Just the Facts, Ma'am: South Florida scored the first basket, but St. John's had the last laugh, leading for 37 minutes in their 74-70 win over the 18th-ranked Bulls. Danaejah Grant led the Red Storm with 27 points, while Aliyyah Handford scored 11 of her 23 in the fourth quarter. USF's Courtney Williams led all scorers with 28, 25 of those in the second half.
For clutch seniors, athletic drives, sick passes, cheddar and sour cream Ruffles, rounding up the usual suspects, the ghost of Bonita Spence, weak free throws, Jersey drivers, and making big plays, join your intrepid and decorative blogger after the jump.
And now for something completely different, we're coming to you live in Smell-O-Vision from Carnesecca Arena on the campus of St. John's University, as the Red Storm host nationally ranked and erstwhile conference foe South Florida.
I don't know if I like the striping on USF's shorts, but I do like the numbers on their warm-up shirts.
Hot take: I looked at Maria Jespersen and almost blurted out, "Oh my God, they cloned Inga Orekhova."
Do your thing, Ninja Turtle girl at center court. Do your thing.
Shoutout to the trumpet tooting along with "Uptown Funk".
At halftime, St. John's is up 4, 31-27. The ghost of Bonita Spence has haunted this game, with five travels called in the first five minutes and other procedural calls scattered throughout. There may have been a shriek of "DAMN YOU BONITA" at one point in the first quarter. Lots of fouls, too. I don't agree with all of them, but there have been as many missed calls on St. John's as there have been bad calls, so I'll take the balance.
Shenneika Smith, she whose name is cursed in Storrs, is in the house, sitting in the VIP seats. She signed our flag. :D (And today is team autograph day, so we can add Akina and Jordan, too! Get ALL the Johnnies!)
This was old-school Big East basketball- punch and counter-punch, never able to escape the breath on the back of the neck but never quite being caught either, the stars shining and the support players coming up with big plays. Damn you, football greed and conference realignment!
Kitija Laksa hit a couple of threes early, which gave me the impression that she was a very dangerous shooter, but her looks were more contested later in the game. She's got good height for a shooter, and is more willing to rebound than the average outside player. Maria Jespersen mostly set screens and camped in the paint, so she's not a clone of Inga Orekhova. Shalethia Stringfield was fearless on both ends of the floor, which would eventually lead to her downfall and disqualification on personal fouls. I don't think Nancy Warioba actually saw playing time, but was instead just part of a complex substitution shuffle.
With big hair and seemingly endless enthusiasm, Laura Ferreira reminded me of Amanda Zahui B, but not in play style. She used her size on defense and hit a couple of buckets down low late. Alisia Jenkins looked ready to find her groove offensively in the third quarter, but couldn't hit the broad side of a a barn, and she had some very close looks at the basket. She's a damn good rebounder, using her height well to go after balls that other people can't reach. Katelyn Weber reminded us of what would happen if you put Katie Smith on a torture rack and stretched her head to toe. She was a bit gawky and awkward, which allowed St. John's to use less mobile defenders on her, but she did a little work down low.
Laia Flores might have gotten the start, but she barely played. She seemed to be more of a distributor and facilitator than active playmaker, and I think Fernandez was looking for someone to strike a spark, since Jenkins wasn't hitting. Courtney Williams got game. She reminds me a lot of Shenneika Smith, in terms of her body type and play style. She's a little more of a jump shooter than Shenneika was, but she's equally dangerous slithering into the lane or taking threes. She knows how to block shots, too- she went full Mutombo on one by Crystal Simmons. She was clutch for the Bulls, and had their run started a minute earlier, they might have been able to come all the way back behind her.
USF took a long time making subs- there were a couple of times when it was almost time to inbound the ball and a sub came jogging to the table. I was surprised how long it took them to adjust to the Red Storm's penetration.
Crystal Simmons came in for length on defense. She made a fantastic defensive play on Jenkins (granted, USF had a player there for the offensive rebound, but it was a break that Crystal made harder than it would have been). Akina Wellere came in to provide a little shooting. I think she's got a lot of potential to fit in this system- she just needs a little more polishing. Jade Walker played the bulk of the minutes at forward- she started the second half in place of Imani Littleton. Today she was feeling her outside shot more than her interior play, with mixed results. I like that she can change things up on the outside, but we need an interior presence, and the Marist game showed she can score inside.
Imani Littleton really looks like she hasn't found her place on the floor yet. I don't know whether it's just a lack of confidence or a lack of knowing what her role is, but I'm worried about her. She doesn't seem to be taking it well. Sandra Udobi still has trouble moving around, but she made some big plays down low, pulling down boards and getting to the basket.
Aaliyah Lewis got busted for a lot of procedural turnovers today- mostly travels, though one was a bad pass. She started off shooting well, but cooled off late in the game until it was time to hit free throws. Danaejah Grant was solid, putting up jumpers and driving the lane with equal facility. When she's on, she's on, and it's beautiful and terrifying to behold. Aliyyah Handford was driving the lane early and often, but driving more for the contact than the shot for three quarters. But when it came down to the crunch, she took over and made those shots count. She had three straight drives in the fourth quarter to counter the big plays Courtney Williams was making for USF.
For all the points Nae scored, her biggest play of the game was a rebound. Liyyah had finally missed on one of her twisting drives to the basket- but on a day when USF was dominating the boards, Danaejah came up with the offensive rebound. For all the points Liyyah scored, her biggest play of the game was a pass. You can see it yourself here, and you really want to: https://twitter.com/StJohnsWBB/status/671122558536826880
Lots of missed calls, lots of bad calls. I really expected better from this crew. The fact that many of the missed calls went in the Red Storm's favor is irrelevant to the discussion.
