Just the Facts Ma'am: St. John's raced out to a big early lead, but Marquette dominated the game, coming back from 23 down to win 74-61. Katie Young led the Golden Eagles with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Aliyyah Handford had 21 points for St. John's.
For incoherent rage, surprising restraint, ballistics, bright yellow uniforms, a lack of pride, and absolute shame, join your intrepid blogger after the jump, but please bring a bottle of Bailey's if you do.
Good evening, blog readers! We're coming to you live and in three-d from Carnesecca Arena on the campus of St. John's University. Your intrepid blogger gets her second look in a week at the Golden Eagles of Marquette as they face the Red Storm of St. John's.
At halftime, St. John's is up 42-35, but they were up by as much as 22 in the second half, so I'm not exactly enthused about this. The team started coasting at about the eight-minute mark, and Marquette took full advantage for the rest of the game.
You have no idea how much of a herculean effort it is for me not to let lose with the f-word equivalent of the bombardment of Dresden. You really don't. Because that game was the equivalent of this team burning everything to ashes that they've been trying to build this year. They salted the earth and screwed the pooch with such efficiency that PETA cried foul. This was an embarrassment to St. John's and everything that started this season.
Which is not to take anything away from Marquette, and if anything in my post implies that, I apologize. There's no giving without taking, and the Golden Eagles fought. They went hard to the boards, they went to the floor for every loose ball- they learned from choking at Seton Hall and made sure that they took advantage of every opportunity that was given to them. Ashley Santos really needs to learn to watch her footwork, because she'll get called for travels if a crew is paying more attention to her hopsteps. She's very, very fast, though. Chelsie Butler was effective on the inside- physical, but not as infuriating as she was at Seton Hall. Lauren Tibbs gave a couple of good minutes when Butler needed a break and Plouffe was still in foul trouble. Arlesia Morse took the ball hard to the basket and got rewarded with free throws. She was also pretty solid defensively.
Cristina Bigica did not have a happy fun road trip through the New York/New Jersey area- hit her wrist at Seton Hall, got smacked or kicked in the head in this game. She didn't play a lot- they were getting good minutes from Santos and Morse, and she wasn't providing anything they weren't getting from other sources. Brooklyn Pumroy has a pretty shot, and ran her team with a lot of authority. She makes good things happen on the floor. Katie Young came up with all the big shots. I have absolutely no idea how we've overlooked her for the last three years, but she's come on like gangbusters. I think we have a contender for BEast MIP here. Apiew Ojulu showed off a little range and used her long arms well on defense- there was one point where she was simultaneously defending Keylantra Langley and Briana Brown, and doing it well. (Of course, that was as much a spacing issue as it was a defensive stand.) Katherine Plouffe filled up a lot of space in the lane and pulled down plenty of boards. She didn't play a lot because of foul trouble- Terri Mitchell was very conservative with her, and this time it seemed to work for her, when it didn't on Saturday.
Those yellow jerseys were all over the boards, especially in the second half. Two or three bodies were boxing out, and they took all the rebounds. There were several boards that hit the court, but Marquette was all over them.
For reasons more or less beyond my understanding, Mallory Jones got some time in the second half. No, I know what Joe was thinking- when she's left open beyond the arc, she can hit an open three every so often, and we needed points in a hurry. However, that plan works a lot better when the player in question actually sets up behind the three-point line at any point during her time on the floor. Jade Walker got into foul trouble, as is her wont. She had one good defensive stance with two deflections, but beyond that just couldn't get anything to work. Selina Archer was brought in for rebounding, and for reasons completely beyond my comprehension, kept getting force-fed the ball when she was in. She had one decent putback, but other than that, specialized in standing around and letting Marquette rebound around her big frame. Aliyah Lewis built on her solid performance against Creighton, if standing around pounding the ball and making abysmal decisions can be considered to be building on a game. She had to step up after the injury to Eugeneia McPherson, and she did nothing of the sort. Keylantra Langley hit one big shot and hit the deck a couple of times, but brought no energy, mediocre defense, and little other offense. Danaejah Grant at least scored some, but went a little too much for the flourish on the shot, looking too much for the foul instead of the successful finish.
