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.)

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June 24th, 2016: Chicago at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Chicago got off to a strong start and erased most of a big lead near the end- but New York held the Sky off, 80-79. Tina Charles led New York with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 31 points, while Cappie Pondexter added 20 for Chicago- but no other Sky player had more than nine.

For sleepless nights, the speed of Sugar's shot, Tina Charles being the boss, misplaced courtesy, too much yellow, just enough maroon and gold, role reversal, rocking out, and glorious rainbows, join your intrepid and stressed blogger after the jump.
Good evening, gang! We're coming to you in glorious color from Pride Night at Madison Square Garden, where the New York Liberty take on the Chicago Sky. Everything is in rainbows. We all have rainbow wristbands with the #OrlandoUnited hashtag.

Whether by coincidence or design, Shavonte Zellous is on the front of the roster cards for this game. There's also a Pride version of the Liberty logo, with the WNBA Pride ball replacing the usual flaming basketball.

No H8 set up shop in the Garden lobby for photos and temporary tattoos. Very popular, obviously.

This is why you can't afford to be a nice person when autograph hunting: I passed up EDD because I thought she was in a hurry to stretch. And then for the first time in as many years as I can think of, the road team went out the other tunnel. Missed 'em all. RAEG.

Both teams have the #OrlandoUnited shirts, though it took a moment for Swin to get hers on.

Anthem was excruciatingly screechy. Girrrrrrl, just because you're small and blonde and pretty does not mean you're Kristin Chenowith.

At halftime, the Libs are up 50-40 on Chicago and we're rocking out to a Led Zepplin cover band, Lez Zepplin. Chicago's stars have been superb- but only four Sky players have scored. Meanwhile, the Liberty are clicking on all cylinders, getting short bursts of greatness from Amanda Zahui B and Rebecca Allen. I'm going to need everyone to get off the wi-fi so I can check mail and things, because reasons.

MSG, y'all gotta do something about general admission and security lines. Way too many people being hustled around and seat-jumping, way too many people coming in late.

Dear my Liberty, I'm going to need you to stop milking these leads down until they're almost gone, or in some cases completely gone and then returned. My family has a history of heart problems on both sides and I'm going through a lot of stress right now. I can't afford another round of Maalox Moments.

Chicago can either have a plethora of blondes or they can have the yellow jerseys. They can't have both. Personally, I'll take Delle Donne, Quigley, and Vandersloot over those gold jerseys if I'm a Sky fan.

Cheyenne Parker is very pretty and very enthusiastic out there, but so far she's not very impressive. Imani Boyette is already ahead of her in terms of talent and in terms of using her height effectively. She seemed to get stronger as the game went on- maybe it was a matter of match-ups, maybe she was finding her confidence. But the tall girl was using her height on both ends of the floor. She had a very emphatic get-that-outta-here block. It's clear that she's going to be Chicago's center of the future. Jessica Breland played a little in the first half, but she was getting beat pretty handily on defense and picked up a couple of quick fouls. I'm not even sure she played in the second half or if Chatman just rolled with Boyette for all her post reserve needs.

Jamierra Faulkner is so very fast. She's fun to watch when she's running at full tilt, but sometimes her speed betrays her. There was one play where she thought she had an open lane, raced for it like it was the last open parking space on the block, and then got Stoked. (That's going to be a thing now.) I respect her willingness to attack the rim, but you got to know when to walk away and know when OH DEAR GOD IT'S KIAH STOKES RUN RUN NOW RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Allie Quigley found space in the midrange in the fourth quarter, because it is known that if you're a Big East fan from a certain era, you are cursed to be forever haunted by Quigleys. (Unless you're a DePaul fan, in which case it's more like, "Hey, girl, how you been?" But among my people, Quigley is a swearword, shrieked defiantly with a fist jabbed at the heavens.)

Érika de Souza got the start, but it almost seems ceremonial at this point. She's not terribly mobile on either end of the floor. She got rebounds, but I think she needed the help of her teammates with boxing out to get those boards. When Carolyn Swords is making you look bad, it might be time to consider ending a sterling WNBA career (that had an unfortunate detour, but we don't speak of it). Tamera Young's shot continues to be strange and funky, and she should not shoot the ball as often as she did. She's great on defense- she's part of how they can swarm so quickly on the ballhandler and bring pressure in a hurry.

Elena Delle Donne defines positional boundaries and paragraph boundaries, because that's how she rolls. She killed us. She almost completely killed us dead, and if she had been going for the game-winning shot instead of the game-winning free throws. We had no answer for her on defense- she was too quick and fluid on the perimeter, but too tall for the guards to cope with. She's improved her defense as well, and she's picked up some of La Leslie's dirty tricks down low (the casual elbow, the slew-foot). She's really devoted herself to becoming a true franchise player, and I have mad respect for that.

Courtney Vandersloot has amazingly quick hands, especially on defense. If you are in the least bit careless with the ball in front of her, that ball will be hers. She had a beautiful strip in the first quarter that had me all but dropping my jaw. She seemed a little more reliant on the long ball than she perhaps should have been. Cappie Pondexter started off red hot, but she does have a tendency to try and do everything herself, and near the end of the game I think that came back to bite Chicago. This is not to cast any shade on her basketball skills, but instead on her timing of them. There was one play (that, to be fair, worked out for Chicago, as she beat the shot clock buzzer) where Boyette had Sugar Rodgers on her, but Pondexter chose to keep the ball.

I'm not entirely sure Chicago has endgame strategy other than "stop the ball" or "give the ball to Elena".

Rebecca Allen, welcome back to New York, we missed you, please don't leave or get hurt ever again. She was a huge boost off the bench, disruptive on defense and stretching the offense. She fit back in like she never left. I forgot how good "AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!" "OI OI OI!" felt to belt out after a three or a big hustle play. Rebeccas are awesome and Australians are awesome and Bec is pretty awesome. Amanda Zahui B had a very nice stretch in the first half where she and Brittany Boyd were clicking, but I think Bill's got her on a short leash when it comes to fouls- the silly foul she committed seemed to be her cue to take all the seats and never look back. I would have liked to see her get a few more minutes to give Tina and Kiah a break. Kiah Stokes was a defensive beast and did a lot of big work on the offensive glass. She picked up steam as the game went on, going up strong on the boards for put-backs to finish second and third chances.

Brittany Boyd needs to finish at the rim, and in general find her shot. She increases the pace of the game, but that doesn't matter if she's stagnating the offense by slowing down point production. Watching her and Faulkner go at each other was a blast. Shavonte Zellous hustled hard on defense, disrupting plays all over the place, but she's got to hit her jumpers.

