Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tayler Hill had 16 points off the bench to lead the Washington Mystics to a 70-52 win over the New York Liberty in their regular season finale. Kia Vaughn added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. Kelsey Bone led New York with 11 points; Toni Young had 10.
For farewells, beginnings, causing trouble, courting trouble, photobombing, free stuff, and well wishes, join your intrepid and conclusive blogger after the jump.
Here we are! It's the end of the season, for good or for ill, and if this is how we're going to end it, then we're ending the season in style.
You see, Albert hooked us up again, this time with his season seats... which are in the first row behind the road bench. You know you're close when Plenette Pierson is asking WTF you are doing when you're posing your moose on the chair behind the bench. There will be pictures.
Washington was far more courteous than Connecticut- the fan bus is low down and directly behind the road bench. The team has noticed, and appreciated. We've been getting a little grief from some of the locals, but that's understandable. It's like there's a cultural divide between DC and NY or something.
Lot of Katie appreciation going in the stands, though I don't know if the Mystics have anything planned. I've seen jerseys and signs. Katie seems to have made herself popular in the one year she spent in DC.
Very breathy anthem. Stop gasping for air and sing. She had a pleasant voice otherwise.
That was worth it. I don't care that we lost, except that's not how Katie's career should have ended, but that was worth it. The fan bus behind us was loud and into the game, which I think spurred some of the Mystics fans in the area to actually get more into the game. (Well, except for the peculiar gentleman in the fourth row who appeared to be under the influence of illicit substances. Sir, the women three seats away from you do not care about your HIV tests. Security escorted him out before the second quarter started.)
Mini-posters of Ivory Latta and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt were the giveaway today, handed out as people left the game. Sensible approach to giveaways. Less chance of them being scattered and lost.
The peril of being super close to the bench is that you can't get a really good overview of the game. You get some amazing moments, but you don't get the whole game.
Kamiko Williams brought energy off the bench, but a lot of it was misdirected energy. She had a very makeable shot that she blew. Her defense was better than the average rookie, but not as good as it could have been. Being up close allows you to really get a good look at DeLisha Milton-Jones and her amazing extendable arms as she pulls rebounds away over people's heads. She spent a lot of time in the middle clogging up space and getting called for nonsense fouls, but we'll get to the nonsense fouls in a little while. Kelsey Bone was not as strong on the boards as she should have been- she's a very big and very strong woman, she should be going hard after the boards. I think the refs might have gotten into her head a little bit. She picked up steam in the fourth quarter. Alex Montgomery was off her game- busy on defense, but not necessarily effective, and her shot was somewhat questionable. I mean, more than usual.
Cappie didn't look bad at all. I'm going to pretend the over-the-top lipstick was part of a Tina Thompson tribute.
Toni Young started the game off hot on offense, but Bill was yelling at her a lot for lapsing on defense and fumbling passes. I don't know if he was being extra hard on her today because she wasn't playing great or if she's his usual target, but I can't imagine it was fun for the kid. Plenette Pierson cleaned up the boards like a vacuum cleaner- if balls were being tapped out, she made sure that she was the one who got them. She was having all kinds of issues with her shot, though. The shooting overall was pretty awful. Leilani Mitchell looked spent. Even the shot that went in look like it was taking all her energy to get up and over. She had moments on defense, but mostly looked ineffective, even against guards her own size. Kara Braxton showed flashes of fight and skill, but mostly moments of standing there and watching other players get rebounds. She brought the ball down low a lot more than a post player of her size should. Katie Smith was trying to have the kind of send-off that Tina Thompson did in Seattle. It didn't go well. My camera was not in position for the moments that she and Tayler Hill were guarding each other, and those stretches did not go well for Katie.
Lots of opportunities at the basket, so little finishing. They better be working on that during the off-season, if they don't all want to face the wrath of Bill Laimbeer by the time they get back to training camp. (Okay, all of them except Katie, and she might be dishing out the wrath as an assistant.)
Emma Meesseman showed off her midrange game more in this one- most of the shots she hit were open jumpers. Not that she didn't mix it up a little bit, but she seemed to be working more of the high post than the low post. Michelle Snow doesn't seem to mesh with the kids- she'll do well enough for herself, but she doesn't seem to be looking to get the kids involved in the play, which is not good for the long-term good of the team. The box score claims that she had two assists, but I don't remember her passing the ball all that much. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense and hit a couple of shots (of course, the first photo I took {after realizing my mother would disown me if I came back from Washington without any pictures of Nadirah} was of the perfect fast break lay-up that she blew). The people around us were confused that we weren't thrilled for her. Well, part of me was and always will be, but it's summer, and therefore I root for the Liberty. I don't root for opposing players against the Liberty; if I were going to do that, I wouldn't have taken a day off work to come down to Washington on Friday and root for the Mystics. (Not that I'm not glad she's happy, and not that I don't love that Mystics fans like her. But I'm a Liberty fan. {And she knows that too.}) Tierra Ruffin-Pratt is tough, especially on the boards, but her shot wasn't falling today. She reminds me of a miniature Monique Currie, which probably means she's in the right place. Tayler Hill was feeling it beyond the arc. She stepped up when her team needed her because of Ajavon's foul trouble. If she keeps shooting like this while I'm around, I'm afraid Albert's going to forcibly relocate me to Washington. She was also pretty good defensively on Katie Smith- stripped her a couple of times. Quanitra Hollingsworth is tall. Uh. That's about it?
Ivory Latta had moments of blinding stupidity (that attempted teardrop... Ivory, you're adorable but you're not Mark Jackson) but quashed any thoughts of Liberty comebacks with big shots. She's much more annoying when you're not rooting for her. Apparently she's also quite amusing in video features, but I didn't see any of those. Kia Vaughn was a woman on a mission, and that mission was to get every rebound she possibly could. Her shooting was only so-so, but she made up for it by attacking the boards. Matee Ajavon committed a lot of stupid fouls, and between that and the hot hand of Tayler Hill, Ajavon spent most of the game on the bench. Strangely enough, I'm okay with this. Crystal Langhorne was the focus of a lot of the Liberty's defensive effort, and I think the one thing we were successful at was getting her out of her comfort zone on offense. She hit the boards hard, though. I don't actually remember most of what Monique Currie did, other than the so-called jump ball during which she never really had possession.
Things what I noticed behind the Liberty bench that I had not noticed before: Taj has a really pretty clipboard, though I can't tell if the design is painted on, stickered on, or custom. The color contrast on Toni Young's tattoos is spectacular. Plenette is very involved in things, whether it's double-checking the defensive schemes, advising her teammates, or letting them know who's doing what out there. Some players have their own smoothies (when we observed them, Laura Ramus offered to whip one up). Bill is really, really tall, and you can't exactly yell "down in front" at Bill Laimbeer.
Both sets of fans chanted Katie's name at the end of the game. We started it, then it died down, then the Mystics fans picked it up, and we couldn't very well let them do it by themselves, could we? Katie kept looking at us like, "uh, hey, y'all, the game's still going on even though I got taken out, you know that, right?" Meanwhile, Kara and DeLisha were pumping their fists in time with us.
Love the way the Mystics give away the jerseys at the end of the season. The random draw is a nice twist.
These officials can step on ALL the Legos. There was a lot of Washington contact not called that was magically a foul when a Liberty player did it. I really didn't appreciate Currie poking Katie in the throat without a call being made. You can look at the foul differential for yourselves.
The Greene Turtle stand in the arena is on point. Almost makes me wish we'd decided to go there for lunch, but if you're in Chinatown (or at least what used to be Chinatown) you should go for Chinese.
So here's to the last of the originals, the last of the first to say yes to the ABL, the woman who put 7,883 points on the scoreboard in the United States of America, the woman with four championships and three gold medals. Here's to you, Katie Smith, for all the awesome things you have done and the feats you have accomplished. Whatever you set your mind to, you'll do, as you've done everything else.
To the rest of you: see you at the Garden next year.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
September 15th, 2013: New York at Washington
Friday, September 13, 2013
September 13th, 2013: Connecticut at Washington
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Ivory Latta had 19 points, including five threes out of a team-record 12, as the Washington Mystics romped over the Connecticut Sun 82-56. Kia Vaughn added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Washington. Mistie Bass led Connecticut with 13 points.
For injury added to injury, train rides, nosy questions, dressing in weird costumes, misplaced pride, and misplaced fans, join your intrepid and stuck blogger after the jump... and then get her out of this chair, she's stuck.
You thought you were done with me when the Liberty finished their home schedule, didn't you? You thought those long huge blocks of text full of perceived wit and self-proclaimed wisdom were going into mothballs until November, didn't you? Well, think again. Your intrepid blogger came into a bit of money some months ago, and the one big splurge we planned was a trip down to Washington to cheer for Nadirah McKenith.
This is the kind of logic my brain uses: I really like Nadirah. I want to cheer for her. I can't cheer for her when she plays in New York or Newark, because she's a Mystic and therefore I'd be rooting against the Liberty, and I don't root against my team. (I may wish for short-term failure for long-term gain, but even then I want to see some fight out of them.) Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to do it somewhere other than New York. None of the Mystics' games in Connecticut fit into my busy schedule. Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to go to Washington, and so here I am in the District of Columbia, with holes in my shoes and an Internet connection of questionable reliability.
Albert, one of the finest bloggers Swish Appeal has to offer, hooked us up with our tickets, for which I am eternally and infinitely grateful. Mystics fans in general, every time I've been to DC, have been amazing, from my first trip (tickets to All-Star practice) to the last Board Junkie get-together (poster) to this. (Especially when I saw the ticket prices, yowza.)
But you get bang for your buck, I'll say that. The inside of the arena is nice. The boards are bright and sharp, and there are stat boards in all corners to go with the giant jumbotron over center corut. The set-up for the team store is pretty sweet (and 40% off is one of the holy phrases of my people, so I bought a couple of things, and if there's a clearance sale on Sunday I might just buy a Jasmine Thomas shirt and vandalize it). I love the season ticket holder shirts- "if lost, please return me to Verizon Center" on the front, "because I never miss a game" and the schedule on the back. The staff is really nice- bonus points to the security guy who checked my bag before the gates opened, which is a practical time-saving step that neither New York nor Connecticut will take.
Well played, cameraman: during one of the "na na na-na na-na" segments of "Can't Hold Us", he stuck the camera on Nadirah.
Friendly but extremely nosy child, why are you asking me what I paid for my hotel room?
Missed the biddy game at halftime, on a wild goose chase for I know not who carrying I know not what, hence the lack of halftime notes. Your intrepid blogger will attempt to not make the same mistake on Sunday.
Cute anthem kid, less cute anthem, but when an armed forces specialist tells you to stand for the anthem, boy howdy do you stand for the anthem. A very DC touch.
Connecticut was down to seven players- I don't know what happened to Tan White (yes, I know in the box score it had something to do with her left hand). All I knew at the time was that she was in the starting lineup when we got into the building, and then suddenly Iziane Castro Marques was in the starting lineup and Tan still had her pants on. Which sounds wrong... I meant her tearaway pants.
So the entire Sun bench was Kayla Pedersen and Sydney Carter. Obviously, both of them got a lot of minutes. Pedersen got on the boards well, though there did seem to be a lot of flailing by her. Sydney Carter had a really nice game- I think she's trying to prove that she belongs in the league, and in the games that I've seen her, she's definitely proven that. She ran the offense very well, and her shot was sweet. She had a very pretty steal to start the fourth quarter while Ivory Latta's mind was perhaps not on the game. Maybe she needs to work on her defense a little, but she's got game.
You would think Mike Thibault and the Washington Mystics would know that Iziane Castro Marques likes to shoot a little bit. But they were letting her have that right corner all night, and that's where she hit both of her threes. She even tried passing the ball a couple of times, but after what Kelsey Griffin did with it near the end of the game, I'm not sure she's ever going to do that again. Come on, Sun. Y'all need to hit shots if you want Izi to even consider passing the ball again. Renee Montgomery got on the ball a lot on defense, and she seemed much less involved in the offense than usual. Her shot selection left a lot to be desired, as it usually does. Mistie Bass did work down low. I think her teammates accidentally fought with her for rebounds a couple of times. I know Pedersen was getting tangled with her own teammates. Kelsey Griffin had occasional lapses of sanity wherein she was under the impression that she was in fact a mythological griffin and could fly. Kelsey, I regret to inform you that you can't fly. Sorry. You rebound pretty well, though. And people do like to leave her open for that long two. I'm sort of grateful the Liberty aren't the only ones who do it. I don't remember what Kalana Greene did, except for one successful drive and the occasional attempt at a rebound, attempts that were not as successful as I'm sure Anne Donovan would have liked.