Briana Brown played with no energy, which is not a good sign for the team's leader and captain. She hit a three early on, and tore down some nice rebounds, but couldn't sustain. I have to wonder if trying to be the sole leader on the court after the injury to Gina took its toll on her. Aliyyah Handford drove the lane, and offensively looked like her old self. Defensively, the energy was intermittent. Amber Thompson was decent on the inside, but got into foul trouble and had her minutes severely curtailed for reasons beyond my comprehension. Yes, some of her fouls were stupid, but how is that different from the last two or three years? Sandra Udobi got off to a slow start, then suffered a mild setback with her heavily braced knee. This was, of course, right when everyone decided that getting her the ball in shooting position was a wonderful idea. She decided that this was not a good decision. And there was much passing around. Eugeneia McPherson drove the lane, got hit low, and went down holding her knee. She was held out for the rest of the game, spending the first half riding the bike to nowhere and the second half on the bench with a large ice bag on her knee.
There are likely people who are throwing this loss on not having her down the stretch. Of course, we didn't have her during the part of the game where we were up 23, either, so that argument holds less water than your average sieve. We went up big and then we decided that we didn't need to play basketball anymore. Marquette disagreed with this assessment.
I genuinely do not understand the decisions that were made tonight. Either Joe took his stupid pills, the players all took their stupid pills, or the water supply was spiked with stupid pills. They started playing stallball with eight minutes left in the first half. There's no reason for that. We're not UConn. We can't assume that we're going to keep stomping a team just because we're currently stomping them. There's a difference between moderating the pace of the game and stalling for a shot clock violation. And I don't know why Joe was handling his personnel the way he was, but he was way too conservative with Amber and way too confident in Aaliyah's ability to run the point for long periods of time. I don't know what he was doing with Mallory and Selina. I don't know why he called signals so insistently that it could have distracted the team. I'm not sure what was up with Gina, but putting her in if she were able to go couldn't have hurt us.
The officiating was no help, but I can't blame them for a 36-point swing. That's all on the players on the floor. That's all to do with them and what they did and didn't do. Mostly didn't do. (That being said, we're lucky no one got too seriously hurt. I hope. Depends on Gina's knee, I guess. That wasn't full contact, but still.)
Worse, they did this with Nadirah in the bleachers, watching as they threw away a game they should have won. How do you do this in front of one of your greats? How do you do this in front of a teammate? How do you lay an egg like this and essentially tell one of your builders that you're going to kick over the sand castle because you just can't bring yourself to body up for a rebound?
I can't even bring myself to go after the agonizingly drawn out anthem, or whatever Briana did to her hair. I just don't have it. I just don't. I can't even fathom it.
Doug Bruno better bring a gift basket on Saturday, because we pretty much just handed DePaul the Big East crown. We had a chance to do something we haven't done since 1985, and we blew it in a matter better suited to the ladies who walk Eighth Avenue.
This is still my team, don't get it twisted. But I call them as I see them, and what I saw was enough to make me throw my clipboard in disgust. (It went further than I expected, though. I wasn't expecting it to go all the way out to the aisle.)
Do you have any pride left, St. John's? Will you put up a fight for Keylantra and Briana and Eugeneia on Saturday? Are you going to take it to DePaul the way you did at DePaul? Or will you fold? Have you decided to coast into the postseason? This isn't the old Big East. Second or third or fourth isn't enough anymore. Bring it. We'll be there.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
February 26th, 2014: Marquette at St. John's
Saturday, February 22, 2014
February 22nd, 2014: Marquette at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Down 17 early in the second half, Seton Hall forced overtime on a Tabatha Richardson-Smith triple and came away with the 90-86 win. Richardson-Smith finished with a Seton Hall record 38 points, while Alexis Brown added 24; Bra'Shey Ali finished scoreless, but with a game-high 15 rebounds. Marquette was led by huge games from Katherine Plouffe (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Katie Young (21 points, 12 rebounds).
For the roar of the crowd, geology lessons, rebounding, bad soda puns, passion, and sore gluteal muscles, join your intrepid and hungry blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon! We're coming to you in Smell-o-vision from beautiful Walsh Gymnasium on the snowy campus of Seton Hall University, where the Pirates look for a second straight conference win against the Golden Eagles of Marquette.
It's been so snowy that looking at the parking lots and the plowed heaps of snow made me imagine tactical uses for the walls. You could have some seriously strategic snowball fights up in there.
Lots of shooting practice for Seton Hall today. I don't think they've been off the floor since we got here, or if they have, not for very long.
Alexis Brown is utterly adorable when she puts her mind towards being chivalrous. (And was apparently very happy to be here. Good Lord.)
At halftime, Marquette is up 39-32. Seton Hall has played well for stretches, but Marquette's been able to answer every run. Katherine Plouffe has been a star for Marquette; Alexis Brown is running the show for Seton Hall.
