengeance will be mine upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York. Vengeance, I say! You made me late for a game, and up with this I will not put!

Mom, if you're reading this, happy birthday. Again.

We're up 12 at the half, and the Rutgers girls must have known that Stringer was coming to this game, because they all look inspired- even Tammy Sutton-Brown.

I'm told I missed a 9/11 tribute. I can't honestly say I feel like I missed anything by it. But my thoughts on the atmosphere surrounding this weekend are not appropriate to these Game Notes of Doom, and will be consigned to my head.

I am very tempted to cause violence to the woman in the next row who's randomly cheering for Indiana for no reason I can determine. Even her friends are looking at her like she's a crazy woman. Worse, they were friends with one of the security guys, so no matter how obnoxious she got, we weren't going to get anything done about her. After the game, one of the friends, who were all passionate Liberty fans, joked, “We're going to jump her outside.”

Our brief Shyra Ely sighting was unimpressive and unremarkable. Shavonte Zellous showed the scoring instinct that I remember so well from Pittsburgh- but that's all she can bring to the table at this point. Jessica Davenport wasn't really a factor, and more of one defensively than offensively. She had one excellent sequence where she stole Quanitra Hollingsworth's lunch money. Jeanette Pohlen had quite an intimidating ponywhip (which appears to have quite an interesting personality {@JFP32sPonyWhip}), and we left her open far too often for my liking, but at least she didn't take too much advantage of it. I was surprised she didn't push her size advantage, but Indiana wasn't pushing as hard as they could.

When did Shannon Bobbitt acquire that corner three? Because she was kicking New York's butts from that corner all night. Her low center of gravity also helped her go after our lackadaisical ball-handling. She's not the answer as the only point guard for Indiana, but she's made herself a viable option as a reserve for them, and that's more than I might have said about her a couple of years ago. Tangela Smith showed flashes of the offense I remember from her glory days in Sacramento and Phoenix. Tammy Sutton-Brown looked like she was trying to impress a couple of her former coaches in the first half. She slacked off a bit in the second half, though I can't tell if that's because Lin Dunn reminded her that the only team this game mattered to was New York, or because she's Tammy Sutton-Brown and she regressed back to the mean. We left Katie Douglas open entirely too many times for my comfort, even if she missed most of them. She got a lot of sympathy from the refs after catching a hand to the face during a Tangela Smith foul in a sandwich situation. She was definitely dialing it back on defense, which is a scary thought. Tamika Catchings... one of the least Catch-like games I've seen from her in a very long time. I thought she didn't assert herself, and I understand why- but at the same time, if you're not going to assert yourself, don't complain when you don't get the calls you think you should get, and don't start flopping like a beached dolphin to try and get the calls. You're better than that, Tamika.

Whiz actually played a matchup in the first half! I nearly died of surprise. And then he realized that Sydney Colson was not the answer and put her right back on the bench again. Quanitra Hollingsworth was game on the defensive boards, but couldn't hit water falling out of a boat, and was otherwise ineffective and a liability. Don't just stand there and stare when the ball goes out of bounds. That is a bad plan and you should feel bad for considering it. Kara Braxton wasn't completely horrible tonight, though I think Plenette may have wanted to kill her later causing a shot clock violation by fumbling and then passing off what was supposed to be her shot. No, you didn't see Plenette's face. Classic WTF. Essence Carson- man, she's turned into a real gamer. When it's crunch time, the chips are down, and the cliches are really starting to fly, she's the one who takes her game to the next level. She's closing this season like Mariano Rivera. She hits the big shots, she gets the big stops- she's becoming the player she was at Rutgers, but on another level. Alex Montgomery's three minutes were so unmemorable I almost forgot to note them. I will say that I don't like plans that involve Alex dribbling.