Tina Charles continues to be fantastic. She had that double-double by the third quarter. But you could tell she was starting to wear down by the end of the game. There's only so much even a superstar can do when she's triple-teamed constantly. Her shots were starting to fall a little short. I think the mask may also have been affecting her vision, because otherwise I don't think she would have done the show-the-ball trick in front of Vandersloot. Carolyn Swords started off the game really well, then went to the bench for Kiah and was barely seen again until the end of the first half. She had a rough go of it to start the second half- stupid fouls, careless plays- and someone lit a fire under her somewhere along the line, because that was when she started taking on de Souza and going harder after the ball (when Carolyn hits the floor, it's a physical game and she's going hard). She cleaned up some good loose change. Swin Cash hit buckets at the right times, whether it was to spur the comeback in the first quarter or fend off the Sky in the second half.

Ball security, Tanisha Wright. She usually made up for dumb turnovers within a few plays, but she still has to be more careful with the ball. I'm a little worried about her jumper, too. She gets the job done, though. Sugar Rodgers had a slow start, and got caught on some really awkward defensive switches, but once she found a little space in the second half and stopped hesitating to shoot, she got fired up. Tina's going to be Tina, but we need Sugar to be something special if we're going to succeed.

We realized the officiating was going to be a problem when we saw both Michael Price and Kurt Walker amongst the crew. Walker already had a burr under his saddle pregame, when he looked like he thought the Liberty were taking too long to take the court. Lots of missed calls all night, and they affected both sides. I thought Pokey was going to flip her lid when Delle Donne went down after the push from Kiah. Just terrible refereeing all around.

Shoutout to our Gael homies who sat by us for a while and remember when we weren't the loudest people in the room (that would be Damika's family).

Also, shoutout to the French coach who showed up and was pretty impressed with everything. And to the Swedish fans with their Swedish flag! International basketball fans are awesome. Basketball is basketball, no matter what language it's in.

Adut Bulgak is pretty good at charades, but asking a Canadian born in Africa to mime being a cowboy will only end in hilarity.

We won despite their superstars being superstars. We've been winning by shutting down stars and getting killed by roleplayers; this game was the complete opposite, and I think it's a good sign that we can be that versatile. But we've got to find more consistent offense from people who aren't Tina...

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June 19th, 2016: San Antonio at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: In a game where both teams gave up double-digit leads, the Connecticut Sun outlasted the San Antonio Stars 93-90. Alex Bentley led all scorers with 29 points. Jasmine Thomas flirted with a triple-double, with 11 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Kayla McBride led the Stars with 25 points.

For roller coasters, disturbing collegiate loyalties, shutting up the verbose blogger, exhaustion, traffic, and getting the job done, join your intrepid and hungry blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. We're coming to you on the usual tape delay from Sunrise Square at Mohegan Sun, where the San Antonio no-longer-Silver Stars take on the hometown Connecticut Sun.

Shoutout to our entrance's sweetheart of an usher, Darlene. Super friendly, really helpful to people who needed help, and helped carry someone's walker. You go, girl!

I'm not sure if Jayne Appel-Marinelli signing my match play voucher would have made it invalid or not, so I didn't risk it. (Also: so excite that VJ will be at the Liberty 20th anniversary celebration this time next week! SUCH EXCITE VERY HISTORY)

Anthem singer was trying way, way too hard. It turned into more of a cross between a hymn and a dirge. Not exactly hugely inspiring.

Well, that game turned out to be pretty good, for featuring the two worst teams in the league. It was a real roller coaster ride, with both teams holding and giving away double-digit leads. I think we saw why they're both at the bottom of the standings- but also saw what kind of depth the league has and the talent on both teams.

It was apparent, at least to me, that Sydney Colson is nothing more than an understudy for this San Antonio squad. She's there to keep the Stars prepared for an undersized, speedy backcourt of dubious shooting ability. She's a bit flashier of a passer than Danielle Robinson, or at least she wants to be, but she doesn't have the vision that she thinks she has. She was a step behind pretty much everyone on the floor. I like her fearlessness, but she has to temper it with the awareness that there are four teammates on the floor and five people who don't want her to have the ball anymore. Haley Peters brought good size off the bench. If I were designing the Stars' offense, I might have tried to get her a few more touches beyond the arc to really stretch the Sun defense (then again, since that's the kind of scheme Curt Miller is in loooooove with, maybe he's prepared for it).

For the first half of the game, I thought Kayla Alexander had donned an invisibility cloak, because there were three or four calls where I thought she was in the wrong and the officials didn't agree. There was an out-of bounds I thought went off her, a foul called on Hamby (I think) that I thought was hers, and two rather rough plays that weren't called fouls. In the second half, some of the whistles started going against her. I like her way of insinuating into space on the boards, and her move across the lane on offense. Class of 2013, so it's her put-up-or-shut-up year, and she's playing like it. Astou Ndour showed some really good flashes of talent, but she looked like she was still trying to get used to her body, like she woke up this morning and discovered that she was six-five and pretty much all arms and legs, knees and elbows. She had a really nice block on one of the Sun guards. I was surprised that she didn't get more run in the second half- she only came in near the end, to make the inbounds more difficult for Connecticut.

I had not seen Jayne Appel-Marinelli in person yet this year, and it was quite startling when I did. She's never been small, and she's never been slender, but I'm actually genuinely worried about her. No one should look that strained, that painfully intent, when shooting free throws. I can't shake the feeling that she's not well in some way, and doesn't want to face it. There were a couple of moments where you could see the flashes of her passing ability, the key to her presence in the Stars lineup. But for the most part, she was immobile, foul-prone when she did move, and unable to finish at the rim. I feel like Dearica Hamby has potential, but her coaches need to figure out her position and what skills of hers to hone. From what I saw today, she'd be better off as a four, but I don't know if she has the size to stand the constant banging. (All the twelve-year-old boys in the audience can stop giggling at their earliest convenience.) Monique Currie played like "y'all forgot about me, huh?", especially in the third quarter when she was getting open looks, or bulling her way through traffic to finish at the rim. Good old Scowl-and-Foul put in an appearance in the fourth quarter, though, after a dicey out-of-bounds call, and a turnover. Don't argue about a blatant reach-in, Monique.

Kayla McBride is a cold-blooded shooter. I'm really not sure what else she brings to the table, though the box score is showing me a nice pile of assists, but I don't remember her passing game. I just remember her taking a step, getting that space, and hitting jumpers. That's a very good thing to be very good at in basketball. Moriah Jefferson has the tools to be a worthy #2 pick, and in the very near future she'll be fantastic. But this is the pros, and this is not UConn, and even a bad W team is better than most college teams, on a relative scale. She's fast, and she has vision and style, but she needs to put a little more oomph on her runs. I think she's used to the amount of energy she needed to expend in college to make her drives, and she's not used to the level of defense she's getting in the WNBA. She had a nice first quarter, but ran out of oomph in the second half.

San Antonio really seems to be preparing for next year with their roadrunner backcourt. I know they can't really cross-market with UT-San Antonio, but it would be so perfect. Meep, meep.

