Just the Facts, Ma’am: Michigan used a 25-0 run to put away LIU 86-49. Hallie Thome had 19 points to lead Michigan. Drew Winter’s 13 points, all in the second half, led the Blackbirds.
For unexpected ambiguity, onomatopoeia, autocorrect actually being useful, the clank of missed free throws, seeing old friends, Starbursts, and not getting a stiletto through the throat, join your intrepid and torn blogger after the jump.
It is inevitable, when one cheers for multiple teams, for loyalties to come into conflict. It’s usually more apparent in the Big East, with the twice-annual Awkward Bowl between St. John’s and Seton Hall. This is a different kind of awkward, though. Michigan doesn’t come to town very often, and when they do, it’s usually at Rutgers. I think I’ve chronicled the struggle to get to and from Rutgers before; it’s part of how I ended up aligning with St. John’s in the first place. So this visit to LIU is a godsend.
On the other hand, we’ve suffered with these Blackbirds. We know their struggles and their triumphs. I will fight anyone who talks trash about DeAngelique Waithe around me, up to and including Coach. I don’t really know these Wolverines.
On the other other hand, we’ve known Kim’s family for years. We’ve cheered with them from section 2, shared Starbursts with the kidlets, goggled at family photos. And the St. John’s jersey I wear to every Red Storm game? That’s Joy McCorvey’s #25. Literally, unless it was a blood jersey. (For the first ten years of that typeface, she was the only player who wore #25, that’s how I know.) These are our friends. How do you root against your friends?
So here we are at LIU with Michigan shirts and St. John’s accessories, because you have to remember your roots. And I’m not saying I like cheering against LIU. But you have to make choices sometimes, and sometimes they suck as choices.
We’re at half an hour before gametime, and the stands are mostly Michigan fans, or possibly Michigan family. I think I recognize Jillian Dunston’s folks. We’re also not the only St. John’s folks here.
“Respect Above All” would be a winning t-shirt motto if it weren’t still tied to to the Jeter retirement (with the 2 replacing the S). I know he’s from Michigan and all that, but c’mon.
You can lock the doors, but you still can’t keep us out, LIU. (To be fair, I think the keymistress forgot which way the lock was supposed to turn.)
Cecelia got tall! Who told her she could do that? I know it wasn’t me, and I didn’t think it was her mom. (KBA is not exactly tall herself.)
There are a couple of stray TBT stickers on the steps leading to the student section and band area.
We can hear the band practicing from the enclosed room one level up and catty-corner from our section. They might be loud. The soundproofing might be on the wrong side of the wall.
Come to think of it, it’s been years since I sat on this side of the arena. I think the last time I was a true visiting fan at LIU, Sky was still playing. And I’ve always preferred to sit across from the bench instead of behind it. But when you’re supporting the road team, you get behind the visiting bench. Then again, the family/friends/alumni contingent is sitting dead center across from the benches, so I might just be an old-fashioned girl (but I’m not in an old-fashioned hat).
This is about what I expected from a Michigan team that miiiiiight have had some frustrations to work out and an LIU team that I love but isn’t that good. It’s 45-11 Michigan at halftime, including a quarter-length stretch of scoreless play from the Blackbirds. Katelynn Flaherty has 14 points, including four threes; Hallie Thome has 10 points
In the great “what might have been” folder, let’s file the idea of Joy McCorvey- an undersized, defensive-minded, high-rebounding, never-give-up post- coaching DeAngelique Waithe- an undersized, defensive-minded, high-rebounding, never-give-up post. Okay, so Joy’s offense was a bit more polished, but that could have been coached up.
A good chunk of Kim’s family drifted back here, so we’ve got company.
Didn’t Katelynn Flaherty used to be blonde? Or am I just assuming?
Highlight of the game, or at least most impressive moment, might have been Cece Arico utterly destroying the shooting contest, hitting all three of the shots on the first try.
Michigan got to get deep into the bench in the fourth quarter, and even a little bit in the second quarter. LIU’s PA guy was trying so hard to make sure he didn’t say Smeenge wrong that he managed to get his tongue tied around Priscilla. (This is not giving the proper mental image, and I apologize for that.) Definitely not ready for prime time. Samantha Trammel came into the game and almost immediately committed a three-second violation (though in her defense, the officials were being especially persnickety about that in the latter stages of the game). KeAsja Peace had a nice shot in the lane, but still seems to be learning the schemes, which might be a problem for a sophomore.
I like the potential of Akienreh Johnson. She had a nifty putback in the lane off a missed shot from one of her teammates, as well as a nice steal (of course, DeAngelique Waithe promptly smacked the taste out of the ball when she went up at the other end, but that’s life, that’s what they say). She’s got a good nose for the ball. Deja Church made a couple of great defensive plays, but she’s got to be more careful with her fouls. I don’t know if she’s ready to be a starting point guard, but she’s going to have to be after this year. Kayla Robbins has good positioning on the boards but needs to work on her shot.
