tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88579242420623134452024-02-20T13:48:39.458-08:00Game Notes of DoomNotes and other observations from a basketball junkieRebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.comBlogger911125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-50466498531583547112019-12-13T22:01:00.004-08:002019-12-13T22:01:39.587-08:00December 5th, 2019: Fordham at Manhattan<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Fordham held Manhattan to 27.4% shooting from the field in a hard-fought 51-45 win. Bre Cavanaugh had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rams, with Kaitlyn Downey also notching a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Emily LaPointe had 13 points and Courtney Warley had 11 rebounds for the Jaspers in the loss.<br />
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For rivalry renewed, terrible shooting, precise announcements, strangers on a train, donuts, shiny things, and being en garde, join your intrepid and well-traveled blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Basketball never stops, and neither do rivalries. Your intrepid blogger comes to you live, or at least on indeterminate tape delay, from the boogie down Bronx, where the Fordham Rams are paying a visit to the Manhattan Jaspers in the Battle of the Bronx.<br />
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Manhattan's band is getting into the spirit of both the holiday season and the basketball season, wearing festive hats (or antlers) and their “The 6th Borough” shirts.<br />
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Look, Mr. DJ, I get that no one cares about the lyrics, but maybe the refrain of “everything's better when I'm drinking” is not an appropriate choice on a college campus?<br />
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The Usual Suspects have arrived for Fordham. I'm flying solo today, though; the husband is off at Seton Hall for the UConn game. I expect this one to be more competitive.<br />
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15-4 Fordham end Q1. Manhattan is not shooting well and one of their players spiked the ball out of bounds off her teammate. The band is already razzing them. This is so far less competitive than the UConn game.<br />
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That is some glitter on the Manhattan cheerleaders' sweatshirts there. Wow.<br />
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24-18 Fordham at half. This has been all kinds of ugly. Bre Cavanaugh is already one rebound away from a double-double. No one with more than four points for Manhattan, but shoutout to Courtney Warley's eight rebounds. (Even if I would like her to maybe not roll-block people.)<br />
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On the other hand, Lynette Taitt probably wishes people would stop confusing this with dodgeball. She's already had two people spike the ball off her. And one was her own teammate. That is not how that play works, people.<br />
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I forgot how much I like Manhattan's band. The sound system s a little overcranked, because it has to be prepared for when Draddy is in use as a track facility, which is a much larger venue. But the band has a nice jazzy rhythm to them. I think one of those dudes is playing an electric clarinet, and I have no idea how that would even work, but it's fun.<br />
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The 6th Borough is arguably putting in a better night's work than the team they're rooting for.<br />
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There appear to be two different nets on the baskets. The one closer to Manhattan's bench has a traditional long one, while the one by the visiting bench appears shorter and thicker, making the rim look a little like one of those kiddy baskets.<br />
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Manhattan's intro video is interesting. I don't think I've ever seen one completely devoid of highlights.<br />
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38-36 Fordham end Q3. The refs are starting to call some of the physical play, but not all of it.<br />
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I don't know how accurate this claim is, but Manhattan claims to be the place where the seventh inning stretch was created, so we had a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” between the third and fourth quarters.<br />
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It's final at Draddy, 51-45 Fordham. Game MVP coming up, and if it's not Bre Cavanaugh I will find a hat and eat it. No, I will willingly be seen in the vicinity of the “Make Christmas Great Again” sweatshirt. Fortunately, Bre is our winner.<br />
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I like everything about the experience of a game at Manhattan except the home team's playing style. The people are all really nice, the PA guy is on point (every sub properly announced with name and number), the concessions are reasonably priced even if they're minimal, the student section shows up, the band is really good... but watching that team is painful. I thought Vulin was developing something, but her players have regressed since her first couple of years.<br />
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Nyala Pendergrass made a cameo in the second half to shoot a little bit, but the bulk of the bench play went to the trio of Lizahya Morgan, Gabby Cajou, and Pamela Miceus. They entered in the first and third quarters as a unit, but were situationally subbed as necessary throughout the game. Cajou is still lightning fast on the break- she had a beauty of a steal that led to a lay-up for the Jaspers. She also had an amazing o-board where she soared over a forward who had a good eight inches on her. But when she was out of the fast break, her decision-making deteriorated. Morgan provided some outside shooting, though she suffered from the same lack of accuracy most of her teammates did. Miceus brought a midrange game, with mixed results. Her form is terrible, and she's a senior, so it's not likely to get better.<br />
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If you leave Julie Høier open for five-six seconds, yes, she's going to hit the shot. That's if you give her enough time to get the ball, consider the shot, double pump herself out of it, and then set back up. I try not to make blonde jokes in the blog, but she was doing her best to live up to them. I mean, I guess she sets okay screens? But I'm about 50% certain she's the one who spiked her own teammate. It was either her or the freshman Emily LaPointe, who does have a respectable shot. She needs a lot of work, being a freshman and all, and in a lot of places I'd say she has time to develop. But I haven't seen a lot of development at Manhattan, so I don't know why she would buck the trend. Courtney Warley has a somewhat more respectable midrange game than her bench counterpart, though today it did not extend out to the three-point line as it has done in the past. She was ferocious on the glass and was able to outrun our guards to pinballing rebounds.<br />
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Lynette Taitt will drag this team to at least one victory that they in no other way deserve simply because she's that stubborn, that tough, and that physical. She did her damnedest on Bre Cavanaugh, and the fact that I'm complimenting a defensive performance that allowed 21 points should say something about the night Bre was having. They went at each other all night. Game recognize game. I have no idea why Sydney Watkins is starting. I don't know, maybe Manhattan just had a historically bad shooting night and this isn't really them, but about all she was doing out there was shooting threes on offense and attempting to jiggle distractingly on defense.<br />
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Manhattan is unafraid to play physical basketball. They drive headfirst, or at least shoulder-first. There were an awful lot of plays where they went low and suddenly there was a Fordham player lying on the floor wondering where the foul was and maybe what the number of that truck was. I applaud their fight, but at some point, they need to learn a little bit of control. And again, I don't see that happening under Vulin.<br />
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Zara Jillings's incredible disappearing act continues. I don't know what's going on with her, but I don't think I like it. Katie McLoughlin was first off the bench to shore up the defense slightly and promptly committed a reach-in foul. She did have a nifty putback lay-up off an offensive rebound. Megan Jonassen looks like she's lost a step- she was having trouble keeping up with Manhattan's movement.<br />
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One of these days. I know I've said this before, and since this is the first half of only her junior season I'm sure I'll say it again, but one of these days Kendell Heremaia is going to cause me to facepalm myself right into the concussion protocol. I love her hustle, and I love her rebounding, and I love the heart she has to play above her height. But if she takes one more stupid dipsy-do lay-up when going straight up would be enough, or if she keeps missing easy shots right at the basket, I will not be responsible for my actions. I don't like being this harsh or this frustrated with her, but she just goes from extreme to extreme. Kaitlyn Downey did a nice job on the boards, picking up plays that ricocheted out to the elbows. She looked like the physicality of the game was taking a toll on her by the end- that was one of the highest levels I've ever seen her register on the Kraayeveld-Adubato Scale. We really need another post to help take the load off and maybe allow Kene to actually be a guard one of these days. I thought that player was going to be Vilisi Tavui, but she's had a rough start to the season.<br />
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In some ways, it's a bad sign that the freshmen guards looked out of sorts against a team as bad as Manhattan. Anna DeWolfe looked hesitant, and that cost us with turnovers on sloppy or telegraphed passes. Her ability to snipe threes from the corner countered LaPointe's shooting and kept Manhattan's runs from being anything more than brief jogs. Sarah Karpell brought the defense, or at least tried to; there was a sequence where she was on Julie Høier, who was doing everything but waving signal flags to tell her teammates she had a height advantage on the play. She was in over her head, but she did her best. Bre Cavanaugh got off to a little bit of a slow start, but once she got the first make, it was like a match to a pile of dry leaves- she lit up Manhattan beyond the arc, in the paint, and on the offensive glass. She pretty much had her way with Manhattan. I'm a little worried about the amount of contact she was taking (Manhattan's approach to defense can sometimes be categorized as "body slam") but she has parents for that and I need to stop fussing.<br />
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Officials let most of the contact go in the first half and tightened up on the hand-checking in the second (but still let the heavy contact keep going) If this rivalry weren't on the right side of the line between heated and competitive, we might have had more issues. But the closest thing we had to a problem was very late in the game, when Kaitlyn Downey accidentally nailed Julie Høier in the face with an elbow on a loose ball scrum. That was reviewed for a hostile act, but the review was very short and nothing came of it.<br />
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Manhattan hosted an autograph session after the game, and disorganized doesn't even begin to describe it. The poster is fantastic- a great design printed on thick glossy stock- and the squad even had the metallic Sharpies to sign it. But they needed at least one more table to fit everyone, and there was no sense of order. Imagine me hovering nervously and shyly around the fringes, trying to figure out where to start and where the line is, only to realize there is no line. (And of course, with my Fordham scarf shoved in my coat and my coat zipped all the way up.) It was awkward.<br />
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Fordham brought a small student section! Or possibly some of the guys from the band, I don't know. But they were seated in the other endcourt section, across from the 6th Borough, and two of them would fence with drumsticks while Manhattan was shooting free throws. I cannot personally condone disconcerting the home team on the line, but I can appreciate their efforts. Apparently security almost freaked out when one of them successfully got through the other one's guard and poked him in the chest. Lot of mutual respect between them and the Manhattan band after the game.<br />
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The trip was chaos and the execution was terrible, but I'm still glad I went. It's good to see Bre looking like Bre again.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-57967339127869562962019-12-13T22:00:00.002-08:002019-12-13T22:00:49.477-08:00December 8th, 2019: Seton Hall at Iona<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Seton Hall came out of the gate strong and never looked back in an 89-37 pounding of Iona. Desiree Elmore had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pirates. Shyan Mwai had 13 to lead the Gaels.<br />
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For redecorating, reorienting, reordering, revisiting, and wrecking, join your intrepid and alliterative blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">We're back in the saddle again, apparently determined to take every train in the Bronx at some point this year. Seton Hall visits Iona, and that's a game I wouldn't miss for the world. As the song lyric goes, "we have history, or don't you remember?" That's where we got entangled in this ever-more-complex network of friendships and loyalties, back when Tony Bozzella coached the Gaels and Lauren DeFalco and Marissa Flagg were among his point guards. And that's where we finally gave up one of our core teams, when Alexis Lewis and her classmate Treyanna Clay transferred out and loyalty no longer compelled us to follow a coach we didn't respect.<br />
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Rumor has it there will be a slew of alumnae in attendance. I'm looking forward to some high-quality people-watching.<br />
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"Oh, you've redecorated," the "I don't like it" edition: Iona has added fancy new modern academic buildings without considering the aesthetic of the existing campus, and it looks like someone with no imagination was playing with Legos in the middle of a Christmas village.<br />
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"Oh, you've redecorated," the "I love it!" edition: the Hynes Athletic Center has gotten quite the makeover, with a change in orientation, new bleachers, fancy new seats, shiny new scoreboards, and a maroon paint job so fresh I can still smell it. Having but a single entrance for public use, and having that entrance lead directly behind the field of play (to the point where I was stepping around the mop) seems like a bad idea. It's a good thing we get in early. I can't imagine what that's going to look like ten minutes before game time.<br />
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There is a woman in the Seton Hall section with a purse made from a Spaulding basketball, and I mentally went full Gollum. We wants it, we wants the preciousssssss.<br />
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Iona's band is prepared for war. They have a piper. Yes. Someone just rolled up with a set of bagpipes. And they didn't even <em>play</em> the pipes.<br />
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Another member of the Iona-Seton Hall blended family, Aleesha Powell, is currently socializing behind the Pirates' bench.<br />
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Today I learned that platinum blonde dye jobs run in families! That is... wow, that's bright. If we stick her behind the basket, we might be able to distract Iona at the line. (I fully expect to be closer to the "Damika's Aunt Helen" end of the scale than the "polite visiting fan" end of the scale today.)<br />
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It's 39-17 Seton Hall at halftime, and I still demand more. Officials are letting a lot of contact go, and from the chirping, this is not a good plan, especially when they're calling cheap hand-check fouls. (Lauren Park-Lane is probably especially salty about her third, given that Iona traveled three steps with the ball before she made contact.) Shyan Mwai <em>is</em> the Iona offense, with 13 of their 17 points. Desiree Elmore has 12 for Seton Hall.<br />
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I know there are other alumnae here, but I don't recognize them. It's been a long time. And yet being in this building is enough to stir memories of "Let's go Gaels" and "I-O-N-A!" and "go, fight, win".<br />
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Not gonna lie, watching Selena Philoxy get her groove thang on to every piece of music she hears, even during timeouts, is a joy and a delight. Even if she probably should be focusing more on the content of the timeout meeting. And I'm also not sure what the protocols are around dancing to the other school's fight song.<br />
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That went about how I was expecting, except for our inability to hit free throws and maybe Iona's inability to shoot anything except their own feet. If you can't hit shots, hit the other team.<br />
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(New York subway justice: the dude blasting music from his speaker yelling at the dude with the cigarette.)<br />
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I shouldn't really be surprised that Jodi-Marie Ramil has fallen as far down the bench as she has. Her hands aren't great, and she missed multiple point-blank shots right at the rim. She slapped the taste out of a couple of weak shots right at the basket. But those shots came from players at the end of the bench, and something tells me most players are going to come at her stronger. De'jah Williams is a bruiser, and admittedly a good first impression is not attempting to put one of my players in a reverse chokehold. She has potential, or at least she would have potential if I thought she had a coach who would help her shore up her weaknesses. She's short for a post, but she's tough. Gabrielle Joseph's communication skills, especially for a sophomore, impressed me; she was out there relaying signals and calling out screens (I think it was her calling out a screen that got the refs to notice Selena Philoxy's screen was not as good as it should have been, resulting in an offensive foul). I'd like for her to pick on someone her own size, though; she put a couple of hits on Lauren Park-Lane that did not please me.<br />
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Lucia Becerra Perez popped off the bench and gave the Gaels good minutes at guard- she actually started the second half over Paulla Weekes. If she had better footwork, she'd be a good point guard. But she traveled, and she was careless with the ball. These are habits that can be broken, one presumes. Monica Barefield had a couple of good open looks from the left wing for three very late in the game, when Seton Hall was mostly just trying to avoid fouling. Again, I'm surprised she's slid as far down the rotation as she has, but then again, Billi Chambers's coaching decisions are best epitomized by the shrug emoji.<br />
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Juana Camilión has got to stop traveling. She got called for the extra step again and again, and there were at least as many times when she didn't get called for it. If she had a better grasp of the fundamentals, she'd be a star. But she doesn't, so she produces more turnovers than an average bakery instead. Shyan Mwai was the only bright spot for the Gaels in the first half, hitting threes and getting inside for lay-ups. We did a better job on her in the second half, but she also went the bad kind of wild when she had open looks and sent them everywhere but the bottom of the basket.<br />
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Tori Lesko is not the player she once was, and it's kind of sad to see. As one of the only players to make it through all four years with Billi Chambers, it seems like she deserves better But the knee injury has robbed her of whatever speed she once possessed, and she either couldn't or wouldn't shoot against our defense. I mean, we did match up well at her position, but still. You genuinely do hate to see it. Morgan Rachu did a good job on the boards, though some of it was as much hockey-style boarding as it was basketball-style boarding. She's not afraid to throw her body around. Her three-point shot was not going down, although her form is decent. Her choice in number pretty much forced that, I'd say. (Yes, I am still annoyed that anyone is wearing #14 for Iona. It's not like Damika Martinez finished among the top scorers in D-I history, after all. It's not like she owns pretty much every record in Iona history and MAAC history OH WAIT.) Paulla Weekes exists. She went out of the game pretty quickly, and I'm not sure she even played in the second half. If you want more than that, play more.<br />
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Today I learned that Jocelyn Jones is in fact playing this year for Seton Hall, as she checked in late in garbage time. My understanding is that she was injured, and she looked like a player trying to get herself back into playing shape. That's a whole lot of woman. Whitney Howell came in at the same time, and couldn't quite catch the high pass from McKenna Hofschild. Kailah Harris got some good boards down low. I like her and her stylish goggles. I don't know if the goggles do anything or not, but they look cool. Selena Philoxy brought her usual physicality and multiple moments of "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS". Alexia Allesch got a couple of good looks right at the basket and took advantage of them. I know she likes to take threes, but she really seems to have found a niche in the post, and I hope she becomes more willing to use it next year.<br />
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McKenna Hofschild ran a fair amount of point guard in the second half, and made it clear that she was looking to pass first and foremost. She showed off some fancy no-look stuff. Undersized with a penchant for showmanship? I can't imagine <em>how</em> she ended up at Seton Hall. Jasmine Smith shot a lot of threes. She shot a lot of them in the fourth quarter, which I don't think was Coach Bozzella's game plan. He did not look happy about the number of shots she took early in the shot clock, in any case. My Jackson got some good run early, which gave us the luxury of testing out the guards further back in the rotation in the second half. Victoria Keenan was the one everyone on the bench was rooting for, and when the first corner three went in, the regulars went a little nuts.<br />
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Lauren Park-Lane got into foul trouble in the second quarter on cheap reach-in fouls, and then the fourth foul in the third quarter got her extremely upset because it was a very cheap call that could have been a no-call or even an out-of-bounds on Iona. She didn't get a chance to prove much, but she doesn't have a lot to prove. Barbara Johnson was just about the only Pirate who had trouble shooting from the field- for whatever reason, even her open looks weren't going down.<br />
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Desiree Elmore started the game like a house on fire- in fact, looking back now, thanks to my color-coded score card, her eight points were more than Iona managed as a team for the first quarter. She got putbacks, she hit from the midrange, she drove and scored. Des is the queen of stealing the spotlight, and I mean that as a compliment. Put Shadeen Samuels on the watch lists? Des will put up the big numbers. Homecoming for the Iona exes? Des will steal the show. I don't know if she has a pro game, or if she's going to be stuck in tweener limbo. But she's been so much fun to watch for Seton Hall. Alexis Lewis was definitely too amped for this game in the early going- when she missed, she missed hard and she missed long. She made up for it on the offensive glass and with blocked shots. I recall one sequence where she got the block, the board, and a fantastic save, or something to that effect, and yelling, "Don't you wish you had someone like that? OH WAIT" at the Iona bench. Me? Petty? Whatever gave you that idea? Shadeen Samuels looks like she's still getting back into game shape- once or twice it looked like she wasn't getting as far up as she usually does- but you know, I don't think the kid from Ossining was going to miss the game in Westchester County. Pretty sure there's a bus you can take for that kind of thing. (My great Westchester bus adventure, which had a crucial transfer in Ossining, connected through White Plains, but I think there's an alternate route through New Rochelle.) She did an especially good job reading offensive rebounds.<br />
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Adventures with intros! Credit where credit is due, Iona gave a warm welcome back to the two alumnae and former coach on the Seton Hall bench, and gave Lexi Lewis pride of place at the end of intros... which no one seemed to realize, because they announced Des and Lexi came out. Mildly awkward, but I don't think it was intentional.<br />
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Iona seems to get frustrated easily, and when they get frustrated, the shoulders go out and the feet slip out a little bit. The discipline is lacking, and that starts at the top. It really seemed like Seton Hall's bench was pushing harder than they had to in the fourth quarter, and I'm reminded of something Geno Auriemma once wrote about the end of the bench in blowouts. I'm doing a lot of paraphrasing here, but basically, he intimated that in a game where the margin needs to be managed, it might be better to have your starters in, because the reserves are out there trying to prove themselves and thus aren't going to let up on the gas, even when they're up obscene amounts.<br />
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Officiating was so-so. I thought they let a lot of things go that could have gotten ugly, with the elbows and the shoulders. I suspect Lauren Park-Lane agrees with this assessment.<br />
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I'm disappointed in what Iona's become. There's potential there- Chambers does seem to be able to recruit. But she can't retain and she can't coach.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-34579827434660788692019-11-28T08:16:00.001-08:002019-11-28T08:16:27.441-08:00November 25, 2019: UMass at St. John's<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> St. John's started off strong in both halves to stave off runs from UMass and come away with the 82-71 win. Qadashah Hoppie led four Johnnies in double figures with 22 points. Bre Hampton-Bey had 16 points off the bench to lead the Minutewomen, who won the rebounding battle 33-30.<br />
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For crossing the streams, spinning right round like a record, rethinking things, exploring new depths, and traveling, join your intrepid blogger after the jump. There may be cake.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Just in case you weren't sick of me after the massive note dump this past weekend, we're back in the saddle again with a non-conference match-up against UMass. At least with UMass, I know to expect a presence behind the opposing bench, and all I can do is hope to avoid awkwardness. (UMass guard Destiney Philoxy is the younger sister of Seton Hall's Selena Philoxy, and I sorta feel like it might be a bad idea to run into SHU family while in STJ gear.)<br />
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More info on Alisha Kebbe: apparently it's her shoulder and she might be out for a while. Yeesh. Adventures in forward play ahead.<br />
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The ticket takers were late to the party, which meant a few minutes of drifting around and aimlessly reading plaques. Please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed “Your Are St. John's” on one of the trophies dedicated to Lou Carnesecca and that they're just politely ignoring it or the engraving company went out of business sometime in the last fifteen years. Or something.<br />
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Update:oh <em>no</em>, I think Papa Philoxy is the other person in our section. Fortunately, he and the family moved to the other side of the floor. This would have been awkward.<br />
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25-17 STJ end Q1. Qadashah Hoppie is doing Q things, with nine points and a pocket-picking of Destiney Philoxy so thorough I'm pretty sure she's now the owner of a UMass student ID. UMass has a big center who si extremely not ready for this jelly.<br />
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44-37 STJ at half. Q still has 9, but Tiana England has stepped her game up with 13. Paige McCormick has 11 to lead UMass, getting threes on good screens. Our defense loosened up in the second quarter, and I am not okay with this.<br />
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Star-watching in the crowd: hi, Jade! Hi, Aliyyah!<br />
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Shoutout to the person in the Logowoman hoodie. I love seeing more connections between the W and WCBB among fans. Love <em>all</em> the women's basketball.<br />
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There is an adorable tiny future-Johnny in a Red Storm bandanna, and I don't know what to do with this level of cute. (Other than keep it at a safe distance. Kids are cute as long as they're not mine.) (I think that was Sky's mom with the kidlet. Which means that might be Sky's kid. Out Of Cheese Error Please Redo From Start.)<br />
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The men's team showed up for a while, but they seem to have bailed.<br />
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Huh. I think the dasher boards on the other side of the court actually work. I can see the reflection of statistics in the boards opposite them.<br />
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I don't know if I personally would have gone with the sneakers, but Alisha Kebbe's outfit is otherwise pretty sharp.<br />
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Never change, Sky. I see you bobbing your head to the arena music during the commercial break.<br />
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65-51 STJ end Q3. Qadashah started off hot again and gave us some separation.<br />
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Dance team reversed the polarity of the rhythm flow, which is kind of refreshing, because I am not an ass woman.<br />