I approve of dancers with blue hair.
The turnout was disappointing, but given that a lot of places were still giving start time as 3:30, and given that the ticket office opened at least five minutes late, and given that facility staff was still sweeping up in the arena when the game was about to tip, I think the memo did not get out. Shame. We had a ranked team in the building, something that probably won't happen again until either DePaul or Seton Hall.
Big East basketball, man. It's a beautiful thing.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
November 29th, 2015: South Florida at St. John's
Saturday, November 28, 2015
November 28th, 2015: Sam Houston State at Florida State (LIU Turkey Classic)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Florida State leaped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back as the Seminoles dominated Sam Houston State 94-37. Brittany Brown's well-rounded effort led the way for Florida State, with 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, and foru steals. Leticia Romero notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists against zero turnovers. Angela Beadle was the only Bearkat in double figures, with 10 points.
For orange, handicrafts, cheesecake shots, intercepted passes, guards, hand stamps, and friends in all the right places, join your intrepid and pebbled blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, boys and girls! It's another basketball day here in Brooklyn, as the Turkey Classic lumbers on. Florida State is in action again, this time playing Sam Houston State.
This format is terrible. I blame Texas Southern, the team that backed out of the tournament and turned it from a four-team, two-day, two-doubleheader affair into this three-team, three-day, two-arena, round-robin mess.
Mom is distracted by small, adorable Seminole fans.
SHSU's uniforms are really, really orange.
Unsurprisingly, there aren't a lot of people here, and they seem to be mostly family and friends.
At halftime, Florida State is up 51-18, and Brittany Brown is up 22-18. Florida State's been intercepting passes like nobody's business. Sam Houston State is not good. They're not accurate, they're not sharp, and they don't move without the ball.
The Bearkats used a lot of subs, often at the same time- there were more than a few three-at-a-time subs, at least one instance of four-at-a-time, and at least one where five players checked in at once. (Poor Shadijah Moore drew the short straw on that one, being the last player sitting on a bench otherwise emptied of players.) They stayed stationary often on offense, and instead of throwing the ball to where a player was going to be, they would throw it to where she was- at which point Florida State would intercept the pass and run the break. It wasn't pretty.
Ashleigh Cooper played a few sporatic minutes late in each half and provided no marked impact. Jasmine McCants, who is not a center anywhere outside the Southland, was solid, and I think she was able to play a little more outside than her team would ordinarily ask of her, since she was closer to the size of the Seminoles' perimeter players than she was their post players. Shadijah Moore brought physicality and occasionally questionable plays.
Morghen Day reminded us physically of Lindsay Whalen, but not in style of play- she was more of a shooter than a driver. Jasmin Anderson and her tall hair made a little noise late with a three-pointer. Kamry Orr fearlessly drove the lane, you should pardon the pun.
Angela Beadle was outmatched by the Seminoles' posts, but she showed flashes of skill down low. She has an unusually exaggerated followthrough on her shot. Saundra Guillory came up with some nice strong rebounds late in the game.
Because Sam Houston State went through a lot of players, it's hard to differentiate among their guards except as people who were throwing the ball to Florida State players. Shernice Robertson was the most aggressive, which led to the most mistakes, but at least also led to some points for the Bearkats.
I think my favorite thing about SHSU was the personalized clipboards the coaches were carrying around. I know that's damning with faint praise, but they were distinctly unimpressive and lacking in effort.
It took a long time to get Rachel Antoniadou into the game, which I thought was ridiculous, given how far ahead Florida State was for most of the game. She shows promise as a shooter, but she needs a lot of work. Emiah Bingley ran a fair amount of point, or at least dribbled the ball at the top of the key to run out the clock. Maria Conde really got a lot of run, both because Sue Semrau was experimenting with different frontcourts and because the margin started out ridiculous and stayed ridiculous. She's very raw, and she seems terrified of contact, but there's a lot of potential for her. I'm not sure Florida State is the right system for her, though.
Kai James was intimidating down low, but more for her size and physical presence than anything she was doing near the basket- she didn't seem to be calling for the ball very much, and did little with it when she got it. Ama Degbeon moves like a woman who's terrified that her knees will fail her- she shot her free throws very stiffly and didn't seem to move well on the floor.
Leticia Romero is slick. I had forgotten about that ankle injury she was recovering from, which might explain why she wasn't as sharp as I was expecting her to be. But she still dropped some beautiful lookaway passes to her teammates, and made good decisions with the ball. I understand the Ticha Penicheiro comparison I've seen once or twice. Brittany Brown decided she was going to have herself a day, whether it was from behind the arc, hitting lay-ups on the break, or finding her teammates on the break. The shots she missed were hittable shots, and I think that got into her head a little bit. I really enjoy watching her play.
Ivey Slaughter has some nice inside moves. She has to remember that there's no checking in basketball the way there is in hockey, though. You can't bump someone that hard on the baseline and expect to get the call. Shakayla Thomas provides interesting lineup flexibility and can score both inside and out, but was careless with the fouls she committed on the defensive end. Sometimes you have to remember how breakable mid-majors are. Adut Bulgak looks like a pro player playing amongst college kids. She moves with more confidence and grace among them, and scores well inside and out. I think she gets one three-point attempt per blowout, when Sue Semrau decides to let her go a little wild.
Refs called a tight game early, then swallowed their whistles, then seemed to realize that things were getting a little out of hand in the second half and adjusted accordingly it got physical.
