June 29th, 2014: Connecticut at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: It got tight right at the end, but the New York Liberty came away with the 67-65 win over Connecticut. Tina Charles and Cappie Pondexter each had 14 points to lead the Liberty. For the Sun, Chiney Ogwumike had game-highs of 22 points and 17 rebounds.

For odd comparisons, a lack of hair style, rookie bonding, the travails of the 12th player, bad shots, good defense, and delays, join your intrepid and digressive blogger after the jump.


Hello, loyal and patient readers! (What should I call you, anyway? Doom-bots? Swishers? Appelates? {No, those are Jayne Appel fans.} Masochists?) It's a warm and somewhat humid Sunday in the City That Never Sleeps, so I'm glad to be in the Garden for the Liberty's game against the Sun. I think we're done with them now, though that might just be an infernal illusion and in truth this is like that Star Trek episode with the guys with the painted faces, and we're doomed to eternal warfare against the Sun. We have never been at war with Washington. We have always been at war with Connecticut.

Either Tina misses Renee, or Renee misses Tina, or it's just a UConn thing, because they came out together, with Chardé following close behind. I'm getting a little weirded out by our team getting buddy buddy with the opponents on court, on game day. I feel like we're missing some focus here.

I think SuperJudy has swapped out her wig for a hard hat. DO NOT WANT. I like the different, colorful wigs.

Today's theme is Maddie's birthday. I passed up on the poster, because if I want a team poster, it's going to focus more on the team than on the damn mascot.

Dude, don't fight with the usher, I don't care if you're old-fashioned enough to wear a Champion shirt.

I think there are tourists behind us. I don't know if they've ever been to a basketball game before, either. This could be awkward.

Spoon is glad-handing, as she does so well. There are very few people who know how to work a room like Teresa Weatherspoon, and few who are as good at working such a large room. And if you want to add a little extra drama to the day, I'll note that she came over and chatted with both Katie and Barb, and that Barb went to go say hi to Spoon's new arm candy. (Who is cute, but that's par for the course. Spoon got game.)

Essence Carson is still wearing the Pride shoes, which I definitely approve of. At least someone in this league has the courage of her convictions.

I normally don't question players' tattoos, those are their business, but Cappie, what on earth possessed you to tattoo a hickey on your neck?

Quiet but powerful anthem. I like.

I'm really sorry that being loud offends you, dude, but this is my team and I care about them and I support them. Deal with it.

At halftime, New York is up three, 34-31, despite clock management that would make Herman Edwards blush and Tina Charles's phenomenal ability to take the worst possible shot in any situation where she has the ball. The defensive intensity has been great.

Air Maddie, I don't think the Josh Groban thing is working for you. You are one of my favorite things, but this is still not a good look.

Kelsey Griffin, can you not with attempting to choke out Sugar? Wanting to choke Sugar is Liberty fans' job, let us take care of it.

Despite really lousy clock management and shot selection at the end of the game, we pulled this one out. Superstars did superstar things down the stretch, and we made defensive plays. But if I'm a Connecticut fan, I'm very intrigued by the Thomas-Ogwumike duo and the way they work together, and I'm almost waiting impatiently for Katie Douglas to retire.

Connecticut ran heavy with their starters, and had a really tight rotation. It's nice to see Allison Hightower back in action, though she doesn't seem to be fully integrated back into the offense; the work that Alyssa Thomas did in her place certainly doesn't help that situation. Renee Montgomery seemed to be trying to run a faster offense than Bentley did, and than her teammates were ready for. She really seems to have been off her game lately, though I don't know whether that's because she's coming off the bench or because there's something else going on. (Renee, if you miss Tina, tough luck. We don't need you and we already have a Montgomery who wears #21 and hits big threes.) Kelsey Griffin really seems to have some kind of chip on her shoulder when it comes to playing New York- she seems to be more physical against us than she is other teams. I know we have two masters of the art of psychological warfare on our roster, but you don't expect to see the results so starkly. Kayla Pedersen played very briefly in the first half, saw no time in the second half (or if she did, it was of such little import that I don't remember it).

No, seriously, Connecticut asked their bench for diddly and pretty much got squat.

Katie Douglas had the back radiator on a lot of the time when she was on the bench- saw it coming off a couple of times when she was checking into the game. I think the back must have been bothering her, then, because that would explain why none of her shots were falling. There was a moment after she drained the one trey that I thought it was going to be like the other game against Connecticut, where she was ice cold to start then got hot late. But she stayed cold, with the shots that she normally hits going wide, or off the rim, or otherwise not landing in the basket. She still has the defensive instincts, though- she single-handedly smothered a 2-on-1 fast break for the Liberty, shutting down Sugar Rodgers like an angry computer user smashing Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Alex Bentley started a little cold, but really got hot in the fourth quarter. You can't give her space. You certainly can't give her the entire baseline like we did on one play. Alyssa Thomas had a lot of great passes to Chiney Ogwumike- seriously, if I'm a Sun fan, I'm really excited at the potential of the two of them together. (You're welcome, Connecticut.) Her strength is remarkable- she forced a lot of jump balls and stole rebounds away. Tough kid. I would have loved to have her (but I'm happy with Tina too, don't get me wrong, I think that's a win-win choice). Kelsey Bone missed free throws, which we mocked her for mercilessly, but played tough, physical defense, and hit most of the shots she was asked to hit. Some, she had no business taking. Chiney Ogwumike doesn't seem to like us very much. Maybe part of it was how DeLisha welcomed her to the league that first weekend, but she played like she had a chip on her shoulder today. I admit, I didn't see the flagrant- my attention was on another part of the court. But she got in a couple of hard shots that weren't flagrant. She also completely owned the boards, especially down low. She and her teammates swarmed the offensive boards, and she was usually the one coming away with the ball once they were done swarming. She's so good. She's so good down low. I'm trying very hard not to like her, because she's not ours.

Shanece McKinney played briefly in the first half to absorb contact, fouls, time, and other inconveniences that posts higher in the rotation wouldn't want to have to deal with. That's what she does. I'd like to see her do a little more of it, but it is what it is. Chardé Houston, bless your heart, we didn't hire you to play defense, and it's clear why. She seems to have gotten some of the hang of the offense, and I like her hustle on defense, but she's just not very good at that whole other-team-has-the-ball thing. That being said, she's a much needed infusion of both offense and joie de vivre- I think we've seen more dancing out of the team in the last two games than we have all year. (Not that we don't have dance-inclined players- Plenette especially likes to get her groove thang on at the slightest provocation- but they've been much more inclined to show it during pregame and during intros.) (Also, obvious Photoshop is obvious when her pic on the big screen is bald and she's currently sporting about two inches of new growth. Chardé is not a Chia Pet. That might be a tie-in product from the makers of the Cappie Patch Doll and the Hair-O-Dynamic Taj, though.) DeLisha Milton-Jones had the jumper working, as well as the long arms of tangling doom. We needed good minutes from her, and we got them. Sugar Rodgers was very active on defense. The kid is growing on me again, and I really hope I don't need to get out the Round-Up. She does stupid things, but she seems to be doing fewer stupid things, or at least there is a reason for the stupid things she does. And of course, she shoots pretty good too. Plenette Pierson seems to have found her groove again, cutting to the basket for easy hoops or getting the jumper to fall. I could have done without a lot of her flopping all over the floor, though. Don't make us get out the memorial DeMya Walker Flop-O-Meter cards. (Somehow, I don't think Plenette would be as good a sport as DeMya was about them- DeMya even signed one.) I know it's part of her job to sow chaos, mayhem, and dissension among our enemies, but sometimes she takes it too far.

Tina. Tina, Tina, Tina, Tina. Whoever is telling you that you are the combined female incarnation of Kareem and Dirk is lying to you. The hook is not working. The fadeaway is not working. The long jumper is not working. Going to the basket, that was working. Being tall and big and tough and getting position on younger defenders, that worked too. She found her groove a little more in the fourth quarter, and came up with a big tip and basket down the stretch. I'd like to see her be a little more practical with the shots she takes, but at least she's not taking everyone else's stupid shots. Avery Warley-Talbert is going to kill me with this hyphenation one day, aren't we only allowed one hyphen per team? got the start, but I think the pattern is to start her to conserve Plenette, and because Bill prefers to bring Plenette off the bench anyway. Not great hands, but she gets the job done. Alex Montgomery hit a couple of threes to set the tone early, then hit the boards to corral stray possessions and brought the hammer down late on defense. Her jersey needs to be in the team store because I need to buy it. I love the way Anna Cruz reads long rebounds- it's the same knack that endeared Leilani Mitchell to us, and the same knack that helped make Becky Hammon an all-around threat. She showed a lot of grit coming back with the hand injury, though I really hope Laura Ramus is brushing up her Spanish- it looked like they were having some communication issues. Si necesita alguien para tratar de traducir... anyway, I love having her at the point. Cappie Pondexter held down the fort in that regard, and had a good game on both ends of the floor. It was nice to see her hitting jumpers again after that hot mess on Friday.