Y'all who have read the GNoD for any length of time know that I give Kelly Faris a hard time. Hype backlash gets to me, and seeing a back-of-the-rotation reserve get treated like an MVP while All-Stars get disrespected irks me. I'm sure she's a perfectly decent human being, this is nothing against who she is. But let me tell you, this was Shut Queenie's Mouth Day at Mohegan Sun, because Kelly Faris had herself a day off the bench. She hit big shots when she was open, she made good defensive plays, and she scrapped for loose balls. She needs to stop committing stupid fouls after turnovers, but if that means she's trying too hard, I'll accept that as an answer. Shekinna Stricklen has a really quick trigger- she got that ball and she was shooting, damn the consequences. Maybe that fits Miller's system, but I'm not impressed.

Chiney Ogwumike is not quite Big Sister, but she was solid down low. She went through a stretch in the third quarter where she was committing all kinds of fouls, which could be a problem. More touches for Chiney, please. Jonquel Jones went to work on the offensive glass, cleaning up on misses. She's got really long arms- you can see her potential but you can also see where she needs to work on her technique. She's raw, but she's good. I don't know how consistent she'll be as a three-point shooter, and this is not a thing I think she should be doing, but it's a thing that Curt Miller thinks everyone should be doing, so it's a thing. This is what happens when your formative basketball experiences come from the New York Liberty: big players go to the basket, you grind through painful defense, and heartbreak is a thing.

So, continuing the trend of Shut Queenie's Mouth at Mohegan Sun today, I'd been talking to the husband about how Alex Bentley had been playing like various temperatures of garbage for much of the season. Apparently someone lit a fire under her, because she decided to do her best Cappie Pondexter impression today. And yes, sometimes that included ignoring open teammates and playing entirely too much one-on-one hero ball with off-balance shots. But they went in. She took off in the first quarter and never looked back. And for all of that, I was still way more impressed with Jasmine Thomas. Thomas very quietly had herself a very nice day. Her drive and dish set up Faris for one of the big threes. She had an utterly monstrous block on Jefferson, plus a slick steal on a different possession. She made the plays that her team needed to maintain control of the game (or at least their footwear- she committed the intentional foul that allowed Alex Bentley to reclaim her left sneaker from under the courtside seats next to the road bench). She's a wildly inconsistent shooter, but the more I see her, the more I like her intangibles.

Kelsey Bone started off reasonably strong, but she got her bell rung twice in rapid succession, and though she came back into the game, I don't think she was 100%. It could be my perception or my expectation that she played outside more after the injury, or she could actually have been taking more shots outside the paint after that. She's got to be more consistent, but we already knew that. There are moments when she looks like the All-Star she was once, the rock down low with the midrange touch that Connecticut traded for. But there are a lot more moments when she looks like the player Bill Laimbeer gave up on in exchange for Tina Charles. Camille Little was quiet- I still like what she brings, but she just couldn't get her shot going. She was active defensively, though. Morgan Tuck got some looks when the defense rotated, but she still needs to do work on her all-around game.

Someone in marketing overheard my, or possibly someone else's, kvetching as to why the only name-and-number shirt available was a truly hideous Tuck shirt with all the wrong fonts and the Sun logo in the wrong shades. Now there's a slightly less hideous Bentley shirt with the wrong fonts.

The crowd really got into it by the end, which is good, because if you can't get into a game where you erase a ten-point lead, what is wrong with you?

Officials didn't make a lot of friends in this one.

Notes are late because of course this was the one time the bus back was full, and also of course the one time that it took three hours down instead of three hours up. GRUMBLE.

Still not sure if Curt Miller is the right coach for this talent. Still not sure whether everyone's on the same page. But San Antonio is definitely way worse.

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June 14th, 2016: Dallas at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Up by as much as 10 and down as much as eight, the New York Liberty finished with strong defense to win 91-88 over the Dallas Wings. Tina Charles had 28 points to lead the Liberty, with Sugar Rodgers adding 18. Karima Christmas led Dallas with 21 points, while Courtney Paris notched a 13-point/10-rebound double-double.

For hammer time in the stands, the t-shirt feeding frenzy, gutless wastes of flesh, schadenfreude, Stooookes, good neighbors, taunting, and bad decisions, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
It's game day at the Garden, as the Dallas Wings return to New York to take on the Liberty. Undoubtedly, there will be tears, and a moment of silence, and probably more rainbow flags in the crowd than usual even for New York after what happened in Orlando. Our fan base is very gay and very proud- and also very black and Hispanic, with plenty of intersection amongst all those descriptors. These were our people. These are our people.

(And then there's the Zellous family's close call. Shavonte says it way better than I do: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/6-14-16-shavonte-zellous-pulse-i-am-orlando/ )

In other news, the Q59 is evil and children need to be taught not to scream on public transit. On the other hand, holy crap in a peach basket, when did they start adding the L train to the wi-fi stations? This is awesome!

The pregame entertainment consists of young girls in what appear to be Rosie the Riveter inspired costumes. They need to get that routine on ice...

There are two women here in Canadian Hammer shirts, wielding a Canadian flag. Bless their hearts. (Eh? Can I just say that I love the increase in Canadians in women's basketball? I love cheap, easy, Canadian jokes about verbal tics and Tim Horton's and hockey and unshakeable politeness and beavers and lumberjacks and geese.) (Almost typed geeks there. Ruth Hamblin is a geek, or at least a nerd, but that's not related to her being Canadian.)

Nice choral anthem, though I'm not sure why they followed it with "God Bless America" instead of the other way around.

The moment of silence was profoundly silent, and the rainbow-striped Liberty flag was debuted a week or so early. Maddie waved it for long enough that people weren't sure whether they were supposed to cheer or remain quiet and respectful.

That scoring pace from the first half was fun. Unsustainable by either team, but fun. The pattern that's become more and more apparent in Liberty games is that we'll shut down a star player, but then the role players will step up.

Case in point, the pesky Erin Phillips. She drove Sugar Rodgers nuts on defense, hassling her and pinning her on the sideline. And then she was bombing threes, even when Shavonte Zellous had a hand up in her face (I think it was after that play where Shavonte stood with her arms outstretched, as if to say, "What more could I do?"). I would appreciate if she would avoid undercutting Shavonte, though. This appeared to have been the night Aerial Powers was assigned to shoot threes, because it's a range she needs to add to her game and something that's still a bit lacking in her game. I love her athleticism, though.