Several hours and a fair amount of ice cream later, it's still hard to believe that Seton Hall pulled that out, seventeen down in the second half after taking some body blows both literal and figurative. But Alexis Brown and Tabatha Richardson-Smith and Ka-Deidre Simmons and Bra'Shey Ali decided that they were not losing that game, and they roared back, and the crowd roared with them, and that was one of the most thrilling games I've been at all season.
Chelsie Butler is not among my favorite people today- she was the one who slammed Ka-Deidre to the ground, and I think she was the one who knocked Tab into the band. She's reasonably skilled on the inside, but I don't like her physicality and I'm kind of looking forward to her match-up with Amber Thompson on Wednesday. Ashley Santos is very fast and drives very aggressively. She's got to work on her footwork if she gets a crew that's a bit more determined to call travels, but for her height she's got excellent speed. Lauren Tibbs provided some decent minutes when Plouffe was in foul trouble.
Cristina Bigica seemed to be a little off her game, though part of that might have been because she suffered a wrist injury in the second half. She just didn't seem to be the factor I was expecting her to be. Katie Young picked up a lot of that slack, getting to the line with efficiency and strength- she was always driving and always getting to the basket, along with dropping a couple of threes. Brooklyn Pumroy looks have matured a lot in the last year, even more than one would expect, and she has phenomenal range- she was taking set shot threes from the half-court line and getting good iron on them (after Tab tied the game, her halfcourt heave drew back iron). It wouldn't surprise me one iota if she could hit that shot, not just get a good shot off. Apiew Ojalu was intriguing on defense- she has very long, skinny arms, and she blocked a lot of shots. The way she uses her arms and the way she rebounds reminds me a little of Plenette Pierson, though not quite as strong in the body. She tangles well, and that's not meant as an insult. Katherine Plouffe showed off all the moves, hitting from both outside and inside and pulling down big boards. I was saying uncharitable things about Canada every time she scored, but that's also because I love me some hockey and I have a bit of a cranky about the results of USA-Canada. She's a tough guard, and it didn't help Seton Hall that they mostly sent guards at her. I mean, obviously something helped Seton Hall, because they won, but in terms of stopping Plouffe.
Breanna Jones provided some good defensive stops. Teresa Kucera came up with threes but also committed stupid fouls when she was out of position on defense. Right now she's primarily a shooter, and I hope that she develops more as a defender to use her height. Sidney Cook really disappointed me today, the only disappointment of the day. She's got no confidence and no enthusiasm left, and it's sad. I know she can hit the pretty jumper and pull down the boards with the best of them, but today sh was utterly lackluster. Tara Inman played just long enough to establish that this was not the day that was meant for her and sat back down. Makes sense- kid looks like she should be carded for R-rated movies and offered the kids' fare on trains. Chizoba Ekedigwe got a couple of minutes on defense with the foul trouble that mounted up for Seton Hall's posts, and did a credible job on Plouffe.
Bra'Shey Ali was all over the boards. Even when she didn't pull it down, she was in position to down the board and ended up being muscled out. She's got some pretty impressive vertical. She had some huge blocks, including one late in the game that helped set up the big run; almost as importantly, her big blocks got the crowd into the game, and the team fed off the crowd to intensify the defensive pressure. Janee Johnson had bad luck around the rim, but she stepped into the passing lanes well and contributed on defense. (She also has a very loud DE-FENSE chant. Helps when you're trying to get the cadence going and the cheerleaders are a bit off their game.) Ka-Deidre Simmons took a really big hit and came down hard on her back. We were breathless and silent as she squirmed, but after a few minutes on the bench, she was back to normal and helped spearhead the run to force overtime. She took control fo the team and the game like the upperclassman she is. Alexis Brown led the charge in the first half, cutting to the lane and getting to the line. She was fierce going after any ball that looked like it could be jarred loose. And then Tabatha Richardson-Smith went off. The best part was that, for the most part, she wasn't doing it with ridiculously long threes that would make you doubt her judgment, but with closer threes, midrange jumpers, and layups along the baseline. She was on fire, and we loved every second of it.
I think she was the only person in the arena that thought the three was going in until it actually went in and there was pandemonium in the gym.
The officiating left a bit to be desired in the second half, given the physicality that both teams got away with. The slam on Ka-Deidre was the worst, but Cristina Bigica got the worst of a collision and came away with the foul called on her, so Marquette had some arguments to make as well. There were more procedural calls missed than I would have expected from this crew- Brooks, Lynch, and Orminski are a good crew. That being said, they made a couple of out of bounds calls that were excellent, and I know that's one of Brooks's bugaboos.