Things I did not like: no one having the common sense to take smart shots in the last few minutes. We should have had that game a lot more comfortably. Special mention goes out to whichever idiot tried to lead Anna with a hot pass to her left. You know, where her fingers were taped together. Not the world's greatest idea, kids.

I expect one of these huddles to start with Chucky Jeffery yelling something along the lines of "Will you guys please stop [mess]ing up? I am SICK of Bill venting at me because you guys are doing dumb [stuff] out there! I don't even play and I get lectured for dumb [stuff] that you [guys] are doing!" Poor kid never plays, but she sits right on the spot on the bench where Bill likes to vent his frustrations at whatever ill-timed shot or errant pass has raised his ire. She and Essence shared a couple of aside glances after Bill ranting.

The birthday thing mostly involved putting kids in positions of power and having a couple of guest mascots visit. If the Rutgers mascot stayed in our section much longer, I was going to have my husband burst into a round of the Seton Hall fight song to make him go away.

I came out of that game with a very strong feeling of relief. We held on through grit and determination, certainly not through offensive beauty. I don't know if we can sustain that when Tulsa comes to town with their dynamic guards. But it's something to build on.

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June 27th, 2014: Chicago at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Epiphanny Prince dropped 30 on New York again, and the Sky held off a second-half charge from the Liberty to come away with the 73-69 win. Prince had game-highs of five assists and five steals to go with her 30 points. Tina Charles had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead New York.

For eggs, signs of the apocalypse, ennui, rainbows, helpful people, not so helpful people, utter geekery (the minions have the phone box!), and the throwing of hands in the air, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.

Good evening, basketball fans! We're coming to you from the gloriously rainbow-filled Pride Night at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Liberty are hosting the Chicago Sky.

So far the only player I've seen rocking Pride gear is Essence Carson in the BeTrue sneakers. But it's early yet.

Epiphany Prince and Essence Carson came out from the tunnel together, arms over shoulders, and Pokey Chatman, coming off the court, proceeded to run between them to separate them, for the lulz.

I salute the pastel-pink and frosted-white Afro puffs rocked by Gennifer "Sailor Berkeley" Brandon tonight. Let your freak flag fly, yo.

Chicago has adopted the curious habit of signing in small print over their own name on the roster. The only other team I've ever seen do that was the Australian national team. They also split up when coming off the court, half going through the usual visitors' entrance/exit and half through the Liberty entrance/exit. Then again, a batch of Liberty players came through the usual visitors' tunnel, too. Maybe there's been a switch back there somewhere.

Rainbow thundersticks, rainbow Pride shirts, rainbow graphics- so far the Libs are doing Pride right, and that makes me immensely happy. (I'm pretty much straight {though I'd make an exception for Tari Phillips, wherever she is}, but the gay gene doesn't run in my family so much as it stampedes; combine that with a family propensity to hang out with gay men and lesbians, and you get a lot of gay influences on a wee tiny queenie. I could probably write an entire essay on why Pride matters to me as a straight woman, but this is not the place for that.)

So it looks like no one is wearing the Pride shooting shirts, which I take the league to task for. You made a point of something, and then you ran away screaming from your principles the second one person raised a stink. Sorry, but if you're dumb enough, or misguided enough, or thoroughly stuck on the translation of a translation of a holy book enough, to think that wearing a gay pride shirt is any kind of problem, then I want to know who you are and why you don't believe in equal protection under the law for my family and your teammates. I don't want you to be able to silence the voices of your colleagues who want to let their rainbow flag fly.

Phenomenal choral anthem.

I don't know what to make of this team. We're backing out of the lane and missing shots that we should be hitting. Then again, Tamera Young has hit three clean jumpers, so we might just be looking at the end of the world here, and if we are, then, readers, I love you all for the time you spend reading my words and I wish you good fortune in the coming apocalypse.

Follow your shot. Follow your shot. Follow your shot. Professional players should know this. Veterans like DeLisha Milton-Jones and Plenette Pierson should definitely know that. I don't know why we stood around looking pretty on a lot of those shots, because we're really not that pretty of a team, no matter how much dressing up Cappie tries to do.

Bill, this one's on you.

I love watching Jamierra Faulkner's footwork. This is going to sound like damning with faint praise, but in that regard, she reminds me of Erica White from the Comets- fast feet, always moving, very precise with them. She's very fast, and very useful on defense. Markeisha Gatling is a whole lot of woman. Chicago fans will surely rejoice that she wasn't called for any illegal screens tonight. She was mostly in for relief when the starting posts hit foul trouble and Sasha Goodlett needed a break. Goodlett was actually pretty efficient down low, taking advantage on offensive rebounds and defensive switches. Allie Quigley hit shots, because she's a Quigley and we have Big East players and that's how Quigleys roll and aaargh of incoherent dismay and frustration. Courtney Clements got her minutes early, hit a shot, and eyebrowed most fearsomely.

Given the post situation for Chicago, I'm disappointed Sailor Berkeley didn't play, but only because I'm trying to make something happen with this nickname.

Courtney Vandersloot, I am so sorry about that hit, that's not what it means to stand for Liberty and that kind of play embarrasses all of us, and I hope you're all right. At times it seemed as if she and Prince were switching off who was playing point and who was getting the shots, and I don't know if she was as comfortable at the off guard as Prince was at the point guard. She didn't seem fully comfortable with looking for her shot. Tamera Young, however, took advantage of the times that she was left open and hit jumpers. And unlike every other time I've ever seen Tamera Young play, not only was she hitting jump shots, they were fundamentally sound jump shots with proper arc and wrist action leading to that arc. If she's finally learned to shoot, after however many years, then Chicago becomes more dangerous by far, because she adds a potent weapon to her offensive arsenal and becomes a true two-way player, fast on defense and willing to crash the lane on both ends of the floor. Sylvia Fowles was physical, but still didn't seem to have her legs under her- Avery Warley-Talbert was able to battle her to a draw down low. She boxed out well and helped her teammates get rebounds. Jessica Breland had the outside shot going very early, but not so much later on. Doubling off her was not my favorite of decisions, but it worked out decently enough for us some of the time. Not all the time- she was able to make the extra pass, or the swinging double caused a weakness elsewhere in the defense. She got into foul trouble late in the game, and I think that affected them a little- but not a lot. Epiphanny Prince was pretty much the team for Chicago. Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but in the first quarter she was outscoring New York by herself. She was hitting pretty much everything she looked at, except for some of the more impossible attempts with multiple defenders hanging on her. What was actually most impressive about her tonight was her ability to read passing lanes. Anna swung a pass towards Alex that Alex usually turns into a three-point shot, and Prince was on that like a cornerback. Granted, Avery threw her the ball twice, but still. Her Rutgers definitely showed in this one.

Chicago moved the ball well when the double came to the ballhandler. And when all else failed, they had Piph.

Shanece McKinney played very briefly in the first half to absorb some time on defense defending Fowles. DeLisha Milton-Jones seemed a little out of place on defense, but was able to get a little going on offense. Plus, someone had to fish the ball out from the side of the rim after Piph got it stuck, and we cut Toni Young. Sugar Rodgers had another solid game on both sides of the floor. I'm coming to love her ability to jar loose balls when foolish posts bring them down to guard level. She forced two jump balls today, even though she wasn't the player who jumped either of them. She forced a little bit at the offensive end, but someone had to, and you know Sugar's going to take shots she should regret in the morning. Essence Carson continued to demonstrate the clock awareness of Herman Edwards, to the point where I no longer feel comfortable that she's going to do something good with the ball when the clock is running down. And that's a shame, because I like Essence. She had a nice break, though. I can't even with Plenette Pierson right now, after that cheap shot she threw at Vandersloot. She was mixing it up down low all night, but this was something else completely unrelated, to the point where we were wondering if Vandersloot said something about someone's mother to have merited that kind of hit. It's a shame, because she had a good game, but that one shot overshadows everything. That's the stuff that makes people side-eye Bill Laimbeer and the Bad Girls.