I'm not sure if they consider Jordan Hooper a forward or a guard, but I talked more about the guards, so she'll get stuck in with the forwards here. She had a nice little stretch in the late third and early fourth- I think it may have helped her to have Shoni on her. It looked like she might have taken that block a wee tiny bit personally. She's a useful part, but not much more. Theresa Plaisance played very briefly in the first half and was unremarkable- she took her three-point shot during a stretch when everyone on Dallas seemed to be hitting a three, and since she opened up a can of whoop-ass against us the last time out, I was a bit worried that that was going to blow the doors open. But she missed, and that was pretty much the end of it for her. Glory Johnson has funky shot selection, but more than makes up for the impossible contortions of her shot with her active, quick hands on defense. She was all over Tina Charles, making things very difficult for her.

I like when Skylar Diggins misses lots of shots. Petty? Damn right. I spent four years watching her get every call in the book and then some, and watching her whine every time she got called for one. It's nice to see the shoe on the other foot sometimes. She had a couple of nifty moves on defense, including a beautiful steal off Sugar Rodgers that was absolute petty larceny, but her shot definitely isn't back yet. As much as they held her back in the first month, I'm not so sure she was ready yet. Perhaps keeping an eye on this will help the Liberty decide what to do with Epiphanny Prince after the Olympics. Odyssey Sims couldn't seem to miss, whether it was from outside or driving pell-mell down the lane. I admire her toughness, though I could do without her doing the three goggles; on the other hand, she probably wouldn't do them if we guarded the perimeter.

In a weird way, I enjoy watching Plenette Pierson play because she looks so odd on the court. I don't know whether it's the precision of her moves, the extreme kick that jackknifes her body as she takes a jumper, or the conscious effort she puts in to stand up ramrod straight on the floor, but there's something fascinating about the way she handles herself. She started the game, but I don't think she started the second half- the back must have been acting up again. She gave good hustle in the minutes she got, bringing toughness and bodying on the boards. Karima Christmas killed us, inside and out. She's developed herself into a very useful supporting player- she's not a star, but she does what Dallas needs of her. She hit threes early, she went hard to the rack, and she played solid defense. I don't know if she should be starting, but Dallas should keep her just as long as they can. Courtney Paris is a whole lot of woman, and I find it hard to believe any defender can lose track of her, especially when she's wearing electric lime green. That is a lot of bright green to overlook. She has very limited range on her shot- her midrange jumper, at least tonight, was coming up consistently short- but she has nice passing touch and can score when she's at the basket. She's as mobile as rush hour traffic, but sometimes it's better to be the immovable object than the unstoppable force.

What is with Dallas's obsession with rolling the ball on inbounds? They did it three or four times last night, and not in the usual scenarios where a team is desperately trying to scrap for every second they can get to keep their hopes alive. I'm talking about eight minutes left in the third quarter in a one-possession game.

Shoni Schimmel still needs to work on her defensive rotations, but that block on the Hooper three and the resulting fast break combined into one beauty of a play. She's a firestarter, and she'll earn playing time that way, but she's going to miss a lot of crunch time if she can't improve on defense. (Though she played when it was FT time, part of a four-guards-and-Tina set.) I'm worried about the mental part of Brittany Boyd's game. She seems to be missing that extra oomph in her shot and that extra step somewhere along the line (though her lack of fear is showing up in other ways- she had a bump and a staredown with Pierson after Pierson fouled her on a drive). It looked like she might have picked up a couple of tweaks to the knee and the wrist along the way, too. Shavonte Zellous didn't play her smartest defense tonight, and I was surprised at her free throw rate, but all things considered, she was solid. She made the backdoor cut beautifully and came up big late.

Amanda Zahui B needs to be more physical- if you're going to foul someone, make sure they feel it, especially when you're a broad-framed post. But we needed the minutes she gave in relief of Tina. Kiah Stokes threw a block party and everyone in green was invited. She had a huge one on Sims near the end of the game that helped slam the door- not just close it, but slam it with authority. I'd like to see her be more aggressive on offense and be more of an option, but she's such a force on defense that if that's all she's going to be, it's not the worst thing in the world.

Tanisha Wright's shot was way off- her jumper was coming up consistently short. Her passing eye was a bit off as well. She made up for it on defense, especially down the stretch when she laid the final block on Sims to seal the game. That was a thing of beauty. I joked during the game that she really wanted that 1000th rebound to get past the milestone- she had two o-boards off her own misses in the first few minutes of the game. Sugar Rodgers is at her best when she's finding her shots quickly, in the flow of the offense. While I love that pretty much everyone on my team is willing to drive the lane, that's not where her strength lies. I'd rather see her taking jumpers than driving pell-mell down the lane, trying to draw a foul that will never be called. (We really need to learn that the officials are going to give us nothing. It's good to draw contact, but we've got to stop prioritizing contact over the angle to actually make a reasonable shot at the basket.)

Swin Cash did work on the offensive glass- she didn't play a lot, but she did what we needed her to do, and that's why we needed her back. Carolyn Swords was solid on offense, but she was slow rotating defensively, which allowed Paris to go to town. Also, ball security, this is a thing that needs to be emphasized. In general, that's a thing that this team needs to emphasize coming out of this game, but Carolyn was pretty bad. (So was Kiah, but her bad-assery on the other end of the floor more than made up for that.) Tina Charles was her superstar self, hitting from all parts of the floor. I'm not sure how many threes she actually had, as opposed to long twos, since she was flirting with the line a lot and there was a scoring discrepancy. But Tina did all the things. It was starting to wear on her in the fourth quarter- her shot was falling short and she wasn't moving as quickly. Shockingly, being covered in triple-teams tends to wear a player down. But she had enough left to hit the game-winner.

Our perimeter defense continues to be an issue. They got more than half their points from beyond the arc. It may be a feature, not a bug, but it's one that needs to be developed out. And while we shut down Diggins, we got burned by Christmas and Phillips. The league's gotten to the point where role players can do that to you.

Officiating could have used a few more explanations- we never found out which of Tina's shots had the point taken off the board, or even the explanation for why there was a point taken off the board (it's my own theory that it was one of Tina's "threes" that was really a long two). Can't complain too much, as it really didn't make a difference in the game.

The only real blemish on the experience was the jerk in front of us. I'll admit that I didn't see the whole thing, but I came back to my seat to find the man in my husband's face, snapping at him to "tone it down" and making comments about how if he didn't, they'd have to talk about it elsewhere. Do not ever threaten my husband in front of me, and do not ever ignore me when I call you on it. We don't swear at games and we try to keep our language family-friendly, because there are kids (and the... gentleman... in question had a young girl with him). But we get loud and we get rowdy. We cheer for our team, we razz the opponent, we mock the opponent's mistakes and bewail our own. That's how we roll. Our neighbors stood up for us when we went to get security, and security handled it well enough (except for the one woman who asked us if we wanted to move- uh, no, we're not moving out of our season seats because one guy has a problem, he can damn well move if anyone needs to move).

I love my team, and I love my Garden.

I think we needed a game like this before a road trip. We just need to stop leaning quite so heavily on Tina.

