Just the Facts, Ma'am: 10 first-quarter points from Kia Vaughn started it, and 10 fourth-quarter points from Ivory Latta finished Washington's 68-60 home win against New York. Latta finished with 15 to lead the Mystics, while Vaughn and Jelena Milovanovic each had 14. Cappie Pondexter led New York with 20.
For questionable shots, bad ideas, hesitancy, local grub, a missed pun, using momentum, caffeine caffeine CAFFEINE, new looks, and dumb ideas, join your intrepid and hydrated blogger after the jump.
Hello, loyal and patient readers! Your intrepid blogger, with her dashing partner in tow, has headed down to DC for what was supposed to be the first half of a two-game swing in the nation's capital. However, the Mystics' final cuts included Nadirah McKenith, and therefore we decided that we didn't want to spend extra money to watch a team we had no rooting interest in.
We're still saddled with the blue pants that don't go with our black uniforms. I am disappointed in Adidas's color coordination.
A couple of scattered groups of Liberty fans are here- one even infiltrated the poster-making station and made a pro-Liberty sign.
I do appreciate the Verizon Center security personnel and their common sense. Why not spend the time before the gates open checking bags to speed up the initial rush? Nice folks.
We got free cups! Unfortunately, they're strictly Dunkin' Donuts branded, no Mystics logo.
Dear gods, that was an awful anthem. Too much vibrato. She sounded like one of those tin sheets they use to simulate thunder on stage.
It's 38-30 Mystics at halftime, and we've looked awful. I don't know if I've ever seen so many bad shots- short, wide, left, everywhere but the basket. Kia Vaughn was on fire in the first quarter. I think she takes these games kind of personal. I like Cappie's new 'do. We're not doing well getting around screens, which is a little bit of a problem when Washington likes screens. We need to play smarter here. This might be a little bit of a problem.
Well, we hustled more in the second half, but dear sweet hypothetical baby Jesus rolling over in his manger, we took some of the dumbest shots I have ever seen from a basketball team, and I have seen some dumb basketball teams in my time. Washington forced us out of our comfort zone, and we played right into their plan. We have no way to adapt. I put that on Bill. Either he came up with a crappy plan, or he couldn't get us to listen.
I can't with Sugar Rodgers. I really just can't. I don't understand why she's so high in the rotation, and I don't understand why Bill gives her so many chances. She can shoot, but that doesn't mean she can hit. She got good looks and missed them; she had bad looks and took them. I like that she'll fight for loose balls, but Chucky Jeffery does that too, with fewer bad decisions. Shanece McKinney got some run to give Tina Charles a break, but mostly got into foul trouble. I like her defensive mindset, of course. Alex Montgomery brought the big defense, and I think the flagrant foul on her was a load of malarkey. I question her shooting judgment, but as much for the shots she didn't take as for the shots she took. DeLisha Milton-Jones remained convinced that she had the midrange shot tonight, and she didn't. I love the way she uses those long arms, though. She smothered Stefanie Dolson on a shot where it was clear Dolson hadn't read the scouting report, and had a thunderous spike on an offensive rebound that led to Tina diving for the ball.
Cappie Pondexter and her short new 'do (varnished with the Andy Landers special) was spectacular. She got good looks and hit them. Wasn't notable defensively, but she wasn't asked to be. She looked like the Cappie we expect her to be all the time. Near the end, she forced things a little bit, but she had to, because it was either that or have someone else take a dumb shot. Speaking of dumb shots... Tina Charles, it might behoove you to try to establish yourself down low before you go out and start taking outside jumpers. Or, you know, stop letting your defender slip past you to get to the basket. If you're going to play like this and fall apart whenever Cappie's playing well, we'll take Kelsey and Alyssa and our first-round pick back and you can go be Sulky McChucker in Connecticut again. Essence Carson looked really out of it out there- she all but airballed a free throw in the first half, and I'm starting to wonder if her vision is affecting her more than she wants to let on; combined with the admitted weakness from her knee, I'm really starting to worry about Essence. Plenette Pierson was a gamer inside, but no one seemed inclined to give her the ball. She can be a bit of an offensive catalyst, but not if she doesn't shoot. Anna Cruz played tough defense, but took really bad shots and passed up open looks. I think she might have been pressing a little too much.
So many dumb decisions, so little time. Great hustle, especially in the third quarter, but bad, bad shooting. We lost that game, but Washington made us lose it.
I was surprised to see Monique Currie coming off the bench, and fairly deep into the rotation. She hit a couple of shots but didn't seem to be a major factor. Kara Lawson came in to run the point, take off-balance shots, and tackle like she wanted to play for the football team. I don't know if that's the role she expected to play for Washington when she signed with them. Bria Hartley looked a little rookie-esque out there, but didn't commit any crazy mistakes. The same could not be said for Stefanie Dolson. She played Tina tough early in the game, but Tina got more of an advantage in the second half, and the veterans really worked her over. For some reason, the Mystics were forcing the ball in to her in the last few minutes, and she played like she didn't know what to do with it. If we'd been able to turn it around and sit on that bug-eyed midget, it would have been easy to declare Dolson the goat for freezing up in the clutch. Tianna Hawkins owned all the rebounds- those Maryland players are very good at finding the baseline and grabbing missed shots. Langhorne does it, Thomas does it, Hawkins does it. I think she was trying to extend her range a little, and she was not ready yet, though.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt was a defensive catalyst, though not a force on the offensive end... well, okay, except for that INSANE wraparound pass to Kia Vaughn for the finish, that was utterly gorgeous. That is not a woman I want to anger. Vaughn, for her part, started the game on fire, but cooled down somewhat after her first rest. I seem to recall that pattern from the game last year too. Maybe that's the way to use her- get as much as you can out of her, wear her out, and then anything else is gravy. Jelena Milovanovic provided a huge match-up difficulty for the Liberty- she used her height on smaller defenders like Essence Carson and took it outside against taller defenders. I could have done without the slide-tackle, but that's the kind of thing you have to learn to live with from opponents. She took a lot of shots and seemed to hit them at the right time. Emma Meesseman did as much to facilitate the offense with screens and pick-and-rolls as she did when she hit shots. I love her footwork. She moves so fast for a big girl. Ivory Latta was pretty quiet for most of the game, but in the clutch, she was cool as a cucumber. The shot that clinched the game, the crossover that led to the dagger three- ice in her veins, no fear. I could have done without the taunting and histrionics afterwards, but that's Ivory Latta for you.
