Just the Facts, Ma'am: Danielle Ballard's lay-up in the lane gave LSU the lead in the final minute, and Siera Thompson's halfcourt heave came late and short as LSU withstood a valiant Michigan comeback and claimed a 64-62 win. Shanece McKinney and Raigyne Moncrief each had 13 to pace the Tigers, with McKinney adding eight rebounds and Moncrief tallying four steals. Siera Thompson and Madison Ristovski each had 13 for the Wolverines, who came back from down ten to go up eight before LSU surged back.
For hustle, threes, steals, doing things backwards, pride, and a little more cowbell, join your intrepid and utterly drained blogger after the jump.
There's no such thing as too much basketball, though I'm starting to hit my limit. It's 9:30 and we're 12 minutes away from the tip of Michigan and LSU. The benches are switched from yesterday, which caused a bit of confusion among a pocket of LSU fans in the corner. They figured it out, though.
I feel vaguely insulted that wristbands for the seats directly behind the bench only seem to have been given out for the Rutgers game, so even if you're VIP for Michigan-LSU, they won't let you sit there. Though they seem to have chased off Michelle Edwards too, so maybe that's just them asserting their authority.
The free throw shooting contest tonight seems to be along team lines this time. Yesterday, it was more random- now they're actively looking for people in team gear.
At halftime, LSU is up 29-22, and frankly, it could be more. They've forced a lot of turnovers and controlled the pace of both offenses. But Michigan has come up with a couple of big threes- a three-pointer by Madison Ristovski, a three-point play from Nicole Elmblad- to keep it close. Shanece McKinney has eight for the Lady Tigers, Madison Ristovski 10 for the Wolverines.
Nicole's family is possibly crazier than we are, and I mean that as a compliment. Michigan's lucky to have them. A New York-based alumna with a cowbell came up and joined us in the second half, and then things got really loud. My hands and legs still hurt from that last stand in the final two minutes, but we had to stand our ground and show the late-shouting LSU fans that we weren't going to let them take over.
Rebecca Lyttle gave decent minutes at forward. Kendra Seto played briefly, only as a breather. Danielle Williams also made a brief appearance, when Siera Thompson got in foul trouble in the first half. Paige Rakers rocked the three-point line in the second half, pulling Michigan back into the game almost single-handedly. She needs to be a bit more consistent about following her shot, though. We needed her to come up huge, and she did, and yes, I'm aware that I just used the first-person for Michigan, I like these kids.
Siera Thompson's shot was non-existent in the first half, and it looked like she had lost confidence in her game, both as a shooter and as a point guard, as she had to do a lot of the ballhandling with Shannon Smith sidelined after suffering a shoulder injury. (Can you sprain a shoulder? Can I fit any more S's into this sentence?) She found more space, and her rhythm, in the second half, coming up with the game-tying three before the final basket. Nicole Elmblad seemed curiously hesitant to shoot, though I might have been hesitant in her place, given the way Coach was reacting to her attempt at a long two. Then again, that's pretty much how I react to a player taking shots from just in front of the line- you might as well take the extra step and try to add the extra point. I think she let the speed of the game and the physicality of LSU's forwards get to her. Cyesha Goree went strong to the basket, especially in the second half. She got a little overexcited late in the game- at least two of her shots were a bit too strong. Val Driscoll got the start in Smith's place, and though her offense was nothing to write home about, she was a rock defensively, coming up with big boards and massive blocks- she had a gorgeous one in the second half that got spiked to Thompson to start an attempt at a Michigan break. I think that was one we got tentative on, though- I think that was the one where the player under the basket irrationally decided to pass the ball back and it all ended in turnovers. She misjudged a few rebounds, but I'm willing to give her the willingness to go for them. Madison Ristovski was the big offensive threat in the first half, but she cooled down in the second- I think part of it was having to take over more of the ballhandling duties when Thompson got in foul trouble, because there was no other option.
I'll admit it- with everything I'd seen from Kim Barnes Arico in the past, I was expecting a lot more deep bench freshmen in the second half and a lot less comeback. They held it together much better than I thought they would, and when they weren't passing the ball to Raigyne Moncrief, the ball movement was crisp- a little hurried because of LSU's constant trapping, but when they were able to keep their heads, they played well.
Derreyal Youngblood played a little in the first half, but most of her minutes were taken up by Nikki Caldwell's smaller lineup and the hot play of Shanece McKinney. DaShawn Harden fired up the defense, ball-hawking and being a huge part of the traps. Danielle Ballard came up with the game-winner and was great cutting to the lane. She kept getting tangled up with Elmblad; unsurprisingly, the Elmblads sitting behind us did not approve of this. Jasmine Rhodes was quick getting to the paint- she came up with a fairly big shot late in the game. I don't know what Anne Pedersen was supposed to bring to the game, unless it was a matchup problem, but whatever it was, she didn't seem to be providing it. Shanece McKinney did a spectacular job of cleaning up on the boards- I think three of her makes were putbacks on offensive rebounds, and a couple of her misses were too. Her bulk inside turned the tide in LSU's favor.
I'm assuming that Theresa Plaisance was injured in some way, shape, or form, because she came out of the game very quickly early on and was not the same. She looked very soft, unwilling to take contact or to make the extra move to get her shots to go down. One of the Michigan folks thought they saw her crying on the bench, but I'm not certain of this. Still, it lends credence to the "injured but playing" theory. Jeanne Kenney is a gamer. She wasn't looking for her shot in the first half. In the second half, we left her open and she hit three after three. She also took a big dive into some rather flimsy chairs in the first row (the same ones that Minta Spears wiped out in the first game) and there was a bit of a delay as she dealt with soda on her shoes and on the court. Raigyne Moncrief looked more interested in getting her teammates involved, and sacrificing some of her shots to do it. She jumped the passing lanes beautifully. Sheila Boykin barely did anything worth remembering. I think that was part of why Caldwell went to a smaller, faster, more guard-oriented lineup. Rina Hill looked a little less in over her head than she was in the first game, but she was mostly the second body in the roving traps set by Moncrief, Harden, and Ballard. Those were merciless.
LSU seemed to rely too heavily on their defense. I mean, it worked for them in this game, and if they can convert their opponents' turnovers to points on a regular basis, they'll be dangerous. And Caldwell seemed to adapt her personnel well to the style of play and who was the hot hand. But they're going to need Plaisance to be more consistent and healthy. Those big posts don't have the stamina to go a full 40.
We were not pleased with the refs, but the people we were sitting with took it to levels usually only seen in Rutgers-land. It's not a delay of game if the court really does need to be cleaned, guys.
Devotion to duty: Paige Rakers took a cut to the forehead, held the pad in place, and scooted over to rejoin the huddle as the trainer continued to tend to her.
I'm proud of the Wolverines, and proud of the fans who answered the (cow)bell to support them. We out-yelled the LSU fans until the last two minutes, when the LSU fans decided to join the party. It was an almost-perfect ending to a day full of basketball.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
November 30th, 2013: Michigan at LSU (Barclays Invitational)
Friday, November 29, 2013
November 29th, 2013: LSU at Rutgers (Barclays Invitational)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: It wasn't pretty, but LSU came away with the 69-65 win over Rutgers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Raigyne Moncrief led LSU with 27 points, including 15-20 from the line, seven rebounds, and seven steals. Rutgers was led by the 16 points of Kahleah Copper. The teams combined for 51 fouls and 51 turnovers.
For ugliness, purple hair, point guard leadership, emphatic fashion statements, and a pass whizzing by your head, join your intrepid and inexplicably hungry blogger after the jump. Why do I want jammy dodgers?
ALL THE BASKETBALL.
On to game 2, LSU and Rutgers. To be fair to the Rutgers fans, a fair amount of them got here for the first game. Lots more of them arrived in the middle. It's confusing to see lots of people in red for a team I no longer cheer for.
There were entrance videos for both teams, but no stats. I'll take that as a fair exchange, because I was starting to get a very strong feeling of having been an afterthought, and if you're going to schedule a tournament double-header, it's uncouth to make one game seem like the undercard.
Essence Carson is in the house, in an extremely dashing black longcoat.
Oh, hey, we have stats now. So Michigan and Texas Tech get entrance videos tomorrow, right?
This was not a pretty game, to put it mildly. Entirely too many turnovers, many of them unforced passes to the third row or fumbles (I'm pretty sure Kahleah Copper committed a buttfumble, but with her own butt, not her teammate's). A distinct lack of court awareness from both teams.
Jasmine Rhodes impressed me off the bench for LSU. For a guard of her size, she's not afraid to drive the lane and hit the boards. She had a good eye for going after her teammates' missed shots (and dear lord were there a lot of missed shots). Derreyal Youngblood was plenty happy to throw her weight around down low- she got lucky she didn't get called for an elbow on one play. She could stand to trim down a bit, but she's tough. Shanece McKinney came in to clean up lots of missed shots and get rebounds late in the game, as part of the offense/defense substitution. Anne Pedersen, I think, was supposed to be a shooter, but that didn't go well. She looked out of place on a lot of the plays.
Jeanne Kenney has no fear of anything. I think she hit the deck hard four times and got up ready for more. If the ball was loose, she tracked it down, even if it was in the third row. She's a steady hand, both with the ball and with her teammates. There was a point late in the game where Raigyne Moncrief had missed two crucial free throws and looked like the pressure of the Rutgers fans and the closeness of the game were getting to her. As soon as she was on her way back from missing the second free throw, Kenney came over and talked to her, as if to tell her to brush it off (at least I assume that was the meaning of the hand across the headband). Theresa Plaisance missed entirely too many easy shots for a player of her size. A 6-5 post player should not be throwing hooks over the basket. When she got her shot, it was beautiful, and she had spectacular speed on her first step spin move. But she needs to be consistent if she's going to be a serious prospect. (Really, though the daughter of a coach should know better than to bring the ball down when there are guards around.) Rina Hill got point guard duties a lot, and I don't know if she's ready yet. Maybe there was some miscommunication on the plays, but her passes were not going where they were supposed to be going.) Sheila Boykin either didn't play a lot or was really unmemorable when she did. I think Caldwell felt she needed to bring more size with McKinney and Youngblood against the big Rutgers posts. Raigyne Moncrief put on a show. She's still very raw and needs some mechanics on her jump shot (as in, any, at all, in some variety, because oh my God she looks like a spider when she leaps on the jumper) but she moves like someone took Allison Hightower and plugged Marie Ferdinand's speed into her. Her vertical is spectacular, her reflexes like lightning. She slices to the lane beautifully- if she can get a mechanically sound, or at least reliable, jumper, she'll be unstoppable. She'll need to bulk up a little if she wants to survive in the pro game, though. And yes, the fact that I'm saying this about a freshman this far ahead says a lot.
