Saturday, July 25, 2015

July 25th, 2015: All-Star Game

Just the Facts, Ma'am: All-Star MVP Maya Moore dropped 10 of her All-Star record 30 points in the fourth quarter to help the West pull away from the East 117-112. Moore added six rebounds and five assists. Brittney Griner just missed a double-double at 21 points and nine rebounds. Alex Bentley thrilled her home crowd with 23 points to lead the East.

For traveling fans, travesties of fashion, catching flying guards, small rants, the unofficial three-point shooting contest, a dubious Atlanta player, and transcendence, join your intrepid and inconvenienced blogger after the jump.

Good evening, fellow fans! Your intrepid blogger comes to you on even more of a delay than usual, due to technical difficulties. Alas, this past Thursday, I opened the lid of my once-trusty Jocelyn, heard a horrendous crunch like someone stepping on a piece of Chex, and discovered that her internal cooling fan was now broken. So now I have to borrow my husband's laptop, and it doesn't travel well either. This is the glamorous life, y'all.

The ride up was slow, the ride back super fast, and I wish I had known about the outlets before I ran my tablet battery all the way down.

No fan fest this year, as far as I could tell, but apparently the open practices were really awesome. Maybe next time.

Lots of UConn and Sun fans, as to be expected. The Liberty were also well represented. I saw fans of every team except San Antonio and Tulsa. Shoutout to the woman in the Cynthia Cooper jersey- rock that throwback! (We certainly did. I busted out my Debbie Black Sol jersey and my husband wore my Rhonda Mapp Sting jersey. If you can't wear a throwback to an ASG, when can you wear one?) Shoutout also goes to the woman with the “Dallas <3's WNBA” sign. I hate that Tulsa fans are losing their team, but there seem to be plenty of fans who'll take them in and love them in Dallas. Very cool dual color guard at Mohegan. I'm now crazy curious about the meaning of the tribal regalia. Excellent anthem as well. I really do not appreciate people who question Brittney Griner's biological sex. Yes, she's tall (but not the tallest player in league history, and no one outside the basest trolls questioned Margo Dydek's sex). Yes, she presents kinda butch (but she's not the only one, and I don't hear this nonsense about, say, Monique Currie). Yes, she has a deep voice (so does Kara Braxton and no one has ever questioned whether Kara was female). It's one thing when this nonsense is spewed from anti-WNBA trolls; it's another thing when people who claim to be fans of the game spew it. Steroid jokes aren't funny either, and I hope security confiscates the sign that one woman wants to bring to the Phoenix @ Connecticut game about roid rage.

Some of the intro skits were hilarious. I think Plenette Pierson versus Stefanie Dolson would have been a better match-up, but Pierson and Alex Bentley had enough fun with theirs. Kayla McBride and Emma Meesseman looked like they both thought this was a silly idea, which is probably why they were paired up.

For some time, we thought the delay at tip was because someone threw up. Don't spin your guards!

Oh, right, there was a game.

Kayla McBride came to play, not to have fun. She only really emoted once, during the quarter break entertainment, impressed to the point of 8-O at Russian Bar. She came to shoot the ball and hit her shots. Riquna Williams took threes all over the place and sometimes tried to defend Cappie Pondexter (and sometimes was like “nah”). Danielle Robinson had two good shots early that she missed, but after her second shift, she settled in and started hitting those driving lay-ups, along with finding her teammates with shovel passes and fast breaks.

Plenette Pierson looked like she was having the time of her life all night, whether it was drawing a line in the wood against Bentley, dancing at all possible opportunities, taking a selfie with a fan who wanted a picture, hauling Bentley back to the bench when Bentley was trying to fire up the crowd, shooting one-legged jumpers, or occasionally defending someone. So happy for her. Jantel Lavender was another reserve who showed up to get boards, play defense, and generally do all the boring things that most All-Stars are like, “nah” about. Unsurprisingly, she and Nneka Ogwumike had excellent chemistry together down low, recognizing each other's misses and cleaning up after one another. Ogwumike was solid and efficient- a performance worthy of an All-Star, if not an All-Star Game performance.

Sue Bird sort of erased herself from the play, but she made her teammates look better. DeWanna Bonner was unmemorable. I think Brondello wanted to save her for the regular season, or possibly just wanted the production she was getting on the boards from the Sparks' duo and the scoring from McBride.