One of the dance team girls was in the shooting contest during one of the timeouts. She hit the lay-up and the free throw, but had no luck on the three-pointer. Par for the course, actually.
When they have a reason to get into the game, Seton Hall fans are loud and passionate. We fit in with them. I'd say we fit in with them more than we do with St. John's fans, but St. John's is my team and I don't want to give any indication that they're not.
What a finish. What guts by Seton Hall. I think Terri Mitchell thought too early that everything was over, that she could go deeper into her rotation, that she could rest and save Plouffe. Surprise!
Saturday, February 15, 2014
February 15th, 2014: Villanova at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half to spark a second-half St. John's surge in the Red Storm's 69-56 win over Villanova. Handford's 25 led all scorers. Amber Thompson added nine points and 17 rebounds. For Villanova, Katherine Coyer had 18 points and six rebounds.
For hurried rotations, hazardous traveling conditions, a little dipsy-do to seal the deal, too much pink, and resurgence, join your intrepid and anatine blogger after the jump.
Hello from the arctic tundra of Queens! We come to you live and in stereophonic sound from Carnesecca Arena, where it's Play4Kay against Villanova.
We've already heard the usual militant insistence that all things be pink. One guy said that I had to put the shirt on over my jersey or I'd have to give it back. First of all, rude. Second of all, the pink Play4Kay shirt I'm wearing is not this year's shirt. Third of all, you go call Ann Arbor and tell Joy McCorvey you told me to take off her jersey. Fourth of all, you go call my mother and tell her I don't support breast cancer survivors. Fifth of all, send the guy with the ducks over here, we've got twenty-five bucks waiting for him, because we believe in deeds, not words and empty gestures.
Of course, the pink jersey they have up for auction was Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin's, and I have more dignity than to wear the jersey of a woman who once mocked my husband during intros. Yes, I know whose jersey was whose based on the style and era. Don't try to put one past me. If it had been Jennifer Blanding's #15, or pretty much any other post's, I'd have been on it.
I like the pink and blue sneakers that a few Johnnies are rocking better than the pink and white. I don't know if the long pigtails work for Aaliyah Lewis, though. Someone's gonna end up whipped in the face, I know it.
Where are the ducks! I need the ducks to donate the money!
As usual, Villanova fans sit wherever they want, indifferent to the normal conventions of sitting in the general vicinity of their bench. I like the pink golf shirts that the Villanova staff is wearing, though. The Villanova V is well matched to it.
At halftime, St. John's is up 27-19, having closed strong after the game was tied at 18. Watching the offense of both teams has not exactly been happy fun times.
A family of Villanova fans insisted on setting up camp in our section, but they appear to have departed. You'd think being across from the St. John's bench, next to the band, and next to members of the men's team would be a good hint that this section is not a good place to wear the V. We figured they only like to watch Villanova on offense, which makes them some kind of m
There are two utterly adorable children playing on the drum kit during halftime, while the band grabs refreshment. They're more interesting than this confounded DJ, I'll tell you that.
We're giving up too many offensive rebounds, but so is Villanova, so that all washes out, I guess. We need to hit free throws and not let Nova get to the line. Also, Eugeneia McPherson is in dire need of the halftime break. I don't think she sat down once in the first half, and Joe was too scared to put Briana Brown back in with two fouls to give her a break.
Impressed with the turnout. It's been growing steadily. I approve. It's a little squished, but I like that.
I like beating Villanova. It's about the only thing I agree with UConn fans about.
I suspect that Perretta threw in the towel relatively early. With the foul differential being what it was, I didn't see him trying to work the officials the way I might have expected him to, and he went to the very deep end of his bench earlier than I would have expected. You should have heard the roar when Jessica Wamala scored- her teammates and the Nova fans who were sitting behind their bench cheered real loud for her. Samantha Wilkes got really grabby, and the law of the court caught up to her once- she shoved Briana Brown, and Amber Thompson proceeded to briefly introduce Wilkes to her elbow brace. Do not mess with the captain. Megan Quinn was tall. Taylor Holeman seems to play longer than her height- not to the extent that a DeLisha Milton does, but she has a long reach and good ups, and she disrupts well. I think she was hobbled by the fouls and not looking as much for her shot. Caroline Coyer got a lot of open looks in the second half and took advantage of several of them.