Washington swarmed on defense. They worked well together on offense, and they used each other well. They panicked a little in the second half, but that's a combination of unusual lineups and a young team.
The officiating was pretty sketchy on both sides. I haven't heard the name of Tommy Nuñez in ages, and in retrospect, that was a good thing. I find it hard to believe that glancing contact, even off the forehead, is a flagrant when a slide-tackle isn't. I find it hard to believe that a player getting hit in the head at one end is a no-call and is a flagrant at the other end. There was a lot of stuff by both teams that went uncalled, and what worried me most was the distinct lack of attention paid to feet. Lots of tripping going on, and I worry about that more than I do head shots.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Ivory Latta play a mean game of Pyramid, but I'd love to see Ivory give the clues. Then again, you'd have to tie her to that chair they use in the bonus round, just because she's so physically demonstrative.
Fantastic use of momentum by the winning contestant in the Dunkin' Donuts contest.
I'm amused by the fact that Christy Winters Scott wore that purple dress the last time we were here, too. Does she have a specific outfit for each opponent, or is it just a coincidence?
Katie Smith looked like she stitched together two different tops to make that one. The suit is fantastically sharp, though.
I don't even know what to do with these players. I don't know what to do with this team. Do we know who we are yet?
Friday, May 30, 2014
May 30th, 2014: New York at Washington
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
May 27th, 2014: Seattle at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: New York finished the game on a 13-0 run to claim a 70-64 win over Seattle. Tina Charles and Sugar Rodgers each had 15 points for New York, with Charles adding 14 rebounds. Sue Bird led all scorers with 21 points, 17 in the first half. Crystal Langhorne added 13 points and 15 rebounds.
For ill fortune, hats, new gear, rivering up some luck, a refusal to die, and the long climb, join your intrepid and mystical blogger after the jump.
Hello, everyone! It's good to be home, have I mentioned that? Have I also mentioned that it's really nice to be able to get to the game in a half hour instead of an hour and a half? My autograph collection will be back to normal, and I will be relieved.
Nicole Powell was getting pictures taken of her sneakers. I don't know why, but they held her out long enough that she was after the coaches.
Choral anthem. I approve this message.
I do not approve these refs. They've been horrendous all night. Missed travels, consistently getting out-of-bounds wrong, missed holds- I suppose we should be lucky they caught the sluefoot on Temeka Johnson. We're down 35-32 at the half, and though much of that has to do with Sue Bird dropping 17 points, I'm side-eyeing the refs like a boss.
There are folks here with a Spanish flag for Anna Cruz. Cruuuuuuuuuuuz. TODA LA CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ.
We look a little discombobulated. This might be because Bill decided this would be a lovely time to experiment with the idea of Tina Charles at the 4, which is a bad idea.
Kara. Kara, honey. The torch spat fire the last time it was out there. Why would you go right up to it? She backed away in a hurry when it went WHOOOOOOOOOOSH FIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE, but you'd think she'd remember from last time. Do not take the "Girl On Fire" thing for serious, okay? I can't with her.
I can't believe we pulled that out of the magic hat, I really can't. I had my excuses all lined up- awful refs, Sue Bird, Sugar Rodgers, the inability of the ball to stay inside the cylinder- so I'm almost not sure how to go on with these notes now that we actually won. But despite my computer's decision to not go the bleep to sleep when I told it to, I will soldier on.
Angel Robinson got a few token seconds in which her job was to be tall and make inbounding the ball hard. Noelle Quinn got some extended time in the second half (she played in the first, too, but it looked like she was getting more continuous stretches in the second) and did all right for herself, using her body to disrupt offensive players. I think she ran more point in the second than the first- this is going to be an ongoing theme. Nicole Powell came in, did unmemorable things, and left. I found the moving screen a little funny, if only because that wasn't the kind of effort she strained herself to make in New York. Shekinna Stricklen seemed happy to park herself out on the perimeter, and Seattle seemed happy with the number of shots she was hitting from out there, but I think I would still prefer her mixing it up a little more inside. She's got the build for an outside-in game. Temeka Johnson is extremely annoying, likes to trip people, and thinks it's a good idea to step to Tina Charles. I appreciate her fearlessness objectively, but subjectively, I would like to hit her over the head with my clipboard. She did a bit of the facilitating while she was in, but she and Bird split those duties when they were in together.
Tanisha Wright is really being asked to do a lot for Seattle. She ran a lot of the point when she was on the floor, driving and dishing. She's also their best perimeter defender and was assigned to Cappie Pondexter all night. She's got a bit of an attitude on the floor, too. She's good enough to defend without shenanigans. Watch your feet, T. Alysha Clark started, but she didn't play a lot. I don't remember her doing much. I always forget the kind of ups Camille Little has. Why do I always forget that Little's vertical makes up for her lack of height? She knows how to position herself so well on the boards. It's beautiful. Crystal Langhorne also has a knack for appearing in the low post, as if she teleports herself to a spot along the baseline when a shot goes up. She had one post move that she just kept using and using on us to cut to the basket and score. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But her free throw stroke is a little broken, so she should probably fix that. Sue Bird showed off her beautiful stroke tonight. She spent a lot of time playing off the ball early in the game, but started to be more of a facilitator later. She was not moving well early on, moving stiffly and not cutting quickly. Her leg seemed to loosen up in the second half, but by then the defense had keyed on her more and she wasn't getting as many easy shots. There are shots that are open but not easy, and she got some of those. I think she might have been a bit wiped, too. Agler's rotations are not easy on his older players.
Sugar Rodgers might have helped us pull the game out of the proverbial hat at the end, but I still think playing her quite as many minutes as Bill did was a bad idea. She can shoot- there's no denying that (I'm a Johnnie, after all, so I saw her far too much at Georgetown). And she showed some hustle tonight on both ends of the floor. That all being said, she has yet to demonstrate decent basketball IQ, and she gives up almost as many points as she scores. Yes, she pulled us out of the fire, but she did a fair part in dropping us in said fire. Kara Braxton played very sparingly and was Kara. Alex Montgomery did a really good job on the glass, and played tough defense. DeLisha Milton-Jones really made the most of her wingspan tonight. She changed a lot of shots and rebounds. She kept Seattle's defense honest with outside shots, too.
The rim did not like our starters tonight. I think Cappie, Plenette, and Tina all had multiple shots bounce in and out of the cylinder. Alex had a three that was halfway down before it came back out.