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June 5th, 2016: Indiana at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Indiana Fever went up big and held off a fourth-quarter rally from the Connecticut Sun to win 88-77. Tiffany Mitchell had 21 off the bench, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to lead all scorers. Tamika Catchings, Marissa Coleman, and Devereaux Peters each added 12. Alyssa Thomas had 20 to pace the Sun.

For mismatches, size differences, color confusion, things of questionable popularity, terrible merchandise, Huskies, Terps, pegs in wrong-shaped holes, boss managers, and natural phenomena, join your intrepid and inspired blogger after the jump.
Oh no! My team has gone on an eleven-day, three-game road trip! What shall I do with myself? Catch up on housekeeping? Work on the Great American Novel?

Screw it, I'm going to Connecticut. The Sun are hosting Indiana. So we squeaked and rattled our way out of Queens to Mohegan Sun, making good time on quiet roads. As it turns out, the squeaks and rattles were ominous- we changed buses on the way back.

I don't know who's managing behind the counter at Geno's this afternoon, but that dude is a trooper. There's a new woman on the register who knows diddly-squat, and he took charge back there like a boss.

I think the Connecticut Sun are at a crossroads. They have talent. They have a coach who has a system. What they don't currently have is talent that matches that system, or a system that matches that talent. They're going to choose. And to me, it looks like they're about to choose the system and the coach over the talent, and I think that's a mistake. I think that's going to lead to a couple of very rough years, especially without the pick they traded for Jonquel Jones, before they come out of it, and Miller might be a casualty of those rough years.

Today I got to see out of Indiana what wasn't as apparent in the game against New York- their offense is heavily predicated on ball movement. When they can get that crisp, sharp ball movement going, the offense is unstoppable. When that ball movement gets impaired, the offense breaks down and they become more dependent on one-on-one play.

I was surprised to see so much of Natalie Achonwa after her short minutes in New York, but she was second post off the bench today for the Fever. She was unremarkable, but she closed well in the paint on defense. Devereaux Peters had herself a nice, nice day. The outside shot was falling, she was hitting the looks she got inside, and she got those long arms up on defense to really mess things up for Connecticut on the inside. Part of me understands why Minnesota traded her, but at the same time, they might very well have given up on her right when she was ready to blossom. We'll see how that plays out.

Erica Wheeler, bless her heart. So much speed and no idea where she's going with it. Her clock awareness at the end of the first and third quarters was a bit questionable- the play worked in the first, but gave Connecticut a chance at another shot in the third. She definitely makes the game faster, but I don't know if it's always to her team's benefit. Tiffany Mitchell got her Microwave on in the fourth quarter, when Connecticut was making a run. She broke their backs with the three-pointer that extended the lead back out to 10. She's a bit of a defensive liability, but if she can keep scoring like she's scored in the last couple of games, she'll score more than she gives up.

I see why Fever fans have been complaining about Marissa Coleman. She's got a pretty three-point shot, to be sure, but she should be doing more than setting up for threes. She has the strength to do more on the inside. She also needs to do more vis-à-vis ball security. I don't think her decision-making was quite there. Erlana Larkins got out-sized by Connecticut, but she swooped in for offensive rebounds like a boss. She finds and makes space so well. Tamika Catchings was tough defensively, of course, because she's still breathing, and right when we were discussing in the stands the low probability of breaking Tina Thompson's scoring record, she hit back-to-back shots. (I still don't think it's going to happen, but would that make her any less of a legend?)

Shenise Johnson brings firepower and a legitimate distance threat. I think she must have said something about someone's mother, or something, because near the end of the game she was getting knocked down a lot by the Sun reserves. Briann January found the open player brilliantly time and time again (fairly often it was Larkins). She and Catchings together spearheaded the defense and set the tone.

What I would like about this Indiana team if I were inclined to like a team that isn't my own is that they're no longer Tamika Catchings And A Bunch Of Random Parts. They're balanced. They're no longer dependent on Catch to do anything and everything all at once. The future is coming and they're getting ready.

Jonquel Jones has a world of potential, and as the saying goes, you can't teach height. You can, however, teach ball securityand the ability to hold on to the ball upon receipt of a pass. She has to go up with more authority, and she has to get some of the jerkiness out of her shot. Once that happens, she'll be a double-double machine. Chiney Ogwumike has lost some speed after the knee injury, and she was never super fast to begin with. But she cleaned up down low, especially in the second half- that baseline was hers. Morgan Tuck was spectacularly unimpressive. She held her place on defense well enough, and the play where she scored was a nice hustle play, but when the first impression you make is letting a pass bounce off you for an out of bounds and a turnover, and the first shot you attempt is a finger roll two steps short, well.

Kelly Faris hit a three-pointer, but I'm pretty sure it was an accident and it won't happen again. (I'm not just being snarky, either; it was an off balance shot as she as falling to her left.) She hustled well enough, but I can't help but think that a defensive specialist would have done a better job on Mitchell. I have a lot of trouble being objective about Faris. Rachel Banham's shot is lightning quick. I'm going to try to avoid snake jokes, though. She's still struggling to learn the defense, but she needs to be freed on offense. (The steal was mostly not her own doing, except being in the right vicinity when the Indiana player dropped the ball.)

Kelsey Bone needs to remember her size. I grant that Curt Miller's system is pretty much designed for players to forget their strength and focus on their shooting, but sometimes you need to get outside the system and use your strength. Bone was scoring when she went inside and used her build to throw people around. Granted, that was also when she was getting into foul trouble offensively. (Lowering elbows into people's backs is generally not the way one makes friends.) Camille Little was solid all around, because that's who she is and what she does. We're all going to not talk about the second free throw, of course. We're going to pretend that a veteran in her ninth season did not airball a free throw. Alyssa Thomas needs to be set free from this place that will never use her properly. She needs to acquire a jump shot from somewhere, but when set loose inside, she's a beast. She penetrated the Fever defense with strength and speed, and when she got inside, she was pretty much unstoppable. She has no reason to be taking perimeter shots right now, though.

I don't know what's going on with Alex Bentley. I don't think her head was entirely in the game, but it was hard to get a read on her with how little she played. I was surprised she spent so much time on the bench. Jasmine Thomas was telegraphing too many of her passes, and Indiana was ready for them. She played better than the stats indicated, though.

I'm not quite sure how this happened, but Erlana Larkins got stuck in her warm-up shirt, and it took three teammates to detangle her. Somewhere in here, there's a joke related to the academic acumen, or lack thereof, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I, however, have entirely too much of a self-preservation instinct to make that joke.

Anthem singer had a nice voice, but couldn't sing. And there's no excuse for messing up the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner when they appear on the screen in front of you.

"Enterting" the arena, Mohegan Sun? Really?

Officiating could definitely have been worse, but there were some dubious calls. The worst was the foul on Banham- I'm pretty sure she never actually got a hand on the shooter.