Tyler Scaife has the fancy moves- the wraparound pass to Briyona Canty for the lay-up was a thing of beauty- but I don't know if she has her coach's confidence yet.. I mean, she's only a freshman and it's only November, so maybe that'll come with a little more time, but it still seems odd that someone else is bringing the ball up if she's on the floor. Precious Person gave decent minutes in the first half, though she didn't play much in the second, part of a questionable series of coaching decisions by Coach Stringer. Christa Evans got first half minutes as well, picking up a basket and some picks. Ariel Butts is very, very loud. I think she's the only person in the arena who actually screams louder than my dashing reporter. She most definitely did not approve of her fouls. Alexis Burke missed two free throws, was pulled, and that was the last that was ever seen of her.
Betnijah Laney rebounds spectacularly well, which is probably why she's listed as a forward, but her shot is all kinds of funky. I like her hustle, but shes' got to work on her aim. Rachel Hollivay brought some resounding blocks, especially in the second half, but Coach Stringer seems to be riding herd on her by pulling back her minutes when she gets fouls- I think she sat the entire rest of the first half after picking up her second foul. Kahleah Copper has one reliable move in he paint, and she'll keep going to it as long as she can. It worked very well today- it seemed like she was always heading for the offensive glass. Briyona Canty seemed to be the focus of much of the offense- it looked like more plays were designed for her than for Copper, though Copper ended up with as many shots. Syessence Davis was very active on defense, even for a Scarlet Knight (and you know that's saying a lot with Rutgers's defense and ability to generate steals). Quick hands and fast feet- she made a lot of LSU turnovers happen.
Offensively, this game was a clunker, even in the second half when things loosened up a little and people actually started hitting lay-ups. It wasn't just good defense, except in the most abstract sense. There were a lot of bad passes and bad mechanics- I don't think more than half the players in that game had proper form on their jump shots. If you want to blame the bad offense on the good defense in the sense that both teams were in each other's heads and therefore they were rushing everything to get the ball up before someone else got their hands on it, that's a fair argument, but I think it's more likely that these are two defensive-minded teams that don't place a high priority on offensive flow. Not quite North Carolina, but right up there. Down there. Whatever.
Neither team was happy with the officials, and given the number of fouls called in this game, I can't say I'm surprised. It got very physical out there. I can't be sure any of those fouls were unearned, to be honest.
Rutgers fans were very loud. They didn't even wait for musical cues before starting the fight song. At least we waited.
Points to Nikki Caldwell for not going the obvious route in wearing team colors- her dress was tiger-striped. Also, points to Coach Stringer for her imposing longcoat- not quite as impressive as Essence's, but still extremely cool.
For the sake of everyone who has to watch basketball tomorrow, I hope both teams got the ugly out of their systems today.
November 29th, 2013: Texas Tech at Michigan (Barclays Invitational)
Just The Facts, Ma'am: Michigan withstood an early challenge and a second-half run from the Lady Raiders of Texas Tech to come away the victors, 82-71. Siera Thompson led all scorers with 24 points, adding five assists. Amber Battle led Texas Tech with 23 points and seven rebounds.
For crankiness, free shirts, a lack of respect, mild confusion, and lots of family, join your intrepid and blue blogger after the jump.
Good morning, Internet! We're coming to you on our usual tape delay, this time bright and early from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Barclays Women's Invitational.
We are not, however, coming to you quite as early as we would like, as the Barclays Center was not ready for us until 10 AM. Well, we're still not sure about that, given that we were told three different opening times before they finally let us in at 10. One security guard decided to take pity on us and try to let us in, but another one turned around and made us go out again. My legs are still cramped. Then they tried to tell me I couldn't use my laptop in the seating area, but a guest services person named Candice and I negotiated it down to not using it during game play (which, duh, my favorite Michigan women did not hook me up with tickets to stare at a computer during play). Still. Barclays does not seem thrilled at having to deal with fans this early in the morning. Fine, I'm not thrilled with dealing with power-tripping security staff this early in the morning. We're even, and you're not getting money from me.
Anne Donovan is here (so ha, my laptop wouldn't be the most view-obstructive object in the seating bowl anyway).
Excellent anthem. Was amused that the color guard was facing the completely empty side of the arena across from the benches.
Michigan is up 12 at the half, on a solid team effort. Siera Thompson has 13, Shannon Smith 11. Amber Battle has been very impressive for Texas Tech.
Funniest moment of the day so far: they played the Michigan fight song, your dashing reporter led a sing-along… and the security guard posted behind Michigan's bench said, "What the [firetruck] was that?" Poor Guest Services Candice... maybe that's why she rotated to another section. Note that the Texas Tech fans didn't reciprocate at the next timeout.
Something smells really good, but I'm still not giving these people money. Even if they do have the hardwood equivalent of a Zamboni. That gives my heart glee, but I'm still not giving them money.
The game got a little too interesting in the middle of the second half, but one good run helped Michigan regain control, and when it got close again it was because Michigan had gone to their reserves. Saw a couple of young players this time around that I didn't see at the Iona tournament.
The Schneiders (who I'm assuming are sisters) are awfully skinny. Everything might be bigger in Texas, but not necessarily thicker. Haley Schneider had a couple of nice defensive tips. Jasmine Caston got the second half start, coming off the bench in the first half, and provided a little boost of offense with both long-range shooting and moves in the lane. She's got pretty good speed. Audrisa Harrison played more in the second half, mostly committing fouls on defense- very handsy overall. Ivonne Cook-Taylor came in when the game was already decided and took a quick three.
Minta Spears started the game shooting well from beyond the arc, but she seemed to press her shot more in the second half- her followthrough was much more exaggerated, and I think it threw off her shot. The one time she attempted to slash to the basket was epic fail, compounded by a bad foul call. Tiny Diamond Lockhart showed a lot of fire and ran her team well. I think they were trying to run the offense through Marina Lizarazu early on, but she was in over her head- bad passes, unnecessary turnovers, poor judgement. Shauntal Nobles was a decent presence on the inside, but she didn't get a lot of shots up. I liked her rebounding. But the one Lady Raider who impressed me on both ends of the floor and drew almost all of my attention was Amber Battle. She went hard after rebounds, hit shots from all over the floor, and displayed impressive foot speed on defense. She pretty much kept Texas Tech in the game single-handedly. In build and playing style, she reminded me a little of a miniature DeWanna Bonner, but with somewhat more awareness of her shot.
Rebecca Lyttle got called for two quick fouls when she finally got in in the second half, the second of which I felt was completely uncalled for. There's something I like about her, and not just her name. Danielle Williams showed good hustle in her second half minutes, but again, got dinged for a foul that seemed to come out of the blue. Don’t break the underclassmen, officials, we're going to need them for tomorrow. Val Driscoll really needs to work on her footwork, but was solid defensively- she had a beautiful block/deflection that led to a Nicole Elmblad steal that I'm pretty sure led to a Michigan fast break. Kendra Seto played late, and was not memorable other than an ill-advised attempt at a trap on the sideline. Paige Rakers had her shot going off the bench, and mixed it up inside on the boards- a lot of the time, only the headband made it possible for us to tell her apart from Nicole Elmblad, who is at least nominally a forward. But Michigan can't rely on Rakers to be their entire bench, especially not wih the injury to Shannon Smith.
I'm starting to wonder if Madison Ristovski hit a late growth spurt and she's still trying to adjust to it. She dribbles like she expects to be about three inches shorter, and it sort of makes her look like a young horse, all arms and legs and falling over. She shot well in the second half, though. Shannon Smith shot really well, both from outside and in the lane. She left in the second half with an apparent shoulder injury after a collision landed her hard into Elmblad's leg. She was holding her right arm absolutely motionless when we saw her after the game, and that's going to be a problem for tomorrow, because she seesm to be the only player with the confidence to bring the ball up the court. Siera Thompson shot lights out, especially in the first half, and always seemed to come up with the big shot whenever Texas Tech made a run in the second half. Cyesha Goree had to deal with some very tough fouls (I'm really not sure what that fourth foul was, other than inaccurate) but seemed to take the right message from the refs getting into her head and took the ball strong to the basket once she got back into the game after the fourth foul. (It also amuses me that she seems to be in charge of carrying young Aricos; that job used to belong to Joy McCorvey at St. John's. I assume Joy gave her pointers on how not to drop Coach's kids.) Nicole Elmblad was solid all around- didn’t necessarily stand out, but didn't screw up.
There were a distressing number of times when Michigan seemed to ignore the play that had been called, ignoring open players and going one-on-one to the basket. Repeatedly ignoring the coach's play calling is not a good plan when that coach is Kim Barnes Arico. She tends to shriek. Use your teammates, guys. Good things happen when you use your teammates.
We were not impressed with the officiating crew. It got really tiresome whenever Whittaker started complaining about the officiating, given that Michigan usually started out in a deep hole, foul-wise. I'm pretty sure one of them was an Enterline, and it was funny when he photo-bombed someone in the front row, but referees aren't supposed to be funny, they're supposed to be ignorable.
Minimal timeout entertainment, so no real commentary on that.
Depth worries me for Michigan tomorrow. For Texas Tech against Rutgers, I'd be concerned about their shakiness at the point and how one-dimensional their offense seemed to be.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
November 20th, 2013: Quinnipiac at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Another sterling performance from Aliyyah Handford fueled the Red Storm in their 76-66 win over Quinnipiac. Handford posted game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds. Briana Brown added 16 points for St. John's. Brittany mcQuain and Gillian Abshire each had 14 points for Quinnipiac.
For slashing, signs of the end of the world, distractions, miscounts, and revenge, join your intrepid and avenged blogger after the jump.
It's been two whole days since you've heard from me. You guys must be going through withdrawal or something. Tonight we're back at Carnesecca Arena for the revenge match, St. John's hosting Quinnipiac and hoping to explain to the former NEC team that they don't get to sweep them.
Decent crowd tonight, though part of it is because a lot of the student athletes are in the house. The men's basketball team, with their awesome letter jackets, sent several representatives, and I've also seen gear from track and field, baseball, volleyball, and golf.