Cappie Pondexter got a lot of attention from Seattle's defense, so she didn't get a lot of good shots. In the second half, she drove to the basket in search of the foul more often, and she drew a bunch of free throws. She played point at the end of the game, after Anna got kicked in the ankle. Anna Cruz played a pretty solid game- kept up with Bird well in the open court, but got lost behind screens. She sort of accidentally crossed Bird over at one point. Tina Charles took some questionable shots and bailed on a few rebounds that she could have pulled down, but had a solid game. Essence Carson seemed off somehow, and I can't put my finger on how. She never seemed to get her groove, and that might have been part of why we saw so much of Alex and Sugar. Plenette Pierson was a gamer down low and got called for ridiculous fouls, but that's par for the course.
I honestly don't know how we were able to hold it together in the fourth quarter. Neither team was particularly organized, and a lot of shots went in and out of the basket. We were able to take advantage late, but it was not a pretty game.
On to DC we go- and your intrepid blogger will be coming along for the ride. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
May 17th, 2014: Chicago at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A 24-10 fourth quarter advantage for the Chicago Sky propelled them to a road win against the New York Liberty, 79-65. Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 23 points, while Jessica Breland dropped a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Tina Charles made an impression in her Liberty debut, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
For the sheltering arms of home, t-shirt confusion, HOLY CRAP FIRE, reversals, Zurg rushes, running on fumes, and Bill Laimbeer's sketchy draft history, join your intrepid and insomniac blogger after the jump.
Hey, everybody! It's the day Liberty fans have been waiting for for months- years, even. We're home again, on a black and green court, in our proper place, back in black and back in the New York groove.
No, we actually are back in black. The jerseys are reversed tonight, with the Sky in white and the Liberty in black. I don't like how Chicago essentially Zerg rushed off the floor all at once. Too many rookies I'll never catch.
The pregame entertainment was less than inspiring. Do not re-write "We Are The Champions" for your pre-pubescent shriek band. Don't. You're lucky my mom got distracted by the Rangers and re-runs of her favorite Jeopardy! episodes, or she'd kick your little butts.
The strobe lights are kind of painful, guys.
The "Back in Black" shirts are boss. I approve this message. And they glow in the dark.
This Maddie-yonce thing they're doing at halftime needs to have the costumes burned and the tape deleted. No, no, no, no no nonononononononooooooooo. It's running entirely too long, too. We're coming up on three minutes and most of the team is on the court waiting for it to end.
At halftime, Chicago is up 43-35. Elena Delle Done is doing what ESPN is surely happy about her doing, with 16 points. Tina Charles has 11 and five rebounds. The fire is a bit more scattered, less focused. We're not getting as much out of DeLisha as we did yesterday, which shouldn't be a surprise.
It's not quite a proper sellout of the lower bowl- there are huge swathes of empty seats behind the basket in front of the Liberty bench.
Katherine May Smith, what in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster's noodly appendages are you wearing, and why did you steal it from Kim Mulkey's closet? I'm not sure what's worse- the snakeskin pattern, the fact that it has leggings, or the fact that I can see her bra through the back.
I guess "never before seen" in the intro means a torch. No, an actual torch. With fire. We could feel the heat from our seats. Impressive. The video before the intro was very cool- you know you've dug deep into the Liberty annals when they mention Trena Trice and Lindsay Bowen. We basically spent the whole thing going "OH MY GOD RHONDA BLADES. OH MY GOD MICHELE VAN GORP. OH MY GOD ICISS TILLIS. OH MY GOD SYDNEY COLSON" and laughing hysterically at all the obscure bench players they used.
So that kind of did the exact opposite of what the Connecticut game did. I can't say I'm surprised. Our starting 4 is 39-point-something years old, and her sub is 33 with a bum knee. Our starting point guard has probably never played a back-to-back set in her life. There's a lot of wear and tear on these players. Chicago, on the other hand, is ridiculously young- when Tamera Young is their most experienced active player, they might have a young team. Not that there weren't problems with the Liberty, but I don't know if they were 15-point problems.
Aaryn Ellenberg came into the game at the very end, and she is just so adorably tiny. You can't have her and Jamierra Faulkner on the floor at the same time- not only would the size advantage be a tactical disaster, but your own team would be paralyzed by the adorability of the pocket-size backcourt. Faulkner's speed was very evident tonight, possibly even more than it was at Southern Miss, but she still has some work to do when it comes to adapting to the W. Once she gets to know her teammates better, though, she'll be an excellent reserve for them. I don't know if she can ever be a starter strictly on her size, but she's a good change of pace and a solid player. Markeisha Gatling didn't play a lot in this one. She's tough, physical- don't know how skilled she is, because she was mostly called upon to clog the middle against the Liberty posts. I don't think they ran a lot of stuff for her to score, and the stuff they did run was missed or deflected. Courtney Clements scored off a jumper, so there you go. Chicago got something out of the trade. Her eyebrows scare me a little bit. Allie Quigley was tenacious on defense, and hit a couple of shots when she was left open, which happened a lot. I understand why it happened a lot, but at the same time, she's a Quigley from DePaul and we have four Big East players on our roster. Big East players should remember that Quigleys from DePaul hit threes. All gods know I remember six years of it. Gennifer Brandon's minutes were extremely brief but highly athletic. Also, she hit a midrange jumper, so the world might be ending. JSYK.
Good gracious, Elena Delle Donne. Said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but she's entirely too good for anyone else's good. She's lost some of her fear of going inside, and of course she can shoot the outside J, and of course she has the deep range, and she can handle the ball a little, and now she sets mean screens, and I'm sure she does a spectacular job selling popcorn too. And she's pretty. And she's sweet. Are we sure her real name isn't Mary Sue? Tamera Young hustled hard for rebounds and loose balls, but she still has the single ugliest shot that I've ever seen in a professional athlete. She looks like she should be competing with the other Young in a field meet- Toni can do long jump, Tamera could do the shotput. Jessica Breland burned us, as all posts drafted by the Liberty someday do. We kept leaving her open for the long J around the free throw line, and she kept hitting it. Sometime around the fifth or sixth time, we finally defended it... by wasting a double-team on her and leaving Goodlett open under the basket. Sasha Goodlett hit people a lot and missed easy shots. Courtney Vandersloot ran a solid offense, did some ankle-breaking, and penetrated hard in the lane.