Remind me never to get into a game of Chinese jump rope with Briann January. She'd probably do some of the really tough layouts.

Note to self: do not call the Sun's orange uniforms ugly when talking to a man in an Illini shirt. (They didn't wear the orange, but they came up in conversation.)

There's a lot of promise to these young Sun players, but there's going to be a long adjustment period while they come into their own. And I don't know if this franchise is going to have the patience to ride it out.

The arena was pretty dead until the final push. Even the announcer seemed to be mailing it in when the Sun scored, and the MC as lower-key than usual. I figured there might be trouble when their own people accidentally razzed Morgan Tuck for the pass that bounced off her chest. Someone's not used to the lack of home whites, and the teams were shooting at opposite ends from the way things are usually aid out.

We're on the Whitestone Bridge now, and there is a brilliant rainbow shining to our left, from deep red through bright orange and pale green to indigo. This has nothing to do with the game, but it brings me great joy and glee, and it's a beautiful end to a busy day.

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June 3rd, 2016: Indiana at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a nip-and-tuck first quarter and a competitive midgame, the New York Liberty turned on the afterburners in the fourth quarter to blow out Indiana 91-59. Sugar Rodgers had 21 points to lead New York, with Tina Charles adding 14 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Tiffany Mitchell led Indiana with 11 points.

For squee, kicking the back of the chair, seeing the reserves, learning from mistakes, and Tina Charles's gleeful strut, join your intrepid and unfocused blogger after the jump.
Hello and welcome once more to the Game Notes of Doom! It's Friday night, I just got paid, and it's game night at the Garden. The Indiana Fever are in town, and it's time for vengeance. Rain fire and blood upon them from the heavens and let them hear the lamentations of their loved ones. Or, you know, something like that.

Shooting at opposite baskets during warm-ups today, which was a little confusing and a little frustrating when Lindsey Harding was right there and then ran off down the usual Liberty tunnel. I have a hat that needs a Lindsey, damn it.

The UPS guy who delivers the ceremonial game ball is quite early. Not what I ever expect out of UPS.

Carolyn Swords is still working on her passing and ballhandling skills with the guards, though now it's Katie Smith working with her instead of T-Spoon.

The dance troupes appear to be well garbed and competent, though I'm really not sure how blue sequins go with "Joyful, Joyful".

At halftime, the Liberty are up 42-29, energized and sharp. Something about Indiana has brought the best out of us, like a whetstone honing a sword's edge. Tina Charles has been her superstar self, but she's getting support from Sugar Rodgers, Shavonte Zellous, and most of the supporting cast.

More dancers. Not bad, but again, I question their costume choices.

Shavonte is a mad genius to draw that foul at the buzzer.

Wow. I love that that happened, but I'm not quite sure even how it did. Everything just worked. We're not going to have thirty more nights like this, but even three-quarters of this will do.

Indiana wasn't ready. I think they just didn't know what to do with a Liberty team that was as ready to fight them as they were to fight. They miss the outside threat of Maggie Lucas. They miss the spacing, the balance, the security, that come from having an extra shooter to pick up when everyone else is off their game.

I see why they call Brene Moseley Bones. She's so slight! I wasn't impressed, but she didn't have much opportunity to impress. You can tell she's a rookie. She's still hesitant and adjusting to the speed of the game. The Fever looked better with Briann January on the floor, but that might just be experience speaking. They needed her not to shoot as much, though- her shot was way off. She was wide right twice, and her jumper in general looked like it needed a lot of work. Her defense was on point, with strong steals and relentless pressure. Shenise Johnson worked really well with Lynetta Kizer, and was able to work herself open for looks- they just didn't fall. (Big hair observation of the day: yes, Kiah, it's still a foul even if you only hack her in the hair.)

Lynetta Kizer brought a lot of energy, and a midrange jumper. She has a knack for being in the right place in the right time. She's not spectacular, but she's super useful. Plus, she's given up frosting her hair in blue, so there's another plus. Devereaux Peters is very physical- you can tell she spent her formative years in the WNBA in Minnesota, where the defensive discipline is somewhat lacking. She doesn't have the kind of outside shot she thinks she does. Ruth Riley she is not. I was surprised that Natalie Achonwa played so little and came in so late. She looked somewhat out of sorts, and she seemed to have some kind of disagreement with Adut Bulgak late in the game, though for all I know it could have been about the Leafs and the Oilers instead of whose responsibility it was to dislodge the ball wedged between the rim and the backboard. There was a moment where she looked like herself, but for the most part she was a step slow and a step off.

Erica Wheeler had her good moments with her speed, but I think sometimes she forgot what team she was playing for- she had plenty of passes that went straight to Liberty players. Her speed killed her more than it killed the opposition. There were fans who used to call Helen Darling the Headless Chicken back in the day with the Rockers, and I think Wheeler may have earned the right to take the nickname from her. Tiffany Mitchell started the game like a house on fire, but she tried to push her range too far out and got a little hesitant because of that. She's got great potential, though. She'll be brilliant for Indiana. They just need to get her defense up to Indiana's par, and it usually takes rookies longer to adjust at that end.

I have a tendency to look at Erlana Larkins, and see her physicality, and see the width of her frame, and completely forget just how fast and mobile she can be. She has the kind of defensive versatility that makes even the purportedly simple task of bringing the ball up the floor hazardous to any player's sanity. She's a very heady player, too. She picks her spots well. Marissa Coleman set up for long range shots, but honestly, she was more of a threat as a smothering defender, using her height to pressure our guards on the wing. I'm happy for her that she's found a place where she fits, after Washington and Los Angeles. Tamika Catchings is, of course, still Catch: relentless, tough, brilliant on both sides of the ball, willing to stand up for her teammates and willing to do all the little things that make the difference for her team. But the defense keyed on her, help coming pretty much every time she got the ball, so she was forced to pass out to the open man- and that open man either didn't hit the shot, or the ball was intercepted before it ever got to its intended target. It was a surprisingly efficient game for Catch- but less of one than she's normally capable of.

I think Indiana lost a little bit of their fire in the fourth quarter, when the Liberty came at them strong and kept it coming, but I have to applaud their tenacity through the first third. They were everywhere. It was fun to watch.

Adut Bulgak lives! I thought she was being saved for Olympic qualifying, but she lives! And she rebounds! And she scores a little! She's awfully spindly compared to other WNBA players, but she'll grow into that body of hers if the training staff works with her properly. She cuts well to the post, and there's good instincts in her. Kiah Stokes did good work in the paint on both ends of the court- she was the recipient of some beautiful passes, and unlike games earlier this season, she was able to capitalize. She brought the house down with a big block in the second half. (However, whatever she did to Tiffany Mitchell that had Mitchell looking like she'd taken a shot to the crotch is not cool. I am not okay with this.) She really looked like someone lit a fire under her. Amanda Zahui B looked somewhat tentative. She floated around the three-point line more than I like to see out of a big, and she hesitated inside far too often. The one big three-pointer was nice, but I'd like to see her be more assertive in the paint.