The West didn't seem to look for Candice Dupree a lot, but when your frontcourt teammates are Maya Moore and Brittney Griner, it's kind of understandable. She hit the shots she got, and seemed appreciative of them. Griner woke up more in the second half, going on a tear down low. She even hit a three and looked good doing it (but the stroke is not yet strong enough for her to try it consistently). I thought the goaltending play was actually more impressive than the dunk, to be honest. If Maya Moore hadn't gone nuts in the fourth quarter, Griner would probably have been MVP. But Miss Maya went nuts in the fourth quarter. She started off hot, but she took over the game when there was a chance the East might still pull things out, and when Maya wants something, Maya gets what Maya wants. She was bombing threes, some of them from crazy deep. She drove. She got boards. She was generally awesome.

Stefanie Dolson was utterly adorable trying to get a “DE-FENSE!” chant started while she was on the bench, but it was a little hypocritical of her to slack off on defense when she finally got into the game. She got a couple of sweet feeds from Shoni Schimmel that bounced off her hands. Kelsey Bone was lackadaisical defensively (and I mean noticeably so, in a game where defense was not exactly a big thing), and I'm not sure who was the worse three-point shooter, her or Tina Charles. Emma Meesseman put on a nice little show in the first half, getting baskets and pulling down boards. I think the jig is up and she's not a surprise anymore.

Alex Bentley was not afraid to shoot, and she was feeling it from deep. The guy in front of us was wondering why she couldn't hit like that in the regular season, and I wanted to say, “Dude, this is an All-Star game, defense is optional.” Marissa Coleman was also taking a lot of deep shots, with somewhat less success. Cappie Pondexter ran a little bit of point guard off the bench, and also had fun with Riquna Williams. She seems happy. I'm happy for her.

The official starters didn't actually start the second half; Pokey went with Bentley, Pondexter, Coleman, Meesseman, and Bone.

Shoni Schimmel seems at her best in All-Star games. I'm not sure if that has more to do with the freeform play, the more fun atmosphere, or the lack of defense. Whatever it was, she seemed to be moving faster, playing more comfortably, finding her teammates, and generally looking like an All-Star. Elena Delle Donne almost had a “anything you can do, I can do better” vibe with Moore, answering almost every basket with a basket of her own. She's so smooth to watch.

Tina Charles, you are not a three-point shooter. Everyone in the universe knows it. Even Swin knows it. She was unstoppable down low and completely stoppable from beyond the arc. I think she was on a minute count, because otherwise she should have entered sometime in the third quarter. Angel McCoughtry was a hot mess today. She found a little bit of offense in the second half, but she spent a lot of time taking stupid, difficult shots, then pouting at the ref for calls. I don't know why she was in for so much of the fourth quarter, but the offense collapsed into her as if the ball had entered an event horizon. Tamika Catchings did her work around the basket, though I think she also had a jumper. She came to play at both ends of the floor, because she's Tamika Catchings, and if you're Tamika Catchings, you play hard. It's what you do.

I have to assume that Chatman was thinking ahead to the regular season down the stretch, and that's why Delle Donne, Charles, and Catchings were all on the bench while McCoughtry was jacking dumb shots.

We skipped the halftime entertainment, but we got to see the quarter-break entertainment, and the Russian Bar trio was amazing. Sure, I'll let two guys catapult me into the air on essentially a flexible balance beam, and I'll do flips and twists and spins in the air, and I'll land on my feet like a cat... that takes a special kind of talent and a special kind of crazy. By the end of the timeout, everyone on the West, including Coach Brondello, was watching.

Officials mostly stayed out of the way, at least until the fourth quarter.

The All-Star gear is bland at best and ugly at worst. And I didn't see any little things available. I would have bought a pin or something like that. And I hate the cut of the jerseys- they look like sports bras. Anyone with developed deltoids will probably break the straps. Anyone in less than stellar condition is going to bulge. (I do not want to see Danielle Adams in this jersey...)

We skipped the glowsticks during intros. They're in my bag.

Plenette provided most of the funny moments today, whether it was her skit with Bentley, her dance moves, or the rematch with Bentley. Bentley had gotten off the bench during a timeout and wandered towards center court to pump up the crowd. Yes, normally a technical, but on that day not a single damn was given. So Pierson came off the West bench, grabbed Bentley, and dragged her back to her place before scampering back to the West.

Games at Mohegan are convenient for me, but I'd like to see the All-Star game leave the eastern seaboard- I think it's causing fans to become jaded. They didn't even pretend this one was a sellout like they usually do.

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Thursday, July 16, 2015

July 16th, 2015: Connecticut at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: All-Star once more, Tina Charles poured in 22 points and 12 rebounds to power the Liberty's 64-57 win over Connecticut. Kiah Stokes anchored the middle with seven points, eight rebounds, and a team-record eight blocks. Alex Bentley led the Sun with 15 points.

