September 18th, 2015: Washington at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Washington forced overtime twice to claim a 86-83 win over the New York Liberty in game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Ivory Latta led Washington with 15; three other Mystics each notched 13. Epiphanny Prince led all scorers with 26 points, with Tina Charles adding 22 points.

For substitution confusion, communication breakdown, Smurfs, trolls, wandering fans, orange sequins, small children, a contested three, and mindgames, join your intrepid and disappointed blogger after the jump.


It's a new season- the postseason. The Liberty host game one of the Eastern Conference semis against Washington, and so far it's been a tough one. The Liberty got out to a hot start early, but Washington tightened up the defense in the second quarter, so we're all tied up at 36 at halftime.

Love Brittany Boyd's shoes tonight. The all black everything is classic, and totally New York.

Fantastic anthem from a pair of operatic singers.

I kind of wish the ushers actually felt like, y'know, ushering people tonight. Lost fans should not be reduced to asking the cotton candy vendors where their seats are. With a big crowd, you need more attention to people, not less.

Body-checking Swin Cash out of bounds is a good idea, Natasha Cloud. Not only should it be a foul, but you have angered one of the Bad Girls. Swin knows pretty much every trick in the book.

I love that Bill Laimbeer had the entire staff up for the Coach of the Year presentation. Laura Ramus is one of the hardest working people in the business and needs some love.

Someday, we'll look back on this game as one of the W's great games- if not necessarily spectacular, I think it's one of the games that best encapsulates the strengths of the WNBA. It was tough, it was competitive, it was intense, it had enough flashy plays and slick moves to not look like a defensive slogfest. The crowd responded to all of that. You don't necessarily have to put on the SportsCenter play to fire up fans.

The fans around us as we left were ragging on the refs, and certainly that jump ball that Tanisha Wright and Bill Laimbeer thought they had timeout on was an issue, as was the resulting violation on Swin Cash that gave Washington the ball for the game-tying possession. But if you get 26 free throws, and you miss ten of them, that's a problem. If you commit 14 turnovers, most of them unforced, that's a problem. If your coach decides players don't need rest even when they're having trouble getting up and down the court, that's a problem.

(I'm sorry. I'm having a lot of trouble making myself write these. Disappointment is not great writing fuel.)

Mike Thibault put a lot of faith in Tayler Hill. She was the one playing in crunch time overtime instead of Natasha Cloud. She hit some big shots, especially in the second overtime. She's got some pretty moves on offense- nice crossover, a good first step. Still don't like her. Probably never will. (Yes, I'm still bitter that she had a roster spot held for her the year she was pregnant and therefore Thibault had to cut a guard. And no, I don't like Ohio State.) Kara Lawson's shot is so damn quick. You give her a moment of space and it's off. She also came up with a nice steal in the third quarter, and poked away some balls on deflections. Armintie Herrington is a solid defender, but a liability on offense. She had more space than she knew what to do with. Well, that's not completely true- she ran through it a lot.

(Surprised to see no minutes for Bria Hartley. Injury flare-up?)

LaToya Sanders continues to impress me with her positioning on the boards and her ability to sneak into tight spaces. She also sets surprisingly solid screens for a post with a slender build. She and Ivory Latta, perhaps unsurprisingly, have excellent chemistry on the floor. Kia Vaughn spend so much time making sure she's in the right position to make an offensive play that she forgets about her footwork. I don't think Thibault wanted to play her in the OTs, but he had no choice after Sanders fouled out.

Natasha Cloud had a passionate rooting section sitting across from the road bench- we're pretty sure they were in fact St. Joseph's Hawks. She was solid, if unremarkable, more effective with her size than with her shot. Ivory Latta really impressed the guys in front of us with her stepback threes, especially with their timing and utter cold-bloodedness. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt brought the defense, but not as much of the jumper as she did in the regular season.