I like that Hallie Thome’s last name can be an onomatopoeia for the sound of her making a monster block. “THOOOOME!” If she keeps the ball above all the shorter people, she’s in good shape. It’s when she brings it down to where everyone else can get it that the problems start. Her ballhandling isn’t great, and her hands could be better. She could use some work on her free throw shooting, as well, though that’s the story of the average post player’s life. Hailey Brown is still very raw, and I don’t know how I feel about her taking three-pointers. There’s promise, like the resounding block on Drew Winter, but there’s a lot of work to be done with her. We’ll see if she’s up to the task next year, when the big senior class graduates. Jillian Dunston was born a few years too late; if she’d been in the class of 2003 or 2004, she might have gotten a look at the next level. She’s very strong- I’ve never seen a guard with such broad shoulders and upper body strength- but she’s not all that tall, and her game is as stuck between as her size is. She rebounds well, and her passing game was on point, but putting her on the perimeter defensively is a disaster waiting to happen, and her offense is inconsistent.
Katelynn Flaherty put on a show in the first half. I was glad she started sharing the ball more and slowing down the offense in the second half, because I was starting to run out of space to mark down her baskets. Her stroke is just so pretty and so fast. I’d like to see her offense be more diversified, but I think that’s part of why KBA wants her running point. I just don’t see it working. (Also, the deep three attempt up 36 with just over two minutes left? Really?) Nicole Munger was firing off corner threes in the third quarter like they were worth money (but of course they’re not, she’s an NCAA student-athlete and that would be wrong). She had a bit of a shaky start because of the two fouls in the first five minutes, but she came alive in the third quarter.
Senior power will push Michigan through this year, but next year’s going to be rough until this year’s freshmen and sophomores get it together.
I don’t know if I’d call Daisha Davis a center, or if everyone on the floor just looks short after Thome’s been out there. I also don’t know the context of the goggles, only that she’s rocking them. I would appreciate if Destoni Willock would stop doing whatever it is she’s doing to her shorts, whether it’s tucking them or rolling them or whatever. It’s not a good look for her. She’s got good size, and she had a nice block, but I’m not sure what to think of her.
Tia Montagne has flair and style, and made a great defensive play deflecting a would-be fast break. She still has work to do, but I see promise. Ella Vaatanen attempted, and failed, to defend Hallie Thome, and put up dubious threes. One drew no iron and barely drew net. Seneca Richards attempted, and failed, to guard Hallie Thome, but at least showed some midrange offense that I didn’t think she had. I’m used to her just setting up beyond the arc.
It’s a Christmas miracle, come early: DeAngelique Waithe hit a jumper. Granted, she missed a boatload of other shots too, but I think this is the most offense I’ve seen from her in a long time. She brought the best defense against Thome, arms up and giving her as little space as possible. I love her defense, in general. Quiet game for Stylz Sanders, and mostly a defensive one. She was bouncing all over the place on defense.
Drew Winter shone in the second half, whether it was from beyond the arc, driving the lane, or on the fast break. Her ballhandling needs work (she got called for a lot of travels) but she showed out against major competition. Jeydah Johnson had a rough day beyond the arc, and I think it was mostly in the second half, mostly because I don’t clearly remember seeing her take the shots, so that would have been at the other end of the floor. From what I’ve seen of her, I don’t know that that’s her strength. Denisha Petty-Evans had a solid game, though now I’m wondering who the point guard is in that lineup, her or Drew. Denisha tends to bring the ball up more, but Drew seems to be more of the playmaker. I guess it depends on who has the hot hand. If Denisha’s threes had been falling, the game might have been more respectable. (And even on the one she did hit, the announcer credited it to DeAngelique, which is about as likely as being struck by lightning while holding a winning Mega Millions ticket. My dude, these are your own players, you should know who’s who.)
I think we knew going into this game that this was not going to end well for LIU. They’re not tall enough, they’re not fast enough, they don’t shoot well enough. You can go down the list. But I’d like to think they used this game as an opportunity to see where their worst weaknesses are and to work on them.
(For both teams that’s free throw shooting, because holy carp on a stick, 50% should not be the higher free throw percentage on the day.)
For whatever reason, things were unusually restrained at LIU. The spirit squad didn’t make an appearance, the dance team mostly didn’t get involved in the game, and even the band was slow to react when the Blackbirds were shooting free throws. I like the dance team’s new uniforms, though.
Michigan really needs to do this more often, but if they could do it against, I dunno, Columbia or St. Francis, that would be great. I don’t like being stuck between two teams! At least I can come back to LIU next week for the Barclays doubleheader.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
December 2nd, 2017: Michigan at LIU
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment