June 26th, 2016: Phoenix at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Phoenix Mercury came back from a 10-point deficit to beat the New York Liberty 104-97 in overtime at the Garden. Candice Dupree had 26 points and eight rebounds to pace Phoenix, with Diana Taurasi adding 24 points, including the game-tying free throws. Tina Charles had 26 points to lead the Liberty, with Sugar Rodgers contributing 23.

For nostalgia, celebration, mocking the refs, screaming, catharsis, and getting punched right in the feels, join your intrepid and proud blogger after the jump.

We're back in the saddle again, continuing a week of celebration and commemoration, as the New York Liberty host the Phoenix Mercury in a rematch of the Liberty's first-ever game at the Garden. We're expecting a large and very proud crowd; the Pride Parade is today as well, and I've known more than a few people who use parade-and-a-game as date night.

In addition, there's a season subscriber event after the game with the original 1997 team. VERY HISTORY SUCH EXCITE WOW.

As the colloquialism goes, I'm all up in my feelings today- deathwatch in the family, deathwatch in the fandom- so I apologize in advance if there's anything lacking in these notes. My mind may not be fully on the game.

Almost no one came out to shoot around for Phoenix. I am very confused and a little bit disappointed. I just want to get Lindsey Harding on that hat!

I see some of the original Libs in their seats of honor. Rebecca Lobo brought the whole family. Simone Edwards either has, or has been accosted by, a small Jamaican contingent. Welcome home, y'all. Welcome home. (The Jamaicans were definitely with Shimmy. They came with her to the afterparty, and I think a few people who didn't have such clear memories of her mistook one or the other of them for her.)

The pregame entertainment has included a mediocre martial arts group (y'all need to coordinate your timing) and dance teams in shiny outfits.

Today was not the day to have the inspirationally disadvantaged music group perform the anthem, okay? Because no matter bad they were, you can't criticize them because it's not nice.

They played the 1997 intro video and did the full intros for the '97 team, and it was fantastic. (Except Sue Wicks didn't start in 1997 {they overlooked Sophia Witherspoon there, and she's here} {because that's what happens to poor Sophia}, and Kym Hampton went to Arizona State, not Arizona.) They played the intro music, and it brought back so many memories I started crying, choking on the sheer joy this team brings to me.

DJ Kool just finished his halftime set. Again, feels and memories. "Make some noise in this joint!" is my go-to for trying to get things loud. (Well, that, and Elena Baranova. "GET MORE LOUD!")

At halftime, Phoenix is up one, 47-46, after starting off on fire from beyond the arc. The Liberty have cranked up the defense, and the shots that were spinning out are starting to spin in. Also, to the joy of headline writers everywhere, Swin hit a shot off the glass. That's right, Cash had the bank.

We're at the Liberty celebration event now, which is at a nice venue, but not one that was conducive to loading large numbers of people in a hurry. Very limited accessibility. The chicken is oniony, but the egg rolls are fabulous and the sliders solid.

"Come take pictures with us, it's what we're here for." Oh, Brittany Boyd, you need to be careful how and when you say that. This crowd is rather intense. Way too many fans in too small a space for them, all trying to do the same things.

Kristin Bernert has a Tennessee Volunteers shirt on underneath her dress jacket. I approve this message.

Sophia Witherspoon looks fantastic. Better and happier than she did in a Liberty uniform, even; she always looked so terribly stressed with us, and now she looks like there's a burden off her shoulders.

Shoni Schimmel is working the room, in amidst the crowd.

You can't hide forever, Rhonda Blades-Brown. We're going to find you. And we did. And she was ruthlessly efficient and practical, wielding her own Sharpie and using a nearby table as a flat surface.

So yes, I do not approve of these officials at all and they may all walk very quickly off a very short pier. Phoenix flopped frequently and often. Three three-shot fouls in a single game? Come on, man.