LIU came for the first half of the game, coaches sitting center court, players sitting in the endcourt. They left before halftime, but came back in the second half. To be honest, I think LIU might run SHSU's plays better than the Bearkats do.
Of course we went to Junior's for dinner. Expensive, but worth it. The chocolate mousse cheesecake is to die for.
Friday, November 27, 2015
November 27th, 2015: Florida State at Long Island
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A spirited defensive effort from LIU-Brooklyn was no match for a taller, faster, stronger Florida State team. The Seminoles won going away, 78-42, behind 20 points and nine rebounds from Adut Bulgak and 15 points and seven assists from Brittany Brown. Paris Jones led LIU with 12 points off the bench.
For seat cushions, new teams, ill-advised drives, disconcerting the shooter, questionable uniform choices, a lack of rstoer cards, changing numbers, elegance on the bench, and a work in progress, join your intrepid and stuffed blogger after the jump.
Happy Day After Turkey Day, everyone! Today is not Black Friday- it's Blackbird Friday, as LIU-Brooklyn hosts their first home game of the year against Florida State.
I don't know anything about LIU basketball so far, but the softball players are really nice- they were manning the table where the complementary tickets are held, and they were very helpful.
I forgot how much I liked LIU's facility, except for that one flight of stairs that is an inconvenience when traveling with my mom, who has two artificial knees and two artificial hips. (She's the Bionic Woman, but don't tell anyone I told you.)
The band is less jazzy and more percussion-driven than I remember. Dance team is more traditional, too. I'm a little sad about that.
Mom decided that sitting directly behind the Florida State radio team was a good idea, so we're mostly around FSU fans. I do not like this and do not recommend it as a course of action.
At halftime, Florida State is up 41-26. They're bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. LIU's playing spirited defense, but the offense is stagnant and the shot selection questionable. There's still a lot of work to be done.
(Is it petty to say that Sue Semrau looks like a version of Kim Mulkey with fashion sense? Well, I can be petty if I want to be.)
Emiah Bingley seemed very fond of the weak-side three, with mixed results for the Seminoles. Maria Conde is extremely raw and still seems to be growing into her body, but she has the right moves and a lot of potential. Rachel Antoniadou was aggressive on defense late in the game, and had the favor returned by Paris Jones so hard that she was rubbing the back of her hand before she took the free throws.
Kai James is a lot of woman. Nobody on LIU was capable of moving her. Ama Degbeon started to get some reps in the second half, running some of the same plays that Adut Bulgak was running.
Brittany Brown impressed me, getting all up in people's business on defense and hitting threes. She wasn't spectacular, but she was solid, the kind of presence Florida State needs to complement their star parts. Leticia Romero really didn't impress me in this one. She was there, and she read the passing lanes well, but she didn't make a lot of big plays. On the other hand, she really didn't have to.
Adut Bulgak is the real deal. I love how gracefully she moves, and how she's able to get position down low on the boards. Granted, she was playing against much shorter players who she could just reach over, but she moves really well, and I can see her being able to adjust smoothly to the 4 in the WNBA. Ivey Slaughter started the game off very well for the Seminoles, scoring down low around the basket. She cooled off a little bit, but still played well on the glass. Shakayla Thomas showed a tendency to add unnecessary degree of difficulty to her shots, which meant she was throwing the ball over the basket a bit. She's tough and very aggressive.
Florida State adjusted very quickly to the LIU defense, and to LIU's lack of size, going to big lineups with Kai James and Adut Bulgak. They had much bigger players and dominated the boards.
Lily Abreu looks a lot like Stephen Curry around the face, but she doesn't shoot like him. Shame- we need an outside shooter. She, like many Blackbirds, looked like she was still trying to find her place in the defense. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I like about DeAngelique Waithe- she seemed to put herself in the right place at the right time much of the time. Paris Jones made a good first impression, hitting shots and bringing energy. She won over the Queen Mother in a hurry. She seemed to be one of the few players for LIU playing with any sense of urgency.
I really like Brianna Farris's defensive intensity, but she needs to pick up some discipline and stay with her man- a lot of the time she was ducking out to get on the shooter and leaving people open. I'm also not sure about her shot selection, but her defense is her strength. Jolanna Ford reminds me of a couple of Red Storm forwards from back in the day- mind you, she's going to have to get a lot more floor burns and pull down a lot more rebounds before I really compare her to Joy McCorvey, but she has a similar build and can play a similar style. She's not consistent, though.
I... get the feeling that there wasn't a lot of structured offense at LIU before Coach Oliver took over. Shanovia Dove and Shanice Vaughan were both guilty of repeatedly driving the lane without even looking for a teammate to pass to, and then throwing up bad shots that had no chance of going in. Dove was at least rewarded with free throws for doing so more often than Vaughan was, but I don't think this was supposed to be the game plan. Stylz Sanders drove the lane hard as well, but looked for her teammates more. On the other hand, she was also more careless with the ball.
I knew going in that LIU was a work in progress, but there's still a lot of basics that have to be covered before we can get to the more complex issues of designing an offense. The biggest concern was an overarching lack of speed of play. As a team, LIU was too hesitant to shoot (granted, they were all facing larger defenders, even when they had shooting guards on them), slow moving without the ball, slow making decisions with the ball, and telegraphing their passes when they did decide to pass. They have to think faster and be faster on the floor. Learning to run backwards and prepare for passes would also be helpful. Outside shooting is something we can recruit for given time.
Perhaps not the most optimal of introductions, but I've seen worse. And Florida State is a very good team with a very good coach.