Cappie Pondexter's ankle gave out in the fourth quarter, giving us all a scare. That's why she sat for such a long stretch when she probably needed to be in the game. But it was clear that it was bothering her. She had some pretty moves, but she wasn't moving at full speed. Leilani Mitchell had the big three, and held her own, but I thought she should have worked more on Bobbitt and gotten more involved in the offense. Nice to see signs of life from Nicole Powell, and more importantly a midrange and inside game. Since she can't hit that damn corner shot that she keeps letting other people get, well have to have her use her height more. Plenette Pierson brought the defense, and the rebounding, and the grit. Kia Vaughn was great. She and Essence make a great pair- Kia starts off the show and Essence finishes it.

Whether it's that the Fever's offense isn't that good or we were bringing the defense, I don't know, but I don't think I've ever seen a game with so many shot clock violations or near violations. Not that we were any great shakes in that regard, especially in the fourth quarter when we were very badly trying to run out the clock.

Lin Dunn and Stephanie White wore coordinating outfits. Do they do this often? Please tell me they don't do this often. That brings in several levels of OMGCREEPY.

Lots of giveaways, though none terribly interesting except for the ball exchange at the end (and apparently the intros, which my mom's neighbors got to participate in, but mom missed because she was late, DAMN YOU MTA!). Ball exchange is awesome. Ball exchange with team-autographed balls is even better.

I think the last game of the year was the first formal confirmation we had that the regular Torch Patrol is no longer a dance team, but a work the stands team. They announced the Lil' Torches and the Timeless Torches as the Liberty's two dance teams. They did a combined routine that was awesome- and I usually avert my eyes when the Timeless Torches come on. (If I want to see people my mother's age dance, I'll give my mother Pepsi and watch her go.)

There was a guy in the stands, presumably a party clown, throwing out t-shirts. He was an interesting gimmick, but I'm hoping he isn't a frequent one.

There was a mixer after the game at Brick City, but we wanted to get home. After all, I had these notes to write, and we have a road trip to go on. ROAD TRIP! /is totally psyched

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Sunday, September 4, 2011

September 4th, 2011: Minnesota at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Maya Moore's 19 points led the Minnesota Lynx in an 86-68 win over the New York Liberty. Minnesota put five players in double figures and showed stifling defense in the second half. Plenette Pierson's 17 points and eight rebounds led the Liberty.

For raging against the heavens, communication breakdowns, game strategy, ridiculous thoughts, castigation, and a ride on a motorized wheelchair, join your intrepid and regretfully teetotal blogger after the jump.

Dear Prudential Center: communication skills with the Liberty, you need them. No, really, we're not trying to BS you about season subscribers being allowed in an hour and a half before tip time. We just talked to the season subscription people. We just showed you the e-mail that states that we get early entry through either the Box Office entrance or the entrance from the parking garage. And you're still telling us it's not true? Reading comprehension, you lack it. By the time they stopped arguing with the Liberty representative who came over to explain things to them with small words, and managed to unearth a scanner, it was damn near three o'clock anyway.

My goodness, Miss Maya is popular right now, isn't she? I thought I was going to go deaf from the people screaming her name. Of course, because she and most of the other Lynx stars came off late, there were precious few signatures and pictures to get. (Very late. You could hear Charde Houston yelling “Miss Maya, nine seconds!” as the clock ticked down.)

I am so envious of Candice Wiggins's personality. She has so much of it! There are precious few people who can work a room the way she does- it's not the way Spoon works a room, which is a little more serious, or the way Catch works a room, which is very business-like, like she's aware of her role, but pure joyous bubbly personality. It's closest to the way Tully works the room.

Why can't Nicole Powell run that fast when she's on the floor?

The good news is that I'm seeing some #7s come out of mothballs, because we still heart Taj, no matter where her hair has disappeared to. The bad news is there are way too many #23 shirts here, and not just in Liberty blue. God help any of those Maaaaaaaaaaaayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa fans who come into our section, and I'm not even talking about me.