Emma Meesseman had a strong offensive game in the middle, but the little reverse she likes to throw as she flies past the basket wasn't going down. She mixed it up inside and got the boards, though, and she took a lot of contact on both sides of the floor. Stefanie Dolson was frustrated inside by the Liberty's defense, but found more success outside the paint. I hope she's okay after coming up lame late in regulation. I know I call her a Troll doll because of the hair and because this will never stop being funny, but unlike some of my neighbors, I try not to wish harm on players.

Washington tightened up on defense as the game went on, and they hit some unbelievable guarded shots. We've got to be better on the perimeter, but even that doesn't help with Ivory Latta.

Candice Wiggins did little except commit intentional fouls at the end of the game. I think this was a game where we missed Brittany Boyd: as another body, as a sparkplug, as a penetrator. Despite the earnest entreaties of the stan, Sugar Rodgers did very little as well. She didn't even look to shoot, which is surprising and a bit disappointing.

Kiah Stokes was the lone bright spot among the reserves. She looked a bit more like the player who was garnering hype for Rookie of the Year. If we'd won the game, she might well have made herself the hero with big defensive plays and rebounds. But you've got to hit your shots. Essence Carson looked done. I don't mean that she looked awful. I mean that she looked like she had found the Nikki McCray cliff and flown off it with shrieks of glee. She looked like a player whose body is not-so-gently hinting that it is no longer suitable for professional basketball, and wouldn't she enjoy herself more in the recording studio? She lost most of her shot. She's lost most of her closing speed. She's lost the handle that made her a point guard alternative at Rutgers and early in her Liberty career. Her vision's gone. A defensive specialist shouldn't be wasted on Armintie Herrington.

I know I'm being hard on Essence, and it hurts. She was one of my favorites at Rutgers. I bought her jersey the year the Liberty switched to black. I paid retail money for her jersey, a thing I do not do lightly. (That I have, in fact, done only one other time before- my Davenport tee- and one time after- a Cruz jersey. Everything else I snag off eBay or use gift cards for.) I don't like eviscerating her as a basketball player. But it hurts to watch her rapid decline. I'd rather see her happy in her post-basketball life, where she's using her phenomenal skills in that field, than see the shell of her on the floor.

Tanisha Wright stepped her game up in the second half. She was more aggressive and made smarter plays. Defensively, she's one of the smartest PGs we've ever had. Offensively... she can be hit or miss. She as mostly hit tonight, but her passing is not as sharp as it could be. Epiphanny Prince was on fire, playing hard at both ends of the floor. She definitely let her Scarlet show in the fourth quarter, with tough on-ball defense.

Swin Cash was tough. She brings defensive tenacity and veteran savvy to the floor- she caught Meesseman encroaching on the inbounds late in the game. She's an example of why your starting five isn't always your most talented five- you need someone to hold the team together and save some punch for the reserves. Carolyn Swords had a great game in the middle, turning it up in the second and third quarters, grabbing loose balls and making plays. I would have given her minutes in overtime. There were multiple opportunities where there was a chance for her to be an offense-defense sub for Tina Charles. Those minutes might have made a difference, because by the end of the night, Tina was gassed. She had run out of reserves early in the first overtime and was gritting through because it's what you do. But she spent too much of the night relying too heavily on the long two, and too much of the night with rebounds or passes going off her hands. I don't want to dump on her head, because unless she told Bill she was good to go, it's not her fault he didn't sub when there were opportunities.

We should have had it. It was there and we should have had it.

I'm not going to blame the refs, though it's tempting. But Swin did encroach on the jump ball, and Tina's shot was late. Those are facts. I object to players taking players out with falls and there being no call. And I think Tanisha had the timeout call before the jump ball, and without that, this game ends in overtime with a Liberty win.

The crowd was super into it. But that's what I've seen happen over and over again- even people who aren't expecting to be into it are sucked into the energy. The place was packed. The disconnect between the expectations of the Liberty people and the expectations of the Garden people is spectacular. (Though MSG might have been shorthanded because of the concert that night at the Theatre.)

Lots of Knicks were there. Current guys, plus Starks and Larry Johnson.

We have the best road record in the league. I believe. I choose to keep the faith and keep the torch burning bright until all is said and done.