Monday, November 23, 2015
November 23rd, 2015: Marist at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Danaejah Grant 17 points and eight boards, as St. John's pulled away from Marist early, 61-47. Jade Walker added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Sydney Coffey led the Red Foxes with 16 points, while Tori Jarosz notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
For traveling in the dark of the night, blocked shots, illusory Girl Scouts, bringin' the noise, traveling fans, kicked balls, a lack of discipline, and weak contest shooting, join your intrepid and culinary blogger after the jump. (Want some apple pie?)
Good evening, boys and girls! Your intrepid blogger is back in her usual perch at Carnesecca Arena, holding down the fort in Section 2 with Mr. Noisy himself, as St. John's finally comes home to face mMarist.
I don't know whose idea it was to have this game at 7 PM on a Sunday night, but I would like to have words with them. They will not be nice words. I would also like to have words with whoever designated a 7 PM game on a Sunday night as "Girl Scout Day". That's not how this works.
Can I be weirded out by how pale Marist is? Even the non-Caucasian players are on the light side. It's very discomfiting (not to mention you get awkward contrast with unfortunate implications, given that 9 out of 11 Johnnies are various shades of medium to dark brown). (Look, there's no diplomatic way to state this observation without getting into people's self-identification. Would you prefer "one team looks like my mom's coffee and the other is closer to my dad's"?)
Danaejah Grant is running around without her jersey on. It would be somewhat more scandalous if she didn't have a shirt on.
Marist, stop trying to sit behind our bench. Okay, it's just one guy and his daughter, but don't sit behind the opposing bench, it's not polite.
At halftime, St. John's is up 34-24. Aliyyah Handford continues to be all Matrix-y in the paint. Jade Walker's hook shot is falling, and Marist is something like seven-of-a-thousand from the field. The officials are calling procedural things pretty tightly- lots of travels, lots of three-second calls. They did manage to miss a change of possession arrow, which has so far been to the Red Storm's advantage.
It might be Girl Scout Day, but so far the only Girl Scout I've seen here is me. I think they got their promotions crossed up.
That was easier than I was expecting. I was expecting more of a fight from Marist, but this is not the Marist that once terrorized the MAAC and slew Ohio State. I know it's early in the season, and I know Marist has a lot of new faces, but I still expect more disciplined play out of the Red Foxes. They were sloppy even in warm-ups, and the mental lapses continued into the game.
Eileen Van Horn looked to have had a laundry malfunction with her uniform- the white numbers appeared more of a pale pink. Claire Oberdorf had no name on her jersey, the only Marist player to lack it, and we joked about her having to earn it by her play on the court, as if some sort of cruel rite of passage. She was aggressive after the ball. Casey Davidson was last off the bench. Maura Fitzpatrick left no impression other than a dark ponytail.
Kendall Baab came in in relief of Tori Jarosz when Jarosz got into foul trouble. She scored her points fairly late in the game. Morgan Bartner provided some spot minutes as well.
Rebecka Garderyd seemed to be splitting time between point guard and off guard, running the offense when more deliberation was required. Allie Clement started off shooting badly, but finished with a couple of corner threes and one very nice drive down the lane. Sydney Coffey was the big offensive star, but even then, her drives down the lane lacked a certain technical soundness- she threw the ball at the basket with no sense of form.
Lovísa Henningsdottir looked lost on the court- I think she's still adapting to the defense. Tori Jarosz showed flashes of her offensive skill set, but was more effective on defense. She shut down a lot of shots and defended the paint well. Foul trouble put her on the bench for stretches. I think this game might have shown the difference between the MAAC and the Big East, at least in terms of size.
Hey! Freshmen! They do exist! Jordan Agustus and her goggles came in late in the game. She committed a dumb foul, but more than made up for it with a pretty move in the lane. Akina Wellere still needs to get her feet under her, in terms of defensive signals and familiarity with her teammates and system, but I think she's going to adapt quickly and fit in well. Now, if only her outside shot would start falling...
Tamesha Alexander ran point for a while in the second half, unremarkably. I love her feistiness, though. She was going up against way bigger players for rebounds. Crystal Simmons came in for Aliyyah Handford for stretches, and everyone really wanted her to get a basket. I think it might be smarter for her to focus on her defense- I can see her getting more bench minutes that way, filling a role like that instead of trying to add yet more backcourt offense. Jade Walker looked really good scoring in the paint- she's been working on her hook shot, and it shows. She still has the outside jumper, but if she can consistently add down-low scoring, we'll be a more balanced and more dangerous team. (And if she can avoid committing stupid fouls.) She started the second half over Sandra Udobi.
Imani Littleton doesn’t seem to have found her feet yet, though I'm not sure how much is being run for her. She's third option at best, fourth if Jade is in the game. I'd still like to see her be more attentive on defense. Sandra Udobi has lost whatever mobility she had after the knee injuries. If she can get position in the post on offense she's still a lot to handle for the opponent, but she can't move on defense, and that makes me sad.
Aaliyah Lewis appears to be trying to be our three-point threat, with no success so far. I do love watching a point guard grow into her own and become a floor leader. Tiny but fierce! Danaejah Grant had the jumper working. Aliyyah Handford showed off her Matrix moves- she's just so smooth and so flexible. You can't blink when you're looking at her, or you'll miss something. She did get caught gambling on defense a couple of times, flying out for the steal and very much not getting it. That's something she has to be more careful about.
In the third quarter, St. John's broke out a press, and it was very effective. I'd love to see more of that.
We figured it was a bad sign for the officiating when we saw an Enterline, but he actually didn't make any calls we objected to. Angela Lewis was the one making calls that seemed questionable and enforcing three-seconds with an iron fist.