I suspect that because the Sun don't have a single go-to player, they have to work as a team unit a lot more. They played a lot of help defense, with a lot of switching and doubling. I also was impressed with their on-ball defense and some of their ball movement.
Quanitra Hollingsworth looked surprisingly ineffective for a player I'd seen be somewhat useful in New York. Q, stop trying to solve Fermat's Last Theorem in your head and work on calculating the angle of your shot. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense; I think she'd have had more assists if Kia Vaughn could hold on to the ball, but I recognize my biases. She had a shoulder sleeve on and was applying heat. If that's an ongoing situation, that might explain why she's been shooting less. Tayler Hill decided to show off her stroke from long range- she and Ivory Latta were taking turns at one point, and it was kind of awesome. She still does stupid things on the court, but that's to be expected from a rookie, and I'm glad she's making strides. Emma Meesseman hit the boards well and looked good. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt followed her shot with impressive ferocity- I think she got all her offensive rebounds on two possessions. That is not a woman I neither want to anger nor mess with in a dark alley. Michelle Snow spent a lot of time arguing with the refs and doing stupid things.
Kia Vaughn came with a lot of energy in this one, on both ends of the floor. I'd have liked if she had better hands, but we can't be perfect, and she was fierce. Ivory Latta was balling. She took a couple of those threes from Tina Thompson land, and they were nothing but net. I was taken aback by her utter lack of lateral quickness. Like any. At all. It's such a stark contrast to her usual caffeine bullet time that it becomes noteworthy. I don't remember Matee Ajavon doing much except committing fouls and taking shots that seemed designed to look good and not be effective. Crystal Langhorne hit the boards and boxed out well. I love when she gets her blue collar on. Monique Currie was hitting from deep; even the two-pointer she hit was with a foot on the three-point line (a call she does love to argue).
The shooting was amazing. Every time Connecticut tried to get a run together, Washington hit a three. And then it snowballed and suddenly they were up 20. I love seeing the kids play together- that's a very promising young core, and a very collegiate style of building a team.
I don't know if manipulating a double bungee cord is a life skill that she'll have any use for, but the woman in the Dunkin Donuts contest used momentum to her advantage.
How does one go about acquiring a Chick-Fil-A sandwich? Izi Castro Marques gave the whole arena one by missing two free throws in the fourth quarter. I don't like who they give their money to, but if I can sate my curiosity for free, I'll do it.
I thought the tech on Latta was weak, though we don't know what she said.
LOL of the game: Ivory Latta getting her groove on at the start of the fourth quarter.
I couldn't bring myself to say "Let's Go Mystics", but I can chant "DE-FENSE" real good. And if they keep using the opening clap from "Car Wash", they're going to get it from Liberty fans on Sunday.
This was fun. It's going to be more interesting next time.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
September 10th, 2013: Phoenix at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree each had 18 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury over the New York Liberty in New York's last home game of the season. Diana Taurasi added 17 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Katie Smith led New York with 17 points; Plenette Pierson had five points, six assists, and 15 rebounds.
For the end of the road, shirts, overcoming adversity, squeaky children, and appropriation, join your intrepid and unburdened blogger after the jump.
Barring a perverse application of the word "miracle", this is it. This is the last time I will have to shake my fist to the heavens at the Q59 being fifteen minutes late so that I miss the intricate network of connections and fall into disaster like a misplayed line of dominoes. This is the last time I will rub the head of the little sculpture that stands at the top of the stairs leading to and from the L train platform. This is the last time I will have to cram myself into the Newark train, the last time I will have to fight with the SmartLink reader. If there is mercy in this world, this is the last home game for the Liberty. I'm tired. I'm done with this trip. Eighteen, and eighteen, and eighteen, and I'm done.