Alex Harden, in a nutshell: she made a fabulous steal, raced the length of the floor, and proceeded to fumble the ball out of bounds. She's very much a defensive specialist, but I noticed she was doing a lot of shooting around before the game, so she knows she has to work on it. Sonja Petrovic has a pretty shot, even if it wasn't falling. I was impressed with her work on the glass as well- even when she wasn't getting rebounds, she was tipping the ball around to her teammates. I like what she does for Phoenix. Lindsey Harding picked up the pace of the game, but if Phoenix is expecting her to provide offense, well, that's cute. Her shot was still coming up short.

("Everyone calls us that '97 team. We called ourselves a family." Damn it, Teresa. They opened the roof and now it's raining on my face. They did a Q&A session with VJ and the Spoons. Seriously, Sophia looks so happy.)

Mistie Bass brings the physicality, but they really didn't go to her that much. She does her work in the paint. Kelsey Bone seems to have gone back to being the post player she was meant to be, instead of parking on the perimeter and jacking up jumpers. If Phoenix can get her to be consistently physical, they have a dangerous weapon in their arsenal. She got into foul trouble pretty quickly, and was pretty cranky about it. In other words, she'll fit in just fine with this Mercury squad.

Diana Taurasi is really good at basketball. Look, I'm tired and my feet hurt and I'm full of nostalgia squee. I'm having a lot of trouble bringing myself to care about analyzing the finer details of the winning opponent. She basically followed the same game plan as EDD did last game- take threes, hit threes, score many points. She's got a mouth on her, but you knew that already too. She plays like she's thinking about the game at a different speed from everyone else, like she's already seeing the next move, like she's seeing what's going to happen. Penny Taylor is beautiful to watch on the floor. She moves with grace. She found her teammates really well, especially in the overtime where the post players were basically taking turns going down the lane. Her height also drove us nuts on defense.

I don't like DeWanna Bonner. I don't like her stupid ponytail that she cut from a My Little Pony, I don’t like her dramatics, and I don't like her flopping. (I like when she runs into Screens of Death, though. That's fun.) I respect that she can shoot, and that she's useful on defense because she can be used both inside and out. I don't have to like her and you can't make me. This had to be- this just had to be- the game where Candice Dupree found where she stashed her give-a-damn. Of all the days. She is so smooth. She's not as smooth as in her Chicago days, but time happens. I'm the same age as she is, and I know I'm not as smooth as I used to be. She had the elbow jumper working, the moves in the paint working, pretty much everything. Brittney Griner showed flashes of the difference-maker her height and length make her (no, Tanisha, even if you went to Penn State, you're not going to win a volleyball play against Brittney Griner). But if I were Phoenix, I would want her to be more assertive and less cavalier on offense. She seems to throw up shots without thinking of the angles. Defensively, her arms are everywhere, sometimes to her team's detriment. There was one play where she blocked the shot hard, then deflected it back into play from the baseline- whereupon Tina Charles recovered it and made the second shot.

Phoenix almost seems to have two wildly different modes on offense. Either they're bombing from deep with the perimeter players or they're going hard in the paint with the post players. Dupree was really the only crossover between the two styles with her midrange jumper.

I really like what Rebecca Allen brings to the table, in terms of offense and in defensive hustle. I really would have liked to see more of her in the second half- she played a stretch in the third quarter, then went AWOL until overtime. I feel like she could have helped us, given us a little more speed to counteract Phoenix's size. Amanda Zahui B was solid, if a bit slow, in her minutes. Again, I thought she would have been useful late in the fourth. She provides a little more offensive potency, and not too much less defense, than Carolyn Swords. Size doesn't always matter, Bill. Kiah Stokes brought the defense, but her hands weren't as good as they needed to be. I don't think she should have fouled out- there were a couple of plays where I thought she didn't touch the player she allegedly fouled- but she overcommitted early in the game and had to back off afterwards. The baby bigs showed really nice touch around the basket.

Brittany Boyd had the wild shots working today, which is good, because we all know she wasn't going to get the call. Someday, when she slides on that followthrough and hits the floor, it's not going to end well for her ankle or her knee. Shavonte Zellous played the backdoor cuts beautifully, but I'm not actually sure if she was out there more for offense or for defense.