So many kicked balls. I feel like Marist may have forgotten what sport they were playing?
I don't know what this proves for St. John's, or if it proves anything other than the athletic department's inability to understand how clocks work. I don't know what this says about Marist either- it may be too early to tell, or we may be watching the decline of one of the great mid-major dynasties.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
November 13th, 2015: Bryant at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Seton Hall started on a 10-0 run and never looked back as they defeated Bryant 93-57. Tabatha Richardson-Smith led the Pirates with 25 points, 20 in the first half. Shakena Richardson added 17. Ivory Bailey led Bryant with 21 points.
For flaws, blowouts, bom-bom-bom, so very much traveling, sweet shooters, and silent communication, join your intrepid and belated blogger after the jump.
Strike up the band, get loose, get your gear out, find your tickets, bang a gong, and let's get it on! Basketball season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with a day-night double-header?
First up, it's off to South Orange for a morning tip as the Pirates host Bryant. I'm not really a fan of home grays- not that I don't like the Pirates' uniforms, but I believe in wearing white at home, it's a thing.
Another chapter has begun in our eternal battle against the PATH and the 31 bus; today there were signal problems on the PATH and street closures on the 31 route. They better not mess with us on the way back.
Seton Hall seems to be up for the game, or at least better morning people than the Johnnies have ever been. Tiffany Jones busted some impressive dance moves during shootaround.
I salute you, student of "communications and the arrrrrrrts".
I like Seton Hall's new band shirts. The best way to wear a tie is to have it printed on your shirt in school colors.
We passed several school buses coming out of the parking lot, so it appears that there will be plenty of kids here, but as long as they don't shriek directly in my ear and they don't throw things at me, I'll survive. And since the kids are all in the upper deck while I'm in the lower deck, I'm really okay with this.
At halftime, Seton Hall is up 58-28. Tabatha Richardson-Smith has 20 points for Seton Hall, with Tiffany Jones adding 13 and Aleesha Powell adding a boatload of assists. Ivory Bailey has 15 of the 28 for Bryant- and three fouls.
SHU's been sloppy, but they've been able to get away with it. I'm worried about how Shakena Richardson is integrating into the offense- or not integrating. It looks like she's not reading the signals correctly.
Yes, Tara. I saw you mouthing along the "bom-bom-bom" during "Sweet Caroline".
Good times have, however, seemed better. I will happily take a blowout that was in the 40-point range for stretches of the fourth quarter. I'll take it and I'll like it. But there were a couple of things nagging at me for much of the game. We'll get to that later.
Naomi Ashley did not endear herself to anyone when she almost kicked Tabatha Richardson-Smith in the head late in the game. Accidental or not, that's not a move that makes a lot of friends. Chanel Ramcharran hit a long two that had originally been called a three and then reversed, then took a deeper one as if to say "call this a two, I dare you!" She seemed to get a little shot-happy in the fourth quarter. Dani Anderson is apparently a shooter (or so the defensive calls from the Seton Hall bench would indicate), She made more of an impression getting beaten on defense, though. Haley Connors came in in the first quarter as Bryant's coach made more subs and seemed to be searching for an answer. Kierra Palmer was first off the bench in the first half, but unless I've messed up my second half rotations, she didn't enter in the second until the fourth quarter. (There is a distinct possibility my second half rotations are messed up, though.)
(You may be able to determine from this that Bryant plays a lot of guards.)
Maureen Leahy was the sole post player off the bench for the Bulldogs, a tall center who rebounded well and at least got good shots at the basket (even if she only hit one of them).
I was expecting a lot more out of Breanna Rucker, from everything I've read about Bryant, but Seton Hall put the clamps on her. She didn't have a field goal until the fourth quarter, and never seemed to get comfortable on the floor. I was, however, very impressed with Ivory Bailey. She knows how to get buckets, and how ot take advantage of smaller defenders (the Pirates kept running Shakena Richardson at her, and, well, Shakena is smaller than pretty much everybody). She's got great moves. She's a little over-aggressive, but I think that can be harnessed in time, and they've got a coach who I think is good enough to do that. But as many accolades as Rucker has and Bailey will have, I feel like so much of Bryant's success this year will hinge on Tiersa Winder. And you're going to look at that 2-14 shooting and conclude that your intrepid blogger has gone and lost her mind. But it felt like she was the orchestrator of things- offense, momentum plays, hustle plays. If this game was any indication of how Bryant usually plays, she's their leader.
Morgan Olander hit the boards well on the defensive end and caused a little defensive mayhem in the middle. Alex Klein left no real impression despite starting.
So many reserves! Play ALL the reserves! (Except the ones who are redshirting.)
Tara Inman does not dribble as well as she thinks she does. I'd really like to see her stop trying to do the fancy stuff. I like her defense and her hustle. Jordan Mosley got a bit shot-happy late in the game- we were rooting for Seton Hall to get everyone on the scoreboard, and Jordan kept taking shots. I expect more ball thought and more sense out of a senior, even one who doesn't play a lot, but she was committing dumb fouls and not working the ball. On the flip side, LaTecia Smith's clock management skills still need work- Coach had to remind her to back the ball out when the game clock (not the shot clock) was under 30. Martha Kuderer played a little scared, but I don't think I can blame her- she's the last player off the bench, after all.
Jordan Molyneaux laid the blocks down and disrupted Bryant's offense in the middle. Claire Lundberg shoots threes, and I'd like to see her learn to do more than that if she's going to give Tab any sort of consistent relief. Taylor Byrne still has a lot to learn, but I like the way she boxes out. The three is not, or at least not yet, her shot. But with both her and LaTecia, I can see the potential to learn.
Thing #1 that worries me, though I think and hope that it's temporary: Shakena Richardson really does not seem to know the signals, either on offense or defense. She's a talented player, fun to watch- she shook and baked a Bryant defender so hard I thought less of the basketball terminology than of the hockey term "filthy dangle". I definitely wouldn't give her the ball in the midst of a triple-team that includes post players, though. She drives like crazy (you can insert a New Jersey joke in here if you want). Aleesha Powell is so quick, and she plays such fierce defense- sometimes to her detriment, when she picks up quick fouls. By midseason, I expect her passing to be much sharper. Leesh just does everything, and does it well. If she were just a little bigger and a little stronger...
Thing #2 that worries me, and I have more reservations about it being long-lasting: Lubirdia Gordon, for the second game in a row, couldn't hit water falling out of a boat. I think two of her shots were so far off, went so far over the basket, that the official scorer didn't even count them as shots. She's always had small hands for a post, and that's always worried me, but she seems to have regressed. She's not being aggressive, and she's not hitting easy shots in the lane. Tiffany Jones just does her thing, quiet and consistent. She does a little bit of everything. Tabatha Richardson-Smith started off red-hot- for a fair amount of the first half, she was either leading or tied with Bryant all by her lonesome. I think it got to her head a little bit after she hit a ridiculously long three, because then she started taking higher degree of difficulty shots that weren't necessarily within the flow of the offense. Coach did not seem to be amused. I love Tab, and people are going to take this the wrong way if I say it, but sometimes she doesn't seem to take the game seriously enough, and sometimes she seems to take her importance to the stat sheet more seriously than she should. She has WNBA skills and a WNBA-ready build, but I don't know yet if she has the right attitude to be a complementary part in a system.
The officiating reflected part of the problem with the quarter system: in a blowout, there's a psychological difference between 10 minutes of second-half garbage time and an entire 10-minute period of garbage time. There were ticky-tack calls in the third and then essentially a fourth quarter of no calls, even when there were wrestling moves on the hardwood. I think we're going to see some very sloppy fourth quarters this season across the NCAA.
I don't know how good a warm-up that really was for the schedule ahead. The level of competition ramps up fast. But it's good to see them do well- and to see their flaws laid out so we know how to handle them.
Friday, November 13, 2015
November 13th, 2015: Iona at Stony Brook
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Stony Brook overcame early turnover issues to come away with a 58-53 home win against Iona. Kori Bayne-Walker led the Seawolves with 14 points; Stony Brook also got 13 points from Christa Scognamiglio and 12 points and 10 boards from Brittany Snow. Iona's Marina Lizarazu led all scorers with 21 points.
For fumbles, missed opportunities, fantastic bands, so very many trains, souvenirs, shiny things, new favorites, and wind, join your intrepid and anachronic blogger after the jump.
We are never going to Stony Brook again.
That's nothing against the town, or the school, or the facilities. We haven't even made it there yet. LIRR is ridiculously expensive and I refuse to pay those prices ever again.
That being said, the food is good (we went to a place called The Bench, right after the Iona team meal, and got to say hi to their bus) and the facility still has that new arena smell from the heavy internal renovations. It's a bit confusing to get around, and I'm not a fan of putting suites that low in the building. But it's really nice otherwise.
No, Iona, don't do this to me, why is Aaliyah Robinson not dressed, please let A-Rob be okay, please. NOT MY FAVORITE DAMNIT
Of course Stony Brook's band knows Billy Joel. It's like we're out on the Island or something.
What is with Stony Brook's penchant for fearsome and/or terrifying names? You've had a Sabre, you have Bayne-Walker (which phonetically sounds like an awesome horror series) and now you have a Skaro. If she starts screaming "EXTERMINATE" we all run.
I think Stony Brook's band has too many Yankee fans in it. They're doing roll call in time with the test of the graphics system. It fits better in the college system, but as a Mets fan, I'm obligated to mock Yankee things.
Kiddy anthem. I've heard worse kids.
At halftime, Stony Brook is up 29-23, and if neither team hits 58 I'm declaring them both losers and giving Bryant the win, because this has just been bad basketball. Stony Brook is turning the ball over like crazy, while Iona is turning the ball over and making absolutely no sense. I don't understand Iona's offense. I don't understand Iona's rotations. I don't understand why Iona is trying to turn an athletic rebounder who's at her best scoring off boards and down low into a small forward and having her shoot from the outside when she shoots. I don't understand anything.
But I really like Stony Brook's band. What they do with the student section is what we're trying to do in section 2 at St. John's- bring the noise, get good call and response going.
That game got fun for a while, but in the end, Iona couldn't buy a basket and Stony Brook could seal the deal with free throws and defense. The pedant in me thinks it might have been easier for them to buy a basket if they sent the right people to the store, but I recognize my biases and attempt to either work around them or acknowledge them so that others may recognize and take them into account.
Iida Ahvenainen came out shooting, but didn't come out hitting. She was first off the bench in the first half, but didn't play in the second half. I understand why. Philecia Gilmore is doing her best to become my new favorite, though not for her play on the court. She's passionate, she's intense, she's loud, and she has presence beyond her years on the bench. She didn't have a great game on the court, but on the bench she reminds me of Erin Thorn, and I can already see her as a coach in the future. (Yes, I'm thinking specifically of the years Erin suffered through Pat Coyle.)
I really like Ashley Murray's hustle. She sacrifices her body on defense to draw charges, and she's not afraid to bang. I think I'd like to see her be more of an offensive option, but then again, I don't know what the offensive options are, so. Aurellia Cammock got a couple of big boards in the second half, but she's got to hold on to the ball, she's got to be more careful with her body, and she's got to finish plays.