I miss Emily Leer's hook shot. She did fire one off, but she's starting to turn into yet another Villanova player who takes threes no matter her height. She got into foul trouble and griped about it a lot. Katherine Coyer impressed me less than her sister, though that may have been a matter of timing- the player who scored more in the second half will stand out more than the player who scored more in the first half. Devon Kane showed off one of the fastest first steps I've ever seen- she left her defender far behind her two or three times as she accelerated to the basket. I don't have clear recollectiosn of Kavunaa Edwards or Lauren Burford; they didn't play a lot, in favor of the somewhat deep Villanova bench. In case you hadn't noticed, Villanova plays an odd substitution pattern, and starting for the Wildcats isn't necessarily an indicator of how important a player is to the overall success of the team.
They were more aggressive than I remember them being, which isn't exactly saying a huge amount for Villanova. Honestly, though, we ran the clock down more than they did.
I was surprised that Joe went to Mallory Jones in the first half, but the move worked out, and I guess she matches up well with their system. She managed to garner a rebound and drain an open three. Jade Walker played very briefly, but was moving slowly and uncomfortably enough that she didn't play again. She looked out of place and out of position, nothing like the force of nature she's been for the last few games. Aaliyah Lewis ran a decent offense- nothing remarkable. Keylantra Langley was physical, but didn't have her best game in terms of common sense- stupid fouls, bad position, that kind of thing. Danaejah Grant took over a lot of the offensive load, or at least being an offensive threat. She missed a lot of easy shots, though the rim did her no favors.
I think the long minutes and the season are starting to get to Eugeneia McPherson a little bit. She looked really wiped by the end of this game. She picked up her shooting right when we needed her, but she still looked like she needed a long session in the ice bath. Briana Brown picked up two fouls in the first half, then spent the rest of the half on the bench. She came up with two huge shots in the second half to extend the lead. Amber Thompson owned the boards, as she so often does. She went hard after missed shots and cleaned up even the worst of attempts. I love when she's tough like that. Sandra Udobi played her usual brief minutes and then sat down. Aliyyah Handford decided to demonstrate that she was back. Her jump shot, such as it is, hasn't developed yet, but she was slashing to the basket and putting in some incredibly acrobatic shots again, like the Aliyyah of old. Just when we need her, coming down the home stretch of the conference season with a title in our sights and dreams of a high seed, too.
The rebounding was off the charts, and strengthened in the second half. Our defense slacked off a bit- way too many open shots, not enough pressure, which goes miles towards explaining the stunning foul differential in the second half.
This is part of how I knew Villanova had thrown in the towel sometime around the beginning of the fourth quarter: St. John's wasn't called for their first foul of the half until about the three-minute mark and Harry Perretta had bupkis to say about it. Most coaches, especially ones as demonstrative as Perretta can be, would have ripped the officials several new ones by that point. I don't necessarily know whether the calls themselves were good or bad, but that kind of imbalance tends to enrage a coach.
We bought our ducks eventually. Twenty-five dollars bought thirty-two ducks. As always, I nicknamed them before hurling them to their eventual fate: Tanya, Mallory, Wildwing, Ryan, Teemu, Lamichael, Jillian, Chrishae, Cathrine, Marcus, Kevin, Drake... one of them even won us a prize pack. I don't know whether this item is a backscratcher or an ice scraper, but either way it'll come in handy. The Chris Mullin bobble-head can go live in our men's sports community on top of one bookcase. The pennant will go on the wall. That kind of thing.
The train keeps on rolling, and I have to keep believing. It's time to hit the road for a rivalry game and for a rematch somewhere in middle America. We can do this. We're going to have to if we want any respect.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
February 8th, 2014: Providence at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. John's pulled down their tenth straight win of the season in an 85-65 victory over Providence. Jade Walker led the Red Storm with 14 points off the bench, one of five Johnnies in double figures. Danaejah Grant added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Eugeneia McPherson had 11 assists. Providence's Karin Robinson had a game-high 21 points off the bench, while Aliyah Miller had 19.
For team efforts, bad decisions, mild worry, sheer pride, determination, and the whole darn thing, join your intrepid and clicky blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, fellow basketball-type people! Your intrepid blogger and about a hundred of her closest friends (at this point) are gathered in Carnesecca Arena for the Red Storm's game against Providence. I'm going to allow myself a few minutes of bitterness at this point- there are four games on my schedule that I would have loved to be at, and if this weren't St. John's it would probably be third on the list. (Iona was at Manhattan, George Washington at Fordham. Though I think I had my Ivies mixed up.)