Chicago's post defense solidified in the second half. I think their posts got their second wind and we lost ours.
Poor Kamiko Williams not only doesn't get to sit on the bench, not only has to argue with her friends and neighbors to get an aisle seat for her braced leg, but doesn't even get the free t-shirt that the fans get and that the team wore during warm-ups. C'mon, at least get Miko a shirt.
Toni Young did nothing of note. I would really like to see some basketball IQ develop at some point in the near future, or I'm going to have to hope she gets packed off to some team for an aging guard a la Chandi Jones. Having all the tools does sweet Fanny Adams for you if you don't know how to use a hammer. Chucky Jeffery brought some nice energy off the bench late in the game, and unlike some Liberty players I can think of /coughAlex/ she was able to foul Delle Donne before she got the shot off. Sugar Rodgers, bless her heart. At least she showed that she can shoot a little. But she makes such dumb decisions that I spend more time calling her Ta'Shauna than Sugar. Alex Montgomery brought the defense, but not so much the smart offensive decisions. We did not see much of the good, hustling, impassioned Kara Braxton tonight. We didn't see too much of the hair-pulling-out, "how are you even smart enough to breathe?!" Kara either. Just a biiiiiig load of nothing, albeit a nothing that occasionally attempted to distract the opposing posts with jiggling. Plenette Pierson brought the vocal leadership, and she got on the glass well, but she wasn't mobile, and she saw what was for her limited minutes. I suspect the knee was bothering her more than she might have wanted to let on.
Anna Cruz looked a little run down- you don't see a lot of back-to-back games in European leagues, not unless you're on one of those teams that plays in national and Euroleague or Eurocup competitions. She distributed well, but she backed off shots that she should have taken. I didn't think she played as much as the box score indicates. DeLisha Milton-Jones seemed a step slow. She still had some of the good offense and moments of the good defense, but she wasn't as intense as she was yesterday, and I don't think we had any right to expect her to be. Tina Charles was hot. It was good to see her going to the basket strong and pulling down big rebounds. I'm worried that she and Cappie Pondexter almost seem to be taking turns as to who gets the ball- for long stretches, I mean, not from possession to possession. Pondexter took a lot of dumb shots, the kind of forced shots into multiple defenders that she took when she really was the only thing we had that remotely resembled a scoring option. She was good when she hit, but she didn't hit a lot. I'm a little worried about Essence Carson. If she's not physically 100%, she needs to be mentally 100%, and she's come close to making some basic procedural errors- almost running the baseline on throw-ins where that's not permitted, lack of clock awareness, timing issues, the kinds of things a smart player like Essence should be keeping close track of. She had the same issues yesterday, so it's not exhaustion.
We had a lot of fire through much of the game, but I honestly think the turning point was when Cappie decided she had to be the heroine of the comeback and proceeded to take some of the dumbest shots I have ever seen her take. One-on-two, one-on-three, forced jumpers, two straight possessions, then another two straight possessions, when she had teammates in position. We need to move without the ball, and we need to do a better job of indicating that we're available.
Officiating was the usual dog's dinner. Jessica Breland takes a lot of steps. I think this crew was trying to make up for some of the bad non-calls against New York yesterday.
The crowd was really into it. I saw a lot of old friends I hadn't seen in Newark, and plenty of black gear, whether it was the Champion jerseys, the name and number tees, the bootleg Pondexter throwbacks, or other T-shirts. Not a lot of blue, and not a lot of blue-era stuff. Not that we've been waiting for this day for a while. We're done with the might-have-been players of the blue jerseys. Now we just need to get our heads on straight- good thing we've got a week to do it.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
May 16th, 2014: New York at Connecticut
Just the Facts, Ma'am: It was a slow start for the visiting Liberty, but the intensity picked up in the second half in their 75-54 win at Connecticut. Cappie Pondexter led New York with 17 points, while Anna Cruz added 11 with nine rebounds. Chiney Ogwumike led Connecticut with 13 points and was one of four players to notch a team-high five rebounds.
For excitement, the magic touch, cheap heat, friendly staffers, odd smells, decoration, sexy jerseys, and leaping to conclusions, join your intrepid and humid blogger after the jump.
SQUEE! SEASON!
Yes, as a matter of fact, that has pretty much been your intrepid blogger's rallying cry for the last week or so. I have never claimed to be 100% eloquent and erudite at all times.
I'm currently sitting in the box office lobby at Mohegan Sun, as we finished dinner somewhat earlier than I anticipated, so I'm killing time with some pre-game notes. We've already seen some of the Usual Suspects, and more might come out of the woodwork. I've decided to forego wearing the Lobo jersey to Sun games- rocking the Kym Hampton #34 these days. I don't want anyone to even consider that I might have Connecticut sympathies. Not anymore. Just because they have four straight first-round picks of ours, that doesn't mean I have to like them.
Connecticut's pretty in the spring. Lots of young trees growing tall in the woods on the side of the road. You can take that as symbolic of Ogwumike, Thomas, et al if you like.
Every time the bus swoops into the garage, I think wistfully of Margo. The clearance is 7'2", and I always thought they should have had cutouts of her by the entrance to the garage.
Mohegan is currently hosting the Connecticut Republican convention. There are lots of very intent people in stars and stripes and red, white, and blue walking around with large passes about their necks. I don't know what to think of this. I guess it's just a thing. (Unfortunately, the drunken idiot who yelled "AMERICA!" at us and tried to high-five my husband was not affiliated with them. I think he was drunk, saw the word "LIBERTY" emblazoned on our chests, and assumed that we were about to begin a Team America: World Police segment.)
So as a Liberty fan, that was a very satisfying game. There are a couple of questions remaining, but not as many as we expected. Of course, this could change from game to game.
Young Mohegan staff tonight, and they were all really nice. Of course, we made an effort to be nice to them- when you're a fan on the road, always be nice to the arena people. You're in their house, you play by their rules. Special thanks to Brittany from security, who grabbed my backpack out of bag check while we were on the autograph line, and John who was willing to help us out with our unfortunate plight of sitting next to a gentleman marinating in the aroma of stale urine, old sweat, and cheap beer.
Really whiny anthem. The singer didn't have the voice to carry off any of the big notes. At least she got the words right.
Mohegan finally got a center-hung scoreboard! It is shiny. Works pretty well, too, which is always a plus for new shinies.