We didn't even get a perfect attendance award this year. The on-court photo was open to all season subscribers. I don't do cameras, and it's postgame, so... no. I want to get out of Newark as quickly as possible and leave the years of exile behind.
Don't get me wrong, the Prudential Center has grown on me as an arena. For an autograph hunter, it's well laid out. The lounges are nice. The seats are comfortable. But I miss my Diet Coke, and I'm tired of people not reading signs, and I'm ready to go home.
Today's commute, which has so far taken me an hour and just barely gotten me to World Trade Center, is certainly not doing New Jersey any favors. I missed the anthem (though apparently I didn't miss much; Kym's really lost her voice) and I missed the start of the ceremony to honor Katie. I saw the framed jerseys from the Lynx and the national team, and I saw the check that Cappie gave to the scholarship fund in Logan, but I don't know what else there was. They were down to the medium shirts by the time I arrived, but I think I know how to offload one of those.
There are distressingly sparkly preteens performing at the half. I try not to watch that kind of thing. It tends to lead to nothing but trouble. It's a miracle that we're only down two, given that Cappie's not playing. (She could look worse. She doesn't look bad. The lipstick is a bit much, but that's looking for trouble.)
We're currently seeing a slideshow of Katie Smith being awesome, which has a bejeezus lot of Team USA pictures. Haven't spotted any Quest pictures in there, though they went all the way back to Ohio State and her very unfortunate collegiate hair. Gee, I wonder why.
Katie did manage to sneak in one good shot during the ceremony- "thank you for coming, those of you who made it". Or words to that effect. But it came off as "LOL empty seats".
We're having a bit of an issue getting a hand in DeWanna Bonner's face. I know it's usually good strategy to let her bomb away from quarter-court, but if she's hit two of them, perhaps you might want to consider guarding her. Of course, Diana is being Diana and hitting jumpers in stride.
Nothing says front-runner louder than a Griner jersey and a color-coordinated Heat cap. GTFO, kid.
I don't care that we lost. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But we fought to the last possessions. We took a full-strength Phoenix team down to the wire. I'm okay with losing so long as we fight, and we fought, even without Cappie- maybe especially without Cappie.
What happened to Chardé Houston? I missed the story behind the facemask, but I blinked and she was wearing it, and I assume that she didn't magically generate it by twitching her nose. Despite the extremely memorable facemask, I don't remember what she actually did. Jasmine James saw a fair number of minutes in the backcourt, and it looked like Taurasi was taking the kid under her wing a little bit. There were a couple of teaching moments. She definitely looked like a rookie and like a midseason replacement, but she looked like she might find a way to belong if she goes overseas and works on her overall game. Lynetta Kizer was extremely physical, especially with Plenette- there were a couple of points near the end of the game where I thought Plenette was going to make some very pointed suggestions on where Kizer could go at her earliest convenience, in addition to perhaps derogatory remarks directed at Kizer's ancestry and preferences. She kept trying to extend her shooting range, and I'm not sure she has that range. Alexis Hornbuckle threw a wicked tackle on Leilani on the fast break- right move and everyone knew it, but it was still a hard hit. She was there for her defense- nothing more and nothing less. Krystal Thomas gave good minutes in relief of Brittney Griner. Obviously, she's not nearly the inside presence that Griner is- she doesn't have the reach and she doesn't have the height, even with the hair, but she gets the job done. She has a bit of the Mercury tendency to whine, but she's the only one of the bench players for whom that is a major problem. I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching Penny Taylor play. She's workmanlike yet graceful. She accepts her fouls, moves on, and hits the big shot. She doesn't give up on what she sees as an opportunity- if she sees a ballhandler who looks uncomfortable bringing the ball up, she'll take a couple of extra swipes before heading back up court. It's good to see her back in the game.