Cappie Pondexter had a couple of nice defensive plays, but offensively couldn't find the range. Then in the third quarter, she had a flare-up of what Mike Lupica once dubbed "Wanna Be The Man" disease. Either she or Bill decided that they were going to try to force her to get shots, and she took some ridiculous shots into heavy defense. At least she got it together in the fourth and backed off a little, until near the end of the game. But the endgame was a hot mess in general. The fact that we stayed in this one despite getting a goose egg from Cappie was remarkable. Alex Montgomery really seems confident in her shot, and either she's been told she needs to take more threes or she's been practicing her threes, or something, because she looked good as as a shooter. Her defense was pretty good, too. Anna Cruz kept pace with the Sky point guards and started getting more aggressive offensively in the second half. Avery Warley-Talbert was very tough on the inside, making Sylvia Fowles's life miserable, but it's clear on offense that she's not Tina. She does what we ask of her, which is to clean up offensive slop and hit open lay-ups, but she's not a creator offensively. I feel like I'm using that word too much. Tina Charles got boxed out a lot and threw up some really odd shots, but still had a decent game.

There comes a point when you have to move away from the concept of using a lesser player to defend a super star to protect your superstar's foul count. Bill was bound and determined to keep Tina off Big Syl, and I think that came back to bite us in the end, because the defense looked a bit disorganized down the stretch. There is no reason Alex should end up on Big Syl.

If you're down late in a game, would you not insert the player who's been scoring and who you brought in because she can score?

Why in the name of the flying spaghetti monster would you try to go 2-for-1 under 24 seconds on the clock? Otherwise, why in the name of the flying spaghetti monster do you have Plenette going to the basket with 22 seconds left and the shot clock off? I just don't get the logic.

The officiating was sketchy in the first quarter, but then Bill yelled at Amy Bonner and got a tech, and it evened out a little bit, so that both teams were getting their share of crappy calls and crappy non-calls. I still think they should have called the Plenette foul a flagrant on the review.

I'm not sure who's not listening to whom on the Liberty anymore. I thought we'd figured something out, but we're back to square WTF again.

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June 22nd, 2014: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A third-quarter surge powered the Liberty to a much-needed win over the Atlanta Dream, 85-78. 23 points on sharp shooting from Cappie Pondexter led five Liberty players in double figures. Pondexter also had eight assists and five rebounds for New York. Angel McCoughtry was dominant for Atlanta, with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and four steals.

For crankiness, people who won't stop standing in the aisle, questionable judgment, an army of Cappie, strange shoes, and the release of pressure, join your intrepid and tumultuous blogger after the jump.


Oh, this is going to be a long day, I know it.

Today is Cappie Pondexter bobble-head day, which means a myriad of opportunities to smack Cappie upside the head, in addition to opening up the possibility of trading Cappie in the future, or at least one of her. At least smacking Cappie upside the head will be emotionally satisfying.

It's going to be a long day because some people won't shut up and other people don't seem to know where they're supposed to be sitting and have been standing in the aisle for, like, five minutes and don't seem to know where they're going. The sections are numbered, the seats are numbered, the rows are numbered, why can't you figure this out? I have no patience for any kind of stupidity today.

Atlanta comes off in a zerg rush. You have to get them when they're coming on. They did not make a lot of new friends today. On the other hand, there are signs here for Shoni Schimmel.

Dear God, this pregame entertainment does not look legal in any state of the Union, and I'm fairly sure watching it on YouTube gets you a visit from the Feds. Little girls in short red dresses, stretching like college dance teams and gyrating body parts they don't have yet, all to the tune of "99 Red Balloons". So many things wrong with this picture that I don't even know where to start.

The second pregame performance at least seems to have interesting cultural significance- Native American dance group. Yeah, this is my not-terribly-surprised face at their choice of this particular game. For some reason, the sequins amuse me.

To the woman in 108, row 7, seat 19, would you please actually sit down, this is ridiculous. If she keeps standing through the game I am going to have to smite someone. Seriously. There will be lightning bolts.

There's a surprising amount of applause on our side of the court for Atlanta as they come out. Then again, should I be surprised at anything at this point?

Completely unnecessary rendition of "God Bless America" today, thought he singer was good. Anthem singer was also solid, though I can't stand people who mess up the words.

At halftime, thanks to the work of Sugar Rodgers in the second quarter, we're down 40-38 to Atlanta. Sugar has 10 to lead New York. Angel McCoughtry has 15 points and the undying enmity of half the crowd after she rolled Anna Cruz's ankle and refused to get off it.

Larry Johnson in the house. So are Kym and Spoon. Spoon's been showing up more and more often lately, but I'm sure that doesn't mean anything, right?

Shoni, I have no beef with you whatsoever, but since the women behind me are determined to puncture my eardrums whenever you do anything good, I have to keep hoping you epic fail and Coop plants you on the bench. It's nothing personal. I just like my eardrums.

This is the first time I've ever seen people abandon bobble-heads. We adopted two additional Cappies to go with our two, so I'm now entertaining trade offers for Cappie, and no, I will not be getting tired of that joke any time soon.

This was the game we needed, or at least a game that we needed. We'll see if this lasts as long as the last big win we had- you'll have to excuse me for being skeptical about it. At this point, I'm skeptical and cynical about a lot of things.

Shoni Schimmel caught a hot streak from beyond the arc in the third quarter, but went so cold in the fourth that Cooper pulled her out of the game late in favor of Jasmine Thomas, when a three was definitely called for. I'm not sure why he did that. She had a couple of nice passes and a couple of good steals, but was otherwise unremarkable. Céline Dumerc played a fair amount at the point- sometimes alongside Hayes, sometimes alongside Schimmel- and seemed to have a firm hand on the offense, along with a surprisingly vicious rivalry with Anna Cruz. Gotta be from overseas, I'm thinking. There was a collision near the end of the game where they both went down pretty hard. Of course, I have to think that Dumerc initiated the contact, but Anna might have been a little reckless too. I don't know how Swin Cash got away with those shoes- I'll swear on my grandmother's grave that they were the light-up ones like the little kids have. Even if they weren't, they were at least sequined in the back and reflecting light off the court. She got called on to play a fair amount of four in the fourth quarter, after Sancho Lyttle started racking up fouls like they were rewards points. She and Plenette got tangled up for a loose ball, during which it appeared that there were some perhaps unresolved issues from the Shock days. Aneika Henry gave good minutes from the post- not necessarily statistically strong minutes, but she defended well on the inside. Amanda Thompson played briefly in the first half, and all I can remember about her is how fabulous her hair was. They were not the most influential of minutes.

Tiffany Hayes rubs me the wrong way, whether it's the odd shot selection, the diving (though she kept that mostly in check today), or that wonderful little karate chop to Anna's throat. I think that might be it, actually, since then Anna got called for the foul. (The crowd was not amused, to put it mildly.) I don't know why Jasmine Thomas is still getting the starts in Atlanta, unless it's just a matter of familiarity. She's not playing the starter's share of the minutes, from what I've seen, but she's playing in crunch time, and she showed nothing today that would indicate a player who deserves crunch time minutes. She doesn't seem to play superb defense (then again, neither do her counterparts) and her shot was not falling. I love Sancho Lyttle's defense. I like it even better when she's not playing against my team. It's not necessarily that she plays fundamentally sound defense, but she gambles, and she gambles like a card counter at a Vegas blackjack table. She's got a good eye for how and when to use those fast hands and that athletic body. I don't know why she was taking outside jumpers, but more power to her for doing it- helped us win the game, so I can't complain too much. Érika deSouza is just so solid. She's not flashy. She's not going to set the world on fire. She's not going to make you ooh and ahh with her moves. But she will not be moved, and she will take down that rebound, and if you do something mind-numbingly stupid like drive right at her with no backup plan, she will swat you without mercy. She had shots go in and out, and also seemed to be setting up outside more than she should have. Angel McCoughtry put on a show from all over the floor, including some of her Lori Ann antics (Lori Anntics?) near the end of the game. She followed her shots ferociously, which I have to love. She's such a phenomenally talented player, just a player I want to smack upside the head.

Brief moments of Chucky Jeffery today, as a spot defender who can handle the ball a little bit. She got at least one of Essence's shifts in the second half. DeLisha Milton-Jones played more in the second half than the first, giving Plenette Pierson relief when she needed it. (That... came out wrong.) Nothing remarkable, but she didn't make too many mistakes either. Essence Carson played some defensive shifts, took bad shots, and caught the ball while standing out of bounds, I am not making this up. I'm pretty sure that's why she didn't get much more playing time after that. Shanece McKinney had a couple of nice shots in the first half and came in late in order to protect Plenette from someone on either team doing something stupid. Plenette Pierson looked like she was starting to recover from the knee injurys he suffered a couple of games ago. She was tough on the inside and hit her shots when we needed them. I'm glad to see her back on form. I like Bill's idea of sticking with Avery to start the game and get those first few rough minutes out of the way, actually. Avery is a very useful player, but in the crunch, I'd rather have Plenette not as worn down as she could be from starting. Sugar Rodgers had a solid game on both ends of the floor. I have to say I didn't think Sugar had the kind of temperament to adjust to being both microwave and defensive maven, but she's been willing to learn. She was never a great defender at Georgetown, but she's been putting in work on that end in the last couple of weeks. She's growing on me. Of course, I say that now and next game I may want to apply the Round-Up to get her to stop growing, but she is what she is.