Toni Young played a little, mostly in the first half, and did not impress- she continues to be remarkably athletic, but with no basketball acumen or demonstrable unique skills. Chucky Jeffery had a pretty good game in the second half, depite the PA guy initially calling her Chucky Jefferson. She ran a little bit of point and hit a couple of sweet jumpers. Sugar Rodgers should not ballhandle, ever, unless your other options are Kara Braxton or a literal shambling corpse. She has a very uncontrolled dribble. She's showing a lot of hustle, but it's not always translating into good plays. She made a great defensive play on the baseline to recover a loose ball, then promptly bounced it off the top of her sneaker- that kind of thing. I think she's meant to be an instant offense player, and whatever else she brigns to the table is gravy, but she got really, really open a couple of times and no one saw her. Also, plans that involve Sugar and Chucky on the floor together are bad plans. We got away with it tonight, but I don't think they go well together. Kara Braxton showed a lot of hustle and fire on defense, more than I've seen from her in a long time. I think Bill might have preferred to see her pull down those balls she batted around, but she fought for loose balls and got them to her teammates. I don't actually know if I've ever seen her hustle after missed shots like that. She kept two or three plays alive. She and Sugar actually had a nice rapport. Alex Montgomery was a demon on the defensive end, flying after shots- she had a resounding deflection on a pass meant for Chiney Ogwumike that had all the force of a blocked shot. She was hot early on offense- I hope the corner three was a harbinger of things to come. It was good to see Plenette Pierson back on the floor, even if she does have the Creature from the Black Lagoon attached to her knee like a limpet. More importantly, it was good to hear her back on the floor- her leadership is very vocal, and she plays a big part in making sure the newcomers find their place on the floor. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up a coach someday.
¡Anna Cruuuuuuuuuuuuz! She was awesome tonight. She kept a steady hand on the offense, for the most part (there were a couple of boneheaded passes to players in white jerseys). She hassled ballhandlers and came up with some nice boards. I don't think we're going to get this kind of offensive production from her every night (though I am TOTALLY OKAY with that), but if we get half of that from her at the PG spot, I think we'll be ahead of where we expected to be. Plus, Giant fans will have more opportunities to unleash the CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ. DeLisha Milton-Jones had the outside shot working a little bit, but also got up inside with the long arms for inside baskets and three-point plays. She also made life miserable for any Sun player who was around her (to be honest, I thought she should have gotten fouled for hitting Douglas in the face). Kelsey Griffin should know better, and Kelsey Bone should definitely know better. Cappie Pondexter was smooth and efficient. I don't mean to resurrect and rekill a dead horse here, but she's much more suited to the 2- less pressure on her to make plays for everyone else, more of a chance to get to the basket or pop the midrange J. Essence Carson was still a step slower than we're used to from her, and still seems to have trouble with the various lines on the floor (though she did have one perfectly timed long ball: "Five! Four! Threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-point goal, Esssenccccceeeeeeee Carson!" Defensively she's still strong and still game, but as Bill said, we probably won't see her back 100% on offense until 2015. Tina Charles started a little slow, but was more assertive later in the game. She's still taking some dumb shots- long jumpers that she has no business shooting, forced shots while triple-teamed (isn't that what you whinged your way out of Connecticut to avoid?), that kind of thing. I think some of the alley-oops to Kara were practice for throwing those to Tina.
It's humid out here, pouring down rain as we head south on I-95. The A/C is at that awkward stage where it's just cold enough to be uncomfortable, but not conditioning enough to dehumidify as much as necessary. Something's pounding on the right side of my head, but there are still Game Notes to note. Plus, turning off the light seems to have helped with the headache. Go figure.
Kelley Cain played solid defense for the few minutes that she was in, but good Lord, she could not throw it in the ocean. She tried to use the glass like she was Tim Duncan, but she wasn't even Jessica Davenport. Danielle McCray had a tendency to sneak into the game without proper introduction, and I can't remember a thing she did. Kayla Pedersen put in work on the boards, but that was about it. Renee Montgomery was out there, and ran the offense decently, but she seemed less integrated into the scoring portion of the offense than I would have expected. I feel like Donovan is trying to turn her into more of a distributor, and I'm not sure how effective that is with her skillset and style of play. Then again, she's a more capable ballhandler than most of their other guards. Kelsey Bone played very well- got some strong baskets down low and cleared space. She got most of her scoring done early, though. Alyssa Thomas seemed to be relying heavily on her strength- she's very solidly built, and bulled through several of her baskets, but at the same time, kept trying to fight through heavy contact instead of maybe taking a step back or passing the ball to one of her teammates.
I think Katie Douglas left her shots in the preseason. They weren't looking for her a lot, but she didn't deliver when they were. A fair amount of it was the Liberty defense, especially in the second and third quarters, when the game turned. She might actually have been stronger defensively tonight (which is not to say that Katie Douglas being strong on defense is a surprise). Chiney Ogwumike was excellent tonight, though I thought she hit more shots than she actually did. She gives almost as good as she gets down low- she's not a Bad Girl, but she can grab and hold as well as any savvy veteran down there. Kelsey Griffin got two early fouls and never seemed to have her head in the game after that. Alex Bentley took a lot of shots and committed stupid fouls. I'm not sure how much she facilitated her team's offense. During the preseason, a lot of that fell to Allison Hightower, but Hightower was more focused on defense- she did a lot of deflecting and a lot of running around after Cappie and Essence.
Connecticut's defense was really good to start the game, and showed strong flashes afterwards- but their offense was a hot mess. They missed easy shots, and took some bad ones. I don't think they were ready for the Liberty's big run.
I know Katie was trying to get over with the Connecticut crowd, but really, referring to her years in Indiana with "I took a sabbatical for a few years"? You won a title there, Katie. Do try not to downplay it quite so much.
I think it's a bit of a shame Faris didn't get into the game at the very end. Don't get me wrong, I think there are ulterior motives for her continued presence on the roster, but if you've got the cards, play the cards.
I'm really not sure what to think of Katie Smith with her hair down, black patent heels, and a little black dress. (Other than that, from our upper deck seats, with her hair down like that, at the angle we were at, she looked weirdly like Kim Barnes Arico, and I know that it's blasphemy to compare a Wolverine and a Buckeye. Fortunately, Katie talks with her hands a lot more than Kim. Kim just yells a lot.)
I loved the intensity that the Liberty showed from the second quarter on. They got down a little, then they fired it up and kept the heat on even with the reserves in the game. If we can keep this up, even a little, we'll be fine.