Again, if DeWanna Bonner is hitting the long threes, you might want to change up your defensive scheme and prevent her from getting them. I mean, I don't get paid for this, but it only seems logical. To be fair, the first time Bonner tried to go for one of those deep ones in the second half, she got swatted. She nailed one in the fourth quarter that sealed the game, for all intents and purposes. I do wish she'd use that frame of hers a bit more than just setting up as a spot-up shooter. Oh, and she needs to stop complaining every time a foul is called on her. Brittney Griner mostly wasn't looking for her shot, as near as I could tell, especially in the middle of the game. The Liberty defenders were playing her pretty tough. But she gave it back just as hard on the other end. And when the attention came to her, she did well finding her teammates- she had an awfully pretty drop pass to Briana Gilbreath. Gilbreath was often used in offense-defense substitutions, and to make lineups difficult for the Liberty to defend. Candice Dupree was smooth, especially in the fourth quarter, when she lit up the Liberty with paint jumpers. She's awfully pretty to watch. If I liked Phoenix more, I could watch her and Penny Taylor in the frontcourt all day. Diana Taurasi was Diana Taurasi. She fired away with no hesitation and no need to set her feet. She drove the lane hard. She set up her teammates. She ran her mouth at Plenette Pierson, which is generally not considered among the world's greatest ideas. She got Alex Montgomery good in the face, hard enough to spin her into a ref; she also got Alex with a shoulder to the chin very late in the game, one that was not called anything. She kvetched a lot to the refs. I can't bring myself to feel bad for her potentially missing an irrelevant game.
Kamiko Williams came off the bench briefly to spell players on defense. She failed pretty spectacularly on offense. That should have been a fast break lay-up, and it turned into a botched rebound and a turnover. We finally got to hear Mike W. give the proper cadence for DeLisha Milton-Jones's name, though she did seem to be trying to deny him that pleasure. I don't know if I would have gone to her for the last shot, not at this time in her career. She should have been a more effective matchup than she was. Kelsey Bone needs to follow her damn shot. She looked scared of Griner (which doesn't make sense, didn't they play against each other at some point?) and didn't find her mojo until late in the game. Alex Montgomery fought for every loose ball and stuck tight on defense. She was great. She's grown a lot on me this year. She saw an opportunity to make her mark, and she took it. I hope
Toni Young started the game off looking fearless. She went right at Brittney Griner on the boards, using her incredible leap to steal away rebounds from the taller center. (Reminded me a bit of how Amber Thompson from St. John's played against Griner at the Maggie Dixon a couple of years ago.) She was also trying to extend her shooting range, which wasn't a bad experimental idea if Bill really wants to transition her to the three. She tipped out a lot of rebounds. Plenette Pierson picked up most of them. The rims were not kind to her. But she was fighting hard on both sides of the floor and absorbing a lot of contact. I can't be mad at her. Leilani Mitchell was not practical in this game. I don't mean that as anything about her, but Taurasi was regularly the shortest Mercury player on the floor. You can't put Leilani on the floor against that lineup. She's just too adorably tiny. Kara Braxton had flashes of decency, punctuated by using her... er... assets as a very successful distraction against Bonner, before returning to steady states of apathy and indolence. In other words, she's Kara. Katie Smith's shot was on tonight, but in a twisted way, that might have set up the end of the game- pretty much everyone knew the pass was going to her, which resulted in a turnover. But it was a great way for her to leave New York behind.
You know it's been an injury-plagued season when even the team surgeon has been down for a while. Okay, so she was fighting cancer and kicked its butt, so she's awesome, but still. She got a round of applause and a personalized jersey from the team.
Refs can take a long walk off a short pier as far as I'm concerned. Lots of contact going uncalled, and a lot of issues with getting the out-of-bounds calls right- there were three or four hotly contested questions of possession. I thought Bill was going to blow a fuse. And then you wonder why people are getting hit in the head.
It's over and I'm relieved. The season's not technically over, and you won't be rid of me for another week yet. But there's nothing left but pride and development. There's a freedom in that, a weight lifted.from my heart, perhaps a beat skipped at the thought of having a lottery pick in reasonably capable hands. The merciful blow has come.
So goodbye, Newark. Goodbye, ridiculous hike from Penn Station. Goodbye, creepy street people who cluster around the benches and eye us as we enter the station. Goodbye, extra train ride. Goodbye, Pepsi. Goodbye, stupid people standing in our line of sight. Goodbye, lousy signage. Goodbye, three years of failure and churning. Goodbye, Prudential Center.
