September 11th, 2015: Washington at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Washington dominated in their 82-55 win at New York. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt led all scorers with 15 points. Emma Meesseman added 14 points and eight rebounds. For New York, Avery Warley-Talbert had a team-high 12 points and six rebounds.

For disappointment, souvenirs, pictures, hat difficulty level, giant flags, missed cues, long gray shirts, practicality, and Essence Carson's hair flowing free in the wind, join your intrepid and sore all over blogger after the jump.


So here we are, gentle readers. The last regular season home game of the Liberty season. We know for certain it is not the last of anything- the season finale is at Indiana, and the playoffs assure us at least one more home game. But there is, nevertheless, a sense of completion, if not finality, about the day.

I don't know who was thinking what when they decided that the Liberty's final home game of the regular season should be on the 11th of September, against Washington of all teams, of all cities. It's insensitive to the people whose grief is an open wound and to whom any joy on 9/11 is salt; it's insensitive to the people who want to enjoy a basketball game without reminders of cruel reality creeping in at the edges.

(Inevitable "where were you?" story short: High school English. Mom worked in the financial district, almost went shopping at the WTC mall that day, but forgot her coupon. We lost no one within two degrees of separation, thank the sweet hypothetical baby Jesus.)

Today will be a day of shopping! $75 in Garden gift certificates + 20% coupon = Kiah Stokes or Brittany Boyd jersey and possibly a shirt. We'll see what's in 2XL.

Today will also be a day of pictures- the perfect attendance award photo is after the game. Round up the Usual Suspects and prepare for much breeze-shooting. You may not know this, readers, but I used these notes one season as proof of my perfect attendance when there was an issue with my tickets. There are advantages to being prepared. Girl Scouts for life, yo.

Today is also the day to attempt to add Erica Wheeler to the Cap, Volume 3. (Volume 1 started in 2000, ran out of space in 2006. Volume 2 started in 2010, reached back to 2007, ran out of room this year. The goal is simple: everyone. My mother's version of Volume 1 went to Australia for Jessica Bibby. Everyone is serious business.)

Wonderful. At halftime we're down 13, no one's guarding the 3 (seven treys for DC), no one's guarding Emma Meesseman (10 points), Tierra Ruffin-Pratt is hitting jumpers (12), our stars do not give a good goddamn, and the entertainment is the annoying Simon Sez guy who won't go away no matter how hard I wish.

Shopping completed before the game. No Kiah Stokes jerseys to be had, but I bought a Boyd jersey, a t-shirt, and some other trinkets. Shoutout to Frances and her cohort whose nametag I could not see, for letting me use the 20% off coupon though it technically was only good downstairs (where there was diddly-squat in my size). Super helpful and super patient with our penny-pinching and careful counting.

Passes are too hard, shots are too short. And that was in the first half when we still pretended to care.

Look, I understand that this game meant precious little to the Liberty. All the things that can be clinched are clinched. But at least pretend to care. Pretend the game means something. Pretend to play. Most of the Liberty didn't even bother to do that.

This may be breaking news to some of you who were in isolated caves or on desert islands, but Armintie Herrington does not have a jump shot. She does, however, rebound beautifully and jump-start fast breaks with her speed and length. She's not a point guard, except when leading the break. Bria Hartley's shot is working a little, but I thought the best play from her was an early punchout of a rebound that the Liberty had all but buttoned up. Tayler Hill has a pretty shot and plays the ball very aggressively. I still like neither her nor her alma mater. (Sorry, Katie. I have deep-seated issues with the Ohio State University. Go Blue.)

(Spoon is currently playing HORSE with a fan. It is somewhat less successful than you might think. Spoon, after all, despite being legendary for a shot, is not a shooter.)

(Tina wandered out to talk to a couple of fans, but I think they had to re-do the ice on her knees.)

Kia Vaughn knows all the post moves, and performs them well, but takes a long time to do them. It's not so much that she's stuck in slow motion as if she's doing them at practice speed, posing to demonstrate that she knows them technically. You always feel there could be something more, another gear. Ally Malott has a lovely jumper, but we all knew that. (Flyers in red hitting threes give me flashbacks to the NCAA tournament and Nadirah huddled in misery on the bench.) LaToya Sanders has a remarkable knack for slithering into small spaces in the paint and filling them admirably. Coming off a game where Camille Little did the same thing, I'm starting to wonder if this is a UNC thing. She kept balls alive for Washington.