Avery Warley-Talbert is not quite good enough to challenge Érika deSouza, but she's serviceable. She gave Plenette and DeLisha a chance to rest up for the stretch, and that's about all we asked of her. Alex Montgomery was really feeling her shot, for good and for ill- I mind me of one three-point attempt that struck me as pure heat-check after she'd hit a couple of shots. She missed a lot right at the rim, to our infinite and eternal frustration, but she brought the defense (as much as she could- Angel McCoughtry is no one's easy assignment) and showed why she should be starting. Anna Cruz really needs to look for her own shot more- I think there were at least two possessions where she made an extra pass that resulted in a turnover or a horrendously bad shot from someone else- but she had a good all around game, and I love how the offense runs when she's on the floor. Tina Charles pulled down her boards, but seemed to have fallen into the peculiar habit of taking other people's preferred bad shots. She fired off both one of Cappie's fadeaway-off-the-left-foot jumpers and one of Essence's pell-mell-throw-the-ball-sort-of-at-the-basket-wildcat-football drives. Tina, make your own mistakes, don't make your teammates' mistakes. Cappie Pondexter was lethal and came up big down the stretch. It's kind of refreshing to look at shooting lines and question people other than Cappie. She did a lot of running and carried a lot of the load, and she was one of the heroes of the day.

The officiating was flat out dangerous at times in this game. I really do object to uncalled karate chops, and Angel's utter lack of maturity at the end of the game (though Cappie was not the most adult in her response, either). I thought for sure something was going to go down at the end of the game when DeLisha and Shanece came in for Tina and Plenette.

We were strong tonight,a nd we took what was thrown at us and threw it back from beyond the arc. Hot three-point shooting isn't going to save the day all the time, but that kind of fortitude and resilience will.

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June 15th, 2014: New York at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Liberty contested, but the Sun held strong, and Connecticut took the back end of the home-and-home series 76-72. All five Connecticut starters put up double figures, led by the 14 points of Katie Douglas. Kelsey Griffin, in the absence of Chiney Ogwumike, got the start and added 12 points and nine rebounds. For New York, Cappie Pondexter had 21 points and five assists.

For freebies, unabashed affection, unfortunate implications, friendliness, a lack of funds, traffic jams, and jigsaw pieces without a puzzle, join your intrepid and indescribable blogger after the jump.


Happy Father's Day, blogosphere! Your intrepid blogger is possessed of a very understanding father, so it was off to the casino for round-I've-lost-count-but-entirely-too-many of the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Sun. (For the record, I got him a gift card, a bag of chocolate, an Italian soccer tumbler, and dinner at a lovely French restaurant last night. I love my daddy, even if he likes to make jokes about the WNBA.)

Didn't lose any money! Of course, that's because I didn't have any money to gamble with. But at least I didn't lose anything!

Very strong gospel anthem, though she messed up a couple of the words and really over-stylized the end (which are both pet peeves of mine- the words are on the screen, how hard is it to get them right?)

This was a game of "so close, and yet so far". There were a few places you could look to find the shortcomings in the Liberty, but this was one of our better games. I still think we should have been able to beat a Connecticut team that was going with both Allison Hightower and Chiney Ogwumike, but at least team cohesion seems to have improved.

This might have been the best game I've seen Danielle McCray put up in the WNBA. She was strong and solid defensively, and she finished at the rim to take advantage of every opportunity she got. Kayla Pedersen gave a fair amount of time at the four, with good boxouts and tough defensive play. They weren't asking her to be a huge offensive contributor, just to play the role of Kelsey Griffin while Kelsey Griffin got the start, and she did that to a T. Kelly Faris played briefly in both halves, and while she got a huge hand from the crowd, she did nothing of note on the court. Kelley Cain hit people. And then she complained about getting called for the foul after she pancaked someone. Kelley, if you smoosh someone, and they call you for a foul, it's hard to argue the call. Renee Montgomery has done a remarkable job of hitting one or two big shots, then disappearing like Susan Storm-Richards, in all the games I've seen her in. This might be why she's not getting the kind of minutes this year that she's been used to.

Fortunately for many sanity and my dislike of Penn State, Alex Bentley wasn't quite as unconscious a shooter as she was on Friday night, but you still can't leave her open from that left elbow, why is this rocket science? She has blossomed by leaps and bounds in her first month in Connecticut, and I don't know if it's just that she put in work, or if Anne Donovan has given her confidence, or if this is just a fluke, but that team is so much better with her running the show that it's not even funny. Sometimes a guard just clicks with a team. Katie Douglas hit a lay-up with her right hand, which I'm pretty sure is one of the official signs of the apocalypse. Her jumper was off, at least until the fourth quarter, but she did a decent job driving to the basket. (On the other hand, Sugar Rodgers should not be pwning you on a defensive possession if you're Katie Douglas.) Kelsey Griffin needs to quit with the grabby hands and the tripping, but I have to respect her hustle and her ability to get boards. If you can out-leap the extended arms of DeLisha Milton-Jones, you deserve a tip of the cap and then some. Kelsey Bone was solid in the middle- missed a few chippies, but that's what you come to expect out of Kelsey Bone, and the big girl did her job down low. Alyssa Thomas has such power and strength for her size that it's kind of scary sometimes. She moves beautifuly with the ball. She had a really nice defensive play in the second quarter to disrupt what was a sure Liberty fast break- poke-checked Alex Montgomery clean. She also did a fantastic job of disrupting Liberty rebounds, making sure that no one was comfortable with the ball and making sure that balls got loose that shouldn't have been loose.

Chucky Jeffery came in to play some in-your face defense and somehow ended up getting to the line out of it. I'd like to see more of her and less of Sugar Rodgers, but we've been over this ground already. Sugar showed some good hustle today and flashes of surprisingly good defense- poking at a loose ball rebound, that one ten-second spurt on Douglas- but she needs to have slightly better shot selection, or at least better shots when she takes decent ones. DeLisha Milton-Jones had the outside jumper working, but got beaten on defense. Shanece McKinney gave a few minutes in the second quarter and put up a pretty shot off the glass with Bone all over her. She might have been of some use in the second half. Alex Montgomery came up big- not necessarily on offense, but defensively and on the break. I'd like to see her really develop her jumper so she can be more of an offensive weapon, but she's had a good last couple of games, and she and Cappie have hooked up for a couple of nice plays in each of the games against the Sun.

Plenette Pierson did not dress for this one. Well, I mean, she was wearing clothes, and they looked like nice clothes. Thank all that's sweet and holy Cappie didn't dress her... Sorry, that was petty of me.

Essence Carson, I can't even with what's left of you. Essence is one of my favorite people on the Liberty, has been one of my favorite people on the Liberty in the blue era, and was one of my favorite people back when I was still a Rutgers fan. I want her to do well and I still believe that when she gets healthy she'll be brilliant. But right now she cannot possibly be healthy, and I'm not even talking about recovery from the torn ACL, the known injury and the admitted weakness. Knee issues don't make you hesitate three, four seconds on an inbounds pass. Knee issues don't send your shot so wide left that Scott Norwood thinks you have bad aim. They might lose her a step on defense, and she's smart enough to make up enough of that step, but they don't explain anything else. Avery Warley-Talbert, who lost her hyphenation through most of the game from the PA guy, was solid- unremarkable, but solid. She pulled down boards, hit shots in the lane (not as many as she should have, but enough), and played good-not-great defense. Tina Charles started hot, but the defense closed in on her later in the game, and she started taking more desperate shots. I'm also kind of tired of watching her stare at missed shots. Go for the ball, Tina. You know how to do lots of awesome things with it. Cappie Pondexter also got hit with the "let me stand and admire my shot" stick (as did Alex Montgomery), but for much of the game she was utterly brilliant. It looks like she's been getting more consistent treatment on her legs, as she'd been complaining of issues- she has giant white bandages on the backs of both her lower legs, and they seem to be helping. I could have done with more solid free throw shooting from her. Oh, and much less of the whacking Danielle McCray in the back of the neck like she was trying to combine a sucker punch and the Vulcan nerve pinch, because that's kind of counterproductive. If I wanted to get on the Cappie-hating bandwagon again, I'd point out that the flagrant resulted in a four-point possession for Connecticut, and golly gee whiz, look at the margin. But I don't think it was that kind of turning point, just a stupid play by a player who has a history of rectocranial inversion. Anna Cruz played too much defense with her hands and not enough with her feet, though at least one of her fouls was a load of nonsense- I hate the call that happens when a defender gets sandwiched between the player she's defending and a screener, and she ends up getting the foul called on her because she's forced into making contact with the player she's defending. I think the officials learned some new words in Spanish today. She started off shying away from her shot, but put in a couple late in the game, and she needs to be a little more assertive.