Amazing anthem from a freshman. Almost had a country feel to it.
At halftime, St. John's is up 36-27, and Aliyyah Handford is doing what Aliyyah Handford does, with 15 points at the break. Quinnipiac really does seem to be a hockey school- Fabbri sends her players in in full waves, like a hockey line change. Calling them the collection of misfit toys sounds harsher than it should, but by that I mean "body types that do not fit neatly into a positional mold and therefore are not highly sought after, but are still talented". They play very well together, and coming in waves means that they're always fresh.
I think I was expecting St. John's to put up more of a fight, even in the win, but I was definitely expecting Quinnipiac to come with the kind of fight and ferocity they showed. Do not sleep on the Bobcats, because they will claw your face off if you do. I love the Gaels, don't get me wrong, but I suspect Quinnipiac and Marist will be the ones fighting for the MAAC title when you get right down to the real nitty-gritty.
Camryn Warner showed some moves in the paint, but seemed surprised that using her posterior to clear out space would be considered a foul. Nikoline Ostergaard got a bit grabby. Shaina Earle was part of the wave in the first half; Morgan Manz was part of it in the second half. I think I had a recollection of speed from Maria Napolitano. Adily Martucci picked up a nifty poke check on what would have been a fast break by Ashley Perez. The bench players in general worked together really well as a unit (which I guess is the point of that system) but it makes it hard to remember specific things about specific players.
Jasmine Martin went to the paint without fear for a guard of her size. Brittany McQuain used her build well on the inside- size is the wrong word, because she's not necessarily tall, but she's thick and broad-shouldered, and she's not afraid to barrel in after rebounds, on either end of the floor. Samantha Guastella showed off a little bit of range and a little bit of flair. She and Gillian Abshire both put up pretty floaters in the lane that were good. Abshire went in hard and often.
Quinnipiac crashed the boards exceptionally well. They were after everything. I think I would have liked that better about them if they weren't playing us.
Jade Walker does exist! Like many a freshman post, she needs to get into the weight room and do some conditioning, but I like what I've seen from her so far. She had a really nice block in the first half, and she got into position reasonably well on both ends of the floor. Sandra Udobi's knee has been bothering her, so I'm not surprised that she wasn't as effective as she could be. She wasn't chasing rebounds at all, and that makes me sad. Kelantra Langley did that thing where she hits the shot at the endo f the shot clock, because that's what Key does. She took some of the ballhandling pressure off the smaller guards late in the second half, too.
Amber Thompson started the game off like a house on fire, but cooled off later on. Looking at her, I sort of felt like I was looking at an incomplete jigsaw puzzle- you could see the picture forming, and where the pieces were missing, but it's hard to tell where the pieces were. Ashley Perez was a hot mess tonight. I like her, but she's either got to improve her ballhandling or her ability to handle pressure. Bad things happened when she tried o bring the ball up against pressure, and I think the frustration got to her all over the floor. Her shot wasn't falling, her passing was suspect, and she generally seemed irritated with all things related to the game. Coach had to take her aside during one of the timeouts for some one-on-one time. Aaliyah Lewis is so very tiny, and needs to put a little more oomph into some of her shots, but I like the way she runs the team. I think once she's got a little more seniority and confidence, she'll be even more solid. Briana Brown is sneaky. I can't quite get behind calling her "the captain" the way the St. John's Twitter does, even though she's team captain, because The Captain is either Derek Jeter or Mark Messier, depending on the season, but I love her composure and poise, and her defense, and her willingness to go up against anyone and anything, even players bigger than she is by a lot. And then there was Aliyyah Handford, who continues to slice through defenses like a hot knife through butter. She even hit a jumper, which is known far and wide as one of the signs of the apocalypse.
The only thing that worries me about Aliyyah continuing to be awesome is that most of her teammates seem to be looking to her to bail them out instead of shooting. Briana is immune, for the most part, because she's not afraid of anything. But as awesome as Aliyyah is, she can't do it alone.
The officials had both coaches hot under the collar, Fabbri because she wanted travels, Joe because he got sick of his players being called for charges. I don't think there was a single block called in the game. Everything was player control.
I am immensely jealous of the guys' letter jackets. Old-fashioned and awesome. I want one, but I know what I would have to do to get it, and I think my husband would object.
That being said, what do I have to do to get my hands on the skyline socks that come with the team uniform? Because they are awesome and New York and I love them.
There are no more easy ones. It's on the road to the SEC for two games with a Harvard game in between. Let's see what these kids can do. We're going to need everyone in the game, everyone with their eye on the ball, everyone looking to contribute.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
November 17th, 2013: Pacific at Fordham
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Fordham started strong and never looked back in their 84-63 win over Pacific. Erin Rooney's 23 points and 10 rebounds paced five Rams in double figures. KiKi Moore had 20 points and four steals to lead the Tigers.
For rain, buses, terror, weight class failures, bricks, and bright colors, join your intrepid and orange blogger after the jump.
The perils of a West Coast home and home is that those West Coast teams have to come back across the country at some point. Unfortunately for Fordham, their swing against San Francisco and Pacific brought them two teams that I don't need an excuse to cheer for. One of my closest basketball buddies has been a longtime Pacific supporter, and for years I've been hearing about his team in all kinds of detail. It's actually kind of strange to see a team in real life that I've been hearing about for so long. I've been cheering for them to do well and I have no idea what any of them look like. It's weird. Kind of creepy if you think about it too hard, but weird and fun all at the same time.
Instead of a student section today, there's a kids zone, with a bouncy cage and what appear to be slides and basketball hoops all tied up into one. I guess that says a lot about the crowd Fordham expects to get on a weekend versus on a weekday.
I don't know if I like the Nike striping on Pacific's shorts. It worked for Arizona, and it didn't work for Gonzaga when I saw them on TV, but I'm not sure if it works for Pacific- tiger stripes versus the sudden intrusion of white. I guess maybe they felt that black and orange would be biting Princeton's style too much?
Oooh, there's also an air hockey table! Maybe we can play at halftime. Yes, I'm a giant kid, shut up.
Pacific does a lot of shooting, running their drills extra long each time they're out there.
Nice touch playing "California Love", DJ.
Glee Club anthem, a cappella. Not necessarily the best I've ever heard, but there's something about an a cappella anthem at Rose Hill that creates a feeling of serenity. This really should be a church of basketball.
It's halftime as I type this, and Fordham is up 45-26. Erin Rooney is playing well, and Emily Tapio is contributing on offense for the first time that I've seen all season. Pacific is putting up stupid shots, (actually, to use Coach Roberts's phrasing, crappy shots) and they're not getting anything out of their stalwarts. (Of course, it doesn't help that Kendall Kenyon is about the size of Samantha Clark's thigh.) There is a particularly bad official running the crew today, and even though her biggest blooper has been in Pacific's favor, that kind of blatant incompetence really grinds my gears.
I was not expecting Pacific to be this discombobulated, and I was not expecting their stalwarts to be as underwhelming as they were today. This is a team that needs to get its act together if it even thinks it's going to think about being competitive in the West Coast Conference.
I was pleasantly surprised by Shanice Butler, who came off the bench fairly late in the first half. She attacked the rim well and kept a lot of rebounds alive. I think I'd like to see her be more comfortable on the weak side- a couple of her shots were made unnecessarily more difficult because she had to cross underneath the basket to put them up. Kristina Johnson is perhaps overly fond of the drive and dish- not that driving and dishing isn't a perfectly valid basketball play, but it's made much less effective when the defense realizes that you're not going to take the shot. They don't have to worry as much about covering you. I like the fearlessness of her driving- I'd just like to see her shoot a little more. Unique Coleman looked very freshman-y out there. Kind of lost and out of position. Marjorie Heard has some of the best "what do you mean I committed a foul/what do you mean I don't get free throws" expressions I've ever seen, and I've seen some good ones. She did a lot of falling down- mixed it up well enough on the inside, but always seemed to be expecting a call and annoyed that she wasn't getting one. I cannot remember anything that Hailie Eckles did other than get caught out of position a lot.
It actually worries me for Pacific's sake that the best player they had today was KiKi Moore, because she's only going to be there for this season. She plays beautiful defense. I was impressed with the constant movement of her hands on defense. She floated up a couple of shots that she could have taken a little more care with, but if they go down, they go down. Sam Pettinger's head was not in the game. For a senior point guard, she was making a lot of stupid plays, to the point where Moore was bringing the ball up more often than not. Erin Butler threw up bad shots, to the point where Coach Roberts actually blurted out "Erin, what was that?!" after a shot that fell particularly short into triple coverage. The three in the second half got her back on the right track, but only a little bit. She spent much of the game making bad decisions. (You will notice that as a bit of a trend here.) Madison Parrish was actually pretty solid, though she seemed a little bit gun-shy. I was very disappointed in Kendall Kenyon, who was a stalwart for my fantasy team last year (yes, some of us basketball obsessives run a college basketball fantasy league, no money and very little pride). She seemed utterly terrified of going up against Samantha Clark on either end of the floor. Rationally, I can't say that I blame her- there's a reason they call her Sticks and Samantha Clark puts me in mind of Cathrine Kraayeveld- but she made no effort until deep into the second half. When she did go to the basket, there was a sort of gawky grace to her movement. I'm not sure if the three is supposed to be a part of her game, because she didn't look comfortable taking the one that she did hit.
I continue to be amused at Mary Nwachukwu's slide down the Fordham rotation, but I willingly own my taste for schadenfreude pie. She's now behind two freshmen named Danielle. Danielle Padovano did the dirty work inside, and got called for the fouls for it. Danielle Burns seemed a little out of sorts on her shot, but kept up well with the Pacific ballhandlers. Khadijah Gibson played very briefly at the end of the game and showed why she was only playing at the end of the game- questionable court awareness.
Hannah Missry got her shot back. You know what happens when you don't stick to Hannah Missry and what happens when you give her even a moment of space? She fires up a three. She has one of the fastest releases I've seen in a long time. Maybe not Crystal Robinson fast, but right up there. Emily Tapio had an offensive explosion the likes of which I haven't seen from her this season, making moves under the basket and getting herself to the line. Abigail Corning was a little shaky on defense, or at least on sensible defense, but solid on offense, a steady hand for her team. Samantha Clark really needs more touches, which I'm going to keep saying whenever I see a Fordham game, because she has something closer to a miniature Big XII body than an A-10 body, and she can back down most players in the metro area. She showed off a little outside touch today, too. Erin Rooney sliced through the lane like a hot knife through butter, weaving around defenders and going to the basket without fear. I'm really starting to take a dislike to that Kiwi. Not because she can't play, but because she's good for a team that I don't like this year.