Alexis Lewis certainly isn't afraid to shoot. I'm sure there will be days when I think this is a good thing. This was not one of those nights. I like her intensity and her passion, but I don't know if she's ready to start yet. Marina Lizarazu set the nets on fire in the first half; in the second half, she seemed to fall back into old habits of endless dribbling left and stalling the offense. Stop being afraid of action! Good things happen when there is action!
Treyanna Clay intrigues me. You can see how raw she is, but you can see that there's potential there. I don't know if she's ready for the big time yet, but I like her fearlessness. She's got good instincts- she just needs to hone them. Karynda DuPree is right back to that style of play that makes me want to tear my hair out: she stands and stares at rebounds, she's careless with the ball, she's taking deep threes at angles she's not good from. She'll have moments, especially on the defensive glass, where she looks aggressive and plays with the strength of that solid frame. And then she goes back to half-speed. Joy Adams seems to be wedged into a three-hole that her style of play doesn't suit. She's a phenomenal athlete who's best running the break and close to the basket off rebounds. Why she's being set up for threes is utterly beyond me, and I think it's affecting her game both physically and mentally (though her catching ability has never been great, she's being called upon for more dribbling than usual, and her handle is not that great). She missed a couple of shots late that she should have had.
I realized what the Joy-at-the-three experiment reminds me of: when Bill Laimbeer tried to convert Toni Young from 4 to 3. Joy's a little bit smarter than Toni, and definitely has a better work ethic, but it's still trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.
Kim Hanlon came up with some big plays at the end of the game, icing the deal at the line and making the big steal. She seems like a solid, heady player. Davion Wingate came in for an offensive boost, with mixed results. She's got some moves. Alyssa Coiro coordinated the defense when she was in, and seemed to be a leader on the floor.
A lot of people at Stony Brook and in the America East are going to be annoyed with this team, because they're going to have to spell Ogechi Anyagaligbo a lot, because she's very, very good. She had a big swat to help seal the game for Stony Brook late, and she's got good moves in the lane. I really like her and her potential. Brittany Snow played well down low. She was phenomenal on the offensive boards, with some help from her teammates keeping balls alive.
Jerell Matthews got the start, but didn’t play a lot (I think this is part of why I lost track of the rotations a little in this game). She was mostly out on the perimeter. Kori Bayne-Walker moves deceptively gracefully for a woman of her very broad build. Sometimes it works for her; sometimes it definitely doesn't. On a night when the officials are calling block/charge pell-mell, it doesn't work. Christa Scognamiglio hit a couple of big buckets late in the first half, after the first time Iona took a lead behind Marina. She's got nice touch.
Stony Brook's announcer seems to relish long, complex last names, much as Mike W. does for the Liberty and the Knicks. I love it.
The officials got kind of inconsistent about block/charge in this one- in the first half, everything was a charge, but in the second half, everything became a block. I think this crew might have been confused about the presence of both the men's and the women's circles on the court. I think the rules committee should look at that.
Stony Brook does postgame autographs after every game, and since our train didn't leave for another forty minutes, it seemed like a good use of our time to get on line. They were all really nice, but someone needs to talk to administration about getting better and/or more markers. Poor Anyagaligbo got stuck with one that was drying out.
All in all, my biggest problem with Stony Brook is the same problem I had with the Prudential Center: it's a beautiful arena, with great atmosphere, all the necessary amenities, transit nearby, good food in the area, a team that can be fun to watch... but it's just too far away to be realistic for me.
The problems I have with Iona, however, run deeper.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
November 7th, 2015: Philadelphia at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A slow start for both teams developed into a 71-47 Seton Hall win over Philadelphia University in the Pirates' first game of the year. Tiffany Jones led Seton Hall with 16 points and eight rebounds. Rachel Day had 12 points for the Rams.
For failure to communicate, disallowed shots, sore muscles, missed connections, and superficial analysis, join your intrepid and diverted blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon! It's that time of year again- college basketball has returned. Sure, it's only the preseason, and it's not a D-I opponent, but it's good to be back where everyone knows your name (or at least your husband's nickname). The trusty laptop and I are once more ensconced in our familiar place in section 4, behind the Seton Hall bench on the hard wood bleachers of Walsh Gymnasium. This time, I brought a cushion. I learn eventually.
The trip is always long, but PATH made it an extra twenty minutes longer. We left home a little before 10:30 to get to Seton Hall at 1:20. Insanity.
Going through Newark is always depressing. The lines of demarcation between the carefully tended neighborhoods and the ones less cared for are sharp and clear; you go half a block, maybe a little more, past the Prudential Center on Market Street, and you've gone from artisanal pizza to swathes of empty storefronts. Get off at Dover Street on the 31, and in two blocks you go from plexiglass barricades in the stores to the graceful houses of South Orange Village. Even University Heights, so shiny and new, comes off as sterile, or possibly sterilized, a place where people perform the activities of daily living without actually living.
I don't know if I could live in poverty, with the constant presence of wealth hovering so close and yet so far, without falling into rage and the urge to destroy something.
Philadelphia needs to update their gear. That's a very old Reebok logo.
Pocket schedules are simple this year, but the posters are nice.
I don't know if I like the quarter system for college basketball. I'm used to it from the WNBA, but I sort of miss long periods of play. Well, it is what it is.