Of course, the two most decked out Liberty fans in the entire arena are sitting in the autograph section. So we grabbed our tickets and Moooose, and Kelly Faris and Alyssa Thomas were kind enough to take a picture with Moooose, which will be posted somewhere on the Internet once my computer decides to acknowledge my memory card. We also bought a pin to add to Moooose's headband.
Looking forward to the home opener!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
May 8th, 2014: Connecticut at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Connecticut pulled down 20 offensive rebounds and forced 28 turnovers from the short-handed New York Liberty in their 60-44 preseason win on the road. Chiney Ogwumike sparkled, with 16 points and six rebounds. New York was led by the 11 points of Essence Carson, the only Liberty player to notch more than six points.
For questions, bad fouls, post dilemmas, hairstyles, new fonts, shiny things, and the serenity of being at home, join your intrepid and overgreased blogger after the jump.
It's so good to be home. Home is where the heart is, and now it's where my team is again, and I love pretty much everything about it. Right now, the only thing I object to is the teams' tunnels being on opposite sides of the arena- hard to collect all the autographs I want that way, but it is what it is.
The new court, with its black paint and seafoam green end zones, looks wonderful. The font is plain, but light-years better than the official W font they were using before. I like pretty much all the things right now.
As Cappie is still in Turkey, the team is still wearing last year's fashion in warm-up jackets and pants. But the t-shirts are pretty awesome. I like the new home jerseys, bright white with black lettering, the team name outlined in seafoam green.
We upgraded our seats, thanks to my favorite windfall, and we're about fifteen rows off the court, catty-corner behind the Liberty bench. I like being behind the bench- you see some great by-play between the players and the coaches. It's fantastic- though we lost some of our neighbors, we gained a whole bunch of new ones, including friends we've known for some time who are now in our vicinity.
You can tell it's preseason, because the pregame entertainment wouldn't get off the court when the team came out for stretches, and was bound and determined to do their routine, no matter how in the way they were. Laura Ramus's glare could punch holes in steel right now. She's doing what she can with the lack of space, but she's still cranky.
The compromise between the fans' preference for "Strike It Up" and the players' preference for current rap hits appears to be a mash-up. Not sure if want, but the players seem really intent on coming out to their choice of song.
The scoreboard currently has two versions of Nicky Anosike, one who wears 13 and one who wears 55. I assume one goes by Nicky and the other by Nkolika. As it turned out, the other one goes by Anna- Cruz got the start.
Katie Smith looks like she's about to execute a hostile takeover on some unsuspecting start-up. That suit's sharp enough to cut glass. I think she might need to button up one more, though.
No Plenette Pierson, no Tina Charles. Well, Bill did warn us that Tina wouldn't play.
Kara, you still need to get to the bra shop, I have sympathy pains in my chest.
The new scoreboard is amazing, and it has a scoreboard in the scoreboard! (Yo, dawg, I heard you like scoreboards, so we put a scoreboard in your scoreboard, so you can keep score while you keep score.)
Okay, there are Plenette and Tina. Plenette, what is that jacket, and exactly what did you imbibe to make you think it was a good idea?
At halftime, it's 36-13 Connecticut. We can't shoot and we can't hold the ball. Essence Carson has pretty much all the offense, with nine out of the 13 points. Chiney Ogwumike looks good for Connecticut, with eight points. Shanece McKinney has done an excellent impression of Tina Charles- at least, I think that's why she's playing so many minutes and plays are being made to her that were designed for a taller player.
Today comes with the usual array of groups arriving late and strolling to seats during play, with the additional wrinkle that half of them seem to be in the wrong seats, and seem determined to defend those ill-gotten seats. I hate school days. I hate camp days. At least most of the groups are in the upper deck. The ushers have not been as sharp-eyed as they should be about that.
Well, there were moments of hope, but overall, the reserves continued to be a hot mess, and more questions were raised than answered. Connecticut still seemed to be playing a lot more to get into season form than to figure out who was staying on the team, while New York looked more like they were running drills and figuring out plays.
Kelly Faris didn't see her first action until near the end of the game, and seemed to be in there to prove whether she could shoot. Results were mixed, though the case wasn't helped by her teammates missing her when she was wider open than she's probably ever been in her life. She hustles, and she seems to be a good kid, but from what I've seen from her on the floor, if she makes the team it's because of her pedigree. I think Danielle McCray showed a little more than she did on Sunday- more involved in the offense, more intensity on defense, more general awarenss of where she should be on the court. Renee Montgomery still looks like the odd woman out- not quite suited to the bench, not playing nearly well enough to knock Alex Bentley out of the starting lineup. I don't know if this is working for her, but we'll have to wait and see how things are during the actual season. Kelley Cain used her size well on the inside, although if I were Anne Donovan, I would have been annoyed at the number of times she punched rebounds up into the air instead of seizing them with both hands. Someone 6'6" with that kind of build needs to be controlling the rebound, no matter who ends up with it after the scrum. She also seemed to take it kind of personally that shorter players were blocking her shots. Kayla Pedersen came up with a lot of those loose balls down low, especially on the baseline- that area behind the basket almost seemed to be her personal playspace. Alyssa Thomas looked solid. She showed a little bit of her strength when she ripped down a rebound while being thoroughly held by Toni Young. She still seems a little pleasantly surprised by the presence of teammates who aren't expecting her to do everything at once. Kalana Greene played a little bit, played a little defense, and was mostly out of the game.
Katie Douglas missed pretty much everything that she hit on Sunday, up to and including free throws. You know it's a preseason game when Katie Douglas misses two consecutive free throws. She moved well defensively, though. Chiney Ogwumike decided that she was going to put on a bit of a show underneath, going strong and hard to the basket with shoulders and spins. She looked fantastic. Kelsey Griffin was quiet- doing some work underneath, but mostly running around and getting in the way of the Liberty defense. Allison Hightower continues to be awesome, whether it's going to the basket for shot or making nice defensive plays- when she makes a block, you know about it. The offense ran well with Alex Bentley in the game, but I'm not sure how much of that is her and how much of it is increased ball movement because their lead guard isn't looking to shoot as much.
Connecticut looks like they're going to get a lot of production out of their young players, and that's not even factoring in Kelsey Bone replacing Kelley Cain (well, most likely Cain, but maybe Griffin, but probably Cain). I'm not as sure about their guards, but then, I'm even less sure about ours.