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The steals and turnovers are instructive- most of our turnovers are travels and offensive fouls, while most of their turnovers are on our steals.<br />
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UMass is an interesting team. They're technically sound in a lot of ways, although they need to do a better job not telegraphing their passes. They know their strengths, and they know how to play to their strengths. Their coach needs to maybe switch to decaf, and consider the teams I follow when I make this recommendation. I didn't catch his name during intros, so I spent most of the night referring to him as "Captain Stompy" from his sideline demeanor. It seems a little ridiculous to be berating the officials when the foul differential is 5-1 in your favor, for example.<br />
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Whether from lack of availability or lack of desire to do so, the Minutewomen did not go very deep. Bre Hampton-Bey provided the reserve guard minutes and got her points with speed and canny changes of direction- when that first step got her an inch of space, she turned it into points. She had a fantastic steal off an inbounds on a free throw- I blinked and suddenly she had the ball for a lay-up. She's got a little bit of a chip on her shoulder, but I'm kind of used to that with undersized guards. Angelique Ngalakulondi was very physical, sometimes to a fault (I realize "over the back" is not the actual name of a type of foul, but the way she had Alissa bent over on one rebound was as close a textbook "over the back" play as you'll ever see). She sets a good screen, and she knows how to use her height, which is definitely an advantage she has over her classmate Maeve Donnelly. She needs to learn to moderate her physicality a little bit, and I don't know if Captain Stompy is the right coach for that.<br />
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Maeve Donnelly is tall. Right now, that's about all she's got going for her as a Division I basketball player, at least based on that game. She couldn't hit shots close to the basket, and her attempts at a midrange game were laughable at best. She didn't rebound well. She did okay at getting position, but given that our tallest active player is three inches shorter than she is, that's not as difficult as one might imagine. 6-5 always has the potential to be a game-changer in WCBB, but right now, she's not ready for primetime. Hailey Leidel did a lot of hard, physical work on the boards and laid a smackdown of a block on Q. She's got a good long-range stroke, but I'm more impressed by her physicality.<br />
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Vashnie Perry ran point and got yelled at by Captain Stompy at least once. She did all right behind the line when she got an open look, and her teammates were good at creating open looks. Paige McCormick did a better job of taking advantage of them- her release seemed faster than her teammates'. Destiney Philoxy, on the other hand, was much more of a drive-and-sometimes-dish player, using bursts of incredible speed to get to the basket and convert, either by getting the basket or getting to the line. She showed quick hands and a lot of tenacity.<br />
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(I, uh. I think she might also have recognized some of the sounds from the audience. It maybe doesn't help our case that we borrowed the four-foul taunt from Seton Hall's band. But the husband swears we actually got a visible reaction from her when we made loud noises while she was at the line. Please don't kill me, Selena.)<br />
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I'm not used to this whole rotation concept Joe seems to have adopted. Don't get me wrong, I quite like it. I just find myself nervous that he's going to abandon it at the first sign of trouble and revert to running our starters into the ground. Going eight deep when you're already down a starter? Priceless.<br />
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I may have to start learning Swedish between seasons. Between Cecelia Holmberg and Amanda Zahui B, I'm going to have a lot of occasions to yell, "You didn't need to take that shot from Stockholm!" and maybe it'll get through that way. (Also, that way I can learn Swedish geography and make more informed international references.) (Look, at least I'm not making Swedish Chef jokes and I'm trying to discourage others that way as well.) She's going to take some time to develop, but once she figures out how to stay in front of her man, she'll be fine, and she'll bring a dimension we don't fully have yet. Unique Drake showed good driving ability, but needs to work on her decision-making a little bit (although to be fair to her, that was Cecelia's bad pass, not her turnover). Leilani Correa's defense wasn't as solid as it had been through the first few games, but she made up for it at the other end of the floor with backdoor cuts and corner threes.<br />
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I feel like Qadashah Hoppie may have been watching tape of Angel McCoughtry. I don't know if that's the comparison I'd personally have chosen for her, but the aggressive, high-risk/high-reward way she played the passing lanes brought McCoughtry to mind. This is the second game this season where she's come on strong early and dialed it back later, although in this game it was more that she started both halves strong and then didn't score in the second and almost didn't score in the fourth. It's sort of like a relay race- yeah, you want a strong runner on the anchor leg, but you also need someone to give you a head start on the first leg. Alissa Alston picked up a technical for taunting on her three-point shot late in the game- I didn't see the exact sequence, but my understanding is that she kept flashing the three signal all the way down the floor and did it in the opponent's face, which would count as taunting (but if Hampton-Bey clapping in the face of a downed opponent doesn't qualify, then I'm not sure we're even calling taunting techs anymore). She's quick and light on her feet, and she's stubborn as all get-out. She had a big offensive rebound that she turned into two free throws. Tiana England ran the show in her usual style- fast when we needed it, but way too slow way too often, and while one of these days I might figure out if the problem is her or Coach Tartamella, this is not that day. She's growing into her number, but those are mighty big shoes to fill, even if they're in different positions.<br />
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Kadaja Bailey is very quietly developing into a solid rebounder and starting to develop a little bit on defense, instead of being the offensive powerhouse I think we thought she was going to be. Her man-to-man defense is still a work in progress, but she anchors us very well. She was pretty solid on offense in this game, too. I've been hard on her to start the season; maybe it's time I reexamined her strengths and focused less on her weaknesses. Emma Nolan added another "the arrow is pointing in the wrong direction" jump ball to her growing tally. She put a block on Leidel that might just have hurt the poor Minutewoman's soul. I think she's getting used to the collegiate three-point line (it doesn't help that the men's line and the women's line are both on the floor at all times) and when that happens, her stroke will be even more deadly. Meanwhile, she's been stepping up big time for us to bring some of the interior play and interior defense that we've been missing with Alisha out. Kadaja too, but it's more noticeable with Emma. Maybe we just got a bad scouting report on her.<br />
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We got bogged down late in the game too often for my liking. I don't like when we commit shot clock violations. I like when we cause them (and yes, Captain Stompy, we did, that shot only touched glass). We need to stay on the glass harder- we got outrebounded again, despite winning the game. But the depth is real, and it's something we haven't had for a long time. We don't necessarily have height, but we have power. We need to consistently take advantage of that depth to hammer at our foes.<br />
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Not the worst crowd we've ever had, but it was hard to get any noise going.<br />
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If the dizzy shootout contest doesn't end with someone throwing up on the hype man, I will be very disappointed, because a) it is a stupid contest, b) the hype man is annoying, and c) the rules aren't clearly defined (one contestant only spun around five times before her first attempt from each location, the other spun around before every attempt, and she was still the better shooter).<br />
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I like how this team is coming together. Next stop, Vegas! (For them, not me. I have the sinking suspicion my next stop is Hackensack.)<br />
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(There is no cake. The cake is a lie.)<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-37774922345307389862019-11-24T09:13:00.004-08:002019-11-24T09:13:50.900-08:00November 22nd, 2019: Wake Forest at St. John's<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> St. John's took control in the second quarter and never fully relinquished the lead in an 82-74 win over Wake Forest. Qadashah Hoppie had 23 points to lead the Red Storm, with Alissa Alston adding 20 points. Gina Conti scored a game-high 25 points before fouling out for Wake Forest.<br />
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For getting back on track, rounding up the Usual Suspects, sketchy contests, an insistence on committing unnecessary fouls, loud noises, and pace of play issues, join your intrepid and ever-so-slowly getting it together blogger after the jump.<br />
<span id="fullpost">It's a cold, windy sort of a night here in Queens, and the traffic on Jamaica Avenue is a nightmare. Maybe that's why no one is here to see St. John's take on Wake Forest. Come on, people, it's not like we get Power 5 teams in here every day, even if they're not very good ones.<br />
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I salute you, Wake Forest travelers. So long as all y'all stay behind your own bench, we're all good. On the other hand, I would appreciate the Deacs not attempting to pull down our rim. We've only got two, and we kind of need both of them. The sign might be a little overkill too, although nice job matching the gold.<br />
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One of the dance team members is walking around in Under Armour gear, and I'm not sure if that's a sign of rebellion or the dance team didn't get included in the Nike deal.<br />
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I've just been informed that Alisha Kebbe is not available for this game. I am not okay with this turn of events.<br />
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Okay, I am less enthused about the Wake Forest people now that more of them have arrived and there's the distinct possibility that we'll be outnumbered by opposing fans from one of the lowest-tier teams in the ACC. There are high school reinforcements arriving, but I'm not sure whose side they're on. We also seem to have an unexpectedly high student turnout. They must have been storming the dorms for the two games. (Volleyball had Senior Night earlier today and swept Georgetown.) The people in front of us have been warned.<br />
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It's 41-28 St. John's at half. Alissa Alston has 16 points to lead the Red Storm. Ivana Raca has 11 to lead the Demon Deacons. When our offense is moving with speed, we're doing well. When we get bogged down by looking like we've never seen a defense before, we run the clock down, take terrible shots, and either hit deep threes or give up rebounds. This does not feel like it should be rocket science.<br />
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That got closer than I'd like at the end, and I get the feeling that Coach Tartamella is going to have some long talks with our guard about fouling people in the final minute up three possessions. But our hustle is there. Our hands are there. Our consistency needs some work, but we're a work in progress. I'm okay with that.<br />
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Wake Forest used their height well to get rebounds, especially offensive ones. No rebound was safe- if we held it up too long, a Demon Deacon would be there to tip it around. Their execution at the basket needed work, but they were prepared for that eventuality and swarmed the glass.<br />
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Ellen Hahne came in at the end of the game when it was pretty much over. Olivia Summiel got similar minutes in the first half, with the addition of a foul. Christina Morra saw spot minutes in the first half as well. I completely failed a perception check and didn't even realize Raegyn Branch checked into the game at any point, so you can tell how much of an impact she made on the game.<br />
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Alexandria Scruggs brought size at the guard spot- she was able to body up less substantial defenders to get to the basket. If she could finish when she got there, she'd have been even more effective. Anaia Hoard got her first name pronounced a couple of different ways and launched threes. Pretty stroke, but when the ball came off her hands it was going every which way. Maya Banks has elbows and she's not afraid to use them. She was physical, and she caused us problems with her size. That was sort of a theme of the night.<br />
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Ona Udoh plays even taller than she is. Her hands were very busy, especially on the offensive glass. She erased a Leilani Correa shot like it had been retconned out of the timeline. Either I missed some fouls or some got reallocated without an announcement, because she went from two fouls to four fouls without appearing to have been called for a third foul. She eventually fouled out of the game, so that was important, but she didn't seem to object, so I guess she figured she had committed five fouls. Alex Sharp probably had the best dance moves of anyone on Wake Forest, and demonstrated the utility of such with a nifty step-through and turn along the baseline for a basket. Hugging the opposing player during the game crosses the line of acceptable behavior, though. They list her as a guard, but against us she definitely played more like a post. Ivana Raca laid a painful block on Tiana England (that might have been one of the ones at the end of the shot clock, but we'll get to a more detailed discussion of the Red Storm offense later, when I've stopped swearing a little bit) and demonstrated good touch from the midrange and at the basket.<br />
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Gina Conti never stopped playing. Even when all seemed lost, she kept driving and drawing fouls. She picked up three cheap points when Alissa Alston inexplicably fouled her on a three-point heave at the end of the shot clock. She made a really great defensive play to save a loose ball (I think that was the one where she whacked it straight off Alissa's chest, which looked painful but was undeniably effective). Kaia Harrison was the crowd favorite of the Wake Forest fans; she's from Long Island and brought a very large contingent that cheered only for her. It was, frankly, offensive; Our Girls Syndrome is one of my least favorite parts of basketball, but I can sort of meet OGS sufferers halfway if they at least pretend to care about their darling's whole team. These folks roared like crazy when Harrison was announced as a starter, then went quiet as church mice the rest of the way. She scored a couple of free throws, but hit no field goals, and there is a very petty part of me that is happy about that. She's got good speed, and if she can get some of the wonkiness out of her shot she'll be good offensively.<br />
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When momentum sits on a knife-edge: at the end of the first quarter, Wake Forest was down three, with the ball, and Harrison threw up a heave that bounced twice and didn't go in. If that buzzer-beater had gone in to tie the game and get the Long Island contingent going, I think the game would have gone very differently. We really didn't take control until the fourth quarter, and Wake Forest could have easily seized control in the second if they had that kind of momentum behind them.<br />
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Sophia Nolan and Shamachya Duncan picked up a couple of stray minutes in the first half. I'm pleasantly surprised by this, and at Joe's increased use of the bench this year in general. Sometimes mop-up minutes at the end of the first half are even more useful than the ones in the second half. Cecelia Holmberg got to take free throws today, and good grief there is a funkiness to her release that hurts my soul. The 19th century called; they want their set shot back. It's not present in her jumper, from what I saw. Her defense needs work. It needs a lot of work. She'll get there eventually, but she's not there now.<br />
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Unique Drake has got to finish at the rim. She wasn't great, but she wasn't as terrible as the non-existent stat line would indicate. She showed off some fancy passing. Leilani Correa's height was useful for us, and she did a good job getting to the line. Her release is slower than I'd like, and it got her shot blocked at least once. I love what she does when the defense presses, although we didn't use it as much as we did against Lafayette, which I think was a mistake. There are a few things I have issues with in this game, despite the victory, but we'll get to that in the wrap-up.<br />
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Kadaja Bailey's offense decided to join us this evening, including one spectacular bucket off an alley-oop from Tiana England. Her defense is still lagging, though; she's getting bodied by wider players, run by by quicker players, and losing the ball to taller players. I know she's better than the way she's started this season, but she looks badly lost. We've got you, K, but you've got to step up, especially if Alisha is out for any length of time. Emma Nolan stepped up to the challenge; while I'd still like to see her be less hesitant to shoot, she answered any questions I might have had about her toughness and her ability to use her build. She was aggressive and physical (almost to a fault- there's no tackling in basketball, and we're not even a football school). Her "hurray, I have forced a held ball, but alas, the arrow belongs to the other team" count is now up to at least four, just based on home games. She did a great job of matching Wake Forest's ability to knock the ball away from our rebounders.<br />
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Alissa Alston is going to kill me one of these days. Either that or I'm going to jump the rail and dope slap her upside the head, which I realize is not appropriate but at times feels distressingly necessary. I love her willingness to take the charge, but if she's going to do that, she has to get into position earlier and not still be in motion when the offensive player arrives. (I was in the minority regarding the block call. Other St. John's partisans felt it should have been a charge.) And when she committed the foul on the Conti three at the end of the third, I thought my head was going to explode. She's got swagger when she hits the deep threes, and full body sacrifice is a fantastic defensive philosophy I never want her to give up. I just need her to occasionally be more sensible, preferably before she breaks something. Tiana England showed off some flashy passing (I refer the reader back to the alley-oop to Kadaja) and got buckets off steals and fast breaks. But the offense got bogged down late, and once again I'm not sure if the problem is with her or with Joe. Qadashah Hoppie got off to another hot start, driving the lane and getting her points. She picked up the pace again in the fourth to help put the Deacs away. She, like most of the rest of the team, was better offensively when she was playing with a faster pace.<br />
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So we have to talk about the stupid fouls, don't we? Because this would have been a double-digit win if we hadn't gifted fouled Wake Forest on three different shots in the final minute and sent them to the line. Common sense, kids. Learn when to back off. Now, Leilani is a freshman, and she gets a partial pass. But Tiana and Alissa have no such excuse.<br />
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We also have to talk about the offense. Now, I do appreciate that there are times and reasons to slow down the offense and burn clock. And I understand that it's early in the season and we're incorporating four freshmen and a transfer who hasn't seen Red Storm game action before this year. I do understand these things. But at the same time, it's painfully obvious that when the offense slows down, everything goes horribly wrong. Everyone loses their willingness to shoot, the opposing defense has a chance to get set, and we look like we've never seen a live defense before in our lives. Like, yes, guys, the other team is allowed to play defense while you're running clock.<br />
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Officiating was inconsistent, but it was equal, or even in the Red Storm's favor. I can deal with that, I guess.<br />
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The kids who won the three-legged race cheated; they were barely tied together at all!<br />
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The "Red Storm Warning" klaxon is cute, although maybe we should not activate it while people are standing right next to it. Alex Sharp got an earful of it. But can we please dump the hype man? He doesn't bring anything to the table and is extremely annoying.<br />
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There's a lot of potential here, and for the first time in a while, I'm really optimistic about this team. We'll just never have to have a game with a margin between 15 and 30.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-51605073857527567322019-11-24T09:12:00.004-08:002019-11-24T09:12:56.409-08:00November 17th, 2019: Villanova at Fordham<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Post play fueled Villanova in their 73-66 win over Fordham. Madison Siegrist led the Wildcats with 29 points, with Mary Gedaka hot on her heels at 27 points. Bre Cavanaugh had 23 points to lead Fordham in the loss.<br />
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For unstoppable forces, a local inversion of reality, back pain, betting the dogs, a light roast, and dazed confusion, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.<br />
<span id="fullpost">One quick change and a scoot down the aisle later, your intrepid blogger is back in her accustomed perch behind the Fordham bench, as the Rams prepare to defend the A-10's honor against the Big East's Villanova Wildcats.<br />
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I don't know who this dude in the Penn State sweatshirt is, but I'm pretty sure that by wearing that he has declared himself the sworn enemy of everyone in the building, so well done there.<br />
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SHU friends and family have gathered in the corridor to greet their team. We are not over there, obviously, because right now we are Fordham fans.<br />
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I'm not sure if the stippling on Fordham's warm-up shirts is intentional or born from laundry, but it looks cool.<br />
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A dude in a Phillies cap just plopped himself down behind the Fordham bench, so this is probably going to be fun.<br />
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(Sidebar: Ms. Carangi and Ms. Siegrist were announced as “Sam” and “Maddie” respectively, but they're on Villanova's roster as Samantha and Madison, so I'll be referring to them by their full first names.)<br />
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20-14 Villanova end Q1. Madison Segrist has A) a lot of friends and family in attendance, B) 15 points. Neither of these sparks joy.<br />
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31-21 Villanova at half. Segrist has sat down, but Mary Gedaka picked up the baton with 9 of her 11 points in the second quarter. You know, I could have just had my wisdom teeth extracted.<br />
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Shout out to the dude in the student section in the A'ja Wilson jersey.<br />
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Two pregame ceremonies today, one honoring Coach Peretta on his upcoming retirement and one for Coach Gaitley's 1000th game.<br />
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48-42 Villanova end Q3. We tied it and then Nova remembered what threes are.<br />
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I'm not saying that we have issues with consistency, but if we could get maybe three players to play at or above average, we could actually win some of these games that we keep falling apart in. It's frustrating. We don't seem to have finishing ability. And when we pressed, Villanova was able to pass out to the wide open player under the basket. I'm not used to Villanova using the post so effectively and so heavily. Is this Peretta's version of a midlife crisis?<br />
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I'm also not used to Villanova not going that deep. Mackenzie Gardler came in briefly in the first half to give the guards a break, but I don't think she played in the second half. She's small but not all that quick, which is not a good combination. Brooke Mullin's first shot was a disaster, but once she got off one with her feet squared and time to set, it was worthy of her last name. She found her stroke in the second half to help Villanova pull away. Samantha Carangi came in to run point for long stretches- she was first off the bench in both halves. She was pretty solid on the intangibles.<br />
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I would not have expected an experienced senior like Bridget Herlihy to commit a stupid touch foul while leading in a two-three possession game with somethine like two minutes left to put the opponent in the penalty. She did lay some monster blocks on our guards, though. Made it hard to drive. I don't even remember Madison Segrist picking up the first two fouls, though that would be a reasonable explanation for why she was MIA in the second quarter. That kid is fast, and she's the usual Villanova match-up issue for a big- she can take you outside or inside. So she pretty much got what she wanted, whenever she wanted it, and when she didn't, she got the rebound. We did a not-terrible job of keeping Mary Gedaka off the offensive glass, but she more than made up for it with hard drives and an ability to create space for herself with excellent body control.<br />
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Cameron Onken had a really fantastic hustle play in the first quarter to break up a Fordham break. She was pretty good on defense. Raven james drove and dished effectively to set up the bigs (who also did a pretty good job of setting themselves up with dribble drives, to be fair).<br />
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I look at this and it looks like I'm short-changing the guards, but honestly, the starting guards for Villanova did not distinguish themselves well. The three-point offense mostly came from the bench or from the posts, which is either a credit to our defense or a credit to Madison Segrist, and I think I know who I'm crediting here.<br />
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Officiating made themselves heard in the second half, but we got ourselves into as much un-called trouble as we did called un-trouble. I have no right to be upset.<br />
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Clever things veteran coaches do: Bre Cavanaugh hits a deep jumper that's called a three on the floor but looks like a long two, putting Fordham within one and extending a Rams run. Peretta calls timeout. It's not just a smart move to curtail the run- I'd bet dollars to donuts he knew that call would be reversed, and made sure to call timeout so that the refs would review right then and there, taking the point off the board and messing up Fordham's momentum just that much more.<br />
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I don't know what to do with this Fordham team. It seems like if everyone could maybe get on the same page in the same game, we could make some noise. But right now we're playing like a box of puzzle pieces that's been dropped on the floor and played around with by a hyperactive six-year-old. Sometimes things fit together, but mostly they don't, no matter how hard we hammer at them.<br />
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Katie McLoughlin came on for hustle, but the biggest problem with her is that she doesn't bring anything else to the table. She fights for boards, and sometimes she even gets them, but she doesn’t score and her defense has yet to develop. I continue to wonder what's going on with Zara Jillings. Something's not right with her, and it's throwing off all our rotations, because we have very little height and if she's not contributing then we end up with Kendell Heremaia, Power Forward Extrordinaire, and I don't like that plan. Megan Jonassen was physical, but not much else.<br />
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Sarah Karpell looked really good- she's developing good defensive instincts quickly and demonstrating good court awareness. She started off the season with a bad game, but she's shaken it off in a hurry. Anna DeWolfe scored most of her points late, and I thought she looked like she was in over her head a little bit. Bre Cavanaugh looked like her old self in the second half, scoring with confidence and getting to the line. It took her a while to get going, and I worry about that still.<br />
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Have I mentioned how unenthused I am about the concept of Kendell Heremaia, Power Forward Extrordinaire? Because I love Kene, and all gods know that she tries to match up with the bigs, but she doesn't have the height and she doesn't have the quickness to get into the positions she needs to be in if she's going to make up for that. I do also need Kene to remember who her teammates are, because this is the second time in three games I've seen her take out a teammate in pursuit of a rebound. This time it was Anna. The people in the white jerseys are your friends, Kene. (Unless you're on the road.) Kaitlyn Downey was ineffective and often in foul trouble. We need her to be more consistent. I don't know what else to say.<br />