Questionable officiating, to put it mildly. As discussed in the halftime notes, the biggest blooper was in Pacific's favor, allowing a bucket that came well after the shot clock buzzer. One official seemed particularly zealous about the points of emphasis, while another appeared to have a distaste for tie-ups, blowing the whistle as soon as the second player dove in, giving them no opportunity to get possession. They were not popular with either coach. (Granted, Coach Roberts was probably too busy despairing at her team's inability to hit free throws to worry about earning the attempts. Doesn't matter if you get them when you can't hit them.)
Cheerleaders only got involved in the game when Fordham was up 20. That's cute. Not.
We never did get to the air hockey table.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
November 16th, 2013: St. Francis (NY) at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. Francis played a tough first half, but St. John's pulled away in the second half to notch a 66-56 win at home. Aliyyah Handford had 19 points and eight steals to lead the Red Storm; Amber Thompson had nine points and 12 rebounds. Leah Fechko led the Terriers with 15 points and eight rebounds.
For dramatic hairstyles, bad shooting, promise, adjustment, and the sheer concentrated awesome that is Aliyyah Handford, join your intrepid and colorful blogger after the jump.
It's a gorgeous autumn day outside, not quite Indian summer in New York but beautiful all the same, so it's a perfect day to walk the three-quarters of a mile or so to St. John's for their game against St. Francis College.
There's some kind of honoring veterans thing going on today, judging from the Wounded Warriors Project shirts that St. John's is wearing.
We have a lot of injuries or something right now. Gina McPherson still hasn't been cleared to play, the two transfers don't become eligible until next semester, and now Aaliyah Lewis is in street clothes along with Jade Walker. If it weren't for Cynthia, we wouldn't have any freshmen at all. I'm sad. I wanted to show Tiny Aaliyah's vertical off to my mom, who missed the Iona game. Joe's going to look like he has an entire entourage.
Good anthem, but she could use a little breathing work.
St. Francis doesn't have the talent yet, but they are the soundest team I've seen all year. Which, granted, isn't saying much in the second week of the season, but given how low the expectations were for the Terriers, I think that says a lot about what Thurston's been able to do with this team.
Tiny Jasmin Robinson cut to the lane like nobody's business- couldn't get a shot to fall but hit her free throws when she got to the line. She's pretty fierce, but I guess that comes with the territory of being a small guard in Division I basketball. I found myself wondering if she was St. Francis's token Brooklyn kid, the way UConn always has a token Connecticut kid. Sarah Benedetti gave them good shooting and key minutes when some of their guards were dealing with foul trouble. She hit a beautiful floater at the end of the shot clock in the first half, and I was all "okay, if you can hit that you can have it". I think I kept mixing up Olivia Levey with Jaymee Veney (it's the surname similarity and the numerical closeness, I think). Colette Hounshell mixed it up inside, not necessarily to her team's advantage.
Jaymee Veney was good on the inside and on the boards. Leah Fechko showed flair and range. I was expecting more from the Aussies, Eilidh Simpson and Jessica Kaufman. The shooting was just not there for them. Katie Fox was unmemorable.
These notes got briefer because as individual players, St. Francis wasn't necessarily memorable, but they worked well together as a team and remained as dogged as their name would suggest. They were stubborn, they were tough, they were sound except for their passing (and that was as much related to the Red Storm's ability to jump the passing lanes), and they never gave up. If they can get some talent in there, they can be a very dangerous team in the NEC and be one of those mid-majors that stuns a BCS school (kind of like Quinnipiac did last year).
So, yeah, as we were down to nine healthy bodies, two of those being very tiny walk-ons, there wasn't a lot of bench play. Mallory Jones had a realy, really bad first half, but seemed to get into more of a rhythm in the second half when her shot started falling. She still has a long way to go before she can be an effective player for the Red Storm. I don't know if she knows what her role or her position are, and that's not a good thing for a junior. I know she's been out of commission for a while, but I sort of expected her to be a little less lost once she finally saw action. Sandra Udobi seems to have missed some of the memos on points of emphasis- she went in strong, but she got called for a lot of fouls. Using your head in basketball does not involve letting the ball hit you in the face.
I don't know what was up with Ashley Perez's game today, but it makes me sad whens he does badly. Her shot showed up a bit in the second half, but her defense was sorely lacking and her passing was iffy. And swearing loudly in front of children is not a good idea, young lady. (started with f, ended with uck, wasn't firetruck). I understood her frustration at that point, but manners are important too. Briana Brown, our team captain and the most level-headed person on the team, was solid. She had a pretty floater to answer Benedetti's buzzer-beater. She took a lot of hits. Keylantra Langley demonstrated more range than we were used to from her, and got to the line in the second half, when things were getting uncomfortably tight. Amber Thompson rebounded well, and started the game of well on offense, but then her shot went to hell in a handbasket. She's our de facto center- missing shots close to the rim is unacceptable. She has the moves- the moves look perfect- and then the shot doesn't go in. So frustrating. But I like her anyway. Aliyyah Handford came back down to earth somewhat, which isn't saying a lot, given how incandescent she's been in the first two games. What she did instead was demonstrate a superb ability to jump the passing lanes. She gambles a lot on defense, and I don't know if that'll work as well against a more talented team, but she had three steals before the first media timeout, which was kind of awesome. I just wish she'd find a jumper somewhere. She can have Gina's, it's not like Gina's using it right now. If she had a jumper she'd be completely unstoppable and manage to make Da'shena Stevens not be the greatest #3 in St. John's basketball history.
The officials today seemed a little discombobulated. There were two block/charge overturned calls, one at each end of the floor, and a couple of mixups with who a foul was allocated to.
Band had to do double duty after an event in the morning, and they seemed kind of tired, but the music was much more energetic than usual.
I think St. John's overlooked St. Francis on their way to the revenge match against Quinnipiac. We pulled it off in the end, but we're going to need to give Aliyyah some support if we're going to beat anyone coming up. The rest of the schedule is not easy. Not by a long shot.
November 15th, 2013: Fordham at Hofstra
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Hofstra induced 21 turnovers and clamped down on exterior defense to come away with a 77-64 win at home over Fordham. Anma Onyeuku led the Pride with 23 points, while Andreana Thomas added 21, 19 of those in the second half. Erin Rooney led the Rams with 23 points.
For juggling, slaps on the wrist, mockery, and distraction, join your intrepid and sleepy blogger after the jump.
I needed a day off. Of course, I spend it heading out to a basketball game. At least I got the sleep I'm going to need for this weekend. I'm currently on a crowded N6 bus headed to Hempstead, there to make a transfer to the bus that will take me to Hofstra University for their game against Fordham, on what your intrepid blogger and your dashing reporter have dubbed "transfers will be persecuted" day, though that's overstating the case a little bit. We're only going to root hard against them...
What can I say? Loyalty matters to us, and when you turn your back on that, we remember. It's not the act of leaving that's disloyal, it's the baggage that comes attached to it.
Not sure if playing "Only the Good Die Young" tonight is a veiled shot at the Jesuit institution that is Fordham, or just a nod to Billy Joel's Long Island roots, but whatever the reason, I'm enjoying it. I love me some Billy Joel.
Not to say that I got here early or anything, but I think I just beat the cheerleaders in.
I forgot just how much I liked Hofstra's arena. I think I say that every time I come here, but it's a beautiful midsize arena, the seats are gently cushioned, it's bright, and it's well-kept.
There are a lot of Fordham people here tonight, to the point where I'm not 100% sure which bench is which. There are people in maroon behind both benches. I really hope Hofstra was ble to get some Girl Scout troops or something up in here, because otherwise it's going to be kind of depressingly pro-Fordham up in here, and I refuse to lead the cheers for a team I barely tolerate against a team I flat out am not talking to this year. Seriously, Hofstra is like seventh on my list.
Oh Hofstra those stripes on the sleeves no. You gave up the striped logo, like, ten years ago, why are you resurrecting it now? Though it works on the soccer shirts the student section is wearing.
I also forgot that Hofstra has an active and involved student section, even if it's small. Oh, Hofstra, why do you have to be three buses away from me? I would adopt you and hug you and squeeze you in a second if it didn't take two hours to get here.
Anthem singer, I can't even with you. That was all kinds of a hot mess.
34-26 Hofstra at half, but Fordham had a quick 5-0 spurt in the last minute that worries me. Hofstra has good hands on defense, not so much on offense. A lot of fumbles, a lot of hesitant gathers, rebounds that should be caught instead of being fumbled. But they're kicking the daylights out of Fordham's ball movement, and they've been face-guarding Corning and Missry, Fordham's two dead-eye shooters. Hofstra's gone very deep into their bench in the first half- I think only one player hasn't played. Anma Onyeuku leads the Pride with 13; Erin Rooney leads the way for the Rams with 9.
It was nice for Hofstra to get that win, but I wonder if it might help paper over some of the underlying issues with this team.
Of course the first thing Mary Nwachukwu did was hit a lay-up in the paint, which she was only avoiding for something like three years at St. John's, but then she proceeded to not rebound, not hang on to the ball, and generally be the player I remember swearing at at St. John's. In the second half, Danielle Burns got the bulk of the bench minutes in the post, and she was serviceable. She needs to show a little more judgment with her shot, but she plays well inside for a player who's listed as a guard/forward. Khadijah Gibson came in right at the end of the game, as if Gaitley were admitting that the game was over. Danielle Padovano gave decent minutes, though unmemorable ones.
Hannah Missry missed the memo about points of emphasis. Granted, she's a freshman, and they make stupid mistakes, that's part of being a freshman. But she genuinely did not seem to get what she was doing wrong, even when the contact was obvious. I think she was frustrated at her inability to get her shot off against Hofstra's vicious defense. Samantha Clark is a load in the middle, and I really think they should be running more through her, both because she can finish in the middle and because that will then open up space for Missry and Corning to get loose for threes. Abigail Corning rebounded well enough, but she couldn't get her shot off. Emily Tapio didn't play a lot- bad fouls, bad passing, generally nto having her head together. Erin Rooney drove through the Hofstra defense like they were stationary cones, and used her body well to get contact. I'd like to see a little less diving from her, though. It got annoying after a while.