We're so close. We're putting the pieces together. We should have done this two weeks ago, but that's the perils of the overseas season and everyone's priorities being over there. (Since that's mostly where the money is, I don't know if I can blame them, but I can resent them.)

The officials were not popular today. Connecticut fans don't like refs, period, but they were on them from the start. There were some interesting calls and non-calls, but they made the right call on the Pondexter not-quite-a-punch.

Free ties! I'm going to ask my dad to turn it into a purse that I can take to Sun games! (My dad is awesome, by the way.)

The Dads and Daughters celebration by my Sun gave me a little bit of pause. Pregame photo slideshow: Faris, Pedersen, Griffin, Bone, player I couldn't make out but appeared to be very pale. In-game interview tape with players: Griffin, Ogwumike, Thomas, Hightower. Maybe it's just coincidence that Kelsey Bone was the only black player who shared photographs, or maybe they just got caught in the Ks, but it weirded me out.

Other than the guy who started belting out "THREE AND SEVEN! THREE AND SEVEN!" in the first half when we were at the free throw line, the Sun fans around us, in our supremely awkward position in the section behind the Sun bench, were nice. It's amazing how many friends you can make in a WNBA arena by commiserating about the officials. They were surprisingly impressed with Anna.

I know we're getting there. I know we can get there. But I don't know if we can make the changes, or if we're willing to take those risks. And at this point, I don't know if they'll pan out in a reasonable amount of time. Not with the way Connecticut's integrating their young parts, so many of which were once ours…

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June 13th, 2014: Connecticut at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A furious second half comeback from the Liberty pulled them from down 20 to down 2, but New York ran out of steam late, and Connecticut came away with an 83-75 win. Alex Bentley led the way for the Sun, with 24 points, while Chiney Ogwumike added 20 points and seven rebounds. Tina Charles led all scorers with 25 points, adding 10 rebounds and six assists, and Cappie Pondexter had 20- but no other Liberty player scored more than eight.

For rain, venting at strangers, the inability to guard the elbow, human fallibility, being close to a t-shirt, sweat and tears, and cross-sport comparisons, join your intrepid and grieving blogger after the jump (damnit, Rangers, Lundqvist can't do everything alone, stop some pucks next season).


Friday the 13th and a full moon; in retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised that there was an incident at Chambers Street that threw the Eighth Avenue lines out of whack, or that the M20 was running badly off cycle, so that I ended up shelling out $9 for a cab to take me up to the Garden from 14th Street. It's wet, and it's ridiculous out there. Stupid rain. I want to rub all my bad luck all over the Sun right now, but that might be rude.

Well, it was a really nice anthem, and it's been all downhill ever since. Connecticut is up 20 at the half, 46-26, and that's without Allison Hightower. Worse, there's a posse of about a half dozen... people... here screaming like wild banshees for the Sun- friends/family/whatever of Alex Bentley. One of them called my husband something I would never repeat in polite company, or even impolite company. Six letters, starts with F. Why do Penn State players all seem to have the worst-behaved families? (Seriously, these make Tanisha Wright's family look well-behaved, and they got into a fight with security last year.)

On a relaed note, I am extremely disappointed in the Garden's security and ushers. We both tried to get someone's attention when Bentley's posse started squawking, and we finally got a reaction at halftime, after the group had already changed sections. Nice. You know, it doesn't do a lot of good when they've spent an entire half taunting for you to show up AFTER it's all said and done. Nor does saying you'll keep an eye on the section next game help when they're only going to be here for the one game. (I'm starting to wonder if there's an issue with opposing players having family seats assigned here- we've had a few folks in opposing jerseys around our way this season.) That contingent of Bentley fans refused to stay at their ticketed seats, started multiple confrontations with fans, and were cursing profusely in front of children, and despite repeated visits from multiple ticketholders, security did nothing about them. How is that a fan-friendly experience?

That was a great comeback, and the only thing that short-circuited it was Bill Laimbeer's inability or unwillingness to substitute late in the game, when the five on the floor were wiped beyond belief. There was a lot of heart there, and a lot of passion, and in the end, they came up short because they ran out of gas.

I am starting to take an extreme dislike to Kelsey Griffin. I appreciate her hustle, and the ability she has to create space for her teammates with picks, but she seems to have picked up some of the more unsavory habits of Australian basketball, going low for knees and tossing cheap shoves at the player she's defending. If she could shoot, I think I might be able to put up with her more, but as she is, she's a goon, better suited to skates and a stick than the hardwood. That being said, her rebound off the missed free throw, and the resulting feed to Katie Douglas for the three, were killer. Kelly Faris actually got some early minutes, and seemed to have taken to heart all the criticism of her unwillingness to shoot, as she both took threes and drove the lane. And because Anne Donovan apparently likes to play headgames with Sun observers, she was the first player off the bench in the second half. I think they were expecting more defense out of her, but I wasn't impressed with her D tonight. Danielle McCray made a cameo in the first quarter, was quickly determined to be useless, and perforce settled back on the bench. Renee Montgomery was an offensive catalyst early, helping extend the lead in the first quarter, but I don't remember what else she did afterwards. Kayla Pedersen played sporadic minutes in the second quarter to provide a break when Chiney Ogwumike and Kelsey Bone were both dealing with minor foul trouble. She was there to rebound, nothing else.

My goodness, Chiney Ogwumike. She knows how to create space for herself, though she got some help from her teammates' screens, and when she gets space, she knows exactly what to do with it (which is sometimes unusual in collegiate superstars- they don't know what to do with space because they haven't had it in years. Sugar.). She and Tina Charles were going at it hammer and tongs down low, and she was tough on Tina. The stat line may not show it, but there was a lot of work down there. Alex Bentley had one of those shooting nights where everything, and I mean everything, and I mean hard off the side of the rim and high off the glass and down everything, went down. She kept hitting that jumper from the left elbow, and we kept giving it to her, and she kept hitting it, and I'm pretty sure the definition of insanity is leaving the same shot open over and over again and expecting different results, or something like that. Fortunately for my sanity, the behind the back flip to Katie Douglas did not result in a basket, because otherwise it would have been SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING. Katie Douglas hits threes and goes to the left. She's been doing this since she was in Orlando, since the Shock wore black, since Cappie was in high school and Sugar was in middle school. You would think someone would have figured this out by now, or at least attempted to guard it. She didn't seem to have the defensive step that she once had, but she didn't necessarily need it. (I'm also amused by the fact that most of her missed twos were long. Clearly the solution is for her to take ALL the three-point shots.) Kelsey Bone was solid in the middle, hitting a lot of the shots that she has a tendency to miss. She got into foul trouble in the fourth quarter, and couldn't ever quite believe it. Kelsey, it was a travel because you pushed her. Alyssa Thomas ran nice breaks, but seemed a little in over her head.

I have this dim recollection of Avery Warley-Talbert being a secret weapon down low the first time we brought her in last year. I love her toughness. I love her strength in the middle and her willingness to use that strength. I do not like that she has hands you could bounce a quarter off of, or her inexplicable tendency to bring the ball all the way down to the floor when she pulls down a rebound. Avery, you're six-foot-something, keep the ball over your head and the little people can't get it. Shanece McKinney played briefly in the first half, had one resounding block, but was otherwise unremarkable. Alex Montgomery was strong defensively, and her fast break offense was good, but she was entirely too hesitant in the halfcourt set. Maybe it was the exhaustion, or maybe it was just her lack of offensive-mindedness, but there's no excuse for a shot clock violation in a key moment at the end of the game. Sugar Rodgers gave good defensive hustle, some good offense, and some questionable shots (because you're always going to have questionable shots with Sugar, that's how she rolls). She was a huge part of the comeback, and I give her major props for that. DeLisha Milton-Jones was on the wrong end of the whistle too many times, those long arms tangling with opponents over the top.