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Time and score awareness: on one possession, Sarah gets the offensive rebounds and keeps feeding Kaitlyn for three-point attempts; on the next possession, Anna gets the offensive rebound and immediately puts it back. IMO, we needed threes more than twos in that stretch, but looking back, I understand Anna's logic too.<br />
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I don't know what else to say about Fordham. There were moments when it worked, but then we couldn't execute. It feels like it was forever ago. I can't get a sense of this team and who they are yet.<br />
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Someone in the student section brought a drum. I question his reading of the rules on artificial noisemakers, but as long as he doesn't get in trouble, I'm down with it. I hope these heartbreakers don't dissuade the student section from showing up and getting loud- this team needs and deserves that kind of support at every game.<br />
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We can beat Northeastern, right? Right?<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-81033133666012641412019-11-24T09:12:00.000-08:002019-11-24T09:12:01.778-08:00November 17th: Seton Hall at Saint Joseph's (at Fordham)<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> In a low-scoring affair, Seton Hall prevailed over Saint Joseph's, 55-39. Desiree Elmore had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Pirates. No Hawk cracked double figures in scoring, with Claire Melia's seven leading the way.<br />
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For unaccustomed seating arrangements, terrible shooting, some height issues, and details lost to the fo of time, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Good afternoon, fellow travelers! We come to you from an unaccustomed spot at Rose Hill Gymnasium, as Seton Hall plays St. Joseph's in an A-10/Big East double-header. Since St. Joe's is an A-10 team, they have been extended the courtesy of the home bench, which means we, as Seton Hall fans, are behind the road bench. It's weird. I don't think I like it.<br />
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I do, however, want that Mad Magazine jacket one of the Fordham staffers is rocking. I want it very much.<br />
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Seton Hall is short-handed today; in addition to the players already injured, Shadeen Samuels tweaked her hamstring in their last game, and is in sweats. This is another thing I'm not thrilled with.<br />
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15-10 SHU end Q1, but it should be more. We're missing shots we should be hitting.<br />
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37-22 SHU at halftime, thanks to a deep three from Alexis Lewis at the buzzer and St. Joe's forgetting how time works. They went into their offense way too early with 27 seconds left in the half, ceding last shot to Seton Hall. Now, I'm not exactly thrilled with the way SHU ran that possession either- I thought Lauren Park-Lane ran too much time off the clock and Lexi was forced to take that shot too deep, but in this case, it worked.<br />
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Fordham is not running stats for this game, so I must rely on my trusty clipboard. It tells me that Lauren Park-Lane is leading the pirates with 10 points, while Claire Melia's six off the bench are a team high for the Hawks.<br />
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St. Joe's has size, but not finesse. They're not finishing at the rim, and they don't seem to have outside shooting to complement their bigs.<br />
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Yes, the Hawk traveled. Yes, she's flapping her wings. Yes, I know she's female because it was in their game notes. (Said game notes also felt the need to clarify that it's Saint Joseph's or St. Joe's, but you can't abbreviate only one part. I'm now tempted to refer to them as St. Joseph's the entire time, because I'm that kind of petty.)<br />
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You know a ref has done a lot of MAAC games when Alexis Lewis commits a foul and the signal goes up as 20. (Lexi wears 10 at SHU, but she wore 20 at Iona.)<br />
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Starting lineup shenanigans: so we see the lineup tweeted out as Barbara Johnson, Lauren Park-Lane, Mya Jackson, Alexis Lewis, and Whitney Howell. Everything goes as expected until the last player, at which point Barb gets off the bench and the PA guy announces Desiree Elmore. There is a small discussion among Coach Bozzella and the officials, after which Barb is called back to the bench and Des takes the floor. Since Barb proceeded to come in for Whit about a minute in, it became moot.<br />
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45-33 SHU end Q3. The refs seem to think we missed hearing from them.<br />
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It's final here at Rose Hill, 55-39 Seton Hall, in a game that probably featured terrible shooting percentages. There were certainly lots of rebound opportunities.<br />
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I see why Cindy Griffin is happy with her young posts. They still need some work, especially Gabby Smalls, whose shooting form is... uh... not good, and I say this as someone who loves her some post players with dubious shooting mechanics. She had success with spins and lay-ups, and she thinks she has a hook shot, but her jumper is not there right now. Claire Melia got off to a strong start for the Hawks, which I think is why she started the second half. She's got good touch inside and out and pretty good range and power. She's got to be better with her footwork, but as a freshman, she's starting off with a good toolbox. Katie Mayock started the game and moved to the bench for the second half. She's got size, and she sets good screens, but her teammates need to be better at using them.<br />
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On the other hand, their guards are a work in progress. Devyne Newman got run in both halves, second more than the first, I think. She and Lauren Ross did not impress terribly much.<br />
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I liked Mary Sheehan's hustle- she notched a couple of blocks and some good loose ball recoveries. Nailah Delinois used her bulk to push defenders around and get into the paint. Katie Jekot drove the lane and couldn't hit. Lula Roig got into foul trouble which took her out of rhythm and never allowed her to get started. I think that helped us get on top of them early and stay on top. There was a definite lack of discipline with St. Joe's that got them rung up for charges on a regular basis, usually at the most inconvenient times.<br />
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I love Selena Philoxy dearly, but one of these days you're going to find me in a corner with concussion symptoms and heavy bruising on my forehead, and this will be because I have facepalmed at her too hard. I love her energy. I love her hustle. I love when she's able to safely bring the ball in to her teammates. But she commits a ridiculous number of fouls and half the time when she grabs the ball on the glass she ends up tipping it out of bounds instead. Jasmine Smith extended the offense, but unsuccessfully. Victoria Keenan will get her basket someday. Alexia Allesch is tall. I think I'd like to see more of Kailah Harris to see if she can produce.<br />
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Come to think of it, I might just have rolled with Whitney Howell as a starter and seen what she could do against the Hawks' posts. In the worst case scenario, you'd bench her and proceed with the plan Seton Hall eventually went with. She managed a couple of rebounds in her brief minutes. Barbara Johnson got physical and got tough. She set up Desiree Elmore on a play beautifully. Des had herself a day. She plays so much longer than her height. I don't know if it's vertical or long arms or what, but she gets way more rebounds than it seems she should.<br />
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I love Alexis Lewis, but sometimes I forget just how streaky she can be, and how determined she is to live by the adage that "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take". When she's on, she's a one-woman wrecking crew, but when she's off, she just keeps on going. She was off in this one, and it was painful to watch. Mya Jackson had a nifty steal that she turned into a fast break lay-up. Lauren Park-Lane's passing vision continues to amaze me for her age. I know she's from Delaware, but if you told me she was kin to either Didi or Daisha Simmons, I would absolutely believe it. I know those are names one does not bandy about lightly at Seton Hall.<br />
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This was an offensively challenged game, to say the least, perhaps even in honor of our hosts. It's hard to find a lot to say about it, especially at this point. Our execution needs to be better, but at least our defense did enough to keep St. Joe's from scoring. We also need reliable size, because Alexis Lewis, Center At Not Particularly Large, does not spark joy. Yes, I know Shadeen Samuels was out, and that does terrible things to our post play, but we still need some height.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-62592505252507615872019-11-24T09:10:00.002-08:002019-11-24T09:10:45.156-08:00November 13th, 2019: Lafayette at St. John's<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> St. John's started strong and kept the lead up in a 76-44 win against Lafayette to open the home schedule. Qadashah Hoppie led all scorers with 22 points. Alexis Santarelli led Lafayette with 14 points and five rebounds.<br />
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For trying to get back in the groove, physical posts, and the fly in the ointment, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.<br />
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Good evening! We come to you on an entirely too-cold night from the cozy confines of the redecorated Carnesecca Arena, as St. John's opens the season against Lafayette.<br />
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Men's soccer is in the Big East tournament against Providence (and has scored at least one goal) so attendance is scanty, to say the least. Most of the Usual Suspects, SJU Edition, are passionate enough about all Red Storm sports that they're at the soccer game and will be coming sometime after that finishes. So band appears to consist of one guy with a drumset, cheer appears to consist of four people, and dance has, like, two representatives. Well, guess we're going to have to work a little harder. Okay. Emergency reserve band has been revealed.<br />
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The new banners are very modern. The place still has that new vinyl smell. I don't know if I like them yet. Something rubs me the wrong way about having the Final Four banners and the NIT banners center-hung, but I realize I'm being irrational about this.<br />
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Magnetic schedules are pretty sharp. Already grabbed one for the door. The posters also look good, though that gets grabbed on autograph day and no sooner. I like that they're not the same design as the men, although a running motif with a coach that likes to slow down the offense is either misleading or indicates that Joe has maybe stopped playing scared.<br />
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At the end of the first, it's 22-14 St. John's. Qadashah Hoppie has gone nuts with 11 already. Defense looks good early. Yeah, the field goal percentage doesn't show it because when Lafayette has the ball long enough to get a shot, they can get a good shot. But we're doing work making sure they don't have the ball in the first place.<br />
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It's 39-25 Johnnies at the half. The freshmen need work, which makes sense this early in the season. Alexis Santarelli of Lafayette is probably not going to have a lot of friends in Queens by the end of the night.<br />
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So if a St. John's alumna who works for another Big East team shows up to a St. John's game, is she doing it in a personal or a professional capacity? Asking for a friend, or at least someone who says hi at games. (Meanwhile, I almost swallowed my Tootsie Roll whole {this is not a euphemism, it's medicinal} when I saw Curteeona Brelove approaching the bench with a warm-up shirt on, but it was one of last year's shirts and she kept going.<br />
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The rec life halftime game was plagued with turnovers, but hey, there were dunks, so there are people who almost certainly think it's inherently better than D-1 action.<br />
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I'm not sure what to make of Lafayette, except that they seem to know that they have tall, physical post players and want to use that to their advantage. Against a team that doesn't run a trap, or against teams that aren't as good defensively, they might be able to get their pick and roll action going on a more regular basis, and they might be able to use those screens to get their three-point shooters open more often. We are not that team.<br />
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Makaila Wilson was able to take advantage of her size in the post and put in some buckets- either she had a shorter defender on her or she had Kadaja Bailey, who couldn't make the turn with her in the paint. Jiselle Havas didn’t see a long stretch of time in one shot until the second half, at which point she and Tiana England seemed to be having some polite disagreements. Sydney Sabino saw time in the second and fourth quarters, though it was hard to tell sometimes (our PA guy needs to step up his game on substitution announcements). Tasha Vipond picked up mop-up minutes.<br />
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The stats aren’t great for her, and admittedly she got wrecked by the press, but I thought Sarah Agnello actually played pretty well. She looked the most in control of any of Lafayette's guards. The others were not particularly notable, especially at this late stage. (The catching up has been a nightmare.)<br />
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Alexis Santarelli definitely threw her weight around down low. She was able to get baskets close to the rim on offense and make space for her teammates with screens, some rather harder than others. Same deal with Natalie Kucowski, with somewhat less success. They brought a level of physicality to the floor that we couldn't match, even as we outplayed them on the rest of the floor.<br />
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So we got to see some of the deep bench in the fourth quarter, and the freshmen definitely need some work. Cecelia Holmberg doesn't have a sense where she needs to be on defense. Sophia Nolan made no impact. Emma Nolan got some good run, but she needs to be less scared to shoot. I don't know how many times we were yelling for her to shoot the ball. She forced three jump balls, and Lafayette had the arrow every time. Points for hustle, but a little help from the universe would be nice.<br />
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Unique Drake looks like she's fitting in pretty well. She wasn't spectacular, but I like her driving ability, and she didn't seem to be making too many mistakes. Honestly, sometimes that's what you want to see out of a freshman. I love the energy Leilani Correa brought on defense. She and Alissa Alston ran the backcourt trap and press to perfection. It gave me warm and fuzzy flashbacks of our old defenses. Shamachya Duncan hit a three and the squad rejoiced. Mascot is too strong and too dismissive a word for who she is to this team, but it's clear that she's their favorite.<br />
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There is a large part of me that loves Alissa Alston's policy of full body sacrifice, of going hard for loose balls and taking every possible charge. There is another large part of me that wants to scream, "Please stop breaking yourself, Alissa!" every time she measures her length on the hardwood. She's reckless and sometimes a little bit stupid, but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it. So she'll be the Johnnies' entry in the "most likely to concuss your intrepid blogger via facepalm" contest. Tiana England had a nifty steal that she turned into a fast break lay-up, which makes me wonder why she doesn't do this more often. We keep blaming Joe for the team's tendency to slow things up, but there are times when I think it really is T's problem. Faster is better with this squad. Qadashah Hoppie bombed threes all night and kept the pressure on Lafayette. When she's on, she's so much fun to watch.<br />
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Alisha Kebbe continues to be rock solid and an all-around star. I love what she brings to the floor. Kadaja Bailey was the only real disappointment to me in this game. She was consistently a step slow on defense, she took bad shots, she couldn't get a hold of rebounds- basically, it seemed like wherever something went wrong, she was there. I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say, and I'm probably exaggerating. But she did not look good, and that worries me. She's a stud, or at least she has the potential to be one, if she uses it properly.<br />
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We've got to be better at dealing with physical contact. We have size, and we have players who are physical, but the Venn diagram of those two characteristics is a pair of non-congruent circles at the moment. Lafayette took advantage of that with their posts, and if a middling Patriot team can do that, then I don't know how we're going to deal with Mary Baskerville or Mary Gedaka.<br />
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That all being said, we have a lot of firepower if we just use it, and we have a level of depth we haven't had in years. I'm looking forward to seeing how this team develops.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-51840949579664958012019-11-16T16:25:00.003-08:002019-11-16T16:25:32.592-08:00November 10th, 2019: Fordham at Columbia<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Columbia took second-quarter momentum with them to the second half and dominated Fordham 70-51. Abbey Hsu had 15 points to lead the Lions, with Kaitlyn Davis adding 14 off the bench. Kaitlyn Downey had 19 points to lead Fordham before fouling out.<br />
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For bewilderment, confusion, a lack of effort on so many people's parts, exhaustion, and an inability to can even, join your intrepid and repetitive blogger after the jump.<br />
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They say there's no rest for the weary, and there's also no rest for the nerdy, as your intrepid blogger heads uptown to watch Fordham take on Columbia at Levien Gymnasium.<br />
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Whoever put the "Espresso Patronum!" sign up on the coffee stand, I appreciate your geekiness and your flair for puns, but your grasp of Latin needs some work.<br />
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I don't see Isis Young on the Fordham bench, so I don't think she's playing. I'm not even sure if she traveled.<br />
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Well, this is not what I was expecting after the fight we gave Notre Dame. Columbia is up one at the half, 32-31. Madison Hardy made a splash with five points in the last couple of minutes, while program-featured player Kaitlyn Davis is carrying the load with 10 points. Kaitlyn Downey has 14 to power Fordham, but no one else seems to be able to hit shots.<br />
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I would have expected more originality from an Ivy League school than the Imperial March for opposing introductions.<br />
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The PA guy is <em>terrible</em>. So terrible. He doesn't seem to have read the Fordham pronunciation guide, he seems to think the women's game is played in halves, he's inconsistent about announcing subs, he takes forever to announce fouls, and forget knowing the opposing roster- he doesn't even seem sure who Columbia's players are. This is a problem when you're the Columbia announcer, I'm just saying.<br />
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For the love of all that is sweet and holy, please turn down the sound system slightly. The music is ridiculously loud.<br />
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Allow me to sum up my feelings about this game in one quote from in-game commentary: Sarah Karpell, for reasons beyond human imagining, decided to go one-on-three and ballhog in a way that would have made Cappie Pondexter say, "Nah, you should have passed that ball." My reaction, literally: "I- I- I- I- that was so bad my inability to can can't even." I'm very glad Kaitlyn Downey decided to show up for this game. I just wish the rest of her teammates had bothered to join her. This wasn't even a hangover game, this was a "woke up in a tub of ice with a kidney missing" game.<br />
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I will give all the credit in the world to Columbia's ball movement on offense and the way they extended their defense. They forced us into very uncomfortable positions, and we weren't ready for it. I can understand the freshmen not being prepared. The returning players have far less of an excuse.<br />
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I would desperately like to know what is up with Zara Jillings. She's gone from one of our top reserves last year to not even getting off the bench in the first half and ending up a billionaire in the second half. I realize Sarah Karpell is doing a lot of the same things on defense, but Zara has the advantages of height and a year of experience. Something seems extremely off here. Katie McLoughlin saw some time in the second half to try and start something with hustle, but it didn't work. Nothing worked and I am so very tired. Catherine Polisano saw some garbage time at the end of the game, when Coach Gaitley finally threw in the towel (more or less). Megan Jonassen got maybe two stretches of play, if that, and was ineffective.<br />
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I'm going to break my usual rhythm here, because the minute splits were just <em>that</em> pronounced. Sarah Karpell brought the defense, but her offense is definitely a work in progress, and that one-on-three possession broke my brain. I have never so thoroughly lost my ability to can even before. She played heavy minutes, for reasons I don't completely understand. Vilisi Tavui got the start, but she didn't play a lot, between foul trouble and what appeared to be straight-up fear. She's a weapon, but she's a weapon we can't use until she figures out how to be used, and that's a problem.<br />
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Something is deeply wrong with Bre Cavanaugh's shot, at least through these first couple of games. Her floaters/lay-ups don't look good coming off her hand, and her jumper hasn't been consistent enough to make up for that. She was at least able to force a little action from the Columbia defense, but she's not playing like someone who can command the opposing defense's respect. Anna DeWolfe did not know how to deal with the defense Columbia was throwing at her. They extended the defense almost all the way to the halfcourt line and put a lot of pressure on the ballhandler. Some handled it better than others. Anna did not handle it well.<br />
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Oh, Kene. I love Kendell Heremaia dearly, but one of these days she's going to be the death of me. Squashing Bre on a loose ball like she had momentarily forgotten she was not playing rugby is pretty close. She and most of the rest of the guards had this bizarre fixation on trying to force the ball inside. I have no idea why. I just don't. I don't know what the thought process was there. I don't know if there even <em>was</em> a thought process there. Kaitlyn Downey was the only bright spot in this game, hitting her corner threes, nailing her midrange jumpers, and getting open on backdoor cuts. I know I've come down hard on Kaitlyn to start the season, but she made up for being overwhelmed against Notre Dame. I just wish the rest of the team had come along for the ride.<br />
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Madison Hardy certainly knows how to make a splash. Her two buckets at the end of the second quarter gave Columbia huge momentum going into the half with the lead, and she added one during the fourth quarter to help put the game away. Most of the rest of the bench didn't play much: Carly Rivera saw a little time in the first half, Madison Pack hit a three as part of our continuing fourth-quarter humiliation, and Stephanie Flynn saw spot minutes in both halves. The only other bench player to see heavy time was Kaitlyn Davis, who demonstrated a marvelous ability to draw fouls and get to the line. She shot as many free throws by herself as Fordham did as a team.<br />
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What first drew my attention about Mikayla Markham was her vocal communication on the court- she was calling signals quickly. She picked up her offense in the second half. Janiya Clemmons drove hard and didn't make a lot of her shots, but her penetration helped set up her teammates. Abbey Hsu's three-point ability is extremely useful for Columbia, and every one of her shots seemed to bury us a little deeper emotionally, like we had failed in our plan on top of failing everything else.<br />
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I don't know what else to say about this game. It's been a few days, frankly because I don't want to write about it. We gave up. We gave up threes and we gave up drives and we gave up on offense. I don't understand how a team that took Notre Dame to the final minute could fall apart so badly against Columbia. I respect what the Lions did, and how they executed their game plan, but we went toe-to-toe with a bigger and more talented team than them. I don't understand any of this.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-40783111547736474662019-11-10T17:41:00.000-08:002019-11-10T17:41:06.419-08:00November 9th, 2019: Fairfield at Seton Hall<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Seton Hall withstood a midgame run from Fairfield and reestablished control in the second half to run away with a 74-44 win. Desiree Elmore led the Pirates with 18 points and 14 rebounds, one of five Seton Hall players to score in double figures. Katie Armstrong and Rachel Hakes each had nine points to lead the Stags.<br />
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For all the trains, taking small ball to extremes, saying hello to old friends, fighting for the blue and white, and the hope of the future, join your intrepid and restless blogger after the jump.<br />
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Good morning! Okay, I'm lying, it's never a good morning when I have to set the alarm on a weekend. Okay, I'm also lying; it's always a good morning when there's basketball, even when it takes three hours to get out to Seton Hall for a morning tip. I am not a morning person. I'm not sure how the Hall is managing, although we suspect highly caffeinated drinks are involved somehow.<br />
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We come to you starting at the end of the first quarter, where Seton Hall leads Fairfield 24-9. Desiree Elmore has gotten off to a hot stat for the Pirates, with buckets and good passing. Katie Armstrong for the Stags seems to like the glass.<br />
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Fairfield seems to have traveled a decent amount of family.<br />
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Beautiful anthem to start the game.<br />
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(Part of) why Selena Philoxy is my favorite Pirate: her energy and enthusiasm in the pregame. Which is to say, she has better dance moves than some of the Saphs.<br />
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The importance of passing on traditions to the next generation: watching one of the assistants teach Mya Jackson the choreography to “Pirates of the Caribbean”.<br />
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33-21 Seton Hall at halftime, so if you're doing the math at home, that means Fairfield won the second quarter. I can't imagine Coach Bozzella is happy with this. This game may well be decided by the reserves; Shadeen Samuels has three fouls for the Hall and both Lou Lopez-Senechal and Katie Armstrong have three fouls for the Stags. (The third came on an offensive foul where she acted very indignant about the audacity of the officials for calling her hitting Shadeen in the face. DO NOT HIT SHADEEN IN THE FACE.)<br />
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There was a teddy bear toss at halftime. It was exactly as cute as you imagined it. Kiabear has found a new home.<br />
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We're good at getting out of trouble- finding shots when the dribble has been picked up, scrambling for loose balls, recovering errant passes. The problem is that we're awfully good at getting into trouble in the first place. Fairfield is starting to exploit that, and using Molly Bauer's height to take advantage of our lack thereof. In that regard, the big guns' foul trouble might be a blessing in disguise for the Stags.<br />
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(Wait, shouldn't they be the Does? Because aren't Stags male? If you're going to use gendered names, go all the way.)<br />
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I forgot just how hard these bleachers are. Ow.<br />
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57-37 SHU at the end of the third quarter, which is somewhat of a relief. The quarter break shooting contest is actually pretty neat- instead of dress-and-dribble, this time it was “stand behind the prize and win it if you hit the shot”. So you still get the gear but you get to choose and have more chances.<br />
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I don't understand why we're throwing passes over Lauren Park-Lane's head. It's not like we're particularly used to having tall guards. For some reason- I can't quite put my finger on it- Tony has a thing for small guards.<br />
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Fairfield is not a particularly talented team, from what I saw of this game. But they're well coached and know how to exploit weaknesses. Team comes at them with small posts? Run screens with your big combo forwards to create brutal mismatches and use your taller reserves. Clog the paint to take away drives. That kind of thing.<br />