The late threes that Sugar Rodgers hit back to back in the fourth quarter are going to make her look really good, but she didn't look really good in real life. She has no defensive acumen, and much less foot speed than I remembered from Georgetown. She looked badly out of place, even among a guard corps with no real shining performances. And that's not even getting into the part where she accidentally kicked Renee Montgomery in the jaw while attempting to defend a fast break. She also falls down a lot, and not in the chasing of the loose ball sense. I liked her sneakers, though! Chucky Jeffery played a little at the lead guard, but not a lot. She made no impression. Meighan Simmons also ran some point, and once again showed a distressing willingness to give the ball to Kelley Cain. Look, Speedy, I know you and Kelley both went to Tennessee, and I think you even overlapped a year, but that doesn't mean you give her the ball. She's on the other team now! Shanece McKinney may not have put up great numbers, but she looked very good on the floor. If she were taller, a lot of the plays they ran through her would have worked much better- you could tell that they were being designed for a 6'4" center. Also, her bandages are multiplying, so there's the distinct possibility she's being possessed by the ghost of Tari Phillips (Tari, if you're out there, give us a sign that you're not dead or living in a van down by the river, we still love you in New York). Alex Montgomery made dramatic defensive plays, including one spectacular block on the sideline, but really needs to find something that vaguely resembles offense. She looks like she's taken huge steps back from last year, and that's the last thing we need. Actually, it's the next to last thing we need; the last thing we need is Toni Young taking steps back. She needs to find a jump shot, and she needs to find the common sense not to commit four fouls in the first half. We all know she can jump out of the building, which lets her get big blocks and loud cheers when she comes close to dunking in the lay-up line, but if she doesn't take the next step, then maybe someone else needs to be the one to try and turn her into a basketball player instead of just a spectacular athlete.
The good news is that Kara Braxton didn't manage to get lost on her way back to New York, which I considered to be a distinct possibility. The bad news is that Kara is still so very Kara- bouncing all over the place, lackadaisical on both ends of the floor, repeatedly leaving her hands low. She actually played less time than Shanece did, and I don't know what we're going to do with her once Tina shows up- she's too much of a headache to stick on the bench, and she can't play 4. If only there were a team out there that needed a big center for a short period of time and had cap room for a max contract... Essence Carson showed uncharacteristic lack of clock awareness early in the game, committing both a five-second violation and a shot clock violation in the first quarter. A lot of her shots that should have gone down didn't. Anna Cruz got the start, and looked good doing it. I'd like to see her hit more of those slashing drives to the lane, but we got one for a resounding CRUUUUUUUUUZ, because this is New York and that's how we roll. Her build and her general look remind me of a slightly taller Shay Doron. Tyaunna Marshall rebounded well, but still needs to step her game up on defense on the W level. DeLisha Milton-Jones didn't move as well as she did on Sunday, but she had a couple of pretty step-back jumpers.
Officials let a lot go for Connecticut in the first half and a lot for New York in the second half. I think the crews are still in transition from the college rules to the pro rules. They're still not quite sure what to call.
New York gave up entirely too many offensive rebounds. Connecticut looked like they were expecting to have third chances by the end. For all I know, this is Bill playing possum for the 16th, but it's not good to get players used to not rebounding. There was also wayyyyyy too much running down of the shot clock. We had something like three shot clock violations and innumerable close calls. It was almost to the point where I thought they were inducing those late-clock plays to practice them. But again, you don't want to get into the habit of running clock when you don't need to, because then you might do it when you really shouldn't.
Lots of questions. Too many questions. Some of them will be answered when Tina and Cappie show up. But now Plenette suiting up has become a question, and I don't like that. Not when Alex and Toni are questionable at the three. Right now, I think the cuts are Kamiko Williams, Sugar Rodgers, Chucky Jeffery, and Shanece McKinney- but if Nicky Anosike's knee is acting up, or if we can deal Kara Braxton for a pick, I'd love to keep Shanece.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
May 4th, 2014: New York at Connecticut
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Katie Douglas had an overpowering 21 points in 21 minutes on 8-11 shooting to lead Connecticut in a preseason victory over New York, 75-54. Essence Carson paced the Liberty with eight points.
For absences, too many identical letters, balancing acts, questionable shot selection, so many rookies, upside down autographs, chocolate, and caramel, join your intrepid and bubbly blogger after the jump.
It's been a long time since I looked forward to a WNBA season this much. Between the big trade, the return to the black jerseys, and the return to the Garden, there's a lot to look forward to. Once that calendar hit May, I've been ridiculously effervescent, even at the office.
The bus ride up was super fast- two hours flat, which is close to our speed record in the dead of night, and even the trip back (which hit bad traffic in New Haven and Norwalk) was two and a half hours; we usually budget three.
Chiney Ogwumike is adorably charming, even with her mouth full of one of those little Gatorade gel packs. She tried to talk through it to chat with fans, with mixed success. I approve of Kalana Greene's new 'do.
The Liberty still have last year's blue jackets and pants, but black tees (which I want) and black jerseys (which I want) and black shorts with green, then white, stripes (which I want). I don't like the small patch of white stripes at the bottom, but that's the only complaint I have because we are back in our proper color and the world is back on its axis.
The fans around us seemed confused that we were Liberty fans, and that we were discussing and dissecting the game as we watched. Shockingly, we do have interests in how the reserves play, especially when that's pretty much all you've got.