Plenette Pierson went down in a heap early in the third quarter, and went back to the locker room briefly before joining the rest of the team on the bench, but she didn't go back into the game, which might be part of why Bill made the fatal mistake. I don't know if she would have made that much of a difference, though- she was banging down low and causing trouble defensively, but she wasn't getting the shots down on offense. Lots of junk being thrown off the rim and the glass. Besides the occasional moments where Tina Charles is utterly convinced she has a skyhook, she was fantastic tonight. She went strong to the inside and came up with ALL the rebounds. Much like Henrik Lundqvist is currently doing on my TV screen, she slid over to catch every loose ball. Cappie Pondexter took some questionable shots, but came up with the big ones late, and she had a beautiful pass to Alex Montgomery when she was tripled that I don't think she would have made last year. Late in the game, we saw some of the high-low game between Cappie and Tina that we've been hoping for all season, excellent interaction between them. Anna Cruz looked better on offense than she has in the last couple of games, but Bill didn't have faith in her down the stretch, for whatever reason. Essence Carson, I can't even. I love E to bitty pieces, but there's something up with her that I can't figure out. I don't think it's all physical, though that's a fair amount of it- she can't compensate for the loss of speed, so she reaches, and she can't make the athletic plays she used to, but there's something more to it.

I can't even with the refs in this game. Bad calls on contact. Bad calls on out-of-bounds (it should be really easy to tell if Kelsey Griffin knocked it out versus Alex Montgomery knocking it out). We're lucky no one did anything stupid.

I would be more disappointed in the crowd if it weren't utterly pouring rain in New York. The family in front of us was super awesome, and I hope the jerks sitting next to them didn't discourage them from coming back.

You know why we agitated for longer rosters, Bill? A fair amount of it was to deal with injuries, but a small part of it was to make sure that we had players on the bench. The last sub for the Liberty was at 5:08 of the third quarter, when Sugar came in for Anna. Avery's been a Lib for, what, two weeks? And suddenly you're asking her to play pretty much the entire second half straight through? Sugar is a sophomore who was lightly used in Minnesota last year, and you're asking her to go fifteen minutes of game time without a sub? Not that Essence and DeLisha and Anna were exactly lighting up the room, but players are only human. If a player's missing shots short, or if she's two steps slow on defense, you might want to consider giving her a couple of minutes to gulp some Gatorade and wipe off the sheets of sweat forming on her arms and shoulders. Just a thought.

Despite the epic fail of the first half, I still saw a lot of things I liked out of the team today. It felt like the first time Cappie and Tina actually worked together, instead of against each other. We just need some more out of the rest of the team- consistent scoring from Alex, positive contributions from Essence, good health from Plenette, more offensive ball thought from Anna, something.

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June 8th, 2014: Washington at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: 21 points from Cappie Pondexter led a crisp Liberty offense in an 81-64 romp over Washington. Tina Charles added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Anna Cruz filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Kara Lawson had 17 off the bench for Washington, but no other Mystic mustered more than eight.

For serendipity, candy, set completion, dog whistles, crisp passing, cute jewelry, head games, and a glimpse of greatness, join your intrepid and humid blogger after the jump.
Quick turnaround for your intrepid blogger, as the Liberty host the Washington Mystics on a warm Sunday afternoon in the Big Apple.

Lots of people in Rangers gear around, as Game 3 is tomorrow, and maybe we can stop blowing two-goal leads to LA? Just a thought? Please? They're building the set for the studio show in the lobby.

Ivory Latta is absolutely hilarious and adorable. She almost literally made someone ROFL. And she comes right up to the height of the rail that protects the court and tunnel from the front rows, so when someone wanted a picture she was on tippy-toes and beaming. She's as curious a split as DeLisha Milton-Jones, in her own way- you love her off the floor and want to stomp her face in on the court.

Poor Tianna Hawkins. It took five minutes for her to extricate herself from fans to enjoy her Jolly Rancher. T-Hawk, I hope it was the best Jolly Rancher in the universe, because you deserve it.

I just love UConn fans who scream and chant for Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley, but don't know who Kalana Greene is and get Essence Carson confused with Tina Charles. You know how it is. All those Liberty people look alike anyway, right? Or something like that?

The torch that has accompanied intros is not present today. Either they're worried about melting the ice for the game tomorrow, it's being used for the barbeque after the game, or they got an OSHA complaint after that time Kara almost walked into it. (You may have noticed my astonishingly low opinion of Kara Braxton's intelligence.) (Apparently they needed a break. Thing is expensive.)

I should ask Barb Farris where she got that top. 's pretty.

Still not talking to you, Mike Thibault.

Well, that's much more what we were expecting from the combination of Cappie Pondexter and Tina Charles. At halftime the Liberty are up 54-32, and the offense is flowing spectacularly. They're hustling for loose balls, sparked by Alex Montgomery. Sugar Rodgers has three assists, which I think is equivalent to her sophomore year production at Georgetown. Everyone's doing their part. Cappie has 15, Alex has 11, Tina has 8 with four boards. Everyone's doing something.

The bench wasn't able to maintain quite so much of the lead, but it was good to get some reps for them, and when your second and third quarters are as good as ours were, the fourth quarter is almost an afterthought.

Free food today! They found a way to wrangle the season subscriber barbeque that was basically the only redeeming quality of the three years in exile. Expect random fashion notes sprinkled in amongst the ramblings.

Kalana Greene finally got to play! We still love her around here, so it was nice to see her get some run (helps that the blowout was in our favor, instead of us getting blown out). She made some nice defensive plays. Monique Currie tried to force things in the fourth quarter, and while she drew contact to get to the line, she was also getting called for fouls on the other end, and good ol' Scowl-and-Foul came out to play. Tianna Hawkins got less time than I was expecting- I think she might have been effective against the work we were doing in the paint (obviously I approve of Mike Thibault not doing things that could help his team beat mine). She bodied up well enough. Kara Lawson killed us from outside in the first half, especially in the first quarter- her shot to end the first quarter could have been a heartbreaker if Washington had been able to capitalize on the momentum. But if she's your top scorer on a team that's dominated by rookies and sophomores, you might be doing a few circuits on the Dreaded Treadmill of Mediocrity. (Would that be the Dreadmill?) Stefanie Dolson did a little work on Tina Charles, but Tina did even more work on her, and she was moved around pretty easily even by our deep reserve posts. She got the second half start over Meesseman, in Thibault's effort to shake something into his team. Bria Hartley also started the second half, over Jelena Milovanovic, and she looked like a rookie out there. She was easily shaken on defense and worthless on offense. It was clear that Milovanovic was not the secret weapon that she was down in DC, but Hartley was not the answer, or at least not the answer to that question.

I didn't know Serbs played a lot of hockey, but Jelena Milovanovic checked Alex Montgomery pretty hard into the boards late in the game. Unfortunately, basketball courts don't have that particular kind of boards, and some poor kid sitting in the front row got wiped out. Alex was very concerned about the poor kid. A lot of the offense ran through her in the first quarter, since she was so effective in the game down in Washington, but she was missing the shots that she hit in that one, and we were much more prepared for the mismatch. Emma Meesseman did not have her head in the game. I don't know what was up with her, but she seemed especially bothered by Plenette Pierson in this one and reacted with uncharacteristic pettiness. She didn't seem to be looking for her proper place on the floor and didn't look to be into the game. Ivory Latta hit a three early, but I don't remember her being on the floor at any other time, and that's saying something for Ivory Latta. Kia Vaughn was inconsistent- sometimes going to the basket for the sweet bank shot, sometimes standing there and looking decorative. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt cut to the basket nicely once, but otherwise was invisible.

(Hey, cool, things are actually happening. We've been here for a good fifty minutes, and the food has been sparse. But this host is really, really annoying. Dude, you do realize Bill doesn't like to talk about the Pistons days during Liberty stuff, right? He's giving Barb Farris all the credit for this one, though that may be with a dose of his usual sarcasm. I also think it's a good idea to let the players eat in privacy first before unleashing fans on them.)

Shanece McKinney fouled a lot and couldn't shoot. Shanece, stop proving the fans wrong about bringing you back. That #24 is serious business. Avery Warley-Talbert- I'm still getting used to that confounded hyphenation- rebounded well in her limited minutes, but needs to go up strong when she goes up. Don't be scared- you weren't when you were a Flame. I love the myriad ways in which DeLisha Milton-Jones gets in the way of her teammates' defensive assignments, dancing along the lines of moving screens and offensive fouls but avoiding the whistle. She got the second quarter started right with those long jumpers she likes, and kept the young'uns from playing too out of control. Alex Montgomery was phenomenal, hitting big threes, sneaking in for boards, and hustling for everything. She made plays happen. She made a lot of things happen. (And yet she has a -1 +/-, which is a pretty good sign that single-game, single-player +/- is a load of horse manure.) Toni Young seemed to be experimenting more with her jumper in that ongoing attempt to switch her to the 3. It's not working. Sugar Rodgers actually passed the ball well in the first half, which surprises me as a Johnny fan. In the second half, she reverted to the player who was committing dumb fouls and chucking shots like she was trying to steal Ms. Jeffrey's preferred nickname. But in that first half, I could see the player Bill thinks she can be, the lead guard who can create offense for her teammates as well as herself. Chucky Jeffery is not a point guard. She's somewhat better at handling the ball in the backcourt than Sugar, but she is not a point guard. It also amuses me that her only defensive setting is "HI I'M IN YOUR FACE I'M IN YOUR FACE I'M NOT GOING AWAY HI HI HI HI IMMA PRESS YOU NOW", even in a blowout.