Tina Charles's high-arcing shot worked to her advantage today- there were a couple of shots that we're pretty sure Griner adjusted to the Liberty's favor (obviously unintentionally). But she can't do it alone. And she shouldn't be expected to do it alone. No one on this team should be taking 27 shots, not even Tina. No one should have to. Carolyn Swords picked up two very quick early fouls, which forced her to the bench early, which led to Kiah having to pick up the slack, and which led to Kiah picking up too many fouls to go on. Ball security is super important, too. Swin Cash was long on the inside, but I really don't remember much of the impact she had on the game.

Sugar Rodgers got off to a bit of a slow start, but she got cooking in the third quarter. When she thinks too much she misses. Then again, sometimes she needs a moment to set her feet, instead of just throwing it up. Her trigger was a bit too fast by the end of the game. Tanisha Wright still needs to work on ball security, but this is starting to feel like a recording.

Our perimeter defense is a hot mess. We're backing off way too much and letting them go wild. We're backing off too much late, and it's allowing teams to come back on us. We've got to learn to hold leads, this is ridiculous.

I'm also utterly baffled by Bill Laimbeer's personnel decisions and his endgame coaching. Rebecca and Amanda have both played well- both of them were solid in this game. Why wouldn't you go back to them in the fourth quarter? When we needed a three, why not go to them? Or, for that matter, down six in overtime and needing a shooter, why not give Shoni Schimmel a try? And I don't like the way the offense is running down the clock. I know that gives the opponent less time, but the way we're executing at either end, that leaves us with less time. Yesterday was a perfect opportunity to go two-for-one, and we gave Phoenix last shot in regulation. And look what happened.

The officiating most definitely didn't help. Blatant reaches by Phoenix (ahem, Bonner) were ignored, and the three-shot fouls were absolutely ridiculous. I'm willing to grant the one that Penny Taylor drew, but the one DeWanna Bonner drew was a very weak call, and the one that Diana Taurasi drew to tie the game was the wrong call. On the replay, it looked like Tanisha had reached to get the foul on the floor for two, but that call was missed and the second contact was called. The officiating felt very one-sided, and that irks me. (It did lead to some snark from the people two rows behind us. Eric Brewton is not a tall man, and no one looks tall next to Bill. So after one spectacularly horrible call, we heard, "Bill, tell him how short he is." Followed up by, "Come on, you're too short to see that call!")

To the family one row behind us: I don't like that your kid is screaming right in my ear. I can deal with that, though. What got me turning around and glaring daggers at you was your kid screaming "YES!" right in my ear when the Mercury scored. Don't tell me he's too young to know the difference when you were explaining it before. I don't need your kid screeching at every basket that both teams make because he's just so excited that the numbers are getting bigger.

Fortunately, while our... acquaintance... in the Cowboys gear made a comeback, he kept to himself and there were no incidents. He even seemed to get a little excited when Tina made shots! We'll convert our new neighbor to the ways of GET MORE LOUD, just you wait and see.

Geno was in the house, looking absolutely not thrilled to be on camera. All the Huskies went over to say hi after the game.

I've touched on the afterparty in bits and pieces in the midst of the notes, but it was just really truly special. It was a homecoming, and a gathering. Nineteen years later, these women still mean so much to each other, and that's more important than what they mean to us. What's humbling is what it seems like the fans still mean to them. This is the feedback loop that defined the Finals-era Liberty: they played with all their heart, and we cheered for them, and they fed off our emotion, and we fed off their emotion.

I think our youngsters are getting it too. Most of the current team was there, and interacting with what seemed like good cheer. More importantly, they were interacting with the originals. To players who were toddlers when this league started, understanding that history is important. Understanding that they're still part of history is important. The fight for a stable and growing league is still happening. The choices today's players make- the image that they project- still matters.

So these turned rather philosophical at the end, but to be honest, I'd really rather think about the team I love than about throttling the refs.

One last note: as we walked out of the hotel, feet sore and hearts full of joy, there was a very tall figure with very long dreads posing for pictures on the corner. I don't know where Griner was heading, but I hope she had fun wherever she was going. (It's also really cool to see players recognized in the wild, as it were.)