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Andrea Hernangomez has rather more confidence in her shot than I would in her shoes, based on today's game. I thought she might have done better getting closer to the basket than she did cranking threes. Mackenzie Martin saw time in the fourth quarter- her teammates were very excited when she got a layup near the end of the game. I wasn't sure why her face was so flushed, but it was startling, to say the least. Eden Nibbelink got the short end of the stick on at least one call, where it looked like she took a hit to the face and ended up having the foul called on her. She seemed inoffensive out there.<br />
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Molly Bauer was a game-changer, and I suspect that's why she started the second half in place of Callie Cavanaugh. She took a couple of possessions to find her footing, but once she did, she hit the glass and freed up Fairfield's offense. I know it doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but she had a major impact on the game when Fairfield made their run. Ciara Bracken's shot releases pretty quickly, but I'm not sure about her range. It seemed like she was taking shots she couldn't hit.<br />
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Callie Cavanaugh showed a propensity for taking perimeter shots and admiring them. They were not worth the admiration. She was more successful when she got closer to the basket, and when she was not committing push-off fouls against smaller defenders. (Seriously, guys. How did Lauren end up stuck on her?) She was the player who came off the bench in the second half when Bauer moved into the starting lineup. Katie Armstrong's fondness for the glass extended throughout the game and throughout her entire shooting range- she seemed to be trying to use it both on her drives and her jumpers. I did not like her tendency to extend the forearm, nor did I appreciate her protestations of innocence when the refs caught her. For a senior, she didn't demonstrate a good ability to play through foul trouble. Lou Lopez-Senechal got into foul trouble very early on, and I think it threw her off her rhythm. She never seemed to get going. She did face some defensive pressure, but I don't think that was as much of a factor.<br />
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Around the second elbow Rachel Hakes threw, I decided I didn't like her. Her driving ability is good, and she had good hands on defense, but either she's careless or she's dirty, and I don't have to like either of those things. Sam Kramer took threes and missed threes. She had some very nice steals, though. She played hard on the ball.<br />
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I don't think this is the best team Fairfield's ever had, but I'd say they'll beat at least two teams they have no right on paper to beat, just from execution and game-planning. The runs in the second and third quarter demonstrated that, when the Stags had the deficit down to single digits.<br />
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Everyone wearing blue in the building wanted Victoria Keenan to hit that three near the end of the game, and it was a good look. Alexia Allesch, to my surprise, came up with a resounding block in her brief time at the end of the game. If she's decided to use her height this year, I'm intrigued. (My impression of her from the scouting report was that she was one of those tall players who likes to park on the perimeter. They're more common these days, and I know it's an important change in the game, but like many things in this life, that doesn't mean I have to like it.) Kailah Harris's goggles are at least interesting, even if she doesn't seem to be ready for rotation minutes just yet.<br />
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Selena Philoxy brings a lot of energy to the floor. I know that's a cliché, but Selena has done the impossible and made Tony Bozzella no longer the most animated person on his own team. When that kind of energy is successful, she's grabbing or causing rebounds for her team and making defensive stops. When it isn't successful, she racks up fouls like they were on sale and ends up taking the ball out of bounds. She's frenetic, and sometimes she's frustrating, but she's still my current fave. Mya Jackson found her shooting touch in the second half, swishing threes with the greatest of ease. Freshman fouls were a theme in this game, and she was guilty of a couple of those. She'll learn, though. I think. Jasmine Smith, on the other hand, is a junior college transfer from a notable program. I expect <em>her</em> not to be committing blatant touch fouls. It seemed like she got going more in the second half too, but I'm not sure if that was a function of minute allocation, Fairfield's defense starting to suffer, or her making adjustments. More study will be required.<br />
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I have very much missed cheering Alexis Lewis's three-point shots and tough rebounding. I didn't miss watching her line up at the four against much more physical players. I certainly think having her line up at five on defense is an even terribler idea. It is, in fact, such a terrible idea that it breaks the laws of grammar. We'll get into the particulars of the undersized lineup later. Shadeen Samuels picked up three fouls in the first half, which was sort of a blessing because it reduced her minute load. (I'm still not sure about that charge.) Her shots were not going down in this game, and I don't know if it was a problem with her mechanics or Fairfield's defense or just dumb luck. Sometimes the ball be that way. Desiree Elmore started the game on fire and kept it up pretty much throughout. Her midrange game was a thing of beauty, and she brought a combination of force and finesse to the three that Fairfield really couldn't counter unless they were just throwing bodies at her.<br />
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I was not enthused with Barbara Johnson's shot selection, or the quantity thereof. It seemed like she was taking a lot of stupid threes, but the box score is telling me otherwise. I'm not sure what to make of that. Maybe she just had a bad game. I think I need to see more of her to get a better handle on who she is as a player. I love how Lauren Park-Lane handles herself on the floor. There are certain names you don't bandy about lightly as comparisons at Seton Hall, and she definitely has to be more of a scoring threat before we can really have this conversation, but yes, I'm going to say it: she does remind me of Didi Simmons. For a more down-to-earth but probably also more contentious comparison, she also reminds me of Aaliyah Lewis from St. John's. She doesn't quite have the full air of command yet, but she's also a freshman, and she's most of the way there. I need her to not commit stupid fouls on three-point shots that have already been released, and I'm going to need her shooting to be better. Those are things that can be fixed, and fortuitously, Didi herself is on our bench these days. If anyone can unlock that sort of potential in Lauren, it would be her.<br />
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So, the undersized lineup. We have height. It's just on the bench for various and sundry reasons. Femi Funeus is still recovering from her season-ending injury last year and was in sweats. Whitney Howell was inconsistent as all getout last year and was a DNP-CD in this game. Kailah Harris saw only garbage time and needs time to adjust to the college game. Selena Philoxy is way too foul-prone to be a starter. So we end up running a front line of 5-10/5-10/6-0, and anyone with size is going to take advantage of that. I don't have an issue with Shadeen taking the opening tip. I do have an issue with either her or Lexi guarding the other team's center. If we're gambling on Femi being ready to hit the ground running, that's a heck of a gamble. I'd rather see improvement come from our other posts. The bigs need to get their act together, or Coach Bozzella needs to trust them to play through their mistakes in non-conference games against lower-level opponents. If it means only beating Fairfield by 20 instead of 30, so be it.<br />
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Officiating was mostly inoffensive. They called most of the elbows and only really inserted themselves into the action in the third quarter with a flurry of touch fouls and the occasional strict travel. I thought we got away with some stuff; I thought Fairfield got away with slightly less stuff.<br />
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I don't know if Whitney Howell grabbed the "Morning Madness" shirt by accident or as commentary on the 11AM tip time, but I feel you, Whit. I feel you. So do the circles under my eyes.<br />
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It sounded like cheer was working in some new chants. I don't like them. If you want the crowd to get involved, you have to keep them simple and easy to follow. (On the other hand, don't be Fordham and just not bother.)<br />
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There are a couple of pieces missing to this Pirate puzzle. We'll have to see how it all comes together as the season progresses.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-19897073580055562952019-11-08T20:15:00.001-08:002019-11-08T20:15:28.894-08:00November 5th, 2019: Notre Dame at Fordham<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Notre Dame used size, speed, and a 33-2 free throw differential to pull out a 60-55 win over Fordham. Sam Brunelle and Katlyn Gilbert each had 14 points to pace the Irish, with Destinee Walker adding 10 points and 10 boards. Bre Cavanaugh and Kendell Heremaia each had 14 points to lead Fordham in the loss.<br />
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For loud noises, belated election advice, mixed messages, and starting off the season with a bang, join your intrepid and enthusiastic blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Good evening, fellow basketball travelers! You know what today is, right? It's Election Day! So if you didn't already get out to the polls... well, it'll probably be too late by the time I get these notes posted. But just assume I'm very disappointed in you if you didn't exercise your right and privilege as an American citizen. (If you aren't an American citizen, or are under the age of 18, or can't vote for some other reason, ignore this part.)<br />
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But more relevant to the interests of this blog, it's opening day for college basketball! Your intrepid blogger is typing blindly away on a D train headed to the Bronx, as the Fordham Rams open their season with a bang against the ACC powerhouse Notre Dame. I get the feeling my smooth transfers from train to train are about to be the highlight of the night, but who knows? Stranger things have happened, and CPTV has proof.<br />
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Our ace reporter on the scene tells me that the legendary Drums of Thunder are in the building. Given how small Rose Hill Gym is, that might be quite a sound. I'm expecting a packed house. Notre Dame alumni are everywhere, they travel well, and I believe there's a NY-area kid on the Irish roster as well. I'm not looking forward to this part. Notre Dame fans can make UConn fans look like choir members with their attitude.<br />
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End of the first quarter, and Notre Dame is up 16-14. We're playing reasonably smart basketball, but can't finish a lot of the plays. Two fouls on Anaya Peoples is a problem for Notre Dame early, but two fouls on Anna DeWolff might be a bigger one for Fordham. Even if we get cheesed later, I like what I'm seeing out of our freshmen guards.<br />
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At halftime, Notr Dame is up 36-24. All things considered, this isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be when we were scoreless for the first five or so minutes of the quarter. Sam Brunelle is putting on a show with 12 points. The freshmen guards are stealing the show for Fordham; Anna DeWolff is getting looks even if she isn't, and Sarah Karpell is making some astonishingly heady defensive plays for her first real game.<br />
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Drums of Thunder is about to get underway. Bring the noise, y'all.<br />
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There are a surprising number of split fans- Fordham jackets with Notre Dame hats, that kind of thing. I'm pleasantly surprised by how not-green it is in here, especially since the doubleheader is separate admission- in other words, it's not like people are here for the men's game and sitting on their hands.<br />
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Notre Dame's heralded freshmen are very good offensively, but they don't have the defense yet. I mean, it's their first game. I'm realistic here.<br />
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In tonight's edition of “counting is hard”: Vilisi Tavui is our starting center and wears 14. Ralene Kwiatkowski is a little-used reserve guard who wears 15. Guess what number the ref flashed when Vilisi committed her third foul (which was, IMO, a borderline call)?<br />
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47-35 Notre Dame at the end of the third. The foul differential has been instructive, to say the least. It's not a pretty game, but it was never going to be a pretty game if Fordham was going to have any chance. There have been a lot of “counting is hard”moments in this quarter, with some unusual foul calls and disagreements on who the foul should be called on. Mikayla Vaughn went down hard and stayed down for a while early in the quarter, giving us all a scare, but she was able to put weight on the ankle and came back into the game briefly. She got pulled again, though I think that might have been for blood, or possibly an illegal substitution. Come to think of it, I'm not sure she returned after that.<br />
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60-55 Notre Dame final, but honestly, I think there are a lot of positives to take away from this game for Fordham. We came back and stuck with a team that's bigger, faster, and more skilled than we are, and we took them to the last possession. A little more depth, a few less bad calls to have personnel available, and we might just have done it.<br />
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Kaitlin Cole played briefly for the Fighting Irish in the second quarter. I don't see a statistical impact for her. Danielle Cosgrove brought good height off the bench when Brunelle was in foul trouble and Vaughn was out of the game, but she's got to hit her shots close to the rim. At her height, with our relative lack of height, she should have been a more dominant force. Katlyn Gilbert impressed me more with her defense than her offense, but then I looked at the box score, and she tied for the lead in scoring. I was impressed with how closely she marked her assignment. And yes, that's it for the Notre Dame bench. McGraw didn't have the chance to go as deep into her bench as she might have liked early in the season.<br />
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I like Marta Sniezek's quick hands and her communication on the court. She was quick to call the plays and call out her assignment. I think I expected her to be more of a factor in the scorebook than she was, but maybe that's by design. When this lineup has its act together, it's going to be very offensively potent, and maybe they need her to be a facilitator rather than a scorer. Destinee Walker kept Notre Dame in the game with drives and a midrange game, and kept Fordham in the game with appalling free throw shooting. And it's not like she didn't have a chance to practice, but we'll get to that later, once I figure out how not to swear about it. Anaya Peoples has some sweet moves, but her defense needs a lot of work. She's a freshman, though. That happens with freshmen.<br />
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Sam Brunelle has a sweet stroke, especially for a big. She needs to work on her footwork, though. She got dinged for at least two travels in the second half. I can see why she's on the national watch lists, even this early. She's got an amazing amount of potential. I can see her fitting anywhere in a frontcourt and giving McGraw a lot of flexibility with her lineups. Mikayla Vaughn used her length well in the post to get rebounds and putbacks. I'm glad she was able to put weight on the ankle. When she went down I was worried it was an Achilles.<br />
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Notre Dame had more size and speed than we did, and there were a lot of plays that we might have been able to make against a typical A-10 team that got shut down against Notre Dame's size. Idon't think McGraw haqs her defense installed yet (note that the best defensive plays were mostly coming from the returning sophomore Gilbert; Sniezek made good individual plays, but not systemic plays).<br />
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I was surprised that we didn't give Zara Jillings a lot of run. I guess she falls into the undersized tweener trap against a team like Notre Dame, but she's a heady player and there were times when we could have used her communication skills on the floor, when passes went awry or players were out of position. Megan Jonassen was physical in the post, both on the glass and on putbacks. I like how she's shaping up. Sarah Karpell put in big minutes and made a lot of hustle defensive plays, getting back to stop breaks and getting in for loose balls. Her nose for the ball was fantastic. Katie McLoughlin saw time in the fourth quarter as foul trouble and long minutes took their toll on the starters, and she put up a couple of threes (I think one of them was one of the many Fordham shots that the rim rejected).<br />
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(Seriously, at one point my husband said of our shooting, "God hates us." My response, given who we were playing, was "No, God's mom hates us.")<br />
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I'm not sure how I feel about Kaitlyn Downey's love of the lookaway pass. On one hand, it's really cool when it works. On the other hand, when it doesn't work, we look stupid. There were stretches when it seemed like she had forgotten how tall she is and was leaving the heavy carrying down low to her teammates (which was not necessarily a great plan given Vilisi's foul trouble). But she had a couple of good blocks. I'd just like to see a lot less of her on the perimeter. (Somehow she snuck up on all the categories in the scoresheet. I don't know how either. I do remember the steals, though- she got into the passing lane and stepped in front of passes. She got by with a little help from her friends- those steals were usually off double or triple teams.) Vilisi Tavui shows some promise, and if nothing else, it's nice to have an actual tall post player to go up against everyone else's tall post player. She's a little more tentative than I'd like her to be, but I get it; this is really her first big action since the injury, and she's suddenly gone from the end of the bench to the starting lineup. That's a big adjustment for a kid who flat out admitted Fordham was her only recruiting opportunity.<br />
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Kendell Heremaia is rapidly taking that spot in my heart where I'm willing to fight anyone who makes a bad call against her. She's such a sweetheart. We've already had two games where the Law of Verticality was not only violated but subverted in her case (the Law of Verticality being that if a player falls down, a foul is called on the player who did not fall down, and poor Kene keeps getting the call against her, and it just doesn't seem fair). She's stepping up big for us, and I'm so proud of her. I love watching her on defense, even if it doesn't seem fair that she has to defend other teams' power forwards. I love seeing her run the offense and step into that role so easily. I love her hustle. I keep thinking she should not be taking threes that far back, and then they go in and I shut up for a while. Bre Cavanaugh was missing shots in the first half that it seemed like she should be making- and that she did, in fact, make in the second half. I'm now not sure whether she's actually more potent when she's not the first option or not; on one hand, she can explode in a good way, but on the other hand, it seems like she has her best performances when she doesn't have to be the superstar. It takes the pressure off and lets her play a more complete game. I'm sure Anna DeWolff is going to hit the freshman wall at some point, and I admit I'm worried about the length of time it takes for her to get off good shots sometimes. But until such time as she hits that wall and the shots really stop going down, I'll join the folks in the band who had the DeWolff Pack sign up. She hits shots and she plays without fear. She and Bre have a lot of the same instincts for the ball. Right now, that's a problem because they both try to be in the same place at the same time, and they end up getting in each other's way, which means we lose the possession as often as we gain it. But once they get a better sense of where each of them is on the floor, and they learn to trust each other to get the ball, our rebounding from the backcourt is going to be ridiculous.<br />
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I can't overstate the heart of this team. They gave it everything they thought they had, and then they dug deeper and gave some more. Kene was pulling the jersey with three minutes to go, and that was about a minute and a half of game time before she hit the big three. Kaitlyn was starting to register on the Kraayeveld scale. Anna's mask was slipping because of the sweat. But the team just kept coming. If we can take an ACC team to the wire like this, with one of the most lopsided free throw differentials I've ever seen working against them, I look forward to seeing what they can do against teams in their own weight class.<br />
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So, about that free throw differential, because we were going to get there eventually. I didn't really think anything of it when Sarah went to the line in the first quarter and split a pair of free throws. It's a thing that happens. We were annoyed that she didn't hit the first, but that's how life is. And then we started racking up fouls, and Notre Dame... did not. I thought there was an imbalance in how the physicality of the game was called, and I certainly objected to the allocation of some of the fouls that did seem legitimate. It just didn't hit me until I was on the train looking at the box score, and the differentials were there in black and white- 27-9 Fordham on fouls, 33-2 Notre Dame on free throws. (And really, if I'm Notre Dame, I'm not happy with my FT%, given that many cracks at it.) It gets frustrating when touch fouls are called at one end and hands to the face aren't called on the other.<br />
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I loved how raucous thecrowd was. To my surprise, the Notre Dame fans were fairly quiet during the game. They cheered during intros, but that was about it. Maybe it's different when it's non-conference? Because the ones who showed up to games at Carnesecca before the Big East imploded were real jerks, and that did a lot to color my impression of the fan base. (The Internet has done the rest.) I would like for the Fordham fans to bring this energy for the rest of the season, because these kids deserve it. I know it's not going to happen, but your intrepid blogger would like to dream.<br />
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On to the next one. Basketball never stops, and I'm going to have to type faster if I want to stay caught up.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-67720675408571820142019-11-04T22:08:00.001-08:002019-11-04T22:08:32.444-08:00October 26th, 2019: Rutgers at FordhamBasketball sort of happens, '80s music is referenced, fans travel, and your intrepid blogger beats the buzzer, more or less.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, genderqueer peeps, non-binary folk, and everyone else I might have forgotten! It's a beautiful fall day in New York City, the kind that you take pictures of the campus for admission packets on. So of course, we're in Rose Hill, preparing for Fordham and Rutgers in a previously closed scrimmage. We gave our ten bucks for admission. Clearly the Rutgers folks were used to a more technological setup, because they had to have a sign out indicating that they didn't take credit cards and providing the location of the nearest ATM. Conversely, the young ladies manning the register seemed pleasantly surprised that we not only had cash, we had exact change.<br />
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A contingent of Cagers, about 20 strong, has made the trip to the Bronx. They, uh. They might outnumber the Fordham fans, but on the flip side, it's half an hour before tip. We're still ready to get as loud as we need to get.<br />
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Vilisi Tavui is in sweats next to Isis Young. We know from the open practice that Ice is hurt, so I'm assuming Vilisi is being held out for the same reason. I hope it's only precautionary. I would like to see her stop being hurt at some point.<br />
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Rutgers's practice jerseys are hideous. The font is terrible and the two-tone numbers are worse. I also feel like there should be more red, but this is an ongoing argument i have with teams that have colors in their names.<br />
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Really, Cagers? Before a scrimmage on the road, you're singing the fight song? Before a scrimmage? On the road?<br />
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18-10 Rutgers end Q1, although it looks like the scores are being reset at the end of each quarter. If the purpose has been to put a winning team on the floor, this ain't it. If the purpose is to figure out our strengths and weaknesses, and to accustom the team to obnoxious traveling fans in advance of the Notre Dame game, then this sort of makes sense.<br />
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15-13 Rutgers end Q2. The physicality has picked up. I don't like it. Also, we need to hit free throws. This is a thing that is independent of the quality of our opponent, and we're something like 2-6 for the day. My eye was on the ball, so I idn't see how Maori Davenport got hit in the stomach, but it was bad. I thought she was going to throw up on the court.<br />
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Oh, <i>now</i> the PA guy wants to get going.<br />
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16-12 Fordham end Q3. Although now the scoreboard reads 51-all, and that's not accurate. If they're picking up the running score, it's 46-39 Rutgers. Tekia Mack's protestations of innocence and horror that she hasn't gotten the call amuse me.<br />
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Rutgers won the fourth quarter 27-18. So the final score was either 78-69 or 73-57 in favor of Rutgers. Your mileage may vary.<br />
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I was not happy with Rutgers's physicality in the second and third quarters. I understand that part of the goal of a scrimmage like this is to prepare you for the regular season, and we're going to be facing some very tough competition very quickly. But some of it felt unnecessary, and some of it felt retaliatory for plays that were not intentional.<br />
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Danielle Migliore brought a little bit of attempted shooting touch, but it often did not go well. She still looks like she's trying to fit into the Rutgers system as a transfer. I don't know if she's anything but a zone-buster off the bench, but maybe that's all they need her to be. Maori Davenport looks... for some reason unfinished is the word that comes to mind. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I swear they look younger every year. Between the nonsense she had to go through with the high school federation and the two bad tumbles she took in this game, I have to wonder what she did or who she angered in her past life. I hope she's okay. They were the only two players who were consistent in coming off the bench in both "halves".<br />
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Tekia Mack is probably going to earn herself a lot of fans at Rutgers, not just because of her way to slither into small spaces and hit shots at impossible angles or draw contact, but because she has a very expressive on-court personality- her body language and demeanor remind me a little of Courtney Williams. She's probably also going to make herself fairly unpopular among Big Ten fans and possibly officials, because at least in this scrimmage she was demanding every call in her favor and complaining about every call that went against her (and at least one against Mael Gilles). She's an interesting player, and she's fun to watch. She gave us fits with her height. I just get the feeling that if I were still a Rutgers fan, I'd spend Mack's entire career yelling "TEKIA, YOU'RE NOT GETTING THAT CALL!" She and Khadaizha Sanders got the start in the first half, but not the second half. Sanders got off a couple of nice shots, but I don't think Stringer was happy with her fouls in the third quarter- they were mostly cheap reach-in fouls, and a grad transfer should know better than that. Conversely, Noga Pelag Pelc and Joiya Maddox got the second half start but not the first half start. Neither was particularly impressive, although Maddox might be good for them in a couple of years when she really internalizes the system.<br />
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Most times I look at college players' listed heights and think, <i>There's no way she's that tall.</i> I looked at Arella Guirantes and thought, <i>There's no way she's only 5-11.</i> Maybe her hair is throwing me off, or maybe it's her build- I could think of no other description for her but "she thick", possibly even "thicc". She plays like a guard but can bang like a forward. She's not as well conditioned as I'd expect a Stringer player to be, though. There was one sequence where she was pulling on her jersey. I'd need a box score to look at minute counts, but she did seem to spend a lot of time on the court. Jordan Wallace got into foul trouble early, but Stringer chose to let her play through the three first-quarter fouls. She seemed more effective in the early going, although I'm not sure if that was because of the fouls or because Guirantes and Mack were carrying the load for the Scarlet Knights. She did do a good job of setting screens for her teammates. Mael Gilles has very quick hands. She deflected a lot of balls, and she's absolutely lethal as part of the infamous press. Her deflection skills did not serve her as well on offense.<br />
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Rutgers has a lot more size in the backcourt than I was expecting. Their reserves are kind of small, but I don't know how much they're going to get used. The press is as terrifying as it ever was- they forced at least two 10-second violations out of us, and while I know Coach Gaitley likes to run the shot clock deep even on a good day, I think they had us struggling at the end of the clock more than I'd like.<br />