Dianna Thomas-Palmer (who goes by Dee on the roster, but the announcer uses Dianna) seems to have been inspired by Shante Evans in all the wrong ways. She's a big girl, and not necessarily in the best ways. She rebounded better in the second half, though. Kelly Loftus seemed to be the only player on the floor at the end of the game who had any sense of what to do with the clock. Krystal Luciano might be the only person for Hofstra who is tinier than Andreana Thomas. She gave them decent minutes at point near the end of the game. Anma Onyeuku started the second half, but not the first, and I think she's expanded her game since the last time I saw her. She seemed equally comfortable inside or outside, playing in transition or playing in the halfcourt game. I was very impressed with her. Asia Jackson showed good touch in the second half, but questionable judgment. Elo Edefenoka showed a lot of potential down low- still needs to work on her hands and her shooting, but she's going to be good for them.
Andreana Thomas is the engine that makes this team go. When she's not in, they look very lost. When she's in, she's like a lightning bolt, both in terms of energizing her team and in terms of her first step speed. Sydni Epps got the first half start, and I sort of understood why she didn't get the second half start after the two quick fouls she picked up in the second half- questionable judgment, not the most useful shot in the world. I can't even think of anything that Alexis Carter did. Annie Payton was called upon for outside shooting and senior leadership. I'm not sure she was the right person to go to on the senior leadership. Ruth Sherrill showed a little bit of potential, but overall looked like a freshman. She'll be serviceable for them, one of these days.
That is, if Hofstra can figure out how to get out of their own way. They have talent, but they have no sense and no discipline. Their passing is bad. And after that hot mess last weekend, I know from bad passing. They all seem afraid to shoot. They have no clock awareness, either of the shot clock or of the game situation. Kilburn-Stevesky was all but begging them to slow the game down in the last three minutes, and no one of them seemed to be listening. She had to put in the backup point guard just to get them to slow down. You do not need to chuck corner threes when you're up fifteen with three minutes to go, or throw up off-balance shots on offensive rebounds with twenty seconds on the shot clock.
I've also come to the conclusion that Kilburn-Stevesky coaches the way I would coach, and that's not necessarily a good thing. She's constantly yelling, and usually in frustration. I don't know if she knows her team. "Annie, get your team together!" she yelled at Annie Payton, but from what I saw, that didn't look like Annie Payton's team, it looked like Andreana Thomas's team. Leadership doesn't necessarily come from seniors, it comes from leaders.
I think the men's team was in the house. Tall guys sprawled over a section of seats in athletic gear tends to mean that. In which case, Pride dude playing imaginary drums to "Beat It", go on with your bad self.
Hofstra's cheerleaders are not the traditional pretty skinny girls, but their routines rely much more heavily on lifts, so I'm not surprised. Lots of good stuff in there.
I really hate the new points of emphasis. The games grind and there's no flow. And if you're going to call every little brush of contact, can you at least call it when a player takes four steps on her way to a lay-up, or call Erin Rooney for undercutting a player? I really need someone at some point to adjust to this, or I'm going to want to be blind.
The N6 is really an experiment in social engineering, isn't it? Don't lie to me, Veolia.
I ultimately think that Fordham will come out of this game with more useful information, unless Hofstra manages to learn from their mistakes in this one... but I don't know if this team and this coach can learn from a win.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
November 12th, 2013: Iona at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford had a career-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds, and St. John's cruised to a 78-48 win over Iona. Briana Brown added 13 for the Red Storm. Joy Adams led the Gaels with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
For fizzling, amazing things, tiny guards, homophones, and entirely too many Aaliyahs, join your intrepid and weary blogger after the jump.
Finally! I get to cover my team!
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll roll with Iona (when they're not playing us); I love their potential and their talent, and Damika's family would kick my butt otherwise. I'll roll with Seton Hall (when they're not playing us); Tony Bozzella's a good guy and the Pirates need a renewal. I'll roll with Michigan (when they're not playing us); Kim and Joy still remember us, and loyalty deserves loyalty. I'll roll with my New York teams (when they're not playing us) (and not Fordham this year); I'm a New Yorker, I love basketball, and I love seeing good basketball in my city. I'll roll with whoever at the drop of a hat... but in the cold, cold winter, I live and die with my Johnnies, the red and white of SJU.
So here I am on the Q46, the Union Turnpike bus, as it wheezes and whistles up Union, getting ready for the home opener against Iona. It's going to be tough. It's going to be heart-wrenching (I do like those Iona kids). It's going to be exciting. It'll be good to be home. Tickets are at will call, so we'll see how long the warm and fuzzies last.
Well, the ticket office managed to put our tickets in the wrong section of the ticket office, so that was a fun detangling, and one of these days they're going to annoy me enough to make me a Seton Hall booster. Of course, while we were at the will call window, we ran into Damika Martinez's family, along with an Iona fan who got excited when she recognized us and was heartbroken when she noticed our St. John's gear.
Excellent, powerful anthem.
The walk-ons are really tiny. Keylantra almost literally had them under her wing before the game. Aaliyah Lewis is also really tiny, but she's got immense vertical. At halftime it's 41-26 St. John's, mostly behind 14 points from Aliyyah Handford. It was tough sledding in the early going, but after Iona got out to something like an 11-4 lead, the Storm got the offense together. Rebounding is still an issue, which is to be expected somewhat when you have no height, but we need to get after the loose balls.
Dude with the iTunes, your mix is lousy, with horrible dynamics and questionable mixing. No. Just no. Can we just listen to the band instead? Turn off the Chipmunks setting next time, and don't try to play your music while the band is making music.
What happened to you, Iona? Not that I mind as a St. John's fan, but I mind as a fan who follows your team when they're not playing St. John's.
Christina Rubin couldn't find the basket with a map and compass. Her shot was all over the place, but mostly hard off the backboard. She might have been better off trying to use her height in the paint against the utter lack of height that St. John's ran out there. Spencer Gray started the second half in place of Damika Martinez, to better protect Martinez from getting in further foul trouble, and looked very freshman-y. Aurellia Cammock wasn't bad in the middle, and showed that she might be the post that Iona is going to so desperately need when Sabrina Jeridore graduates. Cassidee Ranger is back to taking her threes from the corner instead of trying to defend the post, and we got lucky that she wasn't hitting her shots. Aaliyah Robinson was unremarkable, though I think she helped stabilize her team a little bit.
The good news for Iona is that Joy Adams wasn't bringing the ball up like she did against Bowling Green, because that is a bad plan at this point in her career. The bad news for Iona is that, for reasons completely beyond my ken, Joy Adams took five threes on the night, hitting only one. That's not her game, as it stands right now, and she's not good enough at her strengths yet to start trying to add new dimensions to her game. Get her back into the lane and get her slashing to the basket or posting up down low, and make sure she's got that element of her game established before you start trying to get her to do something she's not entirely suited to yet. Aleesha Powell looked to have more strength and confidence in her jump shot- she had a very pretty floater in the lane as well. Damika Martinez was trying to do too much by herself, which is a habit she's got to break. She's by far the best scorer on her team, but that doesn't mean she has to go 1-on-2 or 1-on-3 on a bad break. Sabrina Jeridore had a great defensive game, blocking shots, getting boards, and boxing out, but she could not get a shot to drop. She had good looks on the inside, but she couldn't hit them for love nor money. Haley D'Angelo was decent on the open looks that she got, but the ball didn't seem to be in her hands enough as the point guard and floor general to try and get the team's head back together.
We got to see one of the walk-ons! Cynthia Barboa got a couple of minutes at the end of the game and showed a little bit of fire when she went for the strip on Jeridore. Our hearts broke when that free throw bounced all around the rim and out. Mallory Jones kept trying to bomb threes from Tina Thompson land, which was not a good plan for her. Her rebounding instincts were decent, though the execution could use some work. There's also a lot of... um... bouncing going on with her. I might have to give her the card to my corsetorium. Keylantra Langley was a surprise coming off the bench, in terms of who was benched and who was starting, though I think her back was bothering her- I think she was the one getting treatment on the bench for back issues. Sandra Udobi gave good minutes down low, but she needs to hit a few more of her chippies. I'm glad the brace is shrinking.
Aaliyah Lewis is very small. I've dubbed her Tiny Aaliyah for conversational use; while Aaliyah and Aliyyah are visually different names, they're homophonic. She has incredible vertical, though, and her vision was good tonight. And she's so adorable! Ashley Perez brought her shot, along with some drives in the lane and good defense. Briana Brown was her solid senior self, getting to the basket and hitting big threes. Amber Thompson's shot could be better- she's got to make the little ones inside- but she was really good, and played a solid defensive game. And then there was Aliyyah Handford, who showed all her moves tonight. I've never run out of room on a scorecard before. Not with the great Huskies that came through with UConn. Not when Delle Donne came to town. Not with Sugar Rodgers on the other side. But Aliyyah was on fire, slashing to the hoop and getting her buckets like it was her divine mission. It got to the point where she was using the shot pass to try to get the ball to her teammates (Amber, Ashley, you gotta hit those shots).
Officiating was nothing to write home about. Neither team was particularly fond of the zero-tolerance on hand-checks.
There's a new dude on the dance team, after a couple of dude-less years. New dude needs pom-poms! He looks so naked without pom-poms!
This was much better than I was expecting from St. John's, and much worse than I was expecting from Iona. I have to wonder if Bowling Green broke them instead of telling them that they could run with the best.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
November 10th, 2013: San Francisco at Columbia
Just the Facts, Ma'am: USF held Columbia without a field goal for four minutes deep in the second half to pull away in an 83-69 win on the road. Rachel Howard led the Dons with 18 points, while Taj Winston added 17. Miwa Tachibana led the Lions with 13 points.
For fouls, missed shots, fouls, reusable paint, fouls, back support, and fouls, join your intrepid blogger after the whistle. I mean jump.
The epic tour of basketball continues at Columbia today, as the Game Notes of Doom hook up with San Francisco once more.
I think they replaced the seats at Levien. The place looks very shiny. Extremely well organized.
We have a band today! Yesssssssssssssss. Here's hoping they do Korobeiniki. However, the DJ's music selection could use some work. You can't be an academic school and play "Started From the Bottom" when a) you are still at the bottom, b) Cal did it way better than you will ever dream of doing it.
San Francisco fans, I appreciate your passion, but those plastic cowbells are technically against NCAA regulations, but then again, the Columbia fanatics brought them as well, so it all comes out in the wash. Yes, there are fans with face paint and painted shirts for Columbia. Mostly older gentlemen, so I'm glad they stuck to the shirts instead of the painted chests.