Providence is wearing pink sneakers with their black jerseys, but if you have a Yow in your school's athletic heritage, you can wear whatever pink suits you at whatever time.
There's a guy in a St. John's jersey who either did something accidentally brilliant or did something intentionally brilliant- his little daughter is wearing an NC State jersey. It's probably an accident, but it looks soul-satisfyingly right.
Someone in the band really likes Qdoba.
The stands are filling up a little more now that the kids from the clinic are showing up. As long as they stay on the other side of the arena and go look good on camera, I'm okay with that. Go be annoying somewhere else, small children who don't really care about basketball.
Small pregame ceremony for Eugeneia McPherson's 1000th point, garnered at Seton Hall last weekend. (Poor Briana Brown had to run back to the locker room and missed the whole thing, such as it was. I'm assuming she did the stalwart stoic captain thing during the entire locker room talk, then realized she had to ue the ladies' room.)
We're also trying to figure out if there's some kind of flu bug going around the team- a lot of people running off to the side or looking under the weather, and Gina's shot has been weirdly off.
It's 43-30 St. John's at halftime, and Joe Tartamella is confident enough in his lead that the next to last offensive play of the half was an attempted alley-oop from Aaliyah Lewis to Mallory Jones. Unfortunately, Mallory has about as much vertical as I do. It was 15-11 Providence at one point, and then St. John's got angry. There was a 21-4 stretch at one point. Providence has the leading scorers, but it's been an all-around offense for St. Johns, with good defensive plays as well.
It stayed a solid team effort all the way through. The defense came up with big plays when they needed them, and everyone was looking to pass- almost too much. This might have been the best game, 1 to 11, that I've seen out of St. John's this year.
I suspect that Providence was short-handed, since I can't think of any reason to play only eight players in a game that was pretty well out of hand for about twenty-five minutes. Karin Robinson came off the bench in the first half, but started the second half. She was fearless in driving the lane and going to the basket. She seemed to be all over the place. Miranda Simpson gave some good minutes off the bench with the foul trouble for Aliyah Miller and Alexis Harris, but got into a little bit of foul trouble herself. For a guard, she's very physical. Annie Russian came in to set screens and generally be in everyone's way.
Alexis Harris was very tall, and she grabbed rebounds. I get the feeling that if she hadn't been in foul trouble, she could have caused us a lot of match-up problems. But she got three fairly quick ones in the first half, and that took her out of the game. I barely even remember her, except that she was tall. Sarah Beal seemed to be running the offense pretty well, and drove without fear to get to the line. Aliyah Miller started the game on fire- got a couple of early fouls that caused her some trouble, and seemed to retreat somewhat in the second half, though that might have had to do with the margin. She was very impressive down low. Very impressive for a freshman, too. And we kind of know from impressive freshman forwards at this point. Evi Iiskola seemed to have been inspired by watching the hockey game last night- she was very physical, a bit grabby, and seemed inclined to rush headlong into a play without properly getting ready to shoot. There were also some extra dramatics. She seemed to specialize in the Plenette Pierson arm-lock and drew a foul off Amber Thompson from it. Tori Rule looked good early, but faded out a little bit as the game went on.
Providence has a fair amount of talent, and a fair amount of young talent (Beal and Miller are both freshmen). But they don't seem to have confidence yet, and they need to work on the fundamentals- there were at least three fast breaks where they didn't finish the shot. Some of those were well-defended by St. John's, but some of them were well-defended because the Friars didn't know how to best utilize the breaks.
Mallory Jones might not have ups, and watching her try to cut to the basket is rather like watching someone try to cut steak with a butter knife, but she does have a mighty pretty shot, and you can tell that she's trying. Aaliyah Lewis needs to be a bit more assertive in her decision-making- I think there was a possession where everyone in section 2 was screaming for her to get the ball to Danaejah Grant- but that's a freshman thing, and something I expect her to get over sometime in the next four years or so. Selina Archer contributed good rebounding late in the game and got inside for a couple of shots. Danaejah Grant brought the offense and stepped up when Aliyyah Handford was hurt briefly. We got a lot of offense from her, but not as much defense as I or a coach might have liked. Keylantra Langley started the second half after Sandra Udobi was less than stellar. She came up with big stops and big shots. Jade Walker had another spectacular game on the inside, using her size to get to the basket and then showing off the long jumper from the perimeter. I don't think she should have been called for a foul on that block, but I could be wrong.