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I like Sarah Karpell's heart. She's very clearly a freshman, though. She needs to work on her defense, but I recognize that attempting to criticize a college freshman on her defense before her first real game of the season is just mean. I'm not a complete jerk, and I think she has the potential to develop the way we need her to develop. Catherine Polisano doesn't seem to have changed much from the spot player she was last year. I'll need to see her in actual game action to have a better idea of who she might be for us this year. I like the height that Eden Johnson brings off the bench, and I think with time she'll know where her teammates are going to be on the glass enough that they all don't get tangled up with each other.<br />
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I was, however, disappointed in our returning reserves, and that's a wee tiny bit of a problem when we're relying on them to play the bulk of the minutes off the bench. Zara Jillings, heady as she was calling plays and relaying signals, couldn't keep her hands on the ball. She got deflections on defense that should have been steals and deflections on offense that should have been clean catches. I know Rutgers's defense is a lot tougher than anything we would normally face on this level, but she's got to be better than that. Megan Jonassen really needed to step her game up. She was okay, but not great- there seemed to be stretches where she was missing rebounds and defensive stops she has made in the past. She needs to be more than she was, and she was less.<br />
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Speaking of which, oh, dear, Kaitlyn Downey. Of all the returning players we have, she's the one who arguably has the biggest leap to take in her role, and in that scrimmage, she not only did not step up, she took a step back. Her shot's always been a little streaky, but it was especially bad in this scrimmage. She was slow on defense and she was not in position to make the hustle plays she was doing so well last year. She basically has to be Mary Goulding now that Mary's graduated, and this scrimmage made me less certain that she's up to the task. Admittedly, her role in the starting lineup will probably change when we have Vilisi back at center. 6-4 in the middle helps with a lot of things. We ended up more or less running a four-guard set, and while Kendell Heremaia is adorable, I'm not sure the "point guard defending power forwards" thing is a good plan going forward. She's feisty, and of all our top guards she has the most size, but still. I know switching match-ups between offense and defense is a thing, but not quite to this extent. I was pleasantly surprised by how well she's adapted to running the offense; so much of it went through Lauren Holden last year that I wasn't expecting Kene to step into the signal-calling role so smoothly.<br />
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I like Katie McLoughlin's hustle on the offensive glass. I don't know what else she has to offer, but I do like that about her. We'll have to see if she develops, or if she stagnates (it's not like we haven't had players stagnate on this team). Bre Cavanaugh finds ways to make offense happen, and she had one or two really nifty drives in the lane, but she was the focus of Rutgers's defense, and I don't think I need to tell anyone what kind of not-fun that is. Against bigger teams, I think she has to rely more on her jumper than on her driving ability, and I don't know if she can make that flip back and forth on a regular basis. Anna DeWolfe had herself a heck of a game, with solid three-point shooting and good court vision. She's certainly picked the right number if she's that kind of player. Also, it looks like I'm going to have Duran Duran stuck in my head for the next four years, and that means you're going to have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJL-lCzEXgI">Duran Duran</a> stuck in your head for the next four years. You're welcome, fam.<br />
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Fordham lost a lot with graduation. We've still got Bre Cavanaugh, and that's a very good weapon to have in your arsenal. But our depth took a hit, and I don't know how well it's going to recover. And something tells me that getting cheesed by Notre Dame is not going to answer this question.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-55539411856650299062019-10-19T10:28:00.000-07:002019-10-19T10:28:55.826-07:00October 19th, 2019: Fordham open practice Basketball never stops. For some really big rings, testing out mobile tech, and dubious eggs, join your intrepid blogger after the jump. <br />
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Good morning! Or something like that. It's too early for this. It's always too early for this, but we were out the door at quarter to seven in order to make it to Fordham for open practice at 9. There are other associated events like a brunch and a football tailgate, but I don't need breakfast or a football tailgate. I just want basketball and a ring ceremony for your 2019 Atlantic 10 champions.<br />
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We're not going all the way out, but fans need practice too, so we're working on names, free throw timing, shot clock cadence, defense rhythm, and all that jazz. It's who we are. It's what we do. So I'm writing GNoD and he's doing names. I'm also getting used to my keyboard and trying to figure out why the shift key seems to occasionally be stuck. It's not just me running on permanent CAPS LOCK. <br />
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I think I saw one of the scout team players trying to work the officials. It seems to be working. We're having trouble not fouling the scout team. I'm not okay with this.<br />
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I like what I'm seeing out of Vilisi Tavui in this practice. She hasn't really had a chance to show what she can do, and she looks ready to prove herself. If we have a real center in this conference, with the guards that we have, we're in very good shape, even with the experience that we lost in Lauren Holden and Mary Goulding. Heh. Good eye by the ref noticing the shot clock hadn't started. Very professional, even in an open practice.<br />
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Now we're getting more whistles on both sides. (Kene was working the officials during the quarter break too, although it seemed to be more of a “this is what a travel is” tutorial.) And we've got our first egregious bad call of the season, with a collision between Kaitlyn Downing and Zara Jillings (both on the white team) somehow resulting in a foul on the scout team. It's not even November yet!<br />
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Next up: intros! Hi, everyone. The coaches introduced themselves, and then Coach Gaitley proceeded to sing their praises for them. Ice Young describing herself as “super old” was worth a giggle. Then there were trivia questions.<br />
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And now we have rings! Rings are the best thing. I'm pretty sure at least two players squeed. Alexa Giuliano and Lauren Holden returned for their rings. And hugs. There were lots of hugs. Everyone was hugging.<br />
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The floor was opened to questions, but people were pretty reticent. I know I couldn't think of anything to ask. Someone eventually asked the squad why they chose Fordham, and a frankly distressing number of the answers were “because it's close to home”, which made it funny when the mic got to Zara, who started her response along the lines of “unlike everyone else I'm not 20 minutes from home”. Vilisi openly said Fordham was the only door open to her and she took it with both hands.<br />
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I kind of get the sense that Coach Gaitley is way more gregarious than most of her players (except maybe Bre, who couldn't stop dancing even during the Q and A, and Ice). She was out there greeting everyone by name. So yeah, that was a fun event, short as it was, because it was actually basketball-related.</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-64788229625847503092019-10-18T20:27:00.000-07:002019-10-18T20:27:38.809-07:00October 18th, 2019: Red Storm Tip-OffTicketing snafus, rocking with the band, jersey deliveries, possible alumnae, and a distressing lack of basketball. You know what it means.<br />
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WE'RE BACK MOTHERFUCKERS<br />
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We almost weren't. Ticketing has not been timely in getting out info for WBB season tickets and thus we were unable to secure tickets to Tip-Off in the usual manner. Politely and glacially speaking to various people got us in (the “someone dropped the ball” look on the DOBO's face when he saw us was something).<br />
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Delivering Shenneika Smith her old Sun jersey brought such a smile to her face. (I think I've brought this up before, but my first rule of buying player gear is that its original owner gets right of first refusal.)<br />
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Too much bass. Cannot cope.<br />
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The Nolan twins are a little, uh, creepy in their inability to be separated.<br />
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Q's pride in her heritage is awesome, and also helps us spot her family. Poor Machi is already hurt, walking around in a boot.<br />
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Okay, but does Sox get to keep the flowers?<br />
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Huh. Lotta transfers and double transfers on the men's side.<br />
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Hearing the PA guy try to hype up Machi is... uh...kinda obvious.<br />
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The tortured dance routines are also... something. They do show off everyone's footwork well.<br />
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Coach Anderson, in that rusty veteran coach's voice, calling out Sears as “lover boy” has me dead from lulz. (Sox still has the flowers.) He couldn't get Tartamella all the way out of his mouth, but I'll chalk that up to unfamiliarity and maybe a sore throat.<br />
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Tiana's trying too hard to be showy. Maybe it's the lack of pressure because it's only an exhibition. Maybe it's the pressure of there being people here.<br />
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omg Tart-let so cute. Headphones may be larger than child.<br />
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Men's scrimmage coming up. We'll see if the women get anything similar. It's been rough. Lot of missed dunk attempts.<br />
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I reserve the right to object to people wearing random Bulls or Houston gear. Just because it's the right color doesn't mean it's appropriate.<br />
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Dance is. not. messing. around. this. Year.<br />
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Not sure if T is in the crowd for social purposes or because they ran out of seats on the bench (since it's also being used for the scrimmage).<br />
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Hi, Gina?<br />
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Co-ed shootout now. Don't lose count.<br />
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And that appears to be the end of the basketball content this evening. They started setting up for the musical act, and since we were right next to the bass speaker, I opted to forego my annual attempt to determine whether I like the new music or not. It seems like every year there's less and less basketball, and it's really depressing. I just want to see my team. I like what little I saw, but there wasn't much to see!<br />
<br />
There's no rest for the wicked, or the weary. Fordham's open practice is tomorrow!<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-85601788587123438702019-08-14T20:25:00.002-07:002019-08-14T20:25:33.200-07:00July 27th, 2019: All-Star GameYes, I did actually survive Las Vegas, thanks for asking.<br />
<br />
<span id="fullpost">You may be wondering why it's taken so long for me to get my thoughts together about All-Star.<br />
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Or maybe you haven't. I see the page views. I know there aren't that many of you out there.<br />
<br />
And writing the GNoD has gotten a lot harder with part of the casing for my laptop snapping off, and thus the hinge breaking and occasionally having the screen fall out at one corner. Yeah. Fun times. It's a bad sign when the electrical tape isn't enough, right? I didn't handle the heat well, either. While MGM has been great for the league as the Aces' ownership, and while they put on a heck of an All-Star weekend, I do not think that holding All-Star in a desert city at the height of summer is a good idea. So, sorry, Vegas, and sorry, Phoenix, but this is not a thing that can happen. If it does, I'm not joining you. I was genuinely freaking out at my brain fog by the end of the trip. Like "do I have enough PTO to schedule a visit to a neurologist?" freaking out.<br />
<br />
Typing on the tablet is a lot harder. I'm just grateful that the Mandalay security either didn't recognize it as a tablet or decided that it was not the droid they were looking for, because trying to make in-game notes with just my phone would drive me up the wall.<br />
<br />
Leg room is definitely a problem. I'm taller than the average woman, but not by much, and my knee was hitting the back of the row in front of me. During the actual game it wasn't so bad, but that was because we were directly over the stairs, which meant that we were looking at the game through the railing. All things considered, still better than the knee pain induced during open practice.<br />
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I think I've said this before during All-Star games, and I'm sure I will go as ignored as I did all the other times, but I want to see players doing what they're good at, not just goofing off. Yes, it was fun to see Griner throw down dunks (even though I'm pretty sure she hurt herself on the extended hang during the twohanded jam, although that might also have been because Cambage was an idiot and didn't give her enough space to land). But it might have been fun to see Cambage and Jonquel Jones throw it down. I get enough of Tina Charles chucking long jumpers when she's in a Liberty uniform. How about some of that gorgeous hook shot? Two brilliant coaches and two point guards with flair, and no one could think of throwing a Jewelly-oop? (OK, bad example there, there was <em>one</em> attempted alley-oop, but not to Loyd.) You have point guards who can make magic happen on the break and you have Alyssa Thomas, The Human Wrecking Ball, and these pieces were not put together often enough for my satisfaction. And that's not even getting into players whose best skills are defensive. Admit it, wouldn't you like to have seen one of the bigs swat a shot into the fifth row and ham it up?<br />
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Admittedly, it was fun to see the bigs handle the ball like point guards, and Cambage's handle isn't terrible, at least in a game with no defense.<br />
<br />
The live-ball subbing wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, mostly because it seemed like neither team really had a good sense of how to use or abuse it. The shot clock reduction, however, was completely unnecessary; All-Star games are fast-paced anyway, and the clock never had a chance to get down that far.<br />
<br />
I admit it, I bought the bottomless popcorn for the sole and express purpose of laying claim to one of the nifty basketball bowls. And because I have no shame, I fished out another one from the garbage. Now we have a matched set. The popcorn was mediocre, but I think the good stuff was sold in the smaller bags, and not in the giant movie-theater vats. The concession prices seemed reasonable. I can see a family of four getting very good value out of that bottomless popcorn.<br />
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If you weren't crying at Erica Wheeler getting All-Star MVP, you have no heart, and you have no soul, and frankly, I don't want to know you. Everyone was at least a little choked up.<br />
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Merchandise and space for merchandise at the event was not handled well. There was a very limited offering at the fan fest, at least when we were there. And while there was <em>a</em> merchandise stand set up at the entrance to the arena, that was it. The line was out the door both Friday and Saturday. You'd have been better off getting your merchandise online or at your local arena after the fact. (On the other hand, I loved seeing Aces merchandise in every MGM-owned property's souvenir shop, and there was a secret stash of All-Star gear at the Nike store at Miracle Mile.)<br />
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I loved seeing fans from every team at the game. WNBACon is best con.<br />
<br />
So that's it for the GNod for this season. Between my laptop's issues and my ennui with the season, I’m taking the rest of the season off as a chronicler. You could argue that I'm not really needed anymore at the W level, that social media and online coverage have both advanced to the point where all the little things you see at a game have been covered by someone who's already there. I'm proud of that. And it means I can enjoy the game, or at least enjoy the ride home without having to work. So I'll see you lot in November, hopefully with a new computer, or at least with a good wireless keyboard that I can connect to my tablet.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-72577274989428224442019-07-26T23:31:00.004-07:002019-07-26T23:31:51.499-07:00July 26th, 2019: All-Star Skills Challenge/3-Point ShootoutLas Vegas too hot for bebe.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Fan Fest is pretty cool so far, although the beverage prices are an obscenity. $6.50 for water?<br />
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Shout out to the lady in the Shock shirt from Oklahoma, to the San Antonio jersey, and to the lady in the home Wicks jersey. So far I've seen gear from Connecticut, Dallas, LA, Las Vegas (obviously), Minny, New York (not us), lots of Phoenix, lots of Seattle, and Washington. I thought I saw Chicago, but now I'm not sure. No Atlanta, no Indiana.<br />
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Merchandise selection is a bit limited. Hoping for better on game day.<br />
<br />
One of my friends has informed me that a) Helen Darling, of all the random alumnae, is here, and b) her triplets are 17, and I object to this reminder of my mortality when I'm on vacation.<br />
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The passport stamp idea was cute, but the inconsistent requirements were annoying. The stamp at Kaiser Permanente is especially obnoxious.<br />
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I don't think Stefanie Dolson's calling is the DJ booth.<br />
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Mandalay has a very nice arena, but the seats are uncomfortably narrow and there is no leg room. Security was quick at least.<br />
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We've added Atlanta and confirmed Chicago, so the only team missing is Indiana. Do better, Fever fans.<br />
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Awesome jersey spotting: the entire Big Three, home Holdsclaw 23 Mystics, an honest to God Mabika jersey, the Kelloggs Swoopes jersey.<br />
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Looks like Bird is commentating and Stewart is ambassador-ing. I think Mama Taj and Michele Van Gorp are both working. Jasmine Thomas, on the other hand, is probably here to cheer on her teammates.<br />
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Shekinna Stricklen just went by on a cell phone. That's not what they mean by being dialed in from long distance, Strick.<br />
<br />
There appears to be a shooting contest involving fans from every team. Minnesota won, but it went to a tiebreaker, and watching the Sky players' enthusiastic support of their representative was awesome. (although that nominal Sky fan was married to a Sparks fan, which would be a strange relationship unless built on shared nostalgia for Kristi Toliver, so way to break kayfabe, guys)<br />
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Shock of shocks, Griner took an excuse to dunk. She still lost the round.<br />
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Can we talk about that three by JJ with the ball guy impeding her?<br />
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Well played by the DJ, mixing in the instrumental from “Touch the Sky” after deShields won the skills challenge.<br />
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Spotted a fan in a Dupree tee (a Dutee?) so the collection is complete.<br />
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There are enough Liberty players, current and former, to declare quorum. I love it.<br />
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Apparently that *was* what they meant by being dialed in. Well done by Strick. Loved seeing Jonquel Jones film her post-event interview.<br />
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I don't want the nachos. I don't want the popcorn. I want that bowl, though.<br />
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The Sky players, both All-Stars and not, were adorable cheering on their teammates. Get you a squad like that.<br />
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Seeing the camaraderie among so many of these players makes me wish they'd done an open practice. I know they streamed it, but that's not the same as being there.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-15020415682638699112019-07-26T09:31:00.002-07:002019-07-26T09:31:31.889-07:00July 24th, 2019: New York at Connecticutsome bullshit-ass half-assed notes<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Good morning! It's too early for this, but here we are at Camp Day at Mohegan Sun, as Connecticut hosts New York in their last game before the All-Star break. Intrepid blogger needs caffeine badly.<br />
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At halftime, New York is somehow up 39-36. The reserves are having another good game, and this time Tina Charles has decided to remind everyone of her All-Star capabilities. Kia Nurse left with an apparent elbow injury and has not returned. I don't see any reason to risk her. (although she's warming up here at the break)<br />
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Morgan Tuck did Tari Phillips's show-the-ball trick. I'm easily amused.<br />
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I don't want to say that the Liberty are tanking, or worse, throwing games. That would be a hell of an accusation to make. But that last minute or so of game time might certainly give the impression that the players on the floor didn't particularly care if New York won that game. Terrible clock awareness. Terrible shot selection. Why are you forcing the ball inside down two or three possessions? Why are you messing around for six seconds when you only have fifteen? STAAAAAAAHP.<br />
<br />
Rebecca Allen started the game on fire from beyond the arc, and then appeared to run out of battery power. The problem is that if Bec isn't hitting, then the flaws in her game (like her dubious defense and her tendency to panic when the defense comes hard at her) become harder to overlook, and she goes from a positive to a negative very quickly. Reshanda Gray was physical, but not advantageously so, which meant that she was getting called for fouls as often as she was getting rebounds. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was okay defensively to start her day, but got burned more often in the second half. She missed too many shots at the rim for my liking.<br />
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Brittany Boyd seems to be missing some speed with the lingering ankle issue (she had the trainer looking at it right before the game) and once again let her emotions get the best of her. I don't mind players who play with emotion. I do mind players who let it completely control them and get swallowed up too easily by frustration. She's never going to be as good as she can be if she doesn't get out of her own head sometimes. Asia Durr still looks a little gimpy from the groin injury (which should put paid to rumors that she wasn't injured) and saw both her minutes and her touches reduced. Loved to see her out there when we needed perimeter shots and the entire team is looking to force the ball inside, because that made such perfect sense. Marine Johannès demonstrated a frankly appalling lack of speed against Connecticut's guards, which Williams and Hiedeman were especially able to exploit, but even Banham was able to get a step on her regularly, and while there are many complimentary things one can say about Rachel Banham, her speed has not usually been one of the things complimented. I like Marine's style, and once she either gets to know her teammates better or learns when to tone down the fancy stuff, she'll be a huge asset to this team.<br />
<br />
For the first time in a while, Tina Charles actually looked like a post player. It was very refreshing. She still took a lot of stupid contested shots, but at least she was getting rebounds close to the rim. I don't like that the team was trying to force the ball inside to her at the end of the game, and I don't like the number of free throws she's been missing lately. But I'm glad to see her rebounding again. I would like to see if we could get back international Amanda Zahui B. That would be nice. She hit an early three, but so much of her offense was perimeter-oriented, and I've said this before: post players being able to hit threes is a nice surprise weapon, but it ceases to be a surprise when it's all that you do. I would also like Bria Hartley to get her act together. I know she's better than this, but she's coming off as terrible when she's on the floor, even when she hits shots. She had some inexcusable defensive lapses where she essentially just gave up on her assignment, and that's unacceptable.<br />
<br />
Okay, I'm sorry. I'm cutting the notes off here, because it's been two days and while I'm still at a casino and resort, I’m three time zones away from this game. Given that I had to cudgel my brains to remember who was starting at guard for the Liberty, I don't think I can produce acceptable notes at this point. Sorry, Sun fans. Courtney Williams was amazing in the second quarter, Jasmine Thomas took over late, and it really seems like Curt Miller has to choose between Brionna Jones and Kristine Anigwe.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-25465303290118903702019-07-22T21:07:00.000-07:002019-07-22T21:07:05.399-07:00July 20th, 2019: Los Angeles at New York<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Solid bench play fueled the New York Liberty's 83-78 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Marine Johannès had 17 points to lead New York, while Kia Nurse added 14. Nneka Ogwumike had game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds for the short-handed Sparks in the loss.<br />
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For a truly international game, distressing superstars, Chiney Ogwumike's earnest belief that she did not commit that foul, and role reversals, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.<br />
<span id="fullpost">Happy belated birthday, Maddie! Happy anniversary, moon landing! (Happy birthday, dad!)<br />
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It's game day at That Dump in White Plains, known to less cynical fans as the Westchester County Center, as the Los Angeles Sparks (or at least whatever's left of them) come visit the New York Liberty.<br />
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After the smooth sailing of last game, it's back to the usual tangle of confusing and crossing lines, waits at security, and not having the ticket ready to properly. (Yes, I'm not sitting in my ticketed seat. No, I do not believe situating my mouth directly above the visiting bench is a good idea.<br />
<br />
I don't know what happened, but I saw a trio of Sparks in hot pursuit of a teammate. No idea what was going on. Mostly guards, I think.<br />
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New DJ today. I like their taste better than the usual woman's.<br />
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On the other hand, substitute announcer is not as good as Mike.<br />
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Anthem singer thinks he's Whitney Houston or something. Narrator: He was not Whitney Houston.<br />
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It's 44-37 Liberty at halftime, and it's been reserve play doing the job for the Liberty. Marine Johannès is putting in work, with 13 points and some spectacular passes (unfortunately, Kalani Brown blocked the finish on the best one). Nneka Ogwumike has 12 points and seven rebounds for the Sparks, while Chelsea Gray has come on strong in the second quarter with 11 points, but most of the rest of the Sparks have been... not good.<br />
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There's a French family in the rows behind us cheering enthusiastically for Marine, and I love it.<br />
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I don't know if someone sprung for a spa visit for Katie or something, but she looks amazing. Refreshed, relaxed, well-coiffed, sharply dressed.<br />
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Asia Durr's street clothes brought to you by the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.<br />
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Beating the Sparks is always fun. After all, this <em>is</em> the league's oldest rivalry. How we did it honestly amazes me as well. I'm not used to our bench play being so solid.<br />
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There is a whole lot of Kalani Brown, but she seems somehow less balanced about it than her draft classmate Teaira McCowan. Her thighs/upper legs seem out of proportion to the rest of her. She brought a lot of physicality to the floor. Her foul trouble did not help with the Sparks' lack of available depth. I see her potential- she did a couple of numbers on Reshanda Gray with a quick turnaround for her buckets- but if she can't stay on the floor, she's not going to be any help to Los Angeles. Marina Mabrey drove hard and missed just as hard. I'm not surprised Fisher didn't go back to her in the second half. She was out of control. Karlie Samuelson took threes and hit a pretty big one late in the fourth to help keep the Sparks close.<br />
