November 27th, 2017: Toledo at Iona

Just the Facts, Ma’am: The Rockets took off in the fourth quarter to beat Iona, 74-57. Mikaela Boyd had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead Toledo. Treyanna Clay had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Iona in the loss.

For transportation issues, a little help from my friends, the final countdown, point guard comparisons, being distracted by shiny objects, and the perils of being a fan, join your intrepid and detoured blogger after the jump.

It’s almost over now, almost over now...

Iona doesn’t seem to like me, but tough. I like them well enough, so it’s off to New Rochelle for their early game against the Toledo Rockets. It helps that I like Toledo, too.

“This is 14th Street-Union Square.” No. No, it is not. It’s 3rd Avenue-138th Street. I think our conductor has had a long morning. Or possibly a very interesting weekend. (Also, it is 10:10 and I am at Brook Avenue. I don’t think I’m going to make the 10:20 bus at Pelham Bay Park, which is... um, a lot of stops away.)

Spoiler alert: I did not make the 10:20. And then the 11:20 broke down about four stops into New Rochelle. The two-kilometer walk was good for my cardiovascular health, and I was able to find a cab to shoot me up North Avenue, but I still missed all the pregame and the first four minutes of game time. Fortunately, the stat board and some statistical anomalies helped me catch up to the stats. But I didn’t get to see the anthem.

I walked in when it was 14-4 Toledo. It’s halftime and the score is 33-30. You’re welcome, Gaels. If we could rebound, we’d really be in this game. Mikaela Boyd is out there for Toledo like she’s Brittany Boyd, with seven points and six rebounds- for a while she was outrebounding our whole team. Alexis Lewis has 12 points for Iona, but it’s on volume.

I do not envy the person whose job it is to take care of the jerseys, especially when bodily fluids are involved. Treyanna Clay got blood on her jersey and spent the rest of the second quarter wearing #11. Poor staffer was scrubbing that jersey like she was Lady Macbeth.

Guys. It’s halftime and this is the third time you’ve played “Jumpman” already. For the love of God, play literally anything else.

Have I mentioned that I love Toledo’s “Embrace Diversity” shirts? Because those shirts are amazing and we have a request out to Toledo to see if we can acquire one. This is another time I want to yell at a school “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY” like I did with the St. John’s skyline socks.

(These kids on the bus have been seriously debating what happens to characters’ hair in Dragonball Z when they go Super Saiyan, and they are so deadly serious about it. What decade am I in?)

I’m starting to think Iona might not be a good team. I love them, but they are so very much a work in progress at best.

Toledo’s fun. They rolled fairly deep in the first half, though I didn’t even realize Michaela Rasmussen played until I looked at the box score. Sara Rokkanen hit a three in the first half just when Iona looked like they might really get back into it. I remember hearing Tatyana Davis’s name when she subbed in, but not anything she did on the floor.

Tanaya Beachem brought size on defense, bouncing Iona players off her and bringing the pain. Jada Woody was an immediate offensive spark when she came in- I think I had just collapsed on my spot in the bleachers when she hit a three, and her buckets in the second half were also right after she came in. Olivia Cunningham had a hot fourth quarter, hitting on a couple of shots, including a nice lay-up on a sweet feed from Mariella Santucci. She started the second half, which does not seem to have been the case for the first half, if Iona’s box score is to be believed.

Once again according to that box score, Santucci got the start. There were some rough patches where it looked like she and her teammates were having some communication issues. (With all the international guards I’ve been seeing recently, I’m starting to recognize the gesture of arms outspread wide and a facial expression of utter WTF.) She had some slick passes out there. Late in the second quarter, it looked like Sarah St-Fort had momentarily forgotten what sport she was playing and was trying to live out some lifelong dream of playing for les Canadiens by body-checking people. Spoiler alert: this does not usually fly in basketball. Mikaela Boyd was fantastic for the Rockets- I made the Brittany Boyd reference in the first half and I’m going to do it again here. She scrapped for offensive rebounds, she hustled into tables (and was polite enough to at least try to put the rolling board back into place on her way back), she drove the lane (though her drives are somewhat less pell-mell than the Liberty’s Boyd), and she was even inconsistent at the line like my favorite Boyd. (Heck, her coach even just calls her by her last name, same as Bill did with the Liberty’s Boyd.)