(Chucky is wearing polka dots. I'm not sure what to think of this. So far no fashion disasters. Then again, the starters haven't come out. Ooooh, Toni has really cute earrings.)

(Good God, Katie's eyes are blue up close. She came over and said hi to our table, and her eyes are ridiculously blue. She cleans up well.)

(Shanece is working that shirt. Plenette is a ninja- dodged the microphone. I'm not feeling the bottom of that outfit, though. Either go full length on the pants or go skirt. Like I said- wait for the starters on this squad to come out before the fashion disasters hit. I don't know if I'm feeling the stripes on DeLisha, but she's working them okay. Also, one tray of ten sliders is not sufficient to feed seven people, guys. Also, DeLisha, 'doing shots' does not mean what you think it means. Also, annoying host dude, Shanece did not play at Louisiana Tech, you're thinking of Venus Lacy. Also, Libs, silver Sharpies are fail and rub off. Also, annoying host dude, there is a difference between cooking and baking.)

This is the Cappie Pondexter we were looking for. This is the superstar who can carry a team to a championship. Whatever they did to that Achilles she's been kvetching about- and it looks like it was good and thoroughly taped up- they need to do it more often, unless it's not legal. She was hitting those jumpers beautifully and leading strong breaks. When she's on, she's a joy to watch. Essence Carson was very quiet, but we didn't need her to be loud. I thought she moved well on defense, and she had one of the plays of the game, one that would have gotten her an assist in hockey- she set up Anna Cruz, who whipped a pass to Cappie, who drained the three and got the place rocking. Plenette Pierson did a little too much shooting from the outside, but she has a thing for that shot, I really don't get it. She was all up in Meesseman's head- nothing too extreme, but little nudges that put her off balance. Tina Charles was solid. I question her shot selection a little, but when she went to the basket, no one was stopping her, and she cleaned the glass very well. Anna Cruz did a little bit of everything (and then the annoying host dude expected her to take the mic; y'all do realize Anna no habla inglés muy bien, right?), but what stood out to me most was her ability to read long rebounds, which allowed the offense to flow more quickly.

(Toni made an effort to circulate around back. That was sweet. She really is a nice kid.)

It's an ill wind that blows nobody good: Alex got knocked down hard on the Liberty side of the court and needed a little time to get back. Meanwhile, 4-on-5, the Liberty made a great defensive play, and DeLisha took the opportunity to outlet the ball to Alex for an instant fast break.

Alex falls down a lot. She lost a contact in the first half and ended up having to call time while Dolson was hassling her and not getting called for the foul she had so clearly committed. But that kind of hustle is why we love her.

The crew let them play in the first half, tightened up in the second. Some questionable out-of-bounds calls, and at least two situations where a player fouled her own teammate. (Poor Ivory Latta was on the receiving end of an elbow drop from Kia Vaughn, and Tina got shoved into Essence for what could have been a blocked shot.) Neither coach was pleased, though neither coach tends to be pleased with officials.

Someday, with all this stuff that's delivered by UPS in timeouts and sponsorships, there's going to be an InfoNotice on the scoreboard because UPS can't figure out how to make the delivery.

Even when it got tighter late in the fourth quarter, there was a minimum of panic. The kids did all right for themselves. Now we need to build on this for the softer stretch ahead. Tulsa's not necessarily easy, and home-and-home with Connecticut has bitter rivalry in it, but these are games we should take. See what happens when y'all work together, Libs?

Coda: the damn restaurant ran out of sliders. After two hours, some mingling, and one slider apiece, we bailed on the party. We suggested to Kristin Bernert that they might want to find another venue for the next one.

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June 7th, 2014: Indiana at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Alex Bentley dropped eight of her career-high 21 points in the first 5:15 of the game to set the tone in an 88-71 win for Connecticut over Indiana. Bentley's 21 paced five Sun players in double figures. Natasha Howard led Indiana with 14 points, but fouled out.

For getting whistled, sassy saplings, side-eyes, chest-bumps, bowling for cameramen, large pencils, some more fouls, and fashion critiques, join your intrepid and throwback-clad blogger after the jump.


Is it a weekend? Yes? Is there a Liberty game? No? Are there any events of familial significance? No? Then it's off to the casino for your intrepid blogger to catch the Sun as they host the Indiana Fever.

I continue to be freaked out by the fact that Kelly Faris gets louder cheers than half her teammates. I get that she's a nice kid and she works hard and all of that, but y'know, so's Allison Hightower and so's Chiney Ogwumike, and Faris gets more pop from the crowd than Hightower and seemed to get as much as Ogwumike tonight. I feel like I'm harping on this, and I know I'm going to get flamed, and I feel really bad for poor little Grumpy Cat that Donovan doesn't even throw her pity minutes, but I get really uncomfortable around fans whose favorites are Faris, Griffin, and Pedersen.

To the dude next to me at the autograph railing: dude, I get it. You think the Sun made a mistake passing up Maggie Lucas. You said this about seventeen times. I get it. You'd rather have the one-dimensional shooter this year than the multifaceted point guard next year (since I'm assuming he meant the pick that became Chelsea Gray). We'll ignore the fact that she fell to the middle of the second round and the team that drafted her didn't even want her anymore. Yes, clearly tonight's results proved that Indiana had the superior Penn State alumna. /rolleyes

Beautiful, beautiful choral anthem. The harmony struggled near the end, but in the middle you got that perfect moment when the energy was right and serenity filled the air.

The Fever need to get themselves to a ball-handling clinic or five. Way too many sloppy passes, way too many fumbles, way too many lost chances. Without Catchings, and with January losing a step late in the game, they were rudderless, planets looking for a star to orbit.

I think Dunn is still being cautious with Clarendon- she only played very, very briefly at the end of the first quarter (her +3 is strictly on a Lucas shot). Maggie Lucas was a gaping defensive liability- she came into the game and immediately Katie Douglas was driving left with the speed and skill of a NASCAR star. She's got a pretty enough shot, and she did a nice job on one possession of slaloming through the Connecticut defense, but that's about it. Lynetta Kizer seemed to have the clutchest shots for Indiana, one of the few players on either side who had any inclination to shoot at the end of the shot clock, and a pleasant surprise from the elbow. That is not a woman I would want to trifle with. Krystal Thomas came into the game late and expressed a great deal of Indiana's frustration, shoving recklessly and generally being physical. Karima Christmas played a fair amount, and defended well, but I just can't get the moment out of my head where she had a clean steal and then fumbled it two feet out of bounds when she tripped over her own feet. Sydney Carter has a dangerous tendency to retreat to the sideline entirely too quickly, and I don't know how confident she and her teammates are in each other, but she had a solid game. She ran the backdoor play as well as any of the posts.

Plans that have Erlana Larkins bringing the ball past halfcourt are bad plans. She's tough, and she has learned how to apply Plenette Pierson's favorite trick of hooking the arm, but she's got to hold on to the ball better, especially on rebounds. There's no reason for her to bring it back down to the floor, and no reason for her to have to tap it around like a tetherball. She was pretty good at what we've come to call "hot" passes- the quick touches to another player inside. Briann January started the game looking very strong and taking a lot of contact (our running joke is that she's best suited to taking hard fouls, since any martial arts student knows how to fall safely), but I think she wore down near the end- there was one play where she took a long time to get back on offense. I find it interesting the way she talks to the refs- not the fact that she does, since she's team captain and point guard, but the body language seems to indicate that she's asking for more detailed information about the way calls work than the average player intermediary. (I can totally see her as either a great coach or a great ref in the future.) Shavonte Zellous gives good righteous indignation face, and later in the game was able to draw contact and get to the line, but was otherwise pretty useless. Marissa Coleman started the game hot, but I got Nicole Powell flashbacks from the way she was running corner to corner, trying to set up for the three and not much else. She got caught in mismatches a time or two- I think she needs to work on getting around screens. Natasha Howard is phenomenally athletic, and I see why people were drooling over her potential. She's still raw, definitely a project, but she has all the tools. She just needs to learn to stop holding and maybe rely a little less on her jumper. (On the other hand, if Lin Dunn's retiring and stepping away from the team, I am less sanguine about Howard's prospects; no one has Dunn's magic touch with posts.)