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Such a loss of depth for LA in the backcourt. Losing Parker is a big blow, but losing three guards forced Fisher to do a lot of juggling, and I think he was less prepared to juggle than he was to play without Parker. At least up front you have the Ogwumikes.<br />
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Yes, I know she has the assist numbers today, but Sydney Wiese is not a point guard. I don't know what she is other than a shooter, and a very quick one at that. She's certainly not a starter, and she's not the person I want initiating my offense if I have Chelsea Gray available to do that. (Which, to be fair, LA did not have for stretches in the second half when Gray got into foul trouble.) To borrow and abuse a turn of phrase from Shea Serrano, Chelsea Gray was out there ruining my life with big threes and ridiculous steals. She's so good. I was relieved and shocked when that last three was so off line. (And the petty part of me wants to say, "C'mon, you committed a push-off to get that open and that's the best shot you could get off?") Her hands are so quick, and she's so relentless. Physicality isn't necessarily the right word for her game, but she's not afraid to use that big build of hers to create space on offense or make her assignment uncomfortable on defense.<br />
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Speaking of making people uncomfortable as a defender, shoutout to Tierra Ruffin-Pratt for doing ridiculously hard work on players much taller than she is and often knocking those shots off line. There were a lot of switches by LA, and she's part of the reason they could get away with it. While I don't necessarily like how quickly Nneka Ogwumike moved into Tina Charles's head today, or how physical she was with Tina at both ends of the floor, I can respect it, more or less. I didn't realize how much of a perimeter game she'd developed until she was hitting threes early on in this one. For most of the first half, it was her, Chelsea Gray, and a bunch of not particularly helpful people. She's so good. I have to respect that. I do not have to respect Chiney Ogwumike's inability to shut up, stop whining, and sit down at appropriate moments. Yes, shockingly, Chiney, if you hit someone it's a foul. You went to Stanford, I know you're smart. Now that she's not on one of my teams, she annoys me too much to write about her.<br />
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Someday, Katie Smith will run a five-nation line-up out there, and I will rejoice. You don't even need to trust Han Xu to do it! You need Amanda, Marine, and Bec, plus either Nayo or Kia, plus one of the Americans! Presto, instant United Nations!<br />
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(In case you weren't sure I was a giant nerd. Spoilers: I am.)<br />
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For the honor and dignity of all Rebeccas out there, Imma need Rebecca Allen to please stop committing stupid unnecessary fouls on defense. She committed two of them pretty much back to back, and it was extremely frustrating. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe played the first half like her hair was on fire (her hair was not actually on fire)- going up strong inside and stepping outside for the trey. She cooled down in the second half. Reshanda Gray pretty much won the game for us. She had a couple of huge rebounds right at the end, and got the steal when LA had it within two. She was relentless. I do still need her to get the foul trouble under control, although in this game much of it had to do with these terrible officials and I place no blame on her getting called for a foul when she was the player getting hit.<br />
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So, this was my first look at Marine Johannès in a Liberty uniform, and I like what I saw. She needs to either tone down the fancy passing or she'll get more used to her teammates and more of those too-much-mustard-on-the-hot-dog passes will find their way to their intended recipients and things will get fun again. She gave us a long-range option with style, which is very nice to have, since most of our long-range threats are people I would like to not be volume three-point shooters (hi, Amanda). Maybe this was her best game, and we know no one is ever as good as their best game, but I think I'd be happy with even half of what she produced today, at least early in her tenure here in New York. Brittany Boyd needed a good thwack with the clue-by-four in this game. On one hand, I do sympathize with her getting clocked in the chin by a Chelsea Gray elbow and not having it either called or reviewed. On the other hand, that is no excuse to pull back from the shooter and basically stop playing. That was bush league, and she got pulled out of the game shortly thereafter. She got her head back in the game eventually, after a good long sit on the bench. She had her moments, but there was something missing.<br />
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I'm going to need Tina Charles to stop doing her Cappie Pondexter impression now. She's not very good at it and I don't want to see her descend into Cappie's fashion "sense". She took terrible shots early in the shot clock. She shot directly into unnecessary double-teams. She generally forgot about the existence of her teammates in order to take terrible shots. She was not good on defense. She let the Ogwumikes, especially Nneka, have their way with her. I know she's better than this, or at least she has a history of being better than this, but lately I'm starting to wonder if she's approaching the McCray cliff. Amanda Zahui B got off to a hot start offensively, but cooled off quickly and never seemed to recover. She got passed over in the second half by both Nayo and Reshanda, and I think Katie made the right call on both accounts. She's capable of banging, but she doesn't do enough of it to match up well with LA.<br />
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On the petty, shallow tip, I don’t like Bria Hartley's new hairdo at all. The gilding doesn't suit her. According to the box score, she lined up at three, but that's a little disingenuous; inasmuch as any of the guards in our three-guard set could be considered a small forward, Kia Nurse is probably the best candidate for the role, and none of them are particularly suited to it. Bria did not look ready to be back in the W after Eurobasket. I think she'll shake it off, but for now she looks bad. Kia looked out of sorts and under a lot of pressure. LA's switches defensively did her no favors. Ladies and gentlemen, your All-Star starter. (For the record, I didn't vote for her. Then again, I didn't vote for anyone.) I'll say this about having Tanisha Wright on the floor: there seemed to be a lot more vocal communication on the floor when she was out there. Even if it highlighted the team's issues with knowing the playbook and people knowing where they needed to be, it showed that at least people were willing to step up and address those issues. She's not a long-term solution at point, but if she can mentor Boyd and Marine, passing the torch without too much of a hiccup, I'll be okay with her sticking around for this year and maybe even next. (But next is a stretch, and honestly at this point I'm hoping that one of the people she'll be mentoring if she is here in 2020 is Sabrina Ionescu.)<br />
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Hoo boy, these refs. Love to see two terrible out-of-bounds calls in the first five minutes of the game. There was a lot of physical play, and a lot of the worst of it wasn't called. Credit them for some consistency, though: the sequence where the defensive player gets sandwiched between two offensive players and is called for a foul because... I don't even know... was called on both teams (Bec for us, TRP for them). I think the Sparks have a lot of nerve being upset about the foul differential, with the elbows they were throwing, but some things don't change.<br />
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Shockingly, if you give Liberty fans a beat to get the "Let's Go Liberty!" chant going to, we'll get it going. It was announced as a sellout, but there were a lot of empty seats. Something tells me there will always be a lot of empty seats, even if they claim to have sold every ticket. When we had reason to make noise, we made noise.<br />
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Look, kid, you already have one t-shirt, stop screaming for another one.<br />
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The guy who lost "Don't Get Torched" got screwed. The last shot was clearly after the buzzer.<br />
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I'm not expecting our reserves to play like this every game (but on the other hand, I'm not expecting our starters to play like this every game, either). It's great to see them do so, and I love how Marine is settling in with this team.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-4423637105901151122019-07-10T19:16:00.004-07:002019-07-10T19:16:52.735-07:00July 7th, 2019<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Las Vegas started strong and only got stronger as the game went on, taking out New York 90-58 on the road. Kayla McBride had a team-high 24 points for Las Vegas, with Liz Cambage adding 21 points and 11 rebounds. Tina Charles had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Liberty.<br />
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For the boiling point, misplaced fans, terrible shot selection, and what is this I don't even, join your intrepid and very tired blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">On to the next one! This time it's off to That Dump in White Plains, as the Liberty take on the Las Vegas Aces. I'm getting a weird feeling of déjà vu for some reason.<br />
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The Mexican place, El Poblano? Best damn mole I've ever had in my life, and I've had some good mole.<br />
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Security was a breeze today. I know we're well over half an hour from tip time, but I'm not liking the emptiness of the seats right now. The crowd filled in well enough later.<br />
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Anthem singer: "Microphones? Where we're going, we don't need no stinkin' microphones."<br />
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If I find the ticket rep who sold Aces fans seats behind the Liberty bench, we are going to have words, and most of them are going to be unsuitable for children. Most of the section across from the road bench is empty. GO OVER THERE. GO AWAY. GOOOOOOOO.<br />
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It's 44-32 Las Vegas at halftime, and it feels like it could have been a lot worse. Our energy is high but unfocused. We appear to have forgotten what defense is, and the existence of our teammates on offense. Too many possessions have involved guards (usually Brittany Boyd, but not always) dribbling for way too long, panicking, and expecting Tina Charles to bail them out with a shot at the end of the shot clock. There are occasional variations in which a post player not named Tina has the ball, but these interludes usually involve someone freaking out.<br />
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T-Spoon is on the bench in a "someone is going to die today" suit. It may be a contract hit, it may be an impressionable femme swooning over her, but she looks sharp.<br />
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It's probably a bad sign when the team is so disorganized, the chemistry is so AWOL, and the star is so frustrated that I'm pretty sure Tina Charles yelled something to the effect of "DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS CAR AROUND!" at her teammates, and that was only in the second quarter. People did not know where they needed to be on the floor- there were way too many occasions where someone was screaming at someone else to set a screen or use a screen. I choose vodka.<br />
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The Aces were relentless on defense. When you've got two big erasers on the inside like A'ja Wilson and Liz Cambage, you can afford to take more risks on the perimeter, and Las Vegas did so very effectively. They swarmed us, and we were not ready for the pressure. Offensively, both halves of the inside-out equation were working, which meant we were screwed either way we tried to defend. Ultimately it meant that we didn't, period.<br />
<br />
I'm assuming Carolyn Swords's knee or something is acting up, which is why she came in so late into garbage time. She had good pursuit on the ball in her limited minutes. I love JiSu Park's energy on defense. Her shot needs work, but her nose for the ball is good and she works hard on the floor. She's got so much potential, and as a WNBA fan I look forward to seeing her develop. (So don't screw this up, Bill.) Dearica Hamby also brings a lot of energy, although hers was a little less effectively focused. She did have a nifty defensive stop on Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe that I think ended up as a Liberty turnover. She's chippy. She's got one of the best to learn from in that regard on the bench.<br />
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Sugar Rodgers got a decent hand when she came into the game, and showed her sweet stroke (though mostly from the midrange instead of beyond the arc). I'm still not sure how we managed to leave her open at any point. I mean, most of y'all have met Sugar, right? You know who she is and what she does? Y U NO GUARD JUMP SHOOTER? *insert meme here* I keep forgetting about Sydney Colson's vertical until she does something ridiculous like drop the hammer on a post player's shot. She did that to Avery Warley-Talbert, and I was embarrassed for Avery's sake. She's not necessarily flexible positionally, but she allows other players to flow into other roles when she comes into the game. Tamera Young is good at annoying people, including me. It's been 11 years and I'm still not used to her having a jump shot that remotely approaches reliable. She had one pretty one that she kissed off the glass, which I remember mostly because I was yelling at the rim for letting Aces shots through. (I recognize this is irrational, but when the game is happening, I am always irrational.)<br />
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I have taken a profound dislike to Kayla McBride. It's mostly the respectful kind that comes from a player ruining my life, but there are also moments when it's because she's not afraid to give a little shove or engage in some holding. She gets open, and the shot goes up, and it goes in, and the world keeps turning because that's one of the universal constants. Kelsey Plum's shot wasn't falling, but she was tenacious on defense, often to a fault (yes, Kelsey, I saw where your hand was on that Boyd drive; I hate to break the news to you, but I don't think you're her type). Neither she nor Jackie Young really seems to fit as the point guard for this squad. It's like hammering a square peg into a round hole- it doesn't fit, and if you do manage to get it in, it'll lose its edge. It's a good thing Las Vegas has players who can create their own offense, because no one's really going to initiate it.<br />
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Speaking of which, dear Lord is Liz Cambage unstoppable when she wants to be. She goes in the paint, and she puts her hand up, and she gets the ball, and she hits the shot. It's just that simple. She creates space, or she finishes through contact, and she hits the shot. She's big, and she's strong, and sometimes I think she would not object to ripping someone's heart out and raising it above her head in triumph (except that it might ruin her nail polish). A'ja Wilson had a monster block on Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe that I felt the pain of in my soul. She had more trouble finishing at the rim than Cambage did, but she had plenty of looks and hit her fair share of them. She's so long and so smooth with it.<br />
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Vegas has a lot of good pieces- but I'm not sure how they all fit together. When McBride and Cambage are both on fire, it sort of papers over the questions in the backcourt and the lack of guard depth.<br />
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Our bench is going to look so different after everyone finally meanders back from Eurobasket. I have to remember this. We have four players either returning or debuting. That's going to shuffle things around. I have to remember this.<br />
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Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe looked scared out there. She was careless with the ball, she didn't go hard, and she generally looked like she was pressing too hard and not getting any results from it. I think she knows she's on the chopping block, and I think she might just be okay with it. Avery Warley-Talbert worked hard, but she was a hair slow, a step short. She should have hit the shots she had at the basket- they were close in, and she was often unguarded. She showed both the reasons why she'll always be in camp and the reasons why she'll usually be the last cut or a regular temp. Han Xu got extended time in the fourth quarter, much to the joy of the crowd- she got a ridiculous hand when she came in. I don't know if it's because she's now a folk hero, or if people just want to see her do well because she's so adorably naïve, but the roar when she scored her first basket, and when she hit the three the place went nuts. She looked a little more awkward out there than she did in the preseason, but she was far from the only Liberty player to not know where she was supposed to be on the court.<br />
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Tanisha Wright started the second half and I don't know why. (The postgame tweet congratulating her on moving up the all-time assists list provides a possible reason, but a terrible one.) She's doing better running the offense than Brittany Boyd, but both of them are offensive liabilities. Tanisha repeatedly passed up open looks I know she would have taken a couple of years ago. She's a safe pick for now, or at least a safer one than Boyd, but we should not be thinking so heavily in the short-term. Tiffany Bias is adorable, but it's abundantly clear that she was just a temp. And I have no idea why she and Boyd would ever be out on the floor together; inasmuch as Tiffany has a position, it's point guard, and Boyd at off guard is a terrible, terrible idea. (Generally, shooting guards should both be willing and able to shoot.)<br />
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I guess this flows into the general sense of "WTF, Brittany" that has hovered around Brittany Boyd this season. I feel like she's hit a wall, and I don't know if it's one she can't climb or one she's decided she doesn't have to climb even though it's clearly in her way. Her passing was careless and often right to a Vegas player, and she wasn't finishing at the rim. Unless she gets her shot together and relearns some passing discernment, she's hit her ceiling so hard that she bounced off on the way back down. I want to see her do well, and when she's on she's amazing to watch. It's just that she's been off more and more often as time has gone on. Kia Nurse's shot was off, although it was often contested (it's like she's good and defenses are learning to key on her or something). What bothered me more, to be honest, was that her defense was flat-out terrible. I'm not used to her being a bad defender, but she was getting blown by and left behind by pretty much everyone she tried to defend. Asia Durr had a couple of big blocks, which surprised me. I'd have liked to see her looking for her shot a little more.<br />
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Reshanda Gray got into early foul trouble, which not only limited her effectiveness, it forced us to go to our bench, which...um... was even less of a good thing than it tends to be. When she can't be physical against taller opponents, she's up a creek without a paddle, and this goes double when it's the dual threat of Wilson and Cambage. Tina Charles took bad shots, but she was getting pounded inside, so I don't know if I blame her for retreating to the perimeter. And a lot of those shots were at the end of the shot clock, when she was the human equivalent of the panic button. But Tina's ones of the best post players in the world, or at least she used to be. I'd like to see a little more of that. I know I sound like a broken record in that regard, and that it's never going to change, and that it's going to get worse as she gets older. Let me gripe about getting these kids off my lawn, okay?<br />
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If we don't have a point guard worth her salt, we have a problem, because this offense needs directing. We don't really have anyone who can consistently create her own offense (Asia's the closest, but consistency is the key word in her case; she's a rookie and I'm not going to throw full responsibility for the offense on a rookie.) Maybe Bria's return from Eurobasket will be the answer. Maybe Marine Johannès will slot so smoothly into that role that we'll forget we never had a point guard. Maybe Boyd will have a revelation. I don't know.<br />
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The game got very physical, and there were plays I was amazed weren't called fouls. (I mean, really, Plum had a whole handful of Boyd's posterior. <em>Rude.</em>) But we knew this crew was working back-to-back, because we'd seen the game at Connecticut the day before. So I can't say I'm surprised.<br />
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Liberty fans are trying to get behind this team, we really are. But the squad's not making it easy. (On the other hand, being in the lottery wouldn't be a terrible thing.)<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-63924505144046165762019-07-07T11:30:00.002-07:002019-07-07T11:30:15.800-07:00July 6th, 2019: Minnesota at Connecticut<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> In a nip-and-tuck game, Connecticut miscues turned out to be the difference-maker, as Minnesota came away with the 74-71 road win. Odyssey Sims had 21 points and eight assists to lead the Lynx, with Sylvia Fowles adding 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jasmine Thomas had 16 points for the Sun in the loss.<br />
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For patriotism, awkward moments with bananas, shooting questions, and the possibility of being in a parallel universe, join your intrepid blogger, in hopes that the next leap will take her home, or at least to a universe where the Liberty have won a title.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Good afternoon, fellow travelers! Pick up your dribble and sit down for a while, because it's a busy weekend here for the Game Notes of Doom. First up, we're off to Connecticut to see if the Sun can get their act together against the ambulatory MASH unit known as the Minnesota Lynx on "Hometown Heroes" day.<br />
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Cute pants on Damiris Dantas. Very maroon.<br />
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One of the Sun coaches was rocking the Rapinoe/Bird 2020 shirt in pregame. I approve of the sentiment, even if I think Bird should be at the top of the ticket.<br />
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Natisha Hiedeman looks SO WEIRD without her 'fro.<br />
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Gorgeous anthem by the army band. Recording-worthy quality.<br />
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44-43 Lynx at the half. Sylvia Fowles has 14 and I'm sure an ungodly number of rebounds. She, Odyssey Sims, and Napheesa Collier have 35 of the 44. More balance on the Sun side, with Jasmine Thomas and Bria Holmes each having 7 to lead the squad. The defense is not good. Jonquel Jones looks like she's never tried to defend anyone her height before, which annoys me because we know this isn't her first rodeo.<br />
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Asia Taylor looks like she wants to be DeLIsha Milton-Jones when she grows up. She doesn't have quite the same disproportionate length as DMJ does, but she plays long, especially on defense. She gave them some good second-half minutes. Alaina Coates got lucky that the unnecessary slam on Courtney Williams was only considered a common foul, because it really seemed like retaliation for Court getting the benefit of an out of bounds call. She was physical, but otherwise ineffective. Taylor's length and superior defense gave her the advantage.<br />
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Shao Ting is... she's trying, she really is. She seems really happy to be out there, and I'm sure she's a great teammate, but she looked absolutely lost out there- scrambling constantly on defense, in over her head on offense. I understand Reeve not going back to her in the second half. Lexie Brown and her incredible kicks hit a couple of big threes in the second half. She seemed to have a little bit of a chip on her shoulder regarding her former team, and a couple of her former teammates didn't seem to miss her all that much either, if the extra nudges were any indication. I don't know if I'd have had her inbounding the ball at the end of the game, though; Rach forced her into a timeout to avoid an inbounds violation, and almost drew a second one. But I couldn't help wondering where those three-pointers were when she had a Sun uniform on.<br />
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Seriously, though, who opened the portal to the parallel universe where Danielle Robinson shooting corner threes is a thing that happens on a regular basis? I don't know what to do with this! Like the bad actress in the Symetra commercial, I am confused! It seems like some of her driving game has gone away, although I don't know if that's out of necessity or because of her injury history. Odyssey Sims hit contested shots and didn't always hit open shots. I could make a petty remark about her wild driving ability, but I'm sure you know I have standards, right? I'm one of them classy broads.<br />
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Stephanie Talbot, despite the lack of statistical impact, actually started the game off really well, setting solid screens and playing good defense. She got good looks and couldn't put them down. I'm not sure how I feel about her being so perimeter-oriented on offense. Napheesa Collier is an immovable object on defense. She doesn’t have the size, but she has a solid build and has mastered the art of holding her ground, using her body to disrupt the balance of taller players. I didn't know she had a perimeter shot, either. Her height is a bit of a detriment on the inside offensively against taller players, but it all balances out. Sylvia Fowles can do pretty much whatever she wants inside, and it got a little frustrating after a while. She has such a knack for finishing at the basket. She had a pretty spectacular block, too.<br />
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I don't know how Minnesota's doing it. Admittedly, having Sims and Fowles are two very useful pieces, and Collier has been the revelation of this rookie class, but there are a lot of complementary parts that have to complement for this kludged-together team to work.<br />
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I'm not going to say that I love Rachel Banham's defense, but it's something she definitely seems to have applied herself to, and she has her moments, such as the inbounds defense at the end of the game. She's growing on me. I'd like to see a bit more discernment in her shot selection, but that's part of who she is. At long last, we have had a Natisha Hiedeman sighting, and she made a splash with a steal on her first play of the game. I'm biased, of course, but she looked like she belonged out there. Connecticut used her speed to have her double on the perimeter, while her primary assignment seemed to bounce between Brown and Sims. Morgan Tuck only played in the first half, and hit a three to the roar of the crowd. But Coach Miller tightened up his rotation in the second half, and leaned heavily on Rach and the starting guards.<br />
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Bria Holmes got off to a rough start with a missed chippie, but made up for it with the rest of her offense and her dogged defense. She's been improving since the start of the season, and it really looks like she's found her stride. I'm also happy to see Kristine Anigwe getting more time. She gave as good as she got against Fowles, which is a pretty tall task for a rookie. I like the development I'm seeing from her, although I realize this probably means she's going to hit the rookie wall in a month or so. (And of course I'm worried about Brionna Jones, and I don't know whether to hope that she's just been passed over in the rotation or be concerned that she's injured.)<br />
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So now we have to talk about the starters, which means the question of what the heck happened to Jonquel Jones has to be raised. I know some of the answer to that question is "Napheesa Collier happened"; JJ doesn't run into a lot of players who are as comfortable inside and outside as she is, and probably even fewer who are comfortable doing it on defense. Collier got up under her well, and then if she went inside, there was this problem named Sylvia defending the rim. But Jonquel also looked flat. Too many of her shots were the same sort of short casual shots we yell at Tina Charles about in New York. She doesn't have to do it alone. Although I'm wondering if something is up with Shekinna Stricklen. She barely played in the second half. I mean, okay, she's not exactly known for her defense, which seemed to be Miller's focus in the second half, but there were some sequences in the fourth quarter where having both of the splash sisters on the floor could have been useful. (No, I can't believe I'm saying this either. Maybe I fell into the mirror universe instead of the alternate D-Rob sneaking through to ours.) Alyssa Thomas continues to be a human wrecking ball, and throwing yourself in front of her continues to be a terrible life choice. I'm worried about her shooting; there are moments when I wonder if she remembers which hand she wants to be shooting with.<br />
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Jasmine Thomas had a good shooting day, and she absolutely murdered Talbot's ankles on a crossover, but as a point guard, she's looked uncharacteristically hesitant the last couple of times I've seen her. She and her team are running too much clock, and that doesn't fit with their pace. The passing and the chemistry aren't there. This seems like a good thing to be worried about. If your point guard and the rest of your team aren't on the same page, you might need a new book. Either that, or see previous comment about parallel universes. Given that I appear to have watched this game in a universe where Courtney Williams takes contact willingly, I'm starting to wonder. She did not do a good job finishing at the rim. She's always been streaky, and that's the risk you take with her. She went up for rebounds, but she didn't come down with as many of them as she usually does.<br />