For flexing in a no flex zone, KIAH SMASH, genuflection, inappropriately dressed children, inaudible drums, defense, chess motifs, and MOAR KIAH SMASH, join your intrepid and unworthy blogger after the jump.

This is entirely too quick a turnaround when there are no other home games left in the month, but here we are at the Garden once more, as the Connecticut Sun pay their first visit to New York.

We all know I hate the Q59; your intrepid blogger arrived at the Garden just in time to see Connecticut finish their stretching and run off the court en masse. Props to Kelsey Bone for stopping for the one guy there.

Tonight's pregame entertainment was so wholly inappropriate that the words I would use to describe it would get this blog on an FBI watchlist. I'm tired of having to avert my eyes from these inappropriate gyrations.

There's a random security dude in the next aisle over.

Really, Connecticut? Did you have to come out at the exact same moment the Liberty did?

At halftime, we're down five, and one rim rattling half-court miss from being down eight. Worse, there are small children dressed highly inappropriately and popping body parts they should not be entirely aware they possess.

Connecticut's playing a tough zone that we have few ways of breaking, and shooting well from the outside- a deadly combination that plays right to our weaknesses. Alex Bentley is getting good screens and using them well.

No portion of our offense should involve Swin Cash and Tanisha Wright passing the ball to each other. That interval is where offense goes to die a suffocated, strangled death.

The only thing more adorable than Tina Charles bopping to timeout music is Avery Warley-Talbert bopping to timeout music. And the only thing more adorable than that is watching Brittany Boyd, Sugar Rodgers, and Candice Wiggins enjoy Kiah Stokes's block party, complete with what looked like the "we're not worthy" bow. (Book-smartest guard trio in the league?)

It wasn't always pretty. It didn't have to be. And the Liberty seemed to get stronger as the Sun got weaker.

Chelsea Gray is big for a point guard! And I don't mean that as an insult, or as a statement about her physical fitness. I mean that she has a build that looks more like a modern off guard, or a '90s small forward. That is not to say she shouldn't be playing point guard, either. Her passing is beautiful and fast. She had the prettiest play of the game, with a hot flip pass to Kelsey Bone for a basket. I don't know if she's in the right spot yet, or if Connecticut needs to revamp stuff around her. Kelly Faris gave defensive minutes in the second quarter, and that was the end of her for the night. Shekinna Stricklen set the world on fire in the second quarter, when she scored all 11 of her points. She took advantage of smaller defenders for her first two treys, added a trey and another fast break, then went cold.

I like the physicality that Elizabeth Williams can bring, but I think she was a little cowed by the level of competition she was facing down low. Kayla Pedersen was asked to do a lot on defense, and while she had moments where she stuck hard to her assignment, she often ended up fouling, especially on the boards. I might have gone to Williams more than her.

I'm not used to Camille Little shooting perimeter jumpers this much. I don't know that it's a good look for her. She did a lot more work on the boards than I realized, though I think part of it is that I still think of her as wearing 20 and my brain reboots when I see the 2 jersey. Kelsey Bone looked like she had something to prove to the team that gave her up, going hard to the basket for a lot of her shots. She needs to be careful with those elbows, which you'd think she'd have learned after getting suspended for one; she didn't make contact today, but they were swinging freely. Alyssa Thomas's length was distracting on the defensive end, but she didn't look for her shot all that often- one of her two makes was a clean backdoor cut where her assignment went AWOL, the kind of shot that gets players cut for not taking. (You think I'm exaggerating; I'm pretty sure that's why Shenneika Smith was last cut a couple of years ago.)

Any defense worth their salt will give up shots to Jasmine Thomas all day. I'll grant that she had some of the worst luck in the game- at least two of those shots were good shots that had a legitimate chance of going in. She runs the offense well, and keys the defense well- I think she was the one who came close to forcing an 8-second call on the Liberty. Alex Bentley was the offensive catalyst, but if I were a coach, I'd be a little annoyed that she either backpedals immediately or stares it down. Go at the glass, woman! Follow your shot! I understand that that's not her job- that, perhaps, she only has one job- but that's a pet peeve of mine.

No announcement was made that there would be a block party this evening; no one brought refreshments, nor were the streets blocked off. But Kiah Stokes, beyond a doubt, got the block party started. Jasmine Thomas came at her twice with weak sweeping lay-ups that were rejected with panache and authority. Kiah has no taste for weaksauce. I also like that she was willing to shoot and to score. She doesn't have to be a big scorer, but she needs to be an option. Avery Warley-Talbert got some unexpected run in the third quarter and made the most of it, hitting the boards and picking up a pair of free throws. I do like her rebounding. Essence Carson put in some work defensively, but was outmatched by bigger and faster opponents.