The years of exile are over. Next year, at the Garden!
Friday, September 6, 2013
September 6th, 2013: Atlanta at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Atlanta Dream put four players in double figures and took over the game in the second quarter to beat the New York Liberty 70-57. Angel McCoughtry led the Dream with 16 points, adding seven rebounds; Érika de Souza had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Kara Braxton led New York with 17 points before fouling out.
For flailing at fail, missing wheelchairs, late nights on the E train, runaway centers, and a lingering agony, join your intrepid and crumby blogger after the jump.
It's almost over now, almost over now...
I have to learn to be more specific in my wishes. We have the Shock front office, and we have a calendar, but it's a boring calendar with boring photos that we've seen before. Okay, guys, fine. Raise the bar next year. Y'all did cars in Detroit and found a way to make Elaine Powell look kind of pretty, y'all can find a New York theme and style up the team.
This New Jersey mix they're doing for "Thank You Newark" night is pretty awesome. Somewhere, though, someone in the stands is angry that Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi weren't included if it was going to be a New Jersey mix instead of just Newark-and-its-environs.
Barb. I love ya. You were solid for us as a player and you appreciate the value of your vote. But you have to stop with the horizontal stripes. You are not in playing shape anymore. You do not have the figure for horizontal stripes. I know this from personal experience. Mama Taj's dress, however, is on point.
It's probably not a good sign that Kamiko fumbled and Kelsey dropped her pants during warm-ups. But that's okay. I'm almost hoping we hit the tragic number tonight to end it.
"Single Ladies" does not go there, music. Someone get Kia Vaughn out of the DJ booth and back to the Mystics game.
Plenette, it might not have been tactful to crow about going back to the Garden during the thank you to Newark, but I'm down with that.
Normally I detest the addition of "God Bless America" to the pregame festivities, but the singer was awesome. So was the anthem singer.
I am not happy with Ruth Riley right now. Her and her stupidly spaced jersey... I don't like Cappie and the Miami Sol were the team of my heart, but you do not kick my players. EVER. I'm not thrilled with running Cappie back out there on the injuries, but I'm not Bill Laimbeer (I'm way too short).
Seriously, this season cannot be over soon enough. I don't usually say this as a WNBA fan, but between the utterly ridiculous number of injuries across the league and the epic fail that has been my team at home, this season has been too long for me. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way, either. I suspect there are Sun fans, Silver Stars fans, even Fever fans, who would like the parade of injuries and incidents to stop.
Ruth Riley played like she was trying to make Bill Laimbeer proud of her. Her fouls were tough and physical, especially that kick on Cappie (yes, still irked, no, not letting go, yes, I retain the urge to yell "SWEEP THE LEG!" at her). She did try to get her outside jumper going, but the rim was not amused and spun her shots out pretty much the entire time. Yes, even her free throws. I cackled maniacally at that. Alex Bentley demonstrated her superb knack for hitting shots late in the shot clock, even from awkward angles. I think three of her baskets came late in the clock- I know she had a deuce as the shot clock expired. That's an impressive knack, and against every other team in the league I hope it lasts her entire career. Aneika Henry brought physicality in surprisingly few minutes- I don't know if Fred Williams was trying to rest her for the playoffs or if she's nursing some kind of injury (she had on a shoulder brace that could have passed for armor at a Renaissance Faire) or if Señor Fred thought Riley was playing better for some bizarre reason. Tiffany Hayes annoyed me. I hate seeing bench players take four steps and not get called for traveling. I hate seeing bench players throw shoulders and not get called for the offensive foul. It's one thing if you're going to grant Jordan Rules to a superstar, but there is no known universe where Tiffany Hayes is a superstar. Okay, she did kill us from the corner in the second quarter, because we have no pattern recognition and refuse to cover someone who keeps hitting shots from the same spot, because why would we want to do that? She still annoys me.