Sandra Udobi looked out of sorts all day. I don't know if her knee was bothering her, or if she was feeling under the weather, but other than the big block at the end of the game, she really didn't have much of an impact. Amber Thompson went strong to the basket and was big offensively early, but she missed a lot of shots in close near the end of the game. The rim was not kind to either her or Danaejah. She came up with plenty of boards. Eugeneia McPherson couldn't get her shot to fall- I do wonder if she was having issues seeing the basket for whatever reason. She more than made up for it with her passing. Briana Brown was consistently playing over her size, snagging rebounds and playing tough defense. She started scoring more in the second half, when Providence made a little bit of a run. Aliyyah Handford was solid, though not the spectacular superstar she was in the first half of the season. Still, I'm glad she seems to have gotten her second wind.
Facepalm inducing moment of the day: Jade Walker on a fast break, deciding to get cute and try to pass behind the back to the trailer (Aaliyah Lewis?) when she had had an outlet on the wing (either Aliyyah or Danaejah). Joe was not amused, but no one really was.
We all held our breath when Aliyyah went down, and there was a moment of facepalm when Joe tried to put her back into the game after the trainer had come out onto the floor. Joe, you can't do that.
Officiating was the usual blend of unbelievable and ordinary.
I love my team. I do occasionally want to smack them upside the head, but I love them, especially when they pretty much all do all the things.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
February 1st, 2014: St. John's at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Solid team play from the Red Storm powered St. John's to a 69-48 win at Seton Hall. Danaejah Grant led St. John's with 14 points, while freshman forward Jade Walker posted 13 points. Ka-Deidre Simmons of Seton Hall led all scorers with 16 points; Alexis Brown added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
For clangs, awkward moments, flag wars, mispronunciations, personal loyalty, exhaustion, and clashes, join your intrepid and conflicted blogger after the jump.
So here we are, at the pinnacle of Mount Awkward, sitting at Walsh Gymnasium. He's wearing a Seton Hall shirt and hat, getting his Jolly Roger ready. I'm wearing a St. John's jersey (actually his normal jersey- it's roomier, and I might as well take advantage of the luxury), with my scarf and hat tucked away in my backpack with my Storm banner.
This is the day I've been dreading. This is the day where I have to yell against my husband. See, this is why it's important to be fan-friendly, coaches. When you're on this small a scale, personal loyalty and respect matter. I could go into a self-righteous, self-centered rant here, but there are game notes to write and teams to root for.
Not to say that we're early, but I think the officials walked in. Might not be a good sign that I don't recognize them, but it might also be a good sign. Let's just hope for a well-officiated, clean game.
Today is Play4Kay, which you do not want to hear my thoughts on, so Seton Hall is wearing pastel pink uniforms and St. John's is wearing neon pink warm-up shirts, and people keep looking at me funny because I'm not wearing pink. I dropped ten bucks in the donation jar on the way in, and I'm dropping another twenty at St. John's in two weeks, and if you get me started y'all are not going to stop me.
Look, no, it is a bad plan to leave tickets for fans of the opposing team, Coach. I bought my ticket.
I think Tabatha wants to kick my ass. I can't say I blame her.
Y'know, I was always taught it was rude to sit directly behind the bench unless you were actually rooting for the team on that bench. Go away, people from East Orange, unless you're part of Jade Walker's contingent. You have two other quadrants of the court available.
It's 1:36 and I have seen no signs of Team Jersey. I am going to be very disappointed in Amber and Aliyyah's families if they couldn't manage to make it from Newark to South Orange. Which they did, along with a fair swath of the Newark prep scene, and Jade's family, and Nadirah, and a whooooole bunch of other people.
At halftime, St. John's is up by 11, 38-27. Danaejah Grant and Briana Brown each have 9 points to lead St. John's, while Janee Johnson's 11 points for Seton Hall lead all scorers. Seton Hall's defense has been stout, the Red Storm's offense plodding. I'm not sure I like the threes we've been hitting. The long ball is a fickle friend.
I devoutly hope Jade didn't inherit her dad's sense of humor.
Epic LOL of the day: Ka-Deidre Simmons inbounded the ball. Keylantra Langley was right on the play and slapped the inbounds pass away. Unfortunately for her, she slapped it right to Simmons, who alertly caught the ball. Unfortunately for Seton Hall, Simmons hadn't yet come back in bounds. Turnover, Pirates. (Which then led to a turnover for St. John's, because that is how we roll.)