Kayla Pedersen played briefly, but unmemorably. Kelsey Griffin did a nice job pulling loose balls down and away from Fever players- she also had a pretty pass to Kelsey Bone down low. (Too many Kelseys. Cannot cope.) Renee Montgomery kept the offense moving at a fast pace, and maybe it was too fast. Things seemed to be working better with Alex Bentley at the point. (For the record, I do expect to some day accidentally portmanteau the two Sun point guards and confuse the daylights out of any Georgia Tech fans who might be reading my ramblings.) Alyssa Thomas was strong, both inside and out- really used her size well against Indiana. I get the feeling that the way she played is how Indiana was expecting Marissa Coleman to play for them.

Kelsey Bone, bless her heart. Love the way she gets position down low, but she missed so very many bunnies. Too many easy shots for a player of her size, left short or wide or something that is not the ball going in the basket. I liked her screens, though. Chiney Ogwumike rebounded well when she was in, and was strong at the hoop, but got hit with some dubious fouls and spent a fair chunk of the game sitting on the bench (or chest-bumping Alex Bentley, as the situation required). Katie Douglas's back was really bothering her, since she spent her bench time with a large heating pad or something of that ilk on her back. She didn't have much of a jumper tonight, but drove to the lane (see above notes on Maggie Lucas) and tried to run the defense- there was a breakdown led by Montgomery where Douglas was lecturing Montgomery as she brought the ball up after the basket. Allison Hightower put in work defensively and facilitated the offense. I love to watch her play. Alex Bentley started the game red hot and kept the pace going both inside and out. The posts cleared space, and she was able to use it to her advantage.

The fouls in this game were ridiculous. Not that both teams weren't being physical, but a lot of stuff was being called, and some of it came late, and some was inconsistent. Indiana got no benefit of the doubt, and Connecticut got very little.

I stayed for the halftime honoring of "Women of Inspiration", but to be honest, I wasn't listening to most of it. Sorry.

Utterly loved Rebecca Lobo's dress. She looks good for mumble-mumble and four kids.

Running around in plastic hamster balls is a silly thing to do, but the girl who won the race had excellent strategy for handling her large plastic ball.

I don't think Connecticut has found the answers yet, but they might be getting closer. I don't think Indiana needs to panic unless they don't get Catch back.

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June 5th, 2014: San Antonio at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A big second-half run broke open a close game at Madison Square Garden, and the San Antonio Stars beat the New York Liberty, 87-75. Sophia Young-Malcolm led five Stars in double figures with 18 points. Tina Charles led New York with 11 points.

For frustration, bad aim, not using your head properly, things not quite on fire, confusion, tension, and dramatic arm gestures, join your intrepid and distracted blogger after the jump.


Hey, gang! We're coming to you in stereophonic sound from the World's Most Famous Arena, where it's the annual New York Liberty Alumnae Reunion as New York hosts the Stars of San Antonio.

Vickie Johnson has gone retro with the haircut- pure '97-'98. From the way she was affecting Becky Hammon's shots in practice, she might still have enough left in the tank as a midseason defensive specialist if anyone needs one.

Each game's roster card has a quote from a Liberty player on what it means to stand for Liberty, and tonight's was adroitly chosen from DeLisha Milton-Jones: "I stand for Liberty. It embodies what every human being should stand for. There is no room for injustice or inequality." (SOPHIA. Yes, I'm still salty. I take it really badly when people open their mouths to say that my family doesn't deserve equal protection under the law, but that's an entire rant for another time and place.)

There is someone over in the next section wearing a #15 Oklahoma State jersey. I don't know if it was Toni Young's or just a replica, but either way, I salute your loyalty, 'Poke!

The few Stars (almost typed Silver Stars there) who were out when I came in were exquisitely courteous. Shenise Johnson has nice handwriting.

Interesting anthem. Not sure how else to describe it. Stirring, but odd.

At halftime, San Antonio is up one, in a game that's been full of risky passes and made shots. This would not turn out to remain the case.

Heather Butler is ridiculously tiny. If she's really 5-5, I'm Sue Bird. She looks more than an inch shorter than Hammon. Physically, she reminds me of a Helen Darling Mini-Me. Kayla Alexander slid into position for rebounds and set a couple of decent picks, but looked awkward on offense. Shameka Christon came out in the fourth quarter like gangbusters- she still isn't the player she was in New York, and probably will never be back to being considered Baby Swoopes, but her jumper is a thing of beauty and she crashed the boards well. Shenise Johnson didn't play a lot and seemed to be doing more to facilitate the offense than engage with the offense, which surprised me a little. Danielle Adams showed off her long-range shot and her acting abilities, though her ponderous spin move could have used a little more work. That woman takes up a lot of space, sets some vicious screens, and really needs a more comfortable pair of shorts. Jia Perkins was automatic on offense, whether it was the short jumper, the long jumper or work under the basket. She's clever and she's quick and she seems to be consistently undervalued. Ah, well. She can commiserate with VJ on that one.

In today's Statement of The Blazingly Obvious, Danielle Robinson is really fast. Early in the game, it was working against her, as her momentum carried her out of defensive plays (I'm sure Jayne [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD4GrTnyDMQ&feature=channel]understands[/url] that feeling). As the Liberty tired, her speed became more of an advantage for San Antonio, allowing her to fire up breaks. To my intense displeasure, Sophia Young-Malcolm had an excellent game, especially in the first quarter. She had the outside jumper working and positioned well on the glass, even if she didn't pull down a lot of boards. Becky Hammon was very quiet, but I think that might have been partially defensive attention and partially not needing her to have a big offensive game. Jayne Appel didn't look for her shot, but set solid screens to free players up, and made Tina Charles's life unpleasant on the block. Kayla McBride started the game very strong, hitting the big shots like she thought she was Becky Hammon or something (that three at the shot clock buzzer felt like a dagger, have I mentioned how much I dislike Notre Dame?) and flying into the lane.

San Antonio was relentless and pesky. They capitalized on mistakes, though they made a few of their own as well. Their passing was daring, but fairly sharp. This is what happens when your lead guard wants to pass the ball, New York.

Avery Warley-Talbert (still getting used to that hyphen bit) showed toughness on the inside, but needs to go up stronger to the hole and hold on to the ball better. Shanece McKinney hit a couple of shots, but looked like she was having more trouble settling into the lineup than Avery did. Avery was also called upon to absorb fouls from Danielle Adams, for what that's worth. I still don't understand Bill's obsession with Sugar Rodgers, though she did hav ea couple of nice defensive deflections. But she has a tendency to make as many dumb mistakes as she forces. DeLisha Milton-Jones was quiet, except on the bench, where she had at least one animated conversation with the assistants. I get the feeling her patience is running out with her team's tendency to run around like a flock of headless chickens when the momentum slips even a little bit away from them. Chucky Jeffery was unremarkable. Toni Young made an immediate impact when she hit her first shot, and seemed more comfortable on the floor than she's been in a while. Alex Montgomery brought the hard defense and a fair amount of offense. I love when she's hitting those threes.

Anna Cruz, please stop handing the ball to the Stars. I like her hustle, but her judgment needed a lot of work. Tina Charles started well, but never really seemed to get going in the second half, and was never comfortable in the flow of play. Cappie Pondexter forced bad, stupid shots, which is what she usually does when the game's close and she thinks it's her job to take over no matter the situation. I still question the hell out of her judgment. Essence Carson looked a little better on offense, though not so strong on defense, and then there was the pass she threw to Katie Smith. The astute reader may note that Katie Smith is no longer an active player. Plenette Pierson did a lot of hard work down low, but with little reward.

We don't have reserves. That's not to say we don't have bench players, but once the wad is shot, it's shot. And once we've delivered our haymaker, we don't seem to know what to do when the opponent gets off the mat and punches back. And once that happens, everything comes unraveled. It usually starts with Cappie taking a bad shot, but everything comes apart after that. It's like we've never worked together before. I don't know what gives, but it needs to stop.

Officiating was unremarkable, which was a bit of a relief.

I really don't want to blindly blame Cappie, because it's not her fault Essence passed the ball to Katie and Anna kept giving it to Jia Perkins. But if we're all on the failboat together, Cappie's at the wheel. It feels like something has to give, and has to give soon, and I don't know whether it's Cappie, or Tina, or Bill.

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