At halftime, Seton Hall is up 42-29 on Philadelphia. Shooting was bad by both teams in the first quarter. Offense has picked up some in the second quarter, Philadelphia by finding open jumpers, Seton Hall by applying the backcourt trap and getting fired up by their defense. The seniors are making noise for the Hall, with 11 points for Tiffany Jones and 8 for Tabatha Richardson-Smith. Jessica Kaminski has 9 for Philadelphia (though it should be 8, that three was clearly on the line).
The game was definitely better than the travels and travails it took to get there. It's 6:10 right now, and I'm still in Manhattan. Transit has been madness, whether it's construction and signal issues on PATH or a police investigation on the J. We've walked around, rerouted, rerouted again, and finally gotten on a train that will get us to a bus that will get us to a long walk home.
So there are definitely things to look forward to for the Hall, and a couple of things to worry about. I don't know how good Philadelphia is going to be this year, but their two big shooters today were a redshirt freshman and a sophomore.
Philadelphia really didn't go deep into their bench for most of the game. The Rams emptied their bench late in the game, so we got brief glimpses of Valez Jackson, Alicia Lister, and Regan Marriner. None of them did anything of note. Jessica Kaminski would be a much more lethal scorer if she had a better sense of where the three-point line was; most of her shots were very close to the three-point line, and usually on the wrong side of it. It's the same issue I have with Essence Carson, only she wasn't even on the line most of the time. Jackie McCarron apparently played in the first half, but you can tell how much of an impression she left if I thought her first appearance was in the second.
An outside jumper is a very useful weapon for a post player, especially one with a stocky build who thus becomes less of a suspect in the ownership of a soft outside shot. That being said, Mary Newell seemed to rely more heavily on it than she should, which was a shame, because she seemed to have good moves around the basket, or at least the ability to make points happen in the vicinity of the basket. Tori Arnao was mostly shut down, and her shots seemed to get wilder as the game wore on. She did a good job boxing out and setting screens for her teammates.
Bria Young has a lot of speed and a lot of aggression, but not a lot of sense- she got nailed at the halfcourt line a lot, and showed a distressing tendency to stop there as if waiting for the trap to come. Rachel Day has a really pretty three-point shot that we saw entirely too much of, because she was able to use screens and get herself free. Kelsey Jones left minimal impression- she came off as someone who's very tough, but didn't necessarily have any occasion to use it. That happens sometimes.
Philadelphia seemed to panic as the game went on and the lead got bigger. There were a lot of bad shots thrown up just for the sake of having a shot up. They rallied a bit late, but very late, when Seton Hall had been up by 20 for much of the half.
Seton Hall has a lot of freshmen. That's to be expected, with the number of scholarships freed up from last year, whether by graduation or by attrition. We didn't get to see much of Kaity Healy, or Martha Kuderer (AKA McLaughlin; there was apparently some kind of issue with her jersey, so she was wearing a different name and number). LaTecia Smith put in some time at point guard, and I think she's got a lot of potential. The one glaring thing that stood out to me was clock awareness, or lack thereof. That might not be the right phrase; an inability to manipulate the clock might be closer. She's not going to hold the ball to run out the clock or to keep the opponent from having extra time on offense; she's not going to set up for one last good shot. Other than that, I like her. She's a freshman; she'll learn. The freshman who impressed me most was the forward Taylor Byrne. She needs to work on her stamina and conditioning, but for a freshman in her first college game, that's to be expected. I like her hustle, I like her shot, and I like her communication on the floor. She looks to be a very useful player already, and someone we can rely on in later years.
Jordan Molyneaux appears to have lost any court vision she had during her abbreviated season last year. I like what she does defensively on the inside (that foul was totally a clean block!) but I expected a little more out of her. Maybe she's just rusty, though. Jordan Mosley made some good moves on defense. Claire Lundberg's threes had a nasty habit of rimming out. Tara Inman gave up her body on defense. I love to watch her work on defense.
Shakena Richardson reminds me of Temeka Johnson, only slightly stretched out- not quite as stocky, a little bit taller, but strong for her size. She overthrew a couple of shots in ways I wasn't expecting. It's going to take a while for her to develop a rapport with her teammates, but I think she'll get there. I like her slashing ability to the hoop. Aleesha Powell has a lot of speed, and I love when she cuts off an opponent's angle. Again, some rough edges need to be filed off on team chemistry, but we're only in the preseason, and that's what you do in the preseason: you figure out what needs to be fixed.
Tiffany Jones had herself a game, hitting threes and pulling down boards. I always get a little weirded out when posts get comfortable beyond the arc, but if she can consistently hit that shot, I'm okay with it. Lubirdia Gordon couldn't hit a bunny all night, and it seemed like she had more of them than the box score shows (though she was fouled on some attempts, and I suppose some attempts never got sufficiently close to the basket to be considered shots). She pulled down the boards, but the boards don't do you much good if you can't convert them. She also seemed to not be communicating with the guards. Look down, Bird- they're there, I swear. And now we're getting to the part that I don't like writing, because I want only good things for Tab, even when she gives me the I Am Disappointed In Your Life Choices staredown. But Tabatha Richardson-Smith has a recurring case of recto-cranial inversion, and it flared up in the second half of this game. I love to watch her shoot. I love when she hits the boards. She's got the skills and the build to take that next step. But she knows it too, and sometimes I think she believes her own hype. And if you do stupid things on the court, and your coach gets upset with you for doing stupid things on the court, you don't ignore him. You don't act like you're not taking the game seriously (even if you're not- pretend to care).
The crew chief seemed very concerned with the small details of fashion today, since that was something she could enforce with any reliability.
This is not the team that went to the tournament for the first time in ages. This is something different- there's promise, but there are definitely rough patches. Communication is the key.