Shoni Schimmel brought the showtime in the fourth quarter, when the game was decided. When she's on her game, boy, is she ever fun to watch. The passes are slick and crisp and sharp, and the shot is beautiful. Of course, she's a defensive liability, but that's going to take a long time to fix, if it can ever be fixed. But she definitely makes the game more interesting. Brittany Boyd still needs to work on her control, and pairing her with Sugar Rodgers is fun but rather dangerous. But I love the ferocity she drives with, and I think hitting shots has restored enough of her confidence that she's passing with less fear, as well as being more willing to take harder hits. We need her to be awesome. Shavonte Zellous played really well- she had a couple of dumb moments, but for every one of those she had two brilliant plays. She was fearless, which is the kind of play you need against Indiana. The play to end the first half, where she drew the three-shot foul, may very well have been the psychological game-winner; if nothing else, it reminded this team that we're capable of hitting free throws.

Tina Charles faced a lot of double and triple teams, and sometimes when she tried to pass out of them, she panicked and threw the ball right into the teeth of a prepared Indiana defense. But she didn't have to be the star today, and that was huge for her. She was able to do work on the boards and set up her teammates. She had a beauty of a pass to Kiah for the finish in the lane, and if they can get that two-man game working on a consistent basis, this is going to be brilliant. Swin Cash doesn't have the range that she used to, no matter what she thinks, but when she gets her junkyard dog on inside, she's a beast- she did work on the offensive boards and kept plays alive. I do need her to stop taking long jumpers, though; this isn't Detroit, or even Seattle. Carolyn Swords's mobility still worries me, but she looked a little better than she did against Indiana, and I knew that we were playing with renewed fire when even she was diving on the floor for loose balls. (Not that I doubt Carolyn's commitment, but she doesn't tend to dive, because it's awfully hard for her to get up again.) We were definitely better with Kiah on the floor, though.

Tanisha Wright at the point- no, Bill, I refuse to refer to that position as "lead guard" no matter how many times you say it- works way better than Tanisha Wright at the small forward. She has a mastery of the offense that comes with her experience and knowledge, one that the younger guards don't yet match. She might have been able to play a little smarter on defense, but Indiana tends to draw fouls out of you, even if they're not doing so intentionally; it's the style of the game, the way it flows when these two teams take the court. Sugar Rodgers wasn't always sharp on defense, but she came up with the big threes when we needed them. As much as this is Tina Charles's team, and don't let anyone tell you this isn't Tina's team, we rise and fall with Sugar. Tina will be Tina. Sugar is inconsistent, and she's glorious when she's on, and she's chaos when she's off.

There was a sense of urgency to this team that we hadn't seen in the last three games. More, Bill learned from the mistakes he was making in those losses: the bench got playing time, allowing the starters to rest; we used timeouts more tactically to maintain control of the game and possession of the ball; everyone's body language was better, focused on the game.

I love the joy on the bench when the starters see the reserves going off. Tina was strutting when Shoni hit that second three.

Officiating was pretty solid, though they seemed unsure of themselves at times. It was a pretty experienced crew, so I was surprised at some of the hesitancy.

This was exactly the kind of game the Liberty needed before heading out on the road. This was the kind of game that makes me wonder if the Fever are more concerned about the season or about Stephanie White's departure.

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May 31st, 2016: Minnesota at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Minnesota Lynx went up big early and used that cushion to cruise to a 79-69 win over the New York Liberty. Maya Moore led the way for the Lynx with 25 points, adding six rebounds. Tina Charles led New York with 23 points and 11 rebounds; Shavonte Zellous added 12 points off the bench.

For troubling patterns, twirling, the beauty of the Maya, not using the bench, pacing, veterans, missed shots, and irritability, join your intrepid and disconnected blogger after the jump.
Time for the showdown. All hands need to be on deck for this one. When the defending champions come to town, everyone needs to be on top of their game. And that goes double for TV games.

I'm not sure the seafoam green and the sea blue are going to be the best color combination on television. Those who are prone to motion sickness should take Dramamine before watching.

This is why I'm the spotter- helped one of my buddies get Jia Perkins for her collection.

This Maya Moore running out at the speed of light thing is not convenient.

Well, this was a thing that happened. It's 46-31 Minnesota at halftime, thanks to crappy defense by the Liberty, good reads on switches by the Lynx, and some folks coming down with a painful case of stupid. I know Swin Cash isn't as stupid as the fouls and the passes straight to the opponent are making her seem. I know we can play better than this. Tina Charles needs help. Someone's got to be consistent without getting into foul trouble.

"God Bless America" singer was trying too hard. Anthem choir was powerful enough that they really didn't need the mics. I approve.

Getting good crowd noise, at least. It's not a large crowd, but all you need are a few people at the right time.

The well-mannered response to your child's crying is not, "Shut up!", woman behind me.

The halftime entertainment looked good, but I didn't see a lot of them. I was busy typing out GNoD. These are the sacrifices I make for you, my loyal readers.

It has only now occurred to me that there's a remarkable concentration of Sting on this model of the Lynx. McCarville, Perkins, Patterson, Reeve... I approve. Our lost franchises should not be forgotten.

Bill seems to think you get a bonus if you take timeouts with you. There's trusting your team to sort things out on their own, and there's letting the opponent go on 10-0 runs.

I'm getting very tired of following the same old routine. It's only May and I'm already tired. I'm tired of fourth quarter substitution questions and I'm tired of trying the same old thing even when it's not working. This is not the turn of the millennium WNBA, where a single superlative star can carry a team. This is not a league where one star can light the way. Tina Charles took the bit in her teeth in the second half and tried to take the game over, and I can't fault her. But missed lay-ups and blown assignments, idiotic passes and stupid fouls, killed us. Minnesota isn't the kind of defensive team that forces you into mistakes. You can't make stupid mistakes against a team as loaded as Minnesota.

Natasha Howard showed her athleticism on defense. There was a play near the end where she had a long-armed deflection that made me think someone finally got around to showing her that Sancho Lyttle game tape I always say she needs to study. She's still raw, but she's in the third year. We all know what that means. Janel McCarville had a slick little drop pass to Howard (I think) for a good shot, but the shot was missed. She bodied up on people (look, Janel, I know you like to gamble, but Kiah is not a slot machine, please do not pull her arm) and hit midrange jumpers. I do not like that woman, and I don't mean it in the respectful "she just dropped 20 points on 70% shooting" manner.