Armintie Herrington jumps like she's got coiled springs in her legs. She skied for boards and saved a lot more than the two offensive boards that she was credited with. Her hands were spectacular on defense today- there was one sequence where she got the ball stolen from her and stole it right back without any hesitation. Her shots in the lane were going off strong, but her teammates seemed to be expecting them. Érika de Souza was a beast in the paint. No one was stopping her. Granted, no one seemed to be trying, but even when some form of effort was detected, she powered her way to the basket. Jasmine Thomas took advantage of her teammates' quick hands, as well as her own, to pry away steals and get the break going. She had a couple of unfortunate moments with Katie Smith- ran her over on a charge, got her in the face on a hit. The rim would appear to like Le'Coe Willingham. She got very lucky on one of her shots in the fourth quarter, but we'll get to that in a moment. I kept getting distracted by her hair, to be honest- it looked like either the braiding came undone or the ponytail was trying to escape. I seem to recall that hair being attached to a couple of pretty tough picks.
Interesting moment in the second half- Liberty shot missed, rebound went out of bounds as Willingham and Henry converged on it. After it was determined that the ball went off Atlanta, Willingham and Henry had a very... animated... conversation. Obviously, from nineteen rows up on the other side of the court, I couldn't tell what they were saying, but whatever was going on there, it unsettled Fred Williams enough that he called timeout shortly afterwards.
I don't know why Toni Young was so thoroughly buried on the bench in this one. It's not like we ever had a puncher's chance. She got in and hit her first jumper, and that made us happy. Leilani Mitchell continues to get a ridiculous amount of pop from the crowd, to the point where it's starting to genuinely freak me out, and I don't think she's responding well to it. She's become more tentative as a shooter (which is not a good sign when that's about the only thing you're being allowed to do) and didn't get much else done on the floor. You should have heard the place when she hit the free throw on the defensive three-seconds call. You'd think she hit a buzzer-beater. I expect better from Liberty fans. Kelsey Bone showed flashes, but not much else, and her defense against de Souza was weak. You have to go hard on her. She's one tough motha- okay, I'm shutting my mouth, which I wish the drunk guy across from me would do, because he can't sing, and definitely not in falsetto. DeLisha Milton-Jones had nothing today. Couldn't get a shot to fall and seriously got blocked by Le'Coe Willingham. Lots of blocks were occurring, but someone with DeLisha's legendary wingspan should not be getting blocked by a shorter player with less vertical. Alex Montgomery was tough, and her shot showed up. Huh, she took fewer shots than I thought. She was one of the few players who actually took it to the hole. Leilani had a pretty find for her.
Sir, please do not attempt to moonwalk on a moving train while under the influence of something stronger than alcohol. Sir. Sir, you are not Nicki Minaj. Your sh*t does not, in fact, bang bang.
I've been beating this drum like Dave Grohl on a solo, but Cappie Pondexter is hurt. The left heel is bothering her. She had to go to the locker room with a lower leg issue. She can't take a fadeaway if she can't land on her back foot. She can't move with the kind of quickness needed to defend a ballhandler if her knee is refusing to bend properly. And we saw it happen when Jasmine Thomas blew past her and left her in a heap on the floor. I've been railing at Tina Charles for shutting down, but it's time for the team to shut Cappie down. It's for everyone's good. Kara Braxton got off good shots and couldn't get a lot of them down. She started hot, then got shut down until the fourth quarter. We spent a lot of time shrieking "KARA!" at her stupid moves. Katie Smith is strong. Running into her is not the most brilliant plan in the world, Tiffany Hayes. People who run into Katie Smith tend to bounce. Her defense was better than the last couple of games, but that is damning with faint praise. We thought she might have gotten away with one on the three-pointer that was reviewed and confirmed. Plenette Pierson was solid. She's been fighting through a lot this season. I'm not going to argue with her.
Funniest moment of the night: Kara Braxton attempted to chase a loose ball and ended up leaping over the bench, as so many players do. Instead of climbing over the Dream bench to get back on the court, she ran down the aisle behind the scorer's table, parallel to the action on the court, and ran back onto the court through the gap by the Liberty bench. Smart, in a bizarre kind of way, but bizarre at the same time, and ineffably Kara.
Pregame martial arts display was pretty awesome. Halftime dancers, not so much. Didn't stay for the wheelchair game, because to be honest, I wanted to get out of Newark as soon as possible. Have I mentioned that I'll be glad when this expedition is over? Because I will.