Kaayla McIntyre hit back to back buckets as I was buying my ticket and racing up the stairs, and set herself up for another bucket on a solid rebound. She’s very strong. That sometimes worked against her, as she picked up a couple of fouls in the second quarter. Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott is an interesting sort of hybrid player, with the build of a post player but the instincts, or at least desires, of a small forward. In this one, her success at that was mixed at best. But I can imagine her leveraging that size on a good shooting day into becoming a match-up nightmare.

I was impressed with Toledo’s ball movement, especially against the press. Iona tried to rattle them, and it didn’t work all that well. The turnovers were mostly procedural and on fouls- Iona had a few steals, but they were mostly when Toledo was setting up the offense.

Rebekah Justice was on the floor when I arrived. I figured that was probably a sign of desperation, or of size. I may have to move my seat as long as she’s at Iona; otherwise these are going to be four confusing years wherein I keep thinking Coach is calling my name (even though I know the odds of that are slim).. I figured Kristin Mahoney was the white flag when she came in. She hasn’t played much. Coach seems to have lost some of the faith she had in Adrienne DiGioia earlier in the season, since Adrienne got benched. I think I understand why, though; while she did have the one jumper, she looked out of place on both ends of the floor. I think she’ll settle into a steady point guard, but she’s not there yet.

But I’m impressed with how Amelia Motz has stepped up as a playmaker, or at least a play initiator. She brought the ball up a lot, and while she sometimes ran into trouble, she was able to get the offense started. She did her scoring at the rim, and she played hard on both ends of the floor. I was not expecting such extensive run for Tilasha Okey-Williams. I think this is the longest look I’ve ever gotten at her. I didn’t realize just how much spin there was on her shot- it looks almost like she’s firing a knuckleball when that three goes up from the corner. She brings a different look at forward- one more offensive-minded- and I think we can develop her into a good change of pace player. (Video from this game might help with that. Woody’s offensive surge is a good example to follow.)

I do not know why Jayden Eggleston started, though I can make a couple of guesses: she might have been trying to get more size into the starting lineup, because Treyanna Clay at center is not going to work, or she might have thought she matched up better with Toledo’s front line. I don’t know. Whatever she was trying to do, I don’t think it worked. Jayden didn’t even start the second half. Treyanna Clay is already starting to look worn out, and it’s November. That’s not a good sign. Trey plays a lot of minutes, and we need her to play a lot of minutes, but at the same time, Coach needs to rest her at some point, even if it’s just for a minute here or there. Take her out to end the first or third quarter, the way Laimbeer used to do with Tina Charles. She’s starting to look slow on defense, and it’s not of the good. I do like her leadership on the floor, too. She’s very vocal. Alexis Lewis scored a lot, but her three-ball was all over the place. I like that she’s taking it to the rack when her jumper isn’t going down, but I’d like to see better form on those floaters. If her inside game can be more consistent, and if she can bring the rebounding like I saw earlier in the year, she can be something special.

Toyosi Abiola has to speed up her decision-making. She was scared to shoot today, and that’s a problem when you have open looks. Those moments of hesitation allowed the defense to collapse on her, and caused turnovers, whether they were lost balls,travels, or steals. I get that she’s a freshman and rapid decision-making is not yet a thing, and I think she has the potential to grow, but the early going has been a little bit rough. I like Tori Lesko’s hustle, and I love that she’s vocal on the bench, trying to keep her team’s spirits up. She brought a lot of grit to the floor, but she couldn’t keep up with Toledo’s talent.

While I’m not normally a fan of coaches changing things up without an apparent rhyme or reason, I like that Coach Chambers is willing to experiment with her lineups and try new things. I’ve been hard on her in the past for not adapting, so I should give her credit for trying to.

Officiating was unremarkable, except the fourth quarter was dragged out longer than it had to be because there were issues with both the shot and game clocks- they just wouldn’t stop running.

I’m amused that the blood jersey is #11, but you’ll have to go back into the Iona archives to understand why.

There are pieces, but I’m not sure we know how to make them fit. And meanwhile I think the losing is starting to get to the kids. The energy level on the bench was much lower than it was against Temple. I like them. I don’t want to see any of them leave.