Beautiful anthem. I wonder if she sings opera as an extracurricular.
At halftime of a game that started as a slopfest, San Francisco is up three on Columbia. Rachel Howard had eight early, with Taj Winston adding six late from the line. Tori Oliver looks pretty tough for the Lions, but it's been Miwa Tachibana who's carried the load for Columbia, with 10.
Columbia has a fairly impressive souvenir stand, but I can't find the concession stand and I'm hungry. :( I'm also amused by the fact that they're blowing out the Adidas gear; the switch to Nike must have been very recent. No tiny souvenirs I could put on Moooose, though.
I was not expecting USF to have the moxie to make a defensive stand like they did in the fourth quarter of that game to hold off Columbia. I'd have to look at the final play-by-play to double-check it, but they went on a fairly substantial run to finish off the game, fueled both by offense and defense.
Aundrea Gordon seems to have shaken off whatever was bothering her shot at Fordham, because she brought the offense today. She was critical to regaining control of the game in the second half. Claudia Price needed to assert herself more- the coaches were yelling at her to shoot most of the time that she was in the game. She did well when she shot, so she needs to build on that. Hashima Carothers looked lost out there- fumbled a pass into her face, couldn't keep control of the ball, and generally seemed content to let the Columbia forwards muscle her out of position. My scorecard says that Alexa Hardick played, but I can't put my finger on anything that she did. Jamie Katuna committed stupid fouls- don't foul a three-point shooter! But she got the three back at the other end, so that worked out. Brief minutes for Bryn Stark, nothing to write home about.
Paige Spietz had a monster block in the first half, but her overreaching hands would be her downfall- she fouled out on a reach-in (more precisely, a reach-over) that any referee worth his salt is going to call as a foul, even if you manage to get all ball. She did all right on the boards, but was content to let loose balls go by her. Taylor Proctor got herself into foul trouble fairly early in both halves, which limited her effectiveness. She was also one of the Dons (Donnas? Doñas?) who had issues with getting easy looks to go down. Zhané Dikes didn't have much luck with the rim in the first half, but changing baskets seemed to change her luck a little bit. She drove without fear and took a couple of hard hits on both ends of the floor- at one point she all but did a somersault. Taj Winston came up big during the run at the end of the game, with a huge three and some critical shots, including a gorgeous breakaway lay-up on a deft steal. Rachel Howard brought the offense again, including a beautiful floater in the lane.
The ball movement was better this time around, but they're entirely too passive when it comes to loose balls. Fordham knocked away rebounds left and right, and so did Columbia. They've got to learn to move without the ball, as well. Can't just stand around and wait for the pass, especially when the passing is extremely sloppy.
Carolyn Gallagher and Ara Talkov both threw me off because they were wearing numbers that were not their number on the website, and then Columbia's announcer announced Gallagher as Carolyn Binder (which got really confusing when she committed a foul and Binder was sitting on four). Talkov looked lost in her minutes. Gallagher was able to provide some decent minutes in the post. Amara Mbionwu was brilliant in her few minutes, banging down low and getting good putbacks. She mostly played in the second half, which makes me wonder if she's recovering from an injury or if Stephanie Glance likes to use her as a secret weapon of sorts. Devon Roeper has an interesting release to her free throws, and still needs to work on her screens. Carolyn Binder gave decent minutes, and I'm not sure if some of those fouls were legit. I really can't remember anything that Kayla Patton did.
Miwa Tachibana is a woman who knows no fear. She's tiny, but she drives full on into the lane like no one's business. Courtney Bradford is a load down low, but her finishing could use a little work. I like the potential of Tori Oliver- there's something about her that reminds me of Le'Coe Willingham, though that might just be her build and her hair. Taylor Ward missed a lot of very makeable shots. It wasn't pretty. Sara Mead was not as memorable these hours later as I think she was during the game. I must remember not to schedule social engagements immediately after games.
I realize that there are new points of emphasis this year in the NCAA, and they're really trying to clamp down on incidental contact, but it got ridiculous in this game, on both sides. One of the guys in the front row called out, "So you've decided that everything that happens on the basketball court is a foul?" There was no real flow to the game- how could there be, with all the stoppages?
Quote of the game, after Miwa Tachibana's fourth or fifth foul, which came down low, from Stephanie Glance: "Are you serious? She's four-foot-two, how could she foul in there?"
Columbia just could not finish at the rim. San Francisco was not pressuring much, and they still couldn't convert on all the chances they got. Glance has a ways to go with her team on the basics, but I think she can get them back up to snuff.
So tomorrow (today?) I get a day off, and then it's back to the basketball!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
November 9th, 2013: Bowling Green at Iona
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Jillian Halfhill's lay-up with eighteen seconds left gave Bowling Green a 51-50 lead, and a last-second scrum for the ball secured the Falcons the win over Iona. Alexis Rogers led Bowling Green with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Damika Martinez of Iona led all scorers with 25 points, while Aaliyah Robinson added 14 off the bench.
For disagreements, bright colors, intensity, pride, point guards, and a possible question of mental fortitude, join your intrepid and blanketed blogger after the jump.
On to the second game of our double-header, which features Iona and Bowling Green for whatever marbles may be relevant in a miniature tournament. Shut up, grammar check, Bowling Green is correctly capitalized.
Bowling Green's uniforms are really orange. I think TV mutes the color a lot.
Iona's been working with their academic font instead of the old athletic font. Doesn't make for a dramatic court, but it looks good on the uniforms.
We're now changed into our maroon and gold. The extra layer was warming in the cold weather.
Oh, hey, cool, the mascot decided to show up. That's a change from last year.
Iona has a very tiny cheerleader with the most impressive thigh muscles I've ever seen (however, if I can see how built your thighs are, your skirt is way too short).
Bowling Green managed to get four balls in the basket. They tried to knock them out from the bottom, but only managed to get out one. It took a bit of doing to get them all out. That's either a good sign or a bad sign. So far it looks like a good sign for BGSU's shooting. It's 30-23 BGSU at the half, and the Falcons have looked stronger as the half has gone on. It also deeply disturbs me that Damika Martinez has gone full ballhog in the second quarter. There's a definite element of Lori Ann to her game tonight, if you follow what I mean.
As one would expect from a MAC team, Bowling Green's fans are out in full force. I really do love the MAC. Not when one of my teams is playing one of their teams, but other than that I love the MAC.
That was an amazing game. It wasn't the prettiest game in the world, but it was intense, and everyone was into it. The only way it could have been better, in my admittedly biased view, would have been if Iona had pulled it off at the very end.
Abby Siefker was a big body in the middle, and threw her weight around very effectively. Jasmine Matthews brought a little bit of offensive touch. Jennifer Roos almost seemed to be looking to see which guards she thought she could trust later in the season. Judging from the minute counts, she was not impressed with what she found, but they gave the starters a break when they needed it, which might have been enough coming down the stretch.
Alexis Rogers looks like a BCS player. She has the height and the build, as well as more quickness than one would expect from a woman of her build. She dissected Iona on the inside, because they had no one who could really match up with her. (And just for the record: yeah, that offensive foul for the moving screen was a bad call. Aleesha ran headlong into her without looking.) Jillian Halfhill ran a fine offense. I love to see a good floor general doing her stuff, even if she didn't show that element of her game statistically. Sometimes a player looks like she's the person in charge when she walks out onto the floor and it's clear her teammates defer to her. Jill Stein was tough in the middle. Miriam Justinger always seemed to be in the middle of the play; I remember that 30 jersey being all up in a lot of plays, especially going after loose balls. Erica Donovan had a solid game, if not one that was particularly memorable.
Very smart play by Bowling Green. We wailed and gnashed our teeth at the lack of free throw attempts that we were given, but the Falcons really didn't commit a lot of contact that would have resulted in free throws. Jennifer Roos is one of the most involved coaches I've ever seen. She yells almost as much as I do, at least when it comes to getting her team's attention. That's not a bad thing, though I wonder if it might wear on a player after a while.
Spencer Gray intrigues me. She reminds me very much of Kia Wright from St. John's, and of the freshmen she looked the least out of her depth. She might be able to move into that point guard slot when Haley D'Angelo graduates, if she learns with some speed. Cassidee Ranger looks like she's bulked up a little bit, and with the lack of height on Iona's roster, she's being called upon as a reserve post. Given that Cassidee's strengths are three-point shooting and on-ball defense, I do not think this is a very good plan. Aurellia Cammock shows a bit of promise with her size, though it's hard to get a fair assessment as to whether she can shoot, since her minutes were all in the first half and therefore no one other than Damika Martinez was touching the ball unless they happened to rebound it. Christina Rubin looked lost, which surprises me, since she was with the team last year. Aaliyah Robinson fired up the big threes. She's instant offense. (Reminds me of another Robinson in that regard.) And Iona needed everything she had to offer.
I don’t know what's wrong with Aleesha Powell, but I've met her and she seems like a nice kid, so I really hope that she's able to shake it off. But her shot was all messed up. It's like her arm strength completely evaporated over the offseason. She's always been slightly built (think Leilani Mitchell, but at 110% scale), but she looks even thinner now. Joy Adams was strangely passive today, and she didn't get down low nearly as much as I've come to expect from her. She was bringing the ball up more, too. I don't know if she's trying to diversify her game to be more of an overseas prospect, or if Coach Godsey is trying to switch her to the three because of her build, but in either case, it's not a good idea. Sabrina Jeridore was fierce on defense and hit the boards hard- I think she had four rebounds before the first media timeout. She's got to finish at the rim, and she's got to improve her stamina- she got winded a lot, and it's always apparent on her face when she's utterly gassed. Unless someone unexpected steps up to take some of the load off in the paint, she's all they have down there, and she needs to accept that responsibility as a senior and as the tallest healthy player on the roster. Haley D'Angelo has never been a shooter, and the one shot she took in this game reminded us of why she generally doesn't shoot a lot, but she needs to be a little more aggressive and force players to guard her. She's still the unquestioned leader of her team and the floor general for the Gaels, but she needs to be more of a threat. Damika Martinez was the offensive star for Iona, but she did it by volume, and the misses were bad misses. She got into a bit of a heated discussion with the coach in the middle of the first half, and her answer to whatever it was was to completely dominate the ball for the rest of the half. She brought it up, she dribbled, she shot. Not a good look. She got over it in the second half, though, and her shooting at the end of the game got Iona right back in it.