We're down 11 at the half, and it could be a lot worse. I'd like to know why Cheryl Reeve didn't get a technical for charging out to the midline after the jump ball violation on Whalen. Seriously, the way she's been jawing at the refs even as her players shoot free throws on BS fouls, while it brings back fond memories of Bill Laimbeer, kind of makes me want to go down there and smack her. I'd also appreciate if they'd start calling Maya Moore for her blatant push-offs instead of letting her get away with them and then calling Jessica Adair or Amber Harris for a phantom foul. Otherwise, it's going to get very RU-UConn up in here. We've already had a double foul on Plenette and Brunson for a tangle, and I don't know who I'd take in that fight.

I'd also appreciate if we could guard the far corner, damnit.

I cannot guarantee I will be coherent. I cannot guarantee I will be rational. I cannot even guarantee I will not be profane.

Amber Harris brought a nice little midrange jumper along with her on this road trip. She wasn't so lucky on the boards and getting in the lane. Balls seemed to go off her hands and out of bounds a lot, to the point where I wonder how comfortable she is with her height sometimes. Charde Houston got a cameo in the fourth quarter, and was unsuccessful in getting into the scoring column. I thought she was going to mix it up with one of the RU girls at one point. She looks strange bald, but that's just the shock of the semi-expected, not a judgment on her choices or beliefs. Jessica Adair suffered for Maya Moore's sins, picking up the phantom or borderline fouls right after Miss Maya pulled shenanigans. Alexis Hornbuckle got her time in the fourth quarter, and it seemed odd that she was playing point guard while Wiggins and Wright were both on the floor- except that Reeve is off Laimbeer's tree, which means offense out of the point guard is a pleasant surprise, whereas defense out of the point guard is a necessity (Elaine Powell, I am looking at you, but not too long or you'll hurt me) so it makes sense to use Hornbuckle as point to set up more shots for the actual scorers on the floor. It looks damn weird, though. Monica Wright didn't leave much of an impression on me, except for the fact that she was one of the few Lynx players willing to drive the lane, a nice counterpoint to the strong outside shooting presence of her teammates. I can understand why fans of other teams would find Candice Wiggins's on-court effervescence annoying and see it as a taunt. She didn't really do much that made me go OMG GET OFF MY FLOOR NOW, but she didn't have much of an opportunity.

Have I mentioned lately that I would have greatly appreciated if the Liberty would have drafted Rebekkah Brunson when they had the chance? Either chance? Don't get me wrong, Shameka Christon worked out okay for us, but aaaaargh. Sigh. RAEG. She crashed the boards like her life depended on the Lynx getting her rebounds. She brings an edge and a ferocity to Minnesota that they need- almost too much of one sometimes. But she is very much Baby Yo, and the only one with a better claim to that title is Alicia DeVaughn. When she went out of the game with the fifth foul early in the third quarter, I thought that was our chance to strike. Instead, Minnesota seized the reins. Sigh. Rage. Taj McWilliams-Franklin showed off an array of post moves that showed that Mama Taj still has it. She put on a show in the first quarter, and that spurt put the Liberty on their heels in a way that I don't know if they could recover from. Lindsay Whalen ran the show with aplomb and without much pizzazz, and early on I thought Leilani Mitchell's defense was bothering her. Obviously that stopped working after a while. Maya Moore is smooth, and pretty, and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NICOLE KRISTEN POWELL STOP LEAVING HER OPEN IN THE CORNER. But for all that, I still think she has a ways to go to be the level of player in the WNBA that she was in the NCAA. She has a much more powerful build than is apparent from the way she plays, and she could be a lot more dangerous is if she's more willing to go further in and use those shoulders- it's nice that she can shoot from the outside, but she needs to be more physical in a productive manner. Please note that a productive manner is not shoving Essence Carson to the ground. Seimone Augustus's jumper is back. I'm scared. It's so pretty!