I have concluded that Candice Wiggins has two basketball-related jobs on this roster: to come in when the game is a fait accompli, and to come in when Brittany Boyd needs a teaching moment, because this is the second game in a row where she's subbed in for Boyd after Boyd has made mistakes. She wasn't awful, but I'd still rather have Boyd, mistakes and all. Boyd seemed to be trying to draw more contact than iron. She's still an energizer. Sugar Rodgers hesitated to shoot a couple of times, which is very odd for her. I like that she's rounded out her game more and really intensified her hustle on defense.

Tanisha Wright brings a lot of intangibles. The tangibles were not terribly present for much of the game, especially in the second half. But she leads. She took Boyd in hand after a bad possession even before the coaches got to her; she sweet-talked the refs after a dubious call. I like that about her. Epiphanny Prince has settled nicely into the offense, providing a perimeter threat and helping create for her teammates. The defense keyed on her often, and she took a lot of contested shots. Still fewer than Cappie would have in the same situation, so at least I know it could have been worse.

Swin Cash fought really hard on the boards. You could see the Bad Girl in her, and I'm okay with that- we could use a little more of that. I was surprised to see her step outside for threes, but if she's hitting them and if we need to bust a zone with them, I'm okay with that as well. Carolyn Swords's shot came up a little short, but she put in work defensively and boxed out strong. She got more time early rather than late, because, well, Kiah's block party got started. Tina Charles hit a few of the jumpers, missed a few of the jumpers, and generally was a one-woman wrecking crew on the inside. She just moves with so much more fluidity down there.

We bore down hard on defense late. The switches worked, instead of leaving odd situations like Kiah on a guard.

The officiating had some questionable moments. The most annoying part- not the worst part, because technically they were right- was when they realized they'd lost count of the fouls, and Little should have gotten free throws. Right call, but it took a long time to explain. The worst was when the ball went off Williams twice in a row and still ended up Connecticut ball.

This is going to be a season series that will not be pretty and will be very, very hotly contested. NY-CT is a rivalry, both because of the trade and as part of the Greater Noo Yawk-Bahstahn Hate-Off. I look forward to the rest of it.

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Wednesday, July 15, 2015

July 15th, 2015: San Antonio at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The short-handed San Antonio Stars rallied but never threatened, and the New York Liberty came away with the 84-68 win on Camp Day at the Garden. Essence Carson led New York with 16 points off the bench. Danielle Robinson of San Antonio led all scorers with 18 points.

For high decibels, high pitches, disturbing performances, boogie-oogie-oogieing, the spoils of war, companionable swats on the rear, weak wi-fi game, resting up, and a memetic mutation, join your intrepid and stuck blogger after the jump.

Good morning, for lack of a better salutation! Longtime readers of the GNoD know that your intrepid blogger is not a morning person and does not like children, and thus is most displeased when her team has Camp Day. It's even worse when it's a Western Conference team such as San Antonio, and thus my only chance to see them is to brave the t-shirted hordes.

I am not a fan of pre-pubescent girls doing rhythmic gymnastics to Queen. Somewhere Freddie Mercury is spinning in his grave. Those bodysuits are way too tight. (And congratulations, Forest Hills rhythmic gymnastics, you just managed to make the Beatles creepy. Tweens in skintight bodysuits performing to "Twist and Shout". That song is now TAINTED FOREVER.)

As it turns out, there was no point in coming early, since no one was out by the time we got in. Ink junkie is most displeased.

So I don't have to be annoyed at the kids who were already in the seats where the ink junkies usually hang out, which is good, because they brought a really nice Liberty banner.

Carolyn, aren't you dizzy jumping around in a circle?

At halftime, the Liberty are up 39-30, in a game that started out like a house on fire and got a little more ragged as time went on. Las Danielle lead the way for San Antonio; Adams has 9 and Robinson has 6. Tina Charles has 11 points and four boards for the Liberty.

Crowd arrived late, but it filled up nicely. The kids behind us and around us have a good sense of how to behave at a basketball game. I like that.

Our first group of halftime entertainment was a step group that did not prepare for the big stage. Our second group is a dance team that looks to be early to mid-twenties. Talented and far less creepy. Also, I think one of the dudes might have been one of the dudes for St. John's, which is awesome.

What is that on Danielle Robinson's head, and are we sure it's not from another planet?

Note to MSG: the wi-fi is not robust enough to deal with a sellout crowd.