The officials in this game were not so good with the out of bounds calls. I'm really not sure how you can miss a player who's six-three and bright orange, guys.
For a mostly empty arena, the ambiance was fantastic. By the end, both groups of fans were really into the game. Iona's entire bench spent the last two defensive possessions standing and chanting. It was a heartbreaker (especially since Iona apparently tried to call timeout during the last rebound and didn't have it granted) but it was the kind of heartbreaker they would have lost heart during the second half of last year.
November 9th, 2013: Michigan at Arizona (at Iona)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Arizona came on strong, but Cyesha Goree came up with the equalizer at the buzzer and the Michigan Wolverines came away with the win against the Wildcats in overtime, 73-71. Shannon Smith had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for Michigan, while Nicole Elmblad posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Candice Warthen led Arizona with 21 points and nine assists.
For reuniting, layers, an autumn chill, directions, stomping, rainbows, and the victors valiant, join your intrepid and color-confused blogger after the jump, because that yellow IS NOT MAIZE.
Good afternoon! This time we're coming to you from the Hynes Athletic Center for the finale of Iona's tip-off tournament. Our first game features the Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona Wildcats.
It's good to have friends. Thanks for the assist, Joy.
Iona switched up which side of the court had the benches- the chairbacks are now across from the benches, which is mildly inconvenient. One of these years I'll remember to bring a seat cushion to bleacher seating. But they've done the place up a bit; the paint job is so fresh that I can still smell it, and it still has the new paint gleam.
Arizona seems to be focusing on finer control- footwork, low dribbling, ball control. Michigan's drill is pretty standard.
We're not the only ones here who came via the St. John's connection. There's folks in red who aren't with Arizona.
The Arizona crowd took time to get involved, but they did. I think they felt they were challenged. Well, bring it. I ain't shutting up any time soon.
Halftime, it's 32-26 Michigan, and so far Arizona's defense has kept them in the game. They've pressured out-of-bounds plays very well, inducing a five-second call early in the game. Michigan's offense was solid early, but it seems to have broken down more as the half progressed. Arizona shut down a lot of the ball movement, but on the other end of the floor, they have serious issues with their shooting.
So far no really awkward moments. I expect them, though. I have an Iona shirt under a Michigan shirt under a St. John's scarf, someone's going to question my loyalties to someone eventually.
I'd be more involved in the game on the offensive end if I knew the Michigan chants. The folks around us don't seem to be inclined to that kind of noise, though, so I'm still kind of lost. Ah, well, more voice for the Iona game. Though not as much as I was expecting... that game got a little too exciting for comfort. Both teams still have a long way to go.
Michigan relied heavily on their starters in this one, which is a very KBA thing to do, but not necessarily one that I would do in the second game of a back-to-back. They got some key baskets from Paige Rakers (which is pronounced Rockers and is thus an extremely awesome surname). I think they were expecting better shooting from Madison Ristovski, judging from the times when they were using her. Kendra Seto got some brief minutes in relief of the posts, but nothing to write home about.
All things considered, Shannon Smith and Eugeneia McPherson would probably hit it off like a house on fire, at least in terms of playing style. Smith is somewhat more of a distributor when things are going smoothly, but as soon as there was the slightest hint of pressure, she was driving the lane and putting up highly questionable shots in the faint hope of securing a whistle, then committing stupid fouls when a bad decision led to Arizona having the ball. Her three-point stroke was pretty enough that I joked that perhaps she should be wearing 30, though perhaps making a reference to that school in Ohio was a bad plan. I honestly don't know if I would put that much faith in her decision-making ability. Val Driscoll provided a solid body in the middle, and I think I would have liked to have seen her get more touches. Siera Thompson was hot and cold on offense, but she came up with a couple of big shots late in the game. I was expecting a little more from Nicole Elmblad. Consistency isn't the word I'm looking for, but she had one or two easy finishes that should have gone down. She scrambled well for rebounds, as well. Cyesha Goree came up with the board and the sweet soft shot to send the game into overtime. She was solid throughout the game, though I wasn't happy with most of her fouls- they seemed either to be bad calls or bad decisions, no real in between.
I'm not sure about Michigan's composure under pressure. They didn't cope well with Arizona's defense, and when the going got tough in the second half, they lost a lot of the crisp ball movement that staked them to the early lead. There's a difference between not being able to make the pass and not looking to make the pass. They made stronger defensive stands in the OT, and that was the key difference, not an improvement on offense.
Arizona got such good minutes off the bench out of Breanna Workman that I thought she was the starter, which shows how much I know about Arizona women's basketball. She was really good defensively. Dejza James put in hard work on the offensive boards- I think most of her baskets came off offensive rebounds. She was very impressive for a freshman. Keyahndra Cannon scored her two buckets back to back and also demonstrated a perfect foul to stop the break on a Michigan fast break. It might be a small thing to notice, but too many players either back off the break or don't foul hard enough to stop the basket. She fouled hard and clean, making sure that there was no way the shot was getting off.
I really thought Kama Griffits was going to scrape the pipes on the ceiling with the insanely high arc of her shot. She's got a rainmaker shot, and it was pouring buckets in the first half. That shot was virtually unblockable (not that Michigan seemed to be making an effort to block it). LaBrittney Jones showed promise, but Butts had her on a short leash, relying more on Workman. Ashley Merrill didn't do anything memorable. Carissa Crutchfield relied a bit too much on a senior's flair for the dramatic when trying to get a call, but was a solid running mate for Candice Warthen. Is it weird to say that Warthen looks like a Candice? Because I'm starting to think that there's a certain essential Cand*ceness that Cand*ces share; Parker has it, Dupree has it, Warthen has it. Yes, I know I'm strange, moving along to actual analysis right now. Warthen ran amok against the Michigan defense. She's very quick, and she made good decisions with the ball. I was very impressed with her.
Actually, I was very impressed with Arizona, period. I was not expecting much from them, given the program's ill-fortune after Polk, but they were very pesky on defense. What intrigued me most was that the drills they were working on before the game were the keys to keeping the game as competitive as it was. I mean, yes, working on skills is supposed to make those skills useful in game action, but it's rare to see it in such a clear and present fashion. I also thought Butts made good adjustments throughout the game, both offensively and defensively. I think they can definitely annoy some of those top teams in the Pac-12 and snag an unexpected win or two over teams expected to finish higher.
I'm pretty sure one of the officials- the not completely bald gentleman- was originally from the state of Arizona. All the bad calls against Michigan seemed to be coming from his whistle. The loose ball calls all seemed to be coming against Michigan. Every out of bounds was going to Arizona. We were not amused.
I married a man who goes to the effort of looking up the words to "Hail to the Victors" so that he can sing the fight song for a team that is, at best, our fourth priority. That is love and basketball.
Seriously, the Arizona crowd got into it once they got into it. They practically had choreography. There were a couple of folks in fraternity gear; I wonder if they had experience with step teams.
It was a thriller, and I think both teams took a lot away from it. I took away a mild headache, but the day was only starting…
Friday, November 8, 2013
November 8th, 2013: San Francisco at Fordham
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A barrage of threes led Fordham to a season-opening 80-66 win over San Francisco in the Bronx. Abigail Corning led all scorers with 22 points, including five threes; Erin Rooney added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Taj Winston had 19 points for the Dons.
For questions of title, being on the 4, raised eyebrows, yellow mohawks, slow feet, and long-range sniping, join your intrepid and chilled blogger after the jump.
Good evening, loyal readers! We're coming to you on our usual tape delay, this time from historic Rose Hill Gym on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx. (Well, technically, as my fingers stroke the keys, we're coming to you from a surprising seat on a Bronx-bound 4 train somewhere under Harlem.) The Rams host the Dons of the University of San Francisco, and you know me, I can't resist a West Coast team.
You may see more acid than usual in these notes, and here's a digression as to why. Normally, I have no beef with transfers. The BEast is not for everyone. Nine times out of ten, I'll wish you well, track your stats at Texas Southern or Grambling or Hawai'I or wherever, maybe even catch your games when you're in town, and there's no bad blood. However, if you decide to renounce your eligibility in the middle of the season, thus causing a coach with respect for his seniors to shoehorn you into the starting lineup, then invoke the graduate transfer rule to play elsewhere in the same city, that's a different story. So Mary Nwachukwu, who was never my favorite Johnnie anyway, is not exactly one of my favorite people in the world right now. I recognize that my distaste for her is not exactly rational and beg the indulgence of GNoD readers.
Arrived around 6:40, after getting only a little lost. The MTA and I need to have a long talk as to the appropriate speed for express trains. The operative word here is "express", kids.
The game is on teevee, I think. Very cool. Arrived late, but have the strong sense that Fordham is being physical and San Francisco is not demonstrating great shot selection.
Jennifer Azzi needs to tell Alex Maseko and the Seton Hall staff where she got that blouse, because it is perfect Pirate blue.
Taylor Proctor's family is here in full regalia- team colored Mohawk, plastic cowbells, streamers, the whole nine yards. It is awesome.
It's a bit awkward wearing my SJU scarf when the USF men are playing St. John's, but I think I finessed it well enough.
Sorry, cute kids in front of me, I didn't mean to scare you. I liked cheering with you!
T-this b-b-bus is r-really bump-bumpy. Someone wanna put in some work on the Cross Bronx, guys?
Bryn Stark not only has an awesome name, she looked pretty fierce in her brief time. Not direwolf fierce, but she'll do. Aundrea Gordon couldn't buy a bucket, but I have to like a player who can take the "AIRBALL!" chant with the kind of aplomb she did. Hashima Carothers intrigues me as someone who looks like she can be a very good player, but who right now is very, very raw. She has the look of a player- the build, the grace, the tools- but she doesn't have defensive acumen and her footwork was even worse than her teammates' (which is an overarching complaint that will be addressed later). Claudia Price played 14 minutes and I can't remember her doing anything particularly good or particularly bad, ditto for the four minutes of Alexa Hardick.
