September 13th, 2015: Chicago at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Connecticut Sun ended their last game of the season on a high note, dominating Chicago in the fourth quarter to win 86-75. Kelsey Bone notched a career-high 31 points. Camille Little added 15, and three other Sun players had nine. Elena Delle Donne was the only Chicago player in double figures, with 28.

For the injured reserve, sweethearts at the food court, cool hats, books, a complete collection, well wishes, rushing headlong, free stuff, and long bus rides, join your intrepid and throwback blogger after the jump.


L'shana tova, loyal readers! Have some cookies and chocolate with me as we celebrate the end of the regular season and the beginning of a new year. (I'm not Jewish, but I know some of my regulars are, and I picked up a lot from the salesfolk I worked with.)

Your intrepid blogger finally, finally, got to dust off her Miracle jersey for a neutral trip to the casino to take in the Sun's final game of the season against the Chicago Sky. (But fret not, Libs. I'm always true to you in my fashion; darlin', I'm always true to you in my way. My Miracle jersey is the #24 of Tari Phillips.)

We were far from alone. The line at the Arena Club, usually half a dozen people at most, stretched clear out past the fountain in front of the escalators to the hotel. There must have been sixty-seventy discrete groups on that line, all waiting for their tickets. Connecticut was releasing as many as four tickets per casino card, so there was a lot more paper in that place than usual, and more than even security was used to. I wonder how many people who usually buy tickets ended up getting freebies for this one? You have to be careful how you value, or devalue your product.

Gorgeous anthem by a Hartford School of Music student whose name I did not completely catch. Soaring soprano.

There were really cool giveaways all through the game, but honestly, I think the person in row A of section 11 could probably have afforded the prize so cavalierly given away to them. I wouldn't have minded $100 for dinner at Tuscany.

Lots of advertising for the arena's lacrosse team, the Black Wolves. Either ticket sales are not doing as well as they expected or they really couldn't sell ad time for this game.

Inside the last home game of the season seems like an odd place and time to advertise the family ticket pack.

Free t-shirts for all today! Plain, white, but coming in a variety of sizes. Appreciate size ranges.

It was an odd ending. You could almost tell where Chicago stopped pretending to care and just settled for jumper after jumper.

Cappie Pondexter was with the Sky, but did not play, and I don't think she ever took off her sweats. Other than her, everyone for Chicago got time- Pokey Chatman channeled her inner Blackhawk near the end of the game and send in a full line change. Five subs at the scorer's table and five starters on the floor left Cappie standing lonesome by the Sky bench.

(Holy crap on a stick, the ride home is crawling. It's been half an hour and we're only at exit 71. The police car that just wailed by us might hold an answer to that riddle, though.)

Jacki Gemelos was part of that big change at the end of the game, but I don't think she did anything memorable in those two minutes or so. Jamierra Faulkner got a lot of run due to early foul trouble, mid-game injury, and late-game preservation techniques. She's so very quick. She takes hits and keeps on ticking. Scoring-wise, she seems to be better as a penetrator, not a jump shooter. Allie Quigley is always a threat from the outside, but she wasn't hitting today. She always has to be guarded, and Connecticut did not cover her adequately. They got lucky in that regard. She's not there for her defense, but I'd still like to see her at least try some, y'know?

Clarissa Dos Santos continues to impress me with her solidity and tenacity in the paint. This is not a woman you want to rumble with in a dark alley, even more than the average six-foot-tall, strongly-built woman. I do not think the jumper is her strength, but when she goes inside and goes up hard, she's hard to stop. Cheyenne Parker got a lot more time than she has in most of the other Sky games I've seen this year, and she brings a bit more finesse in that post position than Dos Santos does. She blocks well and has a bit more range, but not nearly as much strength. She's still very much a rookie, but a rookie with potential, and for the first time I felt like I was seeing it. Betnijah Laney did not leave a fantastic impression today- when she missed her shots, she missed them badly, and did a bit of whining to the ref.

Courtney Vandersloot had a couple of close shaves today- foul trouble in the first half, a jar to her right shoulder in the second. From our unusually high perch in the upper deck at Mohegan Sun Arena, we could see the plays unfolding as if on a telestrator, and from that angle, it's easier to see her orchestrating the movement of the offense. It's hard to get a grasp on her role for Chicago, and that's not necessarily a bad thing! To me that says she has the ability to score when her team needs a scorer, but to step back and pass when other people are scoring. Tamera Young was pesky defensively, but made bad decisions with the ball, both passing and shooting. The sideline was not her friend.