That game ended up being more competitive than I would have liked- in the end, we ground San Antonio down with depth and exposed their lack of auxiliary firepower. The Stars bore down well on defense, and dear Lord Danielle Robinson is good. But down a quarter of their roster, there was only so much that they could do.

Kalana Greene came in in the first half for defense, and actually got the second-half start over Sydney Colson. She's not going to be an offensive option, and she didn't do much to make herself one, but she stuck close on defense and stayed active. Samantha Logic found herself at the off-guard for a couple of stretches, playing alongside Colson. She lit the tree for the Stars with an and-1 late in the second half. Kayla Alexander impressed me, slithering into small spaces to get to the basket or at least get to the line. Danielle Adams looks like she's put on weight, and I think it's affected her mobility a little bit. We only saw her try the flop once- she didn't seem to be moving into poition to take them as willingly as usual. Not sure if that's a day-game thing or an injury thing or if she's changing in style or what. She wasn't getting much of anything to fall, whether it was jumpers from the outside or shots in the lane. She did do a nice job of drawing contact, though.

Sydney Colson's kinda quick. She caused chaos defensively. Danielle Robinson is even quicker. She's so fast, and so good. She had all kinds of offense working today, whether it was the jumper, the fast break, or the cut to the basket. She's so fun to watch. Why are we not hearing about her more? Seriously, WNBA, get on this. Jayne Appel facilitated the Stars' offense, which would have been nice if she were a point guard, but is somewhat less effective when three of the nine active players on the roster are primarily point guards and thus need someone to give the ball to. She got grabby and frustrated near the end of the game. The rims were unkind to Sophia Young-Malcolm in the first half, which I am totally okay with (no, I don't like her; I have a thing against people who believe my family doesn't deserve equal protection under the law). She got better looks in the second half, and she also got to the line more. She didn't seem to like some of the more physical play that went on down low. Dearica Hamby shows a lot of potential- she didn't necessarily look good, per se, but she looked like a player who needs to have the raw edges filed off her, to have her shot more refined, to become more familiar with the physical nature of the WNBA, before she fully comes into her own.

San Antonio seemed to focus more on defense than offense, which makes sense given that two primary pieces of their offense were missing and two others were off their game. Danielle Robinson may be awesome, but she can't do it alone.

Avery Warley-Talbert, still rocking the red hair, came in at the very end of the game and demonstrated both why we keep her (boxing out hard on the glass) and why we don't play her (hands of stone). Candice Wiggins saw extended run in the fourth quarter and, dare I say, put the game on Ice with a three-pointer. *sunglasses pull* yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Brittany Boyd seems to have gotten over that nightmarish game from the free throw line, at least AT the free throw line. She was shaky today elsewhere, with some bad passes and throwing up shots that looked designed to draw fouls instead of iron. We need her energy, and we need her to stay energetic, but she has to be careful with that as well. Sugar Rodgers turned up the offense in the fourth quarter, right when we needed a spark. Kiah Stokes looked aggressive and ready for action on both ends of the floor. She ran one particularly nice fast break in the second half that got the crowd going. Essence Carson did not take her removal from the starting lineup lying down. She had the outside shot going (though she still has that issue with getting it behind the line) and was strong overall.

I like what Epiphanny Prince brings to this team. She's a perimeter threat, but she also brings penetration and passing to the table. She's not so hot on defense, but we brought her in for offense, so I'm okay with that for now. She also seems to discourage Tina Charles from that pernicious habit she has of jacking long perimeter jumpers. Tina did work down low today, and watching her do work down low is a thing of beauty. She's lithe and quick in the paint. It looks like her element. I feel like I'm harping, but really, she looked good in the post and bad from deep outside. During the game, I kept thinking Tanisha Wright is where offense goes to die, but the box score says she had four assists, so she must have done well in finding open players, but it seemed like everything slowed down much more with her in the game instead of Boyd or Sugar. Swin Cash rebounded well, but that was about it. Carolyn Swords was tough down low, getting just enough on her shots to get them down and boxing out with thast big body of hers.

I love the flexibility this team has- we have players whose skill sets overlap enough that we have options, but who all bring different things to the table that suit different situations.

I also love when Tina is happy and contentedly bopping along to the dance music during a timeout.

If you throw a thunderstick at me, it's mine and I'm keeping it. Spoils of war, brat.

Some questionable calls, as per usual, but none of them were earth-shattering or game-changing.

I'm glad the kids got a treat; I'm glad we got a win. I'm even happier that the usual suspects got a good long rest before facing down Connecticut tomorrow.

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