Rachel Howard turned up the offense in the second half, and I think that if USF were my team, she'd be making me tear my hair out with her ability to score at one end and give up the points just as quickly at the other end. I do love the offense, though. Taylor Proctor has nice handles for a woman of her height, but her ball control on the boards left much to be desired. I admit, I kept mixing up her and Paige Spietz, because of unfamiliarity and similar profiles. Spietz was better on the boards, and probably got the best rebounding position of her team, but that's not saying a lot. Strictly on looks, Taj Winston reminded me of Brittney Griner, with similar cheekbones and the twisted short dreads. She really turned it up in the second half, driving to the lane (though she needs to hit more of those free throws) and working hard on defense. So did Zhané Dikes, who got most of the points I saw from her off hard work- steals, rebounds, free throws off contact in the lane.
I know they're young, and this is the first game of the season, and Fordham is not exactly an easy opponent to start off against, but I was surprised how soft San Francisco was. For the most part, they weren't absorbing a lot of contact (and the players who were were smaller guards, not the taller forwards). They backed off a lot on defense too; the defense was disorganized to the point where I couldn't tell whether it was a badly executed zone or a man-to-man where players didn't know their assignments. It's a bad sign when players are giving each other the "WTF are you doing here look". There seemed to be a lot of freelancing on offense, not a lot of concerted ball movement, and a surprising amount of bad footwork from a team coached by a legendary point guard. (That, at least, I expect to be corrected over months and years.)
Really liked what I saw out of Danielle Burns, especially in the second half. She exploited the gaps in USF's defense beautifully down low. Mary Nwachukwu was who she has always been: she wanders around in the high post, she takes elbow jumpers when she gets the opportunity, she boxes out, and she can't rebound for love nor money. Danielle Padovano made so much of an impression early in the game that when she came back near the end I thought it was her first stretch of run. Gaitley seemed to make a point of bringing her end-of-the-bench players in at the end of the game, and though I'm usually all in favor of it, her insistence smacked of mockery. Either that, or the refs really weren't paying attention to her requests.
I don't remember Emily Tapio doing anything until the end of the game, but I missed the first twelve minutes or so of game time, so I acknowledge that there is the distinct possibility that she was solid in the beginning of the game. Samantha Clark was tough in the paint, but seemed to lack stamina. That is a big, solid woman, but she might have to trade in some of that bulk for longevity- they need a rock in the middle, and she could definitely be it if they can rely on her for long stretches. Abigail Corning didn't seem capable of missing threes, especially from the corner. Neither was Hannah Missry, though she got in foul trouble in the second half and wasn't as effective after that. Erin Rooney seemed to choose her shots very carefully, and I thought it was interesting that her sweet spot seemed to be straight away, or very close to it. She also displayed quite a knack for the dramatic; when she was fouled, she made sure everyone in the building knew that she was going down.
I was not thrilled with the officiating. For all that there's an emphasis on not allowing as much contact, they let a lot of banging go in the paint, more concerned with the footwork. It looked like Fordham was getting away with more of it early, but the refs definitely slacked off a bit as the game went on. I'm pretty sure tackling should not allow you to acquire the ball in basketball.
There was a student tee giveaway. Plain, but serviceable.
I love Rose Hill. I tried to take exterior establishing shots, but I can't guarantee they came out properly. Well, there's always next week.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
November 2nd, 2013: Philadelphia at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A very late surge pulled Seton Hall into overtime, where they defeated Philadelphia in exhibition play, 87-85. Ka-Deidre Simmons led Seton Hall with 19 points and 11 assists; Tabatha Richardson-Smith had 16 points, 10 in overtime, and 13 rebounds; Bra'Shey Ali also notched a double-double, with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Philadelphia's Monica Schacker led all scorers with 21 points, while Bria Young added 15 points and 13 rebounds.
For unspeakable awkwardness, wardrobe malfunctions, familiar faces, missed opportunities, and far too much drama for the preseason, join your intrepid and cerulean blogger after the jump.
And we're back in the saddle again! I know you missed my walls of text, meandering asides, and the strange people I meet on my travels. I know it's been a rough two months, but I'm here for you. At the moment, "here" is a backwards-facing seat on an overheated NJ Transit car, with a rather inconvenient angle to my monitor and my purse perched on my bosom.
The MTA did not help our cause; we left the house before twelve and were barely in time to make the connection. I imagine the Knicks City Dancer across from us on the E train was somewhat more perturbed by the constant delays. (I assumed she was a Knicks City Dancer from her striking good looks, Knicks jacket, dancer's physique, large bag of clothes, and orange-and-blue eye shadow. I swear, it was the eye shadow that clinched it for me.)
We're off to South Orange today for a preseason game at Walsh Gym against Philadelphia. Being garbed in blue, with a Seton Hall foam finger in tow (we've been poking each other with it periodically during our trip) is a strange sensation. Large parts of me are screaming that this is wrong, that I'm wearing the wrong color, that this is not how I'm supposed to go to a game. I'm going to have to get used to it, though. Kick me if I'm still whinging in February.
And I managed to forget my clipboard, because I'm a genius, so if these notes are short it's because I had to run the computer to get the scorecard up. Don't worry, I'm not going to make a mistake that elementary in the regular season. Isn't that what the preseason is for?
Someone bought a basketball onesie for their kid. I don't plan on having kids, but if I did, that's what they would be wearing.
At halftime, Philadelphia is up four on Seton Hall, and yes, for the honor of the Big East, I'm embarrassed that Seton Hall is down four to a D-II team. They look really disorganized. I don't know if Coach Bozzella's gotten through to them yet. Really dumb passes to places where no one or a Philadelphia player is standing, lots of overshooting, lousy free throw shooting. Philadelphia's doing a lot of shooting from the outside, and unlike Seton Hall, they're converting those free throws.
It was all but over. And suddenly they flared to life, making huge defensive stances and getting rapid steals.
Awkward moment: between the second half and the overtime, we got a visit from Amber Thompson's mother, who was a bit confused as to what we were doing at Seton Hall (she's got an excuse; Amber's friends with Ka-Deidre Simmons). We assured her that we had not abandoned St. John's and we would still be coming to games, but that was exceedingly awkward and will hopefully not lead to trouble.
Philadelphia got very good bench minutes from Mary Newell, who actually started the second half because one of the starters was in foul trouble. She was a presence inside- good height, good footwork, rebounded well, finished well. Jackie McCarron's time came at the end of the OT, when fouls were catching up to the Rams and their coach had to start going deep into his bench to put bodies on the floor. Samantha Morris seemed to react well to having to change her number (there was blood on her #20 jersey, so in the second half she was #34). She got a little more aggressive going to the basket and scoring in the second half.
We just could not, or did not, get on Monica Schacker. She almost sent the game to double OT with two late threes back to back. She knew her spot- corner across from the bench- and she got there. Bria Young was extremely quick with her hands and feet- she broke up passes and really did a good job of getting to the basket. I can't put my finger on what I liked about Alex Heck, but there's something I like about her. It might just be that she has the same surname as a player who did well for me in my fantasy league last year. But she seemed to be in the right place at the right time a lot of the time. Tori Arnao hit the boards hard, which got her in foul trouble early in the game and eventually fouled her out of the game early in the overtime. She had a beautiful touch with the glass- I think her last two baskets were kisses off the backboard. (Morris, too- one of her shots glanced very high off the backboard.) Megan Finn was very quick- used her lack of size surprisingly well.
Overall, Philadelphia had great ball movement. They started to get flustered at the end of the game, when they were dealing with foul trouble and an increasingly involved crowd, and throwing backcourt pressure at them late really messed them up. But they impressed me for a Division II team. And I don't think they were at full strength, either; one of their co-captains didn't even play.
Janee Johnson reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. There's a little Michelle Snow there, but not much. That might have been the complaints to the officials, but she had a good case a couple of times. She turned it up in the second half, with high-arcing shots going down with a splash of nylon instead of hard off the back of the rim. She also worked on keeping the team emotionally in the game- she and Brittany Webb were the ones leading the defense chants on the bench. Breanna Jones gave a few good defensive minutes when the Pirates were juggling foul trouble with their forwards. Tara Inman has a nice shot from the corner, but plays defense as one would expect a freshman to do in her first collegiate game- she got burned on a Philadelphia drive so badly that I winced. Jasmine McCall shoots fairly well, which I would expect from a player surnamed McCall. Brittany Webb got good position on the block, but failed to do anything with it. Defensively, she didn't do nearly enough to get in position and fouled instead of getting her hands up.
Tabatha Richardson-Smith couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the first half, whether it was from the perimeter or on offensive rebounds. But she went and got her cape in overtime. Suddenly those tips were going in, she was getting and-1s, she was getting her threes to go down- it was beautiful. She's still got to get her act together and focus on defense, though, and she needs to finish more consistently. I really liked Sidney Cook's hustle- it was her burst late in the second half that helped spur the game-tying rally. It might be the big blonde hair, but she always caught my eye on the boards. Bra'Shey Ali also did well on the boards and took excellent advantage of her opportunities. I like her. Ka-Deidre Simmons's shot selection, both in the taking and the passing up of shots, left much to be desired, but she found her teammates well. Couple of real pretty passes. I'm not sure if she's still questioning her knee, or if she's still rusty because it's the preseason, or if she's not sure about the play selection, but something's off about her game. Chizoba Ekedigwe is a good anchor for a zone defense, and when she keeps her hands up, nothing is getting past her. I'd like to see her be more assertive on offense, though. That might not be her strength, but she should be able to get something going at her height. I'm blaming Anne Donovan; Ekedigwe is her kind of post player.
Speaking of AD, she was at the game. Wasn't sure at the time if that was her or her sister, as we were in the opposite corner and all I could make out was the long face and ridiculous height.
Not pleased with the officiating. A lot of contact that wasn't called, some questionable procedural calls, one very bad out of bounds (just because the shot was so horrible that it went off the side of the backboard support, that doesn't mean it was deflected).
Band didn't show up 'til late. No dance team. Of course, they were all preparing for the men's game that was to follow. (Didn't stay for that. My butt hurt. Must remember to bring cushions for those wooden Walsh Gym bleachers.)
If Seton Hall can get its act together, and if they can provide some upsets in the non-conference to build on, I think they can make Walsh Gym the second-best homecourt advantage in the Big East, behind only DePaul. The acoustics are great, and it's the right size for the crowd they're likely to draw. You can make a little bit of noise echo off that ceiling.
Free throws. Dear Lord, Seton Hall, they're free. My Johnnie girls could give you lessons, and regular readers of the GNoD know my laments regarding the Red Storm's free throw shooting. Take Simmons out of the equation and it gets worse.
There's a lot of work to be done, but there's potential to work with. Seton Hall might be rough to watch this year, but I think they'll make a ruckus in two years.