Ivory Latta hit a deep three in perfect rhythm, but really didn't need to do much else. Natasha Cloud was aggressive, and a bit physical, and faster than I thought.

When did Tierra Ruffin-Pratt acquire a jumper? Is it not enough for Washington that she's one of the best defenders in the league? Now she gets to have a jumper and call glass? That is not fair. She's turning into one of the great success stories of the WNBA, and if we hadn't been playing Washington I would be a lot happier about it. Stefanie Dolson's hair is in Troll doll territory, in shade, texture, and shape. She took a lot of her shots from the outside, with mixed results, and did a lot of grunt work defensively. Emma Meesseman has such a pretty shot, and such good hands. I like watching her play when she's not playing against us. She did most of her damage in the first half, but then, that's when she was most needed.

Washington exploited our weakness against the three very well, and they beat us soundly on the boards. The rebounding, at least, I can chalk up to the Liberty's overall lack of energy, but we've got to do something about the perimeter defense, oh my God.

Avery Warley-Talbert is not a high rotation player for a team that wants to win a WNBA championship. Late in the game, however, when no damns were being given by either team, she started pouring in baskets. Pretty sure we were practicing plays that would go to Tina Charles in a real game. But it was good for her, and I'm sure it made her feel good. Kiah Stokes was highly disappointing. She was consistently late on her defensive rotations, and you can't leave shooters like Malott or Meesseman open. She still rebounds well, but if she's going to be a defensive stopper, she needs to move better and read her scouting reports. Essence Carson hit some shots in the third quarter, but was otherwise unremarkable. (Which I guess is an improvement over "ESSENCE WHAT EVEN ARE YOU DOING I CANNOT WORD WHARGARBL".)

Erica Wheeler looked like she got her feet under her a little bit. The shots were definitely falling for her, and she was pesky on defense. I'm still not thrilled with her eternal dribbling and her insistence that she can totally take any defender thrown at her, but she did more of what we needed of her tonight. Sugar Rodgers did not play with the energy I would have expected of a reserve fighting for minutes and trying to show she can step up in a teammate's absence. She was as laid back and as many steps slow as most of the starters. Fortunately for the remaining shreds of my sanity, Candice Wiggins does not have a neutral gear. Candice's gears are all set to go. Candice came in with energy and intensity, and with a desire to win. I would have liked to see her take more of the shots she passed up, but for all I know, that might have been part of the greater design, and I might have thought differently if anyone on the Liberty other than Avery were capable of hitting a shot.

Tina Charles spent most of the game nowhere near the paint, or if she was in the paint, taking runners in it. She hardly posted up. She didn't play much, and I think she played more than Bill wanted her to because of the foul trouble for Avery and for Carolyn Swords. Carolyn committed some remarkably stupid fouls, and seemed a little off her game on the boards. Swin Cash was the unfortunate starter to play near the end of the game, when it was beyond a blowout, and I think she was there to infuse them with some energy- she looked like she had come to play, or at least to rebound and defend.

Tanisha Wright took ill-advised shots and made bad passes. This was not her finest night as an offensive point guard. It wasn't her best defensive night either, but she was stronger there than on offense. Epiphanny Prince hit jumpers, but seemed to be taking some that she shouldn't be. She had a couple of great defensive plays on Emma Meesseman in a row, one of which should have been counted as a block.

We didn't see a lot of the starters in this one. Once Washington got the momentum in the second quarter, there was really no reason to play them. It was cler that no one with any authority with the Liberty cared about winning this game. I think they had reason to, to try and choose their first-round opponent. Clearly my opinion was not shared.

Saw surprisingly few Washington fans. I know it's a weeknight, but they usually travel well.

Shoutout to the girl in the Warley-Talbert jersey. I know the odds are pretty good she or one of her kinfolk is either a Warley or a Talbert, but that's still adorable and she should feel good for wearing it.

Beautiful anthem tonight.

This is not how I want to go into the playoffs, but part of me is relieved that everyone's safe and sound, and part of me thinks Bill wanted them to show their flaws so he could patch them up.