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I think the possession where we had four shots, missed them all, got the foul on Minnesota, had Court miss the "heck with it, I'm bored" shot after the whistle, and then had JJ miss the first free throw really encapsulates our offensive woes here. There were stretches of being unable to hit water falling out of a boat. I don't think all of that was Minnesota's defense.<br />
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I'm amused that the officials finally remembered what a three-second violation was in the second half. I'm less amused that they missed a blatant trip. (On the other hand, some of the plays that the home crowd was baying their fury about were legit. No matter how tempting it is to give Sims an unnecessary shove in the back, AT should not have given in to temptation. And the out-of-bounds reversal was probably because there was an uncalled foul that should have been called.) I'm annoyed they were so slow on the call, though.<br />
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How does Cheryl Reeve get so much slack from the officials? Shut up or switch to decaf, Cheryl.<br />
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The four-year-old who couldn't remember her lines and forgot how to stop dribbling was adorable.<br />
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Having Rachel Banham give the pro-police (and pro-first responders in general) message was very shrewd and very carefully balanced. I doubt anyone's really going to internalize the message, but they tried.<br />
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The Photoshop jobs on the various All-Star ads varied in quality- I thought the JJ/House of Cards and Jas/Scandal ones were the best by far.<br />
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Alyssa, you miiiiiiight want to enunciate the first word better when introducing a segment called "Pitch, Please". Unless there's something you want us to know about Jasmine? (Jas... did not do well with it. Honestly, she was funnier scrambling to cover her pitch afterwards than she was giving the pitch. Full disclosure, though: I'm married to a salesman, so I kind of look at these things with a professional eye.)<br />
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It sort of spoils the dramatic reveal of the selfie section if you can see the staff giving out the cards beforehand, I'm just saying.<br />
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Having the bench step their game up does not mean that the starters can slack off. Connecticut needs to get their act together. Just not against New York. :D<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-23571971712384325612019-06-18T19:40:00.000-07:002019-06-18T19:40:09.804-07:00June 16th, 2019: Seattle at Connecticut<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> A finishing kick in the fourth quarter propelled Connecticut to a 81-67 win over the Seattle Storm. Alyssa Thomas had a team-high 20 points for the Sun, with Jonquel Jones adding 13 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Natasha Howard had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Storm.<br />
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For a lack of weather jokes, drama, karma, the unit divide, and looking gift horses in the mouth, join your intrepid and tired blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Happy Father's Day, fellow travelers! It's game day at Mohegan Sun Arena, as Connecticut hosts Seattle.<br />
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Our day started out quite adventurously, as ticket sales for the bus were held up by someone claiming the coordinator had attempted to defraud him of his money. Three rounds of cops later, and with the timely assistance of a key witness, it was dealt with, but we almost didn't make the bus because of him. Jerk. I hope every bus he attempts to get on is sold out and that if he does make it to a casino they clean him out.<br />
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(We talked our way onto the bus and gave the guide a big tip; she moved us up closer to the front of the bus for the ride back. We gave our match play coupons to a fellow rider and he bought us donuts. Truly, this is the strangest timeline.)<br />
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Mohegan is popping today, and I'm trying to figure out a way to strike up a conversation with the kid a few seats over who's also playing Pokémon Go without being exceptionally creepy.<br />
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FEED THE BEAST<br />
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Interesting anthem, half vocal and half saxophone instrumental. I liked her sax playing better than her voice.<br />
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Shoutout to the fan in the Natasha Howard jersey. You're a real one.<br />
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That third quarter run by Seattle made things more interesting than they really had to be, but Alyssa Thomas was a wrecking ball in the fourth quarter, and that plus defense was enough to push down the understrength Storm.<br />
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Sue Bird traveled with the team, but it looks like Jordin Canada did not.<br />
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Courtney Paris got some run in the first half, and her size was effective against Kristine Anigwe, who did not seem ready to handle quite that much defender. But she didn't play in the second half, as Seattle stuck to a slightly tighter rotation. Crystal Langhorne seems to have convinced herself she has a long-range shot. Based on today's game, this is a supposition completely without merit. She did play excellent defense on Anigwe. You could almost see her baiting the rookie into thinking she was open and then SURPRISE Terp inna face.<br />
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I honestly don't know if you really need both Sami Whitcomb and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis on the same roster. They both essentially do one thing- shoot from the perimeter. KML occasionally considers the possibility of shooting inside, and Whitcomb can pass a little better, but they both look to shoot the long ball as their first, second, and third options. I do like Whitcomb's footwork to ensure that she's behind the line. But when rosters are as tight as they are in the WNBA, having two dedicated shooters seems like much of a muchness, and it seems like Whitcomb brings more to the floor than KML does. Shavonte Zellous's midrange jumper was deadly, and she was a steady hand bringing the ball up the floor. She was much of the reason why they repeatedly came back on Connecticut. She just refused to lose for as long as she possibly could.<br />
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Natasha Howard was fantastic in the paint. She threw up one-handed push shots that went in whenever she wanted them to. She was ferocious on the glass. She's just so springy and uses her length really well. Mercedes Russell used her height well in the early going, but as the game wore on, she seemed to have more trouble holding on to her rebounds, instead tipping them out to the perimeter, and Connecticut was ready to pounce on those opportunities. Alysha Clark brought the defense, as she does.<br />
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I'm looking at the box score right now, and it still doesn't feel like Jewell Loyd hit as many of the shots she took as she did, even with hard evidence in front of my face. I understand that a lot of the burden is falling on her with no Bird and no Stewart, but she seemed to be settling for a lot of difficult shots from low-percentage areas of the floor when there were available teammates. (I mean, also credit to the Sun defense for making those shots difficult, but they got help.) (Side note: I thought it was interesting that she was introduced with her hometown, not as being from Notre Dame. An FU at McGraw, or some kind of technicality?) Blake Dietrick is... well, I guess she was there? She brought the ball up when she was in the game, and showed some good presence of mind on the edges of the court, but she was an inoffensive non-entity otherwise. I don't know if that's the right dynamic for this team right now. I know this is out of necessity with all the injuries, but if Canada is out for any length of time and Seattle does want to try and win games, they might need a different style of point guard.<br />
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I hope Brionna Jones isn't hurt. She never took the jacket off, even when Coach Miller was getting Bridget Carleton up in the last thirty seconds (she never got to come into the game because there wasn't a stoppage, and he eventually called her and Morgan Tuck back to the bench).<br />
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I was not expecting this kind of defense out of Bria Holmes! She showed really good hands against the ballhandler in her minutes. I mostly know her from her shooting, so this was a pleasant surprise. Morgan Tuck looked a little overmatched. She gave good effort, but even against this motley Seattle crew she didn't seem to have a good match-up. Kristine Anigwe took the minutes that normally would go to Brionna Jones and acquitted herself very well on the glass and in the paint. There's definitely still an adjustment period she has to go through against larger and faster defenders, but it was good to see her get a chance to show she can contribute at the W level.<br />
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Rachel Banham's shot just wasn't falling. She took a couple that were not the best shots she could have taken, but some of them were just bad luck. I'll live with it. Layshia Clarendon drove hard and ran a solid offense, although she and Jasmine Thomas were both uncharacteristically unaware of the shot clock in this game.<br />
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Connecticut's bench really needs to step its game up if the Sun are going to succeed. Someone's got to step up and be a true sixth woman. Right now, the drop-off is painfully apparent.<br />
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Bad day for Jasmine Thomas, and it's unusual to see Connecticut manage to power through one of those. She took a lot of contested shots and a lot of forced shots late in the clock. Her passing was off target. She persevered, and there were a couple of plays to Alyssa Thomas that were beautiful, but this was not her day. Courtney Williams has to learn to take some contact. I know she's small and I know she doesn't like contact, but it's part of the game and she's going to have to deal with it. I love her hops, and her drive-and-dish game was on point.<br />
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Alyssa Thomas looked at that game in the fourth quarter and decided that she was going to take over. She bulled her way into the paint and got either buckets, free throws, or both. I'm going to stick with my favorite descriptor of her as a little bit terrifying and a little bit awesome, and I'm going to resist the urge to start singing about how she came in like a wrecking ball. I know y'all are going to do it for me. ;) Shekinna Stricklen hit shots that weren't threes! My heart almost stopped from the shock of it. There was one I really liked, where it looked like she was using her shoulders to get position against the defense, and a little part of my mind was chanting "YES!" over and over again in joy. She got buckets at the right time. I mean, there's no wrong time to get a basket, but hers always seemed to be cutting off a Seattle run or kicking off a Sun one. Jonquel Jones does such amazing work on the glass with those long arms and her long fingers and her ability to control the ball mid-air until such time as she can bring it down and truly lay claim to it. She had herself a day.<br />
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Connecticut's starters are so good and usually work so well together. There were some really weird stretches of bad passing that worry me, though.<br />
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I know we were playing much more of a perimeter game, but I side-eye the foul differential in the second and third quarters so hard that I think I sprained my cornea.<br />
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Seattle has a lot of fight in them, and that will serve them well when Bird comes back, as long as there isn't too much deference to her when she does.<br />
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We were in the lucky section! Except that it's "selfies" only, except that it's not even a selfie because one of the staff members takes the picture with your phone for you. How is that a selfie? Ugh. I'd rather spork my eyeballs out than do photos, so we just awkwardly said "good game" to Court and Kristine as we left. Judging from the fact that maybe 10 people from our section stayed, we weren't the only ones less than enthused about the prospect. At least make autographs an option, for heaven's sake, instead of just setting up a black curtain and having done with it.<br />
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As always, I worry about the sustainability of this Sun team, but they're fun to watch when they're good.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-47375506645138638872019-06-12T18:21:00.001-07:002019-06-12T18:21:20.102-07:00June 9th, 2019: Las Vegas at New York<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Defense and a balanced attack powered the New York Liberty to their first win of 2019 as they defeated the Las Vegas Aces 88-78. Tina Charles had 21 points to lead the Liberty, with Bria Hartley chipping in 17 points and six assists and Kia Nurse adding 15 points. Kayla McBride led all scorers with 25 points, and Liz Cambage had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.<br />
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For physical play, endangered point guards, a rousing return, and getting off the schneid, join your intrepid and hectic blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Once more unto the breach, dear friends; it's game day at That Dump in Westchester, as the New York Liberty take on the Las Vegas Aces. Your intrepid blogger is going the long way around today, because I don't feel like dealing with Metro-North, Metro-North fares, and things potentially being on fire. Things being on fire is not fun unless they are shooters.<br />
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Just for the record, if Liz Cambage wants to express her opinion of That Dump in a public setting, I volunteer to hand her a mic.<br />
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Since the entire Aces coaching staff was at the game on Friday, I assume we have been fully scouted and will therefore be obliterated in a logical and well-executed fashion. And then we lose players to Eurobasket. I'm not even there yet and I'm already too tired for this.<br />
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I hate This Dump. I hate the ever more asinine security procedures we go through. Now they have to look at your keys just in case you're carrying a weapon on them. First of all, WTF, this is new. Second of all, the odds are that any weapon on a set of keys is being carried by a woman in self-defense, which, if you are trying to take that from someone at a Liberty game, that's not going to end well. Third of all, any Girl Scout worth her salt- which there should be plenty of on Scout Day- knows that the keys themselves are a weapon three different ways, so either you have to confiscate the keys or abandon this whole security theater nonsense.<br />
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(Also, do not touch my wallet. It is in my bag for a reason. Do not touch my wallet.)<br />
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(Also, do not gaslight me into thinking I touched the sides of the metal detector when I know damn well my fat ass didn't.)<br />
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Honestly, I'm already ready to fight someone and Vegas hasn't even taken the floor.<br />
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We're not losing. I am extremely confused by this. It's 45-37 Liberty at the half. Tina Charles has 12 points to lead New York, but it's been a really balanced effort. Bria Hartley got the start in place of Asia Durr, who looks like she'd really rather be at home in bed with a fuzzy blanket and a mug of chicken soup. Vegas has 10 points each from Liz Cambage and Kayla McBride, but Cambage looks really frustrated about it.<br />
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Our halftime entertainment is a martial arts presentation that has not been terribly spectacular except for occasional flying pieces of wood.<br />
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We're still having a lot of moments where the offense is more improvisational than structured, but it's mostly working. I anticipate the Aces adjusting, because we're not a second half team right now.<br />
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My heart goes out to Sydney Colson and getting her head busted open when Bria sat on her. Get better soon, Syd!<br />
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Between the sneakers and the short-sleeved top, Spoon looks ready to suit up in case of emergency lack of point guard. Don't tempt Bill, Teresa.<br />
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Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting to get the win against Las Vegas's size and skill. But while they have an imposing front line, possibly the most imposing front line in the league (except maybe Los Angeles), their backcourt can be streaky and their bench does not seem consistent. And if Colson is out for any length of time, they're in for some interesting juggling of their rotation.<br />
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I was honestly surprised that Carolyn Swords and JiSu Park got so few minutes. Swords is pretty solid, and Park showed a lot of potential last year. I guess Dearica Hamby's emergence in the early part of the season has put the kibosh on that, and Park certainly looks less confident than she did last year. Hamby was in foul trouble for much of the game, which somewhat limited her effectiveness; she was like a pinball out there for stretches, and I was surprised that Laimbeer kept her on the floor with five fouls late in the game.<br />
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Sugar Rodgers got an enormous cheer from the crowd the first time she checked into the game, and then she reminded us why some of us were perfectly okay with letting her go by throwing the ball out of bounds. She does have a pretty shot, but she's streaky. We know this. Tamera Young hit a three-pointer, and for a moment I wondered what timeline I had managed to wander into. I guess she came in for her defense? Ugh, I feel so embarrassingly naked without a scorecard, even an improvised one (my printer decided it didn't like my ink cartridge). Sydney Colson has nice speed, and heaven knows Vegas needs a ballhandler off the bench, so I hope she and her face are all right.<br />
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Jackie Young has an incredible first step. Once she gets the hang of how to finish with it, she's going to be amazing. But it seems like she's trying to make shots that she could get against college defenses, not having yet adjusted to the fact that professional defenses are usually bigger, faster, and more physical. That's part of the rookie learning curve, and I get that. She's going to be fine (though I think she could have used another year in college) and she's going to be the kind of player who sticks around because she can do a little bit of everything well- she was picking up a lot of our long rebounds that bounced strangely off ill-advised jumpers. Kelsey Plum seems to need a lot more time to wind up on her jumper than I remember her needing once upon a time. Maybe it was our defense, or maybe she was having a bad day, but she just didn't seem to fit in whatever Las Vegas was trying to run. I don't know if she can co-exist with two ball-dominant inside presences like Wilson and Cambage; I don't know if she really knows how to.<br />
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Kayla McBride gets buckets, whether they're inside on strength or outside on jumpers. I have to admire her toughness, I guess. She killed us on our endless switches, because no one on the team seemed to know how to defend her. I don't know if we could have done it even if we did, but that's a whole other story. She kept the Aces in the game most of the day. A'ja Wilson got a lot of hard looks and took a lot of contested shots. I don't know if she really needed to take some of them. She and Tina Charles were going at it hammer and tongs most of the day, throwing shoulders and hips into each other on every possession on both sides of the floor. I don't know if Tina was in her head, or if the general physicality of the game was just getting to her, but she took a lot of bad shots. It's not like we gave her good shots to take, but she didn't show the discernment not to take the bad ones that stretched her out like she thought she was Reed Richards or Helen Parr. She didn't have the angles. Liz Cambage did well when she got away from the basket, which seems counterintuitive given her height advantage over everyone who played for the Liberty, but when she got the midrange shot going, she was able to elevate over her defenders, while smaller but stockier defenders were able to leverage their size to move her. I don't know if she's slimmed down, or if her Achilles issue is making it harder for her to plant, but she was getting moved around a lot by our defense in ways that I was not expecting.<br />
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I don't know if Las Vegas has the personnel to do the things that they want to do right now. It's like they have two different teams, the backcourt-oriented one and the frontcourt-oriented one, and Bill hasn't figured out how to mesh them all together yet. McBride seems to be the only one who knows how to shift between the two systems.<br />
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Poor Asia. She did not look okay. I would like to see some more minutes for our deep bench, especially when the game is decided, but on the other hand, it's become clear that Nayo and Tiffany are nothing but placeholders for Kiah and Marine, there to be extra bodies and provide some enthusiasm (at least in Tiffany's case; Nayo mostly seems like she'd like to return to Canada already).<br />
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Great rebounding work and physical defense from Reshanda Gray in this one. She got low on Cambage and made her work. I would have liked to have seen more consistent finishing at the rim from her, but I will most definitely take the screens, the rebounding, and the defense (there was one screen she had on a drive by... I think Tanisha?... that was glorious and perfect). She's really made the most of this chance with New York, and I think it's affected our roster choices. I'd a million times rather have her energy than the lack of it Nayo's shown so far this year, and I don't think that was the original plan. Rebecca Allen continues to exist in a liminal space between the frontcourt and the backcourt- her offense has been almost all perimeter-oriented, but she does a lot of her work on the other side of the floor crashing the glass. It gives us flexibility, but it also leads to mismatches. Fortunately, the dark necromantic ritual that powers Tanisha Wright here at the end of her career was at its peak, and she had her best game of the season. The offense was clicking with her in the game, her defensive instincts were on point, and she looked (mostly) like the heady veteran presence she was supposed to be for us. I like this version of Tanisha. Okay, I maybe don't like the version that throws passes into the crowd, but other than that I was thrilled with her play.<br />
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And that was our bench. I can't really say I'm surprised, except for Katie's utter lack of trust in Han Xu.<br />
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On one hand, Brittany Boyd actually showcased a perimeter game in the second half. On the other hand, the mechanics of her jumper still need a lot of work, which is not a good thing for a player in her fifth professional season, and she committed some incredibly stupid mistakes on the floor. (I mean, really. Inbounding violation? I expect better.) It was clear that she was the third best point guard for the Liberty in this game, because Tanisha was playing well and Bria Hartley was playing really well. So that's a thing I don't know how to feel about. According to the starting lineup and the box score, Bria started at small forward, but she spent most of her time running point, even when Boyd was in the game, which left Boyd hung out to dry. Bria played really well- she hit her shots at the right time, and the offense just seemed to click when she was in the game. I thought there were stretches where she was trying to do too much and the offense became one-dimensional, but that's not a problem unique to her, so I'm going to throw that on Katie. Kia Nurse also seemed to be forcing shots. She's presenting herself as a solid second scoring option, but I don't know if she's doing it in the flow of the offense. Then again, I don't know if our offense has a flow to be in, so that's a problem. I honestly don't know what to think of her sometimes.<br />
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Amanda Zahui B is not necessarily great when it comes to rotating on defense, but once she was on her man, she was a star. She made Cambage work and got some good blocks in on the inside. I am not enthralled by her love for the three-pointer, especially when it's not going down, but I love the work she put in defensively. That's been one of the things Liberty fans have been riding her about for quite some time, so if she's making strides in that department, more power to her. (Also, really, Vegas, you should know better. You don't mess with the hair.) Tina Charles continues to be doubled and tripled, and continues to try and shoot through it. Her teammates did a better job of making themselves available on the kick out, but Tina's still trying to do too much offensively, and that's a habit she has to break. She's got talent around her- she and they just need to be aware of it and trust in it. This was probably the most physical game we've seen from her all year, and I don't know if that was Katie's game plan, Bill's game plan, or a natural cause and effect of her going at it with Wilson. But she was going hard on the glass and spending a lot more time in the paint than she has been most of the year.<br />
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There was so much motion in this game! And it was a good thing! For the first time this year, the offense was moving, both in terms of pace and in terms of people not just standing around waiting for things to happen. It was a refreshing change. I mean, yes, there were still times when whoever had the ball forgot that she had teammates and tried to go it alone, but there were fewer of them than there were in the last few games. Maybe we're turning a corner. I wouldn't place money on it, but anything can happen.<br />
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There was a lot of physical play on both sides. Bria should probably stop sitting on people. Conversely, the crew was like "LOL what even are travels". I think one of the officials had family over in the next section- either that, or someone was heckling her particularly hard and she wanted security to know about them. It wasn't us, I <em>swear</em>.<br />
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We've still got deep-seated issues. But this game showed what we can be if we get our act together and play to our potential. We have enough talent to compete; when we put in the extra work, it puts us over the top.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-91097569128033221132019-05-26T21:18:00.003-07:002019-05-26T21:18:56.450-07:00May 25th, 2019: Washington at Connecticut<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Connecticut opened the season strong with an 84-69 win over Washington in the Sun's home opener. Alyssa Thomas led all scorers with 23 points, with Jonquel Jones adding a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds. Emma Meesseman led Washington with 14 points.<br />
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For free swag, the squad coming through, starters versus reserves, careless cameramen, a poster quest, and energy, join your intrepid and well-traveled blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">Basketball never stops, and neither does your intrepid blogger. We go from home opener to home opener, as the Connecticut Sun open their season with a Saturday night special at Mohegan Sun against the short-handed Washington Mystics.<br />
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Somehow, despite the busted seats, the weaksauce air conditioning, and the appalling stench coming from the bathroom, this is still a more pleasant ride than the endless Metro-North ride to That Dump. I'm still wrapping my head around the images of Connecticut in spring. It's so green! And I think I just saw a bus stop. Maybe we're closer to civilization than I thought. We're certainly closer to population; I think we just hit the Stamford traffic jam, unless Connecticut is feeling enthusiastic today and it's actually the Norwalk traffic jam. Well, we are in construction season.<br />
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I can simultaneously think it's very cool that the game opened with a traditional (although one presumes modified) Mohegan blessing and be weirded out that the game opened with a prayer, right? That's not too much double-think?<br />
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Our bench needs work. Our bench needs a lot of work. Our starters can go toe to toe with anyone in the league and look good doing it. But our bench's inconsistency is going to kill us against teams that aren't sitting a quarter of their roster due to injuries.<br />
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Myisha Hines-Allen seems to have bulked up since the last I saw of her, and it was working for her tonight. She gave the Mystics good power inside offensively. I didn't realize she took so many shots until I looked at the box score. Tianna Hawkins made a lot of plays with her butt. These were not always good plays. I think she might actually have deflected the ball with it at one point, and she definitely hit people with it. She's going to need to play a lot better for Washington, especially with their lack of depth right now and the specter of Eurobasket looming.<br />