Jessica Breland had a couple of monster blocks deep in the paint and was pretty tough overall. Érika de Souza cleared the glass, especially on the Sky's end of the floor- I think she had two on one possession. She's not as mobile as she used to be, but she's an immovable object when she needs to be.

Elena Delle Donne missed some chippies early on, but got stronger as the game went on. What would make me excited as a Chicago fan were the threes she was hitting. Her three-point shot has been AWOL for much of the season, and if it's coming back now, the timing is pretty much perfect. I'm also intrigued by her willingness to bang in the post on defense. I was not expecting that from her on that side of the ball. I'm starting to think she might be a Mary Sue escaped from the realms of fiction, y'all.

I really like Chelsea Gray at point for Connecticut. (And let's be honest, I wouldn't mind Chelsea Gray at point for the Liberty, either. "Chelsea Dagger" and "Shades of Gray" would both be awesome Cheesy Musical Hooks...) She's daring and dynamic. Better offensively than defensively so far, but with the right counterpart say, Brittany Boyd? that would be a very interesting platoon. Shekinna Stricklen never seemed to find her shot, but I'm not sure how hard she was looking for it. And it's not that Chicago was guarding her heavily. I think that's just not how the schemes were drawn up today.

Jennifer Lacy stretched the defense a little, but was otherwise unremarkable, and the shots she forced Chicago to defend didn't go down. I suspect Connecticut was relieved to no longer have to start her. Nikki Greene was physical. That's what she does, like the Geico commericals. Kayla Pedersen brought her hustle today, and sometimes even got rewarded for it with a whistle. Other times, not so much (there was one play where she had a ball and should have gotten a jump ball against Dos Santos- instead, Dos Santos ripped the ball out of her arms and knocked her backwards with no call). She had a very solid game. Makes sense- I think she's playing for her job, knowing that there's probably only one roster spot next year between her and Kelsey Griffin. (Yes, I am aware Connecticut waived Griffin in the middle of the season. I'm willing to bet actual-facts money that that was strictly a salary cap/roster positioning move and they'll bring her back next year.)

Kelly Faris got a lot of applause when she did things, or even when she didn't do things. The three she hit got one of the biggest cheers of the night; the free throws she missed elicited an arena-wide "awwwwwwww...". It really, spectacularly weirds me out. I can't deny her hustle- a guard who boxes out Érika de Souza will always get my respect for her metaphorical cojones- but I don't get the sheer adoration. Jasmine Thomas intercepted plenty of passes from Chicago. Granted, some of them were thrown directly to her, but she played well on the ball. She had a lot of shots that should have gone down but didn't. I'm not so sure about her offensive decision-making, though she did rack up the assists.

Then again, it's pretty easy to rack up the assists when Kelsey Bone is making power moves in the middle. Since she wasn't putting the ball down a lot (even when she technically should have), I can see official scorers being generous on the assist call. She missed a lot of shots early, ones that she should have been hitting. They went down for her more in the second half. It got to the point where I needed her to share the ball or I was going to run out of room on my score sheet. It still bothers me how easily she seems to get rattled by a bad call or a missed shot. Alyssa Thomas is starting to rub me the wrong way. I can't shake the feeling that she would have been the perfect Laimbeer player... and it's probably better and safer for the entire league that she doesn't play for Bill. She's very physical and very fearless. I feel like I should respect that, but I'm scared at the same time. I always forget that Camille Little has an outside stroke, and then she sets up from straight away and her team has three more points. She's so smooth. And she's sweet, too- she took the mic after the game to thank the fans for coming out.

Connecticut did a video with everyone, players and coaches both, thanking the fans for their support. I thought that was sweet.

One more soda and now I have the entire collection of Connecticut Sun "Share a Coke" cups. I really hope other teams pick this up. I'd love to see a "Share a Coke with Essence" cup.

The kids with the adorable Blaze hats were back! They were at the last game I was at, but I forgot to mention them, and I feel bad, because those hats are so cool!

A lot of late whistles in this one, and a very odd continuation call (but still not the least acceptable basket counted in a Chicago game, amirite Dream fans).

MACKEREL SHOULD NOT EAT PEOPLE OH MY GOD

Good luck in the lottery, Connecticut. Faretheewell, Sun. For this has been the last game of the season, the last bus ride, the last taco bowl, the last uncomfortable ovation for Kelly Faris, the last slot pull, the last pile of sweet delicious candy.