Bill played everyone that there was to play. We thought he was going to hold out Anna Cruz, either as a preemptive cut or as someone who had already been promised a spot, but she entered very late and immediately made a good impression. She looks like she knows her way around distributing, and she has good vision. Then again, I'm not sure I want a player who doesn't have the common sense to remove jewelry before entering the court. She had to come out, and she never came back. Meighan Simmons did not make an immediate good impression when her first act was to throw a pass directly to Kelley Cain. Meighan, Kelley is no longer your teammate and no longer plays for the New York Liberty. Do not pass her the ball. She's got a lot of speed, but doesn't seem to know how to use it. She also got a little gun-shy for a while- in that regard, she reminded me of Shenneika Smith in camp last year, as a scorer who was being told, or thought she was being told, not to shoot the ball, and wasn't sure how to handle it. She got her feet under her more in the second half, and found a little bit of her offense. I don't know if she showed enough to keep her job, though. Sugar Rodgers was a hot mess. Her sneakers were awesome, but that was about it. She took bad shots and missed them badly, she showed no defensive acumen, and she generally looked lost. Chucky Jeffery looked pretty good, other than the stupid fouls, and stupid fouls were a dime a dozen for the folks in the black jerseys. I liked her hustle and her rebounding, and she seems the best suited to distributing the ball out of all the reserve guards, but that's damning with faint praise. Alex Montgomery seemed to have forgotten certain basic elements of basketball, such as moving toward the ball if a teammate is attempting to pass the ball to her. She rebounded decently enough, but overall she looked like she took a couple of steps back from last year. Shanece McKinney was a pleasant surprise- she impressed me more in this game than she did when I saw her with LSU. She had a couple of huge blocks and made moves in the middle. She was slow on defense, but even there, she was vocal and involved. Between that and the wrist wrap on her left hand, she did quite well by Tari Phillips's #24. Toni Young needs to find herself a jump shot, hers or someone else's, if she's going to be a consistent contributer at the three. Athleticism is a wonderful thing, but it needs to be coupled with basic basketball skills.
It's good to see Essence Carson on the court again, even if I forgot all about her prescription goggles. I do wish she'd get a better sense of where the three-point line is- I'm tired of seeing her take shots with a foot or half a foot on the line. I think at least two of hers were of that ilk today. She still looks like she's getting back in game shape, but I'm just glad to have her back again. Kamiko Williams showed flashes of hustle, but otherwise looked like a deer in the headlights, and a really confused one, at that. Tyaunna Marshall rebounded really well- she was one of the few Liberty players who seemed interested in going after the ball on the glass. I'd like to see her be a little more assertive on the offensive side, but since being assertive led to a load of offensive fouls on the Liberty, maybe I should be careful what I wish for. DeLisha Milton-Jones looked to be in game shape or close to it- tough on defense (and yes, being her D-Nasty self to anyone who had the audacity to get close to her) and at least working for position on offense. Nicky Anosike looks a bit rusty and a bit slow, but I have faith that she'll recover some of the defensive skills she had in Minnesota.
Overall, these folks looked like they'd never seen each other before. The spacing was bad. The movement without the ball was virtually non-existent. Lots of bad shots, more than a couple of clock misjudgements (most by Kamiko). I liked that some of the youngsters were vocal on defense, but that doesn't mean they don't have to move. Don't get me wrong, I understand that at most, two of the players who played today will be starting on the 16th, or even on the 8th, but I expect basic basketball knowledge from professional basketball players.
DeNesha Stallworth looked like she was trying to prove that she totally could extend her game to the midrange, and the effect was less than spectacular. She missed easy shots down low and showed no signs of being able to make the team. Danielle McCray did not make much of an impression. Kayla Pedersen did well on the boards, taking advantage of Liberty inattention to get rebounds, but was shanky on offense. Kelley Cain looks to have added even more size, and used it at points (poor Meighan got the brunt of her, er, posterior), but missed a lot of bunnies. She looked decent against the competition she was facing, but that's not saying a lot. Kelly Faris looked to have had the buttered popcorn for a pregame snack- lots of passes went through her hands or were fumbled. She made nice plays on the baseline, but just as often lost the ball out there. Kalana Greene looked like she was reinventing herself as a shooter- near the end of the game, she was just catching and shooting. Renee Montgomery seemed unusually passive, again until the end of the game (it looked like Connecticut was trying to get everyone on the scoreboard at that point). I don't know if coming off the bench agrees with her. We'll see how it goes on Thursday. Alyssa Thomas didn't always have great positioning, but she had the look of a solid player out there- the right build, the right moves, the right speed.
Katie Douglas does what she does. Cold-blooded, no hesitation, no fear, possibly no emotion at all, she shoots and she hits. A fair amount of it was bad defense, but when Kamiko can't defend her, and Essence can't defend her, and Chucky can't defend her, and Alex can't defend her, maybe she's just that good. She was tight on defense, too. Chiney Ogwumike's already learning how to bang with the big girls- she had one nice strong move to the basket where she just unabashedly bumped her defender out of the way before dropping the ball through the hoop. Kelsey Griffin is still workmanlike underneath, but she's starting to dip into the bag of tricks that you normally expect to see from far more veteran players, and that are more associated with the Bad Girls and D-Nasty. Not what I expected, and I don't know if that's the right positional move for her. She's still trying to show some range as well. Alex Bentley seemed comfortable running the offense. She puts me in mind of rectangles, with her broad square shoulders and stocky build. It amuses me. Allison Hightower had two monster blocks back to back on Essence Carson and seemed to be all over the place. I have to get used to her wearing 3, though; I get thrown off, looking for the #23 and finding it on the back of a blonde.
Connecticut did a nice job closing defensively- granted, there weren't a lot of offensive options for New York, so that the Sun defenders had the luxury of leaving other players. It looked almost like a lot of them were also trying to show that they could take and hit outside shots- post players from the midrange, perimeter players from beyond the arc. Given that Connecticut has most of their pieces in place, I think they were less trying to shake out the dross and more trying to find where they fit into the puzzle.
The officiating started out all right, but degenerated a bit later in the game. If I can see the jersey pull all the way up in section 106, then you might want to call it. There were also some reviews that made the day drag on and on, and no one cares if it's a 2 or a 3 with seven minutes left in the second half of a blowout. It didn't help that the clocks were malfunctioning in the pregame, or that someone was blowing the sub horn over and over and over again to the point where we assumed someone was stuck in the fog.
The arena didn't look like the Sun had gotten everything revved up for the season yet. They're still holding closeouts on Charles and Lawson gear. Might pick some up the next time we're there, just for a laugh.
Small moment of hilarity 1: Allison Hightower, at the free throw line, putting up a shot that hit the back of the rim... and rocked there... and settled there, as balanced as a ballerina en pointe.
Small moment of hilarity 2: Anne Donovan called for a player. Kelly Faris answered, running for the scorer's table... only to backtrack just as fast. Turns out AD was looking for Kelley, not Kelly.
If I had to guess, the cuts for the Sun would be Stallworth, Cain, and McCray; for the Liberty, Williams, Rodgers, Simmons, and McKinney, but with McKinney on speed dial in case Kara is unavailable or got lost.
I don't know how much to take away from this game. Three of our top four weren't available, and I'm not sure what the story is with Kara Braxton. About all we can establish is that we have question marks, which we knew coming in. So it's on to Thursday and the Garden.