I gotta say, sitting back here, Joe Tartamella is one of the most relentlessly negative coaches I've ever heard. I don't think I've heard him give a compliment today. If I heard him correctly, he even got upset that we got excited by a big block from Amber Thompson. (In which case, he can go step on ALL the Legos. I cannot be having with this nonsense.) Shockingly, fans cheer for their teams. If you don't like people coming to cheer their kids and their team, then fine. We can arrange for that.
Seton Hall had no energy today. I don't know what the story was, but a team that normally presses and traps stayed away from that, which is strange because that's something St. John's is vulnerable to. I would have expected more effort on defense. Maybe they let the officiating get into their heads a little, but that doesn't explain some of the decisions.
There was a pregame ceremony for Breanna Jones's mom, who's a breast cancer survivor and usually one of the loudest people in the arena. She got flowers and a jersey and a ball and a lot of applause.
Sidney Cook looked off her game most of the night. She boxed out decently, but it almost looked like some of her lift was missing. Jasmine McCall provided a little bit of speed in a surprising amount of time (the Pirates were short two players, so needs must when the devil drives). Teresa Kucera got a few minutes, but didn't do much with them. If I'd been rooting for Seton Hall, I might have wanted her to take a shot or two and extend the Red Storm defense. Brittany Webb blocked up the paint down low (note: if you are a guard of average build, do not run directly into Brittany Webb, this is a bad plan and you should feel bad for attempting it). She and Breanna Jones got more minutes than usual, in the absence of Bra'Shey Ali (out with a shoulder injury) and the continuing situation with Chizoba Ekedigwe's knee. Someone had to play down low, and it was them.
Janee Johnson showed off a little bit of her shooting range, if only because the Red Storm steadfastly believed that she wasn't going to take midrange and long jumpers. Guys, after she hits two or three of them, you might want to consider guarding her out there. Just a thought. She hustled hard, too. Ka-Deidre Simmons poke-checked the ball like she was playing for the Devils- she had a couple of nice steals and a couple of other deflections that weren't credited for whatever reason. She tried to get her team going a couple of times with fast breaks and drives to the lane, but they just weren't following her. She had to be the scorer, and I don't think it suited her. Alexis Brown drove hard and came away with all the rebounds. She was mixing it up a little inside and taking advantage of her teammates' boxouts to get the boards. For her build, she's surprisingly fast. Chizoba Ekedigwe started, but didn't play a lot- she did a bit of screening for her teammates, and I think she had a block somewhere along the line. Tabatha Richardson-Smith set up for deep threes and couldn't get anything going beyond the arc. She was much more effective driving in transition, so I don't know why they didn't take her inside more.
O HAI Jade Walker. Oh, yes, we see you. We see you going strong to the hoop with the baby hook, and with the long J, and getting position down low. She showed out today- being 'round the corner from home seems to have done wonders for her. She needs to be a little more assertive rebounding- at least two bounced off her open hands- but she showed her potential and it was good. Aaliyah Lewis brought a little speed off the bench, but not as much as she could have. Keylantra Langley was solid but unremarkable. Danaejah Grant brought the firepower, cutting to the lane and hitting deep shots. We got a lot of excellent play from our bench, which I think made a big difference in the long run.
Aliyyah Handford seemed rejuvenated by being back in Jersey, though some of her defensive intensity was still lacking. But her speed was back, and she was making nice plays in transition. Briana Brown hit big threes from the corner and tore away rebounds from bigger players, as she always does. Eugeneia McPherson ran a solid point guard, though with the amount of time she spent looking over to the bench in wild-eyed panic, I started to wonder what kind of confidence she had in herself and the job that she was doing. Running headlong into a Webb-shaped wall was a bad idea, and then she played like she was expecting the foul. Never assume the foul. Sandra Udobi got the start, but didn't play a lot- I think Joe was expecting more of her than she was physically capable of giving on this day. Amber Thompson got close to the basket and got boards, but didn't go for a lot of shots.
Free throws. Dear Lord, St. John's, hit your free throws. Yes, I know we won by 21. Hit your free throws. It's not going to be this easy elsewhere. Hit your free throws.
The PA guy must not have gotten a pronunciation guide. I can almost understand not getting Danaejah right; I had my worries about that when she came in. But Udobi and Eugeneia aren't that complicated, dude.
No one was happy with the refs. They were woefully inconsistent.
I love my team and I'm immensely proud of my team, but today was really awkward and not fun, despite the win.