Fortunately, tonight Kara Braxton was not where lay-ups went to die. It was just where bad passes went to be further bobbled. She wasn't completely horrible, which is damning with faint praise but is one of the nicer things I may yet say about the Liberty in this game. Alex Montgomery, I do not know where your head was, but it was not in this game, and I'm not taking bets as to whether it was in the city of Newark. Fumbles, lousy positioning- her defense was better than her teammates', but that's not saying very much. Essence Carson couldn't find the basket- bad luck, for the most part, but at least she was trying. She always seems to show up late, which is a good thing in close games but a pointless one in blowouts. Quanitra Hollingsworth seemed like she wanted to continue her Roaring Rampage of Revenge, but mostly succeeded in picking up fouls and fumbling the ball. Her one field goal came on a very pretty reverse.

All credit and praise to Plenette Pierson. She showed up and showed out tonight. She was crashing the glass, she was driving the lane, she was putting up the shots, she was playing defense (for the most part). She demonstrated effort, which is the bare minimum I expect from my team. Kia Vaughn let the matchups get into her head a little bit- they were doubling and tripling her at times, and I don't think she was ready for the pressure. Sadly, the entire damn league knows she's not ready for the pressure, which is why they do it. Court awareness, Kia, get you some. I do hope her foot/ankle injury- whatever it was that caused her to go to the floor and then gently collapse into the cockroach-hit-by-Raid position- isn't serious and she feels better soon. Leilani Mitchell left her three-point shot in Minnesota, and the Lynx gladly adopted it and cherished it and called it George. The sad part is that she wasn't the biggest liability out there for the Liberty, despite being mostly a non-factor. That honor almost went to Nicole Powell, except that Nicole at least hit a couple of shots, even if she missed a couple of other easy ones and might as well have been on the moon defensively by leaving players open from the corner repeatedly. Honestly, Nicole, you went to Stanford. Remind me again what the definition of insanity is? Cappie Pondexter better have been playing hurt. Her ankle better be bothering her. Otherwise there is no excuse for that putrid performance she put up. No field goals? Yes, the assists are nice, but she repeatedly passed off good shots to give the ball to teammates who were out of position or double-teamed. It was clear that she did not want to shoot, and when she did start taking shots in the fourth quarter, that she couldn't shoot properly. It was painful to watch, and it can't have been fun to play on.

But the biggest liability in this game for New York was John Whisenant. Why keep running Powell out there when she can't keep up defensively? Why leave Pondexter in the game when she is obviously hurt? Why have either of them out there when it's a 20-point game and Charde Houston is coming in? Why DNP-CD Sydney Colson and Ta'Shia Phillips at that point? Why run injured players into the ground in a game that's long since been lost? Part of being a successful coach means adapting, and Whiz steadfastly refused to through this game. I don't think that's what lost us the game, but that's what gave us the margin. If one of your players has made a point of writing an article for the team web site about playing hurt and the perils of it, perhaps you should be more cognizant of what you're doing to your team, especially when your last two games are against conference opponents, and your most likely opponents in the playoffs. Deplorable game management and reprehensible player management.

Roy Gulbeyan and Maj Forsberg are names that make me go :-/ when I hear them, but the officiating wasn't as awful as I was expecting. The calls they missed were doozies- the repeatedly mentioned pushoff by Moore, Whalen grabbing Plenette's... uh, hips... and all but using her as a vaulting horse, that sort of thing. It was within the realm of error.

To the gentleman who persists in yelling “DEFENSE!” when the Liberty have the ball, and who does it at every game, please be aware that should you come visit section 9, you will not come to a good end. You are like unto a Summer's Eve.

Excellent shooting by the gentlemen playing Tic-Tac-Toe- that was one of the most compelling parts of the day. Nice racing strategy by the guy in the Carson jersey during the go-cart race- the guy in the Pondexter jersey thought he was being slick by going narrow on the turns, and the guy in the Carson jersey realized that he was going to stick and went around him like a slingshot. Of course someone in a Carson jersey is going to have a better grasp on strategy than someone in a Pondexter jersey!

The cluster didn't even end with the game! We tried to catch the Chicago-Indiana game at Brick City, across the street... but the bar across the street from the Pru doesn't have, or doesn't know about, NBA-TV. Fail. So it was a fair piece of fail all the way around.

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