Jia Perkins still has terrifyingly quick hands. She wasn't feeling her shot tonight, but it was only a little off. She was pesky on defense, and you can see the veteran in her Does she take the crown of Most Talented Underrated Player from Janeth Arcain and Vickie Johnson? I don't know, but she definitely follows in their footsteps. Renee Montgomery drove like a pinball through the lane and annoyed the living daylights out of the ballhandler. You know she's going to shoot when she gets the ball, but I honestly don't remember her passing as much as the box score says. Part of me admires her toughness, but part of me wants to apply my clipboard directly to her forehead. I suppose that's a gesture of respect, in a twisted way.

Maya gonna Maya. She combines speed, grace, and vertical in a way I haven't seen since Swoopes. There was one play where Shavonte Zellous was in perfect position to get the rebound, and then Maya happened behind her. Whatever Maya wants, Maya gets. You get the idea. Nobody rebounds quite like Rebekkah Brunson, with that hunger and desperation and innate sense of where the ball is going to be on some kind of Zen level. I don't know if Cheryl Reeve wanted her taking quite so many midrange perimeter shots, but who knows these days with fours? (As an aside, the dye job works when she's got her hair braided, but not when she's got it straight down.) Sylvia Fowles missed some bunnies on the inside, which surprised me. She made up for it at the other end with monster blocks and rim defense. Also, I am immensely jealous of her cheekbones.

Seimone Augustus isn't as phenomenal as she used to be, but gosh, that's whatever the opposite of damning with faint praise is. She hit the open looks she got when the hand was just a fraction of a second too late going up. She's no longer as smooth as she once was, but she's still very good, and in a veritable murderers' row, she's as lethal as she ever was. Lindsay Whalen is the maestra, able to set up her teammates and make herself a threat when the defense steps away from her, hitting shots falling away. Her toughness is pretty impressive.

I do not know where Swin Cash left her brain tonight, only that it did not accompany her to the World's Most Famous Arena this evening. She came off the bench and immediately committed stupid, unnecessary fouls. The stupid, unnecessary fouls weren't even the worst thing, in my opinion- the mindless pass to McCarville was pretty embarrassing, and she had very good looks right at the basket that she missed. If you're going to come back and cost a young player a chance to develop, you'd better bring your A game, and that was F-game. Kiah Stokes worked hard on the boards, and she had a gorgeous block on Fowles, but for the love of all that is sweet and holy, she has got to hit her free throws. I'm hoping that this was a one-night aberration and she goes back to a less Drummond-esque performance on Friday, because drawing contact means diddly-squat if you don't hit the free throws.

That means you too, Brittany Boyd. It actually goes more for Boyd than it does for Kiah, because while Kiah was contributing on the glass, Boyd's impact was mostly pell-mell drives that went for naught because she missed the shot. Her demeanor was more promising this game, but the shooting percentage has to improve. So does her handle, but that was an issue for more than one player this time around. I won't say I'll give her a pass, but it wasn't the biggest concern for her. Shavonte Zellous, at least, came to play, or at least came to drive the lane and get the rolls. She brought hustle and fire (though she needs to learn to step awaaaaaay from the big fiery torch during intros) off the bench, and we're going to need a lot more of that from her.

Carolyn Swords looked like a whole lot of useless out there. She put a body on Fowles a couple of times, so at least she knew to do that much, but at six-six and broad-framed, she has to be more assertive offensively. She missed too many easy putbacks and surrendered too many opportunities by passing out or letting the ball slip out of her hands. Ball security is a recurring theme in these GNoD, and she was one of the worst offenders. I put none of this on Tina Charles, though. She did everything she could, especially in the second half, to drag this team back into the game despite all their best efforts. She was tripled and quadrupled, and she still made things happen. If anything, she tried to get her teammates too involved by trying to pass out of double-teams to players who weren't ready for the pass. She's phenomenal- but she can't do it alone. Someone has to be a second option.

After the hot start in the wins, Sugar Rodgers has settled back down to earth. She's being a little more closely marked, so she's not getting the open looks she was, and it's in her head a little. When she thinks too hard about what she's doing, she hesitates and the moment is lost. If she takes her shot in one swift motion, catching and stepping and shooting, it's automatic. If she has to move, then there's a problem. She's got to be smarter on defense, too- too many stupid fouls. Lindsey Harding was a complete disappointment. She didn't do anything spectacular, but she didn't do anything good, either. She simply existed, and ate minutes, and lost her assignment (I seem to remember she got deked with regularity by Montgomery, though I'm sure there were others as well). It felt like she might be horribly scared of something, and I don't know what. Tanisha Wright's handle was abysmal. Five turnovers might actually be generous. She was at least somewhat more willing to step into her elbow jumper than she had been the last couple of games, but she's got to be smarter on defense. Just because Minnesota has a propensity to foul doesn't mean we should take this opportunity to foul as well. I'll grant you that Minnesota is no easy defensive assignment, but the reaches were stupid.

That all being said, these were also pretty lousy officials. I don't necessarily mind the bump by Tanisha on (I think) Augustus going to the hoop- it was the correct call. I do object to Roy Gulbeyan blowing the whistle a full four seconds after the contact, when the shot had been missed and the rebound was in play. I don't think this was an easy game to call, not with a team that can get as physical as the Liberty and not with a team that can get as handsy as the Lynx. But the WNBA has led me to expect great, and I hold trained professionals to a high standard.

That includes coaches as well, and I'm starting to wonder if Bill Laimbeer is still the right coach for this team. I can't be sure how many of the on-court decisions are play-calls from the bench and how many are the players going off script, but personnel moves are all on the coach. If Carolyn isn't providing anything, and Swin isn't providing anything, and Kiah is strictly providing help on the defensive end, why not consider trying the bench? I'm pretty sure Amanda Zahui B can lay a body on someone. Honestly, if you're 20 points down, what's the harm even in testing Adut Bulgak against Natasha Howard? Give her a couple of minutes to see if she really can stretch a defense or create pandemonium for an opposing offense. If you're in dire need of a shooter late in the game, when it's a two-possession game, what is the worst possible thing that can happen by putting Shoni Schimmel on the floor? If a thing is not working, why keep doing the same thing? If the other team is on a 12-point run, why sit on your timeouts? I realize that stocking up on timeouts for the end of the game is important to advance the ball, and Cheryl Reeve's timeout management was almost as bad in the other direction, but there has to be a happy medium somewhere. If your team is having trouble with fundamentals for multiple games in succession, why not drill them on those fundamentals until they get it right? That's on the coach, although I recognize that that part of my mind may still be in college mode, where there's more of a responsibility to teach fundamentals.

Janel, you are not an airplane.

Maya spinning on her butt before getting up from stretching will never stop amusing me.

Amusing musical choices: during intros, the team plays a mildly amusing song gently teasing the opposition. The choice for the Lynx was "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota".

I really miss green as the Lynx primary.

We haven't done all that well with extra time to prepare for teams. Maybe we'll do better with a quick turnaround against Indiana. I have faith in these players. I just don't know if I have faith in the people who are supposed to tell them what to do.

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