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So... this is what you kept Kim Mestagh for, Coach T? To come in for a few spot minutes as a shooter? She's definitely got that Colorado State touch from beyond the arc, but if she doesn't play it's very hard to gauge her skill on the W level. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough was first off the bench in each half and provided good length, but couldn't finish and made careless mistakes.<br />
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I really like what LaToya Sanders brings to the floor for Washington. She didn't do a lot of scoring, but she was very active in motion, setting screens and creating space for her shooters to shoot. She did a lot of hard work on the glass and on the floor, and not all of it is going to show up in the box score. But she was one of the most important players out there for DC tonight, and damn it someone's going to respect her for it. Emma Meesseman's footwork seems to have regressed- she really should have been called for a lot more travels than she was tonight. Like, you know. Any. That's not what they mean by the Eurostep. She's so smooth when she makes the move that it's almost forgiveable. Almost. She's aware of who she has to be for Washington with Delle Donne out, and who she has to be for Belgium, and she's taking on that role.<br />
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Kristi Toliver brought her shot tonight, but her game was cut short by a collision with a cameraman with whom she was tangled for quite some time. She left limping and came back with ice on her right knee. We'll see how that goes. She looked so sad and lonely when Coach T threw in the towel and sent in all the reserves he had left. Ariel Atkins kept getting to the line, and I have no idea how. She penetrated, but it didn't look like she was taking the kind of contact that would keep getting her free throws. Maybe she was just taking advantage of us being in the penalty, which is still praiseworthy for clock and foul awareness. She's got touch, but I don't know if she has consistency. Ask me at the end of the season. Natasha Cloud did an amazing job cutting through our defense, and defending on the other end herself. There's an intensity about her defense, a carefully-controlled focus, that's a little bit scary and a little bit cool at the same time. It's like she's determining how she's going to slice you up and if she should use the Ginsu knives or bring out the Henckels.<br />
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Washington seems extremely interchangeable. There are days when that will be helpful to them because someone will step up when they need them to. And when they have their full rotation back, then they'll be able to plug in the hot hand and sit whoever doesn't have their act together. But this is a supporting cast in search of a star right now, a problem that will only be exacerbated if Toliver is out for any length of time.<br />
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Coach Miller, Y U NO PLAY ANIGWE?<br />
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I like what Rachel Banham can bring to the floor on offense, although on that end she looked a little more hesitant than I like. But on the defensive end of the floor, there were at least two moments where I was putting up prayers for her soul after she was immolated on a crossover or a sudden first step. The effort is there. The energy is there. The skill is not. I was under the impression that Bria Holmes was a shooter. Shooting did not happen. Not much of anything happened from her. There was a point in the game where I was done with Layshia Clarendon, which was about five seconds before she found her second wind and started driving the lane more and making better plays on defense. I'm relieved, because I like Layshia and I want her to do well.<br />
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Brionna Jones looks like she'll be very effective for short stretches, and then her conditioning or whatever will catch up to her and she'll start slowing down. She brings the power and she brings the pain, but we're going to need her to be able to play more minutes. I did like the big block she had on Tianna Hawkins. Turtle-on-turtle violence is a beautiful thing sometimes. Morgan Tuck hit a couple of threes in the second quarter that got the crowd going (although, to be honest, Morgan Tuck's continued existence is generally enough to get the crowd going, it's sort of refreshing that they've extended their obsessive love to random Huskies to <em>all</em> Huskies instead of... ahem, select ones) but was getting beaten on the boards by Hawkins. She just didn't have the height to compete with Washington's posts, and in most of Connecticut's lineups, she seemed to lined up against Washington's posts so that the other forwards could exploit mismatches.<br />
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There are a lot of crazy arrows on my score card indicating amazing ball movement, and a lot of them originate from Courtney Williams. I'm so used to thinking of her as a scorer that seeing her as a facilitator makes me do a double-take. But she realized that her shot wasn't falling, so she passed back. Some of the ball movement with her and Alyssa Thomas was beyond outstanding- they were the types of quick passes you make when you've known someone forever, Ticha-to-Yo kinds of passes. Jasmine Thomas got victimized by rims that were really being too kind to Washington most of the night, but she made some clutch plays defensively. She's the engine that makes the Sun go, much as Kelly Miller was for the champion Mercury back in the day; even when she's not making a statistical impact, she's making things happen for her squad.<br />
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Alyssa Thomas, human wrecking ball, took the offense in hand and made sure Connecticut was going to win this game no matter what. While her teammates put in a lot of work to extend the lead, she was the one who took on the scoring load when the game was tight. She drove the lane and took contact without hesitation and without fear. I'm not always thrilled with her floaters, but they were falling in this game, so that seems fine. I was disappointed in Jonquel Jones's willingness ot follow her shot, but she racked up enough rebounds close to the paint with her sheer height that I can't really complain. I'd like to see her take fewer threes, but at the same time I recognize that her ability to stretch the floor is part of what makes her dangerous. It's just frustrating when those long shots go down and there's no one there to rebound except maybe AT, surrounded by four jerseys in the wrong color. Shekinna Stricklen made some surprisingly good defensive plays- there was one sequence where she forced an out of bounds on the sideline that was really slick- but there always seemed to be more on the floor that she could be doing and wasn't. I'd like to see her develop more of a midrange or inside game, even though I know by now it's not going to happen.<br />
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The bench needs to get going faster. We lost too much momentum with the reserves in, and the extension of the lead in the second half was as much because Washington collapsed in the absence of Toliver than it was anyone really stepping up big for the Sun.<br />
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Camera guys. Stay in your boxes. After the second collision, which was the one that took Toliver out of the game, the entire Washington coaching staff was out on the floor and not shy about expressing their displeasure about the situation, and the officials were talking to the cameramen afterwards. There seemed to be some pushback, so I can only assume there was a debate about the definition of being in the box versus not being in the box.<br />
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Officiating was fairly loose for a while, tightened up for a while, then loosened up again. There were some physical plays that could genuinely have gotten someone hurt, like Atkins going knee-to-knee on someone. She got pulled out of the game for that stunt.<br />
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The t-shirts look really nice. Well done, Sun.<br />
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Nifty entrance video, well-chosen music. The only change I'd have made would be to have even the casual gear be Sun gear. Cal did something similar a few years ago- still showed the different players' different styles, but showed team pride and team unity. (And also, you can market the merch. Cash Rules Everything Around Me.)<br />
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Nice touch: the big entrance video features the orange jersey, the "get loud" hype video features the navy blue jersey. Yay, you get to see both sets!<br />
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Our neighbors are cool- older folks, season ticket holders since day 1, willing to get loud and support the entire team. I'm going to feel really bad about yelling around them when the Sun play the Liberty. It's not like I'm not going to, though.<br />
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"Game of Jones" is funny, but maybe not timely? Please do throwback episodes with Joneses of the past.<br />
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Somewhere, there is a coach looking down on an orange Connecticut and laughing. I love it.<br />
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Connecticut is definitely more fun to watch than New York. New York is still my squad, but Connecticut seems to enjoy playing basketball far more than New York does.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-18866393474311120332019-05-25T11:04:00.001-07:002019-05-25T11:04:13.952-07:00May 24th, 2019: Indiana at New York<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Teaira McCowan's buzzer-beating lay-up was the game-winner for Indiana in their season-opening 81-80 win over the New York Liberty. Tiffany Mitchell exploded for 22 points off the bench to lead the Fever, with Erica Wheeler adding 16 points and five assists. Tina Charles led New York with 32 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.<br />
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For pop quizzes, train traffic ahead of us, literal and metaphorical flaming disasters, snazzy jerseys, numerical issues, and banging my head against the desk, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.<br />
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Content warning: there is a cluster F-bomb in here. I was in a <em>mood</em> last night.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">This is not a drill. This is a game day. Your intrepid blogger was going to skip this game, like so many other weeknight games up at That Dump, but two things happened. One, I started working from home, which at least lets me start out in civilization instead of suburbia. Two, the start time got pushed to 8 for TV. This is going to make the turnaround to the Sun opener tighter and somewhat more sleep-deprived, but I have Diet Coke. I WILL NOT BE DETERRED. I haven't missed a Liberty home opener yet. It will happen.<br />
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Because it's a game day, I really didn't bat an eyelash at the sound of the drumline behind me as I headed to the train, but the two guys staring behind me made me realize that it was live, and also in the middle of Jamaica Avenue, which I can assure is not normal. Well, at this time of day on this particular stretch, in any case. The Ave contains multitudes. But it was like, of course there's a drumline. It's a game day.<br />
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Holy Mary, Blessed Mother of Jesus. I got on a train at Grand Central at 6:11. Not only did the door jam on that train, but it turns out there was someone on the tracks at Wakefield and also things were on fire. We barely made tip-off. It's not supposed to take that long via Metro-North. I loathe Westchester. (With all due respect to Shadeen. And Bird Gordon. And anyone else I respect who has reason to take pride in Westchester.)<br />
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There was a disorganized shambles at Will Call, but fortunately that was a trainwreck I did <em>not</em> get caught up in.<br />
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I forgot how much I dislike the small, slippery, railing-free stairs at That Dump, and the constant feeling I have that I'm going to fall and crack my skull open. I forgot how much I hated the obscured views, and the fact that our last ticket rep put us on the wrong side of the floor so I can't see the bench or who's checking in at the scorer's table. I forgot how uncomfortable the lack of leg room got after a while, or how little space there is to maneuver. Y'all wonder why I call it That Dump, right? Or were y'all not wondering?<br />
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The new entrance video is excellent. The song's okay, I guess. It hits all the notes it's supposed to hit.<br />
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The new court looks amazing. The NY inlay at center court is so subtle I didn't see it until the lights came up.<br />
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There need to be numbers on the front of the uniforms, but I love the black jerseys. The two-tone green doesn't work, but the one-tone black does.<br />
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We got off to a torrid start and then fell apart, exacerbated by the fact that Captain Genius Katie decided that the time to rest Tina Charles was right when we lost the lead, instead of when she was missing shots short. I am so done with Tanisha Wright and I am so done with Bria Hartley.<br />
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It's 39-33 Fever at the half. Tina Charles has 16 of the 33. Kia Nurse has another 10. I think we might have a balance problem. Erica Wheeler has 11 to lead Indiana. Teaira McCowan is a whole lot of woman.<br />
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There is a very large rooting contingent for Shenise Johnson, with (paper) heads on sticks, and a couple of Tiffany Mitchell fans too. And there are Rutgers fans rooting for Wheeler and Laney (where were you guys when <em>we</em> had her?)<br />
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Please bear in mind that I try not to swear in the game notes. There are children here. There are ladies here, though I ain't no lady, I'm a broad. But oh my God, FUCK WESTCHESTER. Fuck this stupid place forever. Fuck That Dump and fuck Metro-North and fuck the punk kids throwing ice and fuck the suburban emptiness around the station and fuck the narrow seats and fuck the lack of leg room and fuck that it's a Pepsi joint and fuck the illogical security lines and just. Fuck Westchester.<br />
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So, game talk. I can totally do this! I have another twenty minutes before the train shows up! Because there are two trains at the top of every hour and then an hour break! Because fuck Westchester!<br />
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Stephanie Mavunga got a little bit of run in the second quarter, but she was slow on rotations and picked up two quick fouls, so she didn't get second half run. It also did not help her case that Teaira McCowan feasted on our undersized posts (although, to be fair, compared to McCowan, isn't everyone undersized?) That is a whole lot of woman, and I mean that in a complimentary fashion. She still needs to add a little finesse to her game, but she has the power, and she knows how to use her size. A lot of tall players are just tall, but she seems comfortable with it. Smaller players, and players who are not themselves small, bent beneath her. She might have trouble staying in for long stretches, and it's clear officials don't know how to handle a player who is both markedly taller than average and built like a brick house. Fouls happen around her. I think she might have blocked a shot by accident, just being there with her arms up.<br />
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Have we considered the possibility of guarding Tiffany Mitchell? Because that is maybe a thing we should consider the possibility of doing when next we tango with Indiana. She was very effective getting to the rack and sliding around the defense to take just enough contact to get to the line. She also has ridiculous bicep definition. I am in awe. I'm also glad she went with the blonde tips, and that she and Kelsey Mitchell were almost never on the floor at the same time, because same last name and half the numeric visibility is not a good combination. Shenise Johnson got rebounds to please her fan club, and made a really nifty defensive play that I'm not sure counted as a steal or not because New York almost immediately regained possession. I'm also pretty sure her fan club jinxed her shot by their ill manners, so I suppose there's some kind of silver lining there.<br />
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We seemed awfully happy to give up the midrange and elbow jumper to Natalie Achonwa. She seemed awfully happy to take those shots. She's very loud on the court. I'm not saying that as a bad thing, except in the sense that opponents doing good things annoys me. Her hands were good defensively in the paint with deflections. Candice Dupree continues to be quite smooth, and also very vocal on the court. There were times when she was a step slow, when her defense couldn't rotate and she gave up buckets, but she got them back just as quickly on Tina Charles. Betnijah Laney couldn't buy a basket for most of the game (she had one spin all the way in and out) but she made a lot of hustle plays, which I'm pretty sure might actually be part of her name. She had one really cool sequence where she corralled a loose ball without ever losing her dribble yet spinning like an acrobat. That play led to a Kelsey Mitchell basket. She came up with clutch offensive rebounds. I don't know if she should be starting in this league, but she most certainly belongs.<br />
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Erica Wheeler decided this would be a lovely night to get her revenge on the Liberty with threes in the fourth quarter to answer any attempt we made at maintaining a run. It got a bit annoying after a while. I am easily annoyed right now, TBH. Quiet game for Kelsey Mitchell, but with the work Tiffany Mitchell was doing to get to the line and to make hustle plays on both ends of the floor, she didn't have to be super scorer Mitchell.<br />
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There were flashes of the old Indiana ball movement, which I guess was sort of cool if you're into that kind of thing. Indiana's midrange game was pretty solid and they came up with the rebounds they needed. Once McCowan really adjusts to the pro game, they'll have an absolutely ridiculous low post game.<br />
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So... is this how Katie's going to develop Han Xu? Not play her except in case of emergency and never test her against anyone who's in her size range? I'm not a fan of this plan. We're never going to know what Xu can do if she doesn't go up against players similar to her in height. (I mean, okay, McCowan is of an extremely dissimilar build and our poor teenager would probably get broken. But you never know if you don't try!) Reshanda Gray was probably the biggest reason we got back into the game after choking away the lead in the second quarter. She was relentless on the glass and finished well at the rim on her putbacks. She did not draw an easy task, and she answered the call. Huge game for her, and if she keeps playing like this she's going to spend the rest of the season in New York. On the other hand, I had been looking forward to the return of Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, only to see her essentially mail in her first half performance enough that she did not make an encore appearance. It was bad. Lackadaisical might be the right word. If she's still recovering from her overseas stint, I guess that's a thing, but then, she didn't exactly have to show up, either.<br />
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I honestly don't know what to think of Tanisha Wright wearing the playbook on her wrist. In my more cynical and embittered moments, I suppose it means I should be grateful at least someone on this team knows the plays, since I'm not completely certain Katie does. There just seem to be too many stupid things happening on the floor when Tanisha is in the game, and I have a problem with this when she's a veteran player who should know better and should be teaching her teammates better. What did you <em>think</em> was going to happen when you ran headlong into Natalie Achonwa, T? I mean. Physics, how do they work? (The answer was that Tanisha bounced like a rubber ball off the schoolhouse wall.) Bria Hartley came up with some big offensive plays in the fourth quarter, but I'm still not sure why we held out so long to make sure we kept her. Asia Durr looks like she's at least trying on defense, even if she's failing miserably at times in that regard- she had a brilliant block on Tiffany Mitchell, then got called for a foul when trying to make the same play from a different angle shortly thereafter. She's more confident in her shot than she was during the preseason, and even if it's not going down right now I'd rather have her shooting than not shooting. We tried to run the Jewelly-oop with her, and it almost worked. By the end of the season, it just might, and that will be really cool.<br />
<br />
Brittany Boyd did a little too much dribbling, but otherwise did not have a terrible game. I'm not sure what it says about her, or us, or Katie, that Bria was playing the clutch minutes, though. Kia Nurse looked like she was forcing a lot of her shots in the early action and really looked like she was trying to make herself an offensive option by sheer force of will. If it had worked, I probably would have appreciated it more. She knows what she has to do and who she has to become for this team to be successful, but I don't know if she knows how to get there, and I don't trust Katie to get her there. Rebecca Allen continues to be the most frustrating Rebecca, and I say this as a Rebecca. She had a couple of big threes and a couple of big blocks, but her ability to move to the next position on defense was sorely lacking, and I'm pretty sure Tiffany Mitchell snatched her soul out of her body on a head fake sometime in the second half. Figure out who you are already, Bec!<br />
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Tina Charles continues to do Tina Charles things. You get the feeling sometimes that she's just So Very Tired of having to do everything around here, like she and deGrom and Syndergaard should go out drinking together and comparing notes on having to be The Man. (in the pre-Becky Lynch sense) I'm worried about her missing shots short early, but she found a second wind in the fourth quarter and took the team on her shoulders. She decided that McCowan and Dupree weren't going to stop her, and they really didn't. I don't know what else we can ask of her. I don't know what else we <em>should</em> ask of her. On the other hand, I'm going to need Amanda Zahui B to do... something. Literally something. She missed shots she should have hit. Calling her a turnstile on defense would have still implied that she was present and that there was a cost to get through. She actually got out of the way of a pass at one point, which led to an over-and-back violation and a glare from (I think) Tanisha. She played like she knew she was already getting her money, so why should she bother doing anything for it? I know she can do better. I know she can be better. I certainly am not accusing her of having the attitude of Tamika Whitmore, but the "I have guaranteed money and therefore I can fail" thing is a disturbing parallel that I don't particularly want to draw.<br />
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Our defensive communication needs a lot of work. I don't hear us out there the way I hear other teams. Y'all are allowed to talk to each other. Especially when there are multiple players on the floor who generally have no idea what they're doing on defense, communication is key.<br />
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So we're going to talk about endgame execution 101. After an extended sequence of offensive rebounds and missed shots, Indiana had the ball and a one-point lead with less than 24 seconds left. What do you do in that situation?<br />
<br />
A) foul immediately to have as much time as possible on the clock for the next possession<br />
B) press like hell in the backcourt to try and get a turnover, then foul<br />
C) let the opposing team bring the ball up unopposed and let them run off almost seven seconds out of twenty before your star player goes to the ball and fouls<br />
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If you answered C), congratulations, you're Katie Smith and the New York Liberty, and you are part of the reason why I would drink if I drank.<br />
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That's extremely on the coaching staff, but that's also on the players on the floor. I'll give Tina a pass, because she's the one who actually took the foul. I'll give Amanda a pass, because she had five fouls. But the other three players on the floor? The coaches? No one looked at time, score, and possession? Really? On a professional basketball team? This is a thing that happens?<br />
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Second pop quiz time! I know, it's summer, you thought you were free of pop quizzes, but here we are.<br />
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You have two post players, both alike in dignity, in fucking Westchester where we lay our scene. One post player is scoreless with five fouls and five turnovers. One post player has done hard work on the offensive rebounds and helped power the run that gets your team back in the game. It's time to put your superstar post player back into the game. Who do you sub her in for?<br />
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A) The scoreless player with five fouls and the defensive prowess of an old-fashioned turnstile (the high-wheel ones are arguably better defenders)<br />
B) The player who has powered your team back into the game<br />
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If you answered B), you're still Katie Smith, and while I appreciate you reading my blog, you have better and more important things to do. Like figuring out how to coach.<br />
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I don't understand Katie's sub patterns. I don't understand her play-calling. I don't understand her personnel management. Is this some galaxy-brain level nonsense that I'm too basic to understand?<br />
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Officials mostly let them play. Not a good thing. Not a bad thing. A thing.<br />
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We had to pick up our rally towels at the end of the game instead of the beginning. Not the worst thing in the world, all things considered.<br />
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Seriously, though, please don't express your opinion of the buzzer-beater by throwing ice towards the court, or by acting offended that people think you threw it because it's coming from that trajectory.<br />
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I think I would be okay with being terrible this season if I saw signs that we might not be terrible. And there are some. I think Asia can develop. I think Kia can become a viable offensive option. I do think Boyd can be a good point guard for us. But I don't know if we have the personnel behind the bench to make these things happen.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-78209622509932491342019-05-16T18:05:00.000-07:002019-05-16T18:05:13.629-07:00May 14th, 2019: Liberty at Dream (at Mohegan Sun)<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Atlanta got off to a slow start, but kicked it up a notch in the fourth quarter to come away with the 92-87 preseason win over New York at Mohegan Sun Arena. Nia Coffey had 18 points off the bench to lead four Dream players in double figures. Amanda Zahui B had 20 points in the loss for New York.<br />
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For defensive collapses, the occasional dance move, improving in some areas, distractions via shopping, and wondering what the future holds, join your intrepid and delayed blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">The sky is green, the trees are gray... wait, no, got that the wrong way around. It is, once more, game day, and your intrepid blogger is, once more, on a casino bus to watch all the basketball and then fall over. We're currently... uh, somewhere. I think we're in Westchester right now? Since we're not stopping, I'm okay with that.<br />
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It's construction season on I-95. May all the gods have mercy upon our collective souls.<br />
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I apologize in advance, because these notes are going to have a hard time focusing on the game. Between the amazing history on display during the tag sale and the news that there will be Panini cards this year with original Pinnacle cards as inserts, I'm on a nostalgia kick and the squee is real. Wins and losses don't matter as much, especially in the preseason, when you come home with a unique and meaningful piece of memorabilia.<br />
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We definitely looked better in this game than we did against Connecticut, and given that Tina Charles DNP'd the entire second half, I don't think Katie was concerned about the results. Some of the issues I was worried about against Connecticut seemed resolved; others not so much.<br />
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Kelly Faris played one sequence; I think she might have been coming in for someone in foul trouble on a quick switch. Megan Huff didn't see time until the second half and made some bad mistakes. Bianca Cuevas-Moore played much of the crunch time in the final minutes, and I was not okay with this. I don't see her making this roster. I really don't see her working out at all.<br />
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At least this time Asia Durr was getting shots and taking shots. She was missing them, and they were shots she should be hitting, But the aggression was there that we need to see from her. I wish I could say that of more of the reserves, but here we are. Xu Han looked very tentative, and she was getting her lunch eaten by Imani McGee-Stafford (who is not a good match-up for her, being both nearly as tall and a good bit stronger). Her run was unsuccessful but still needed to be longer because we still need to know what we're getting out of her. At least this time when Tanisha Wright took the stupid floater it was before the shot clock expired and it actually hit the rim. She looked better than she did in the first two games, but I still don't see how she helps us in the long run. Reshanda Gray kept committing fouls, and while I appreciate her physicality, she doesn't know how to tone it down, and if she hasn't learned how to tone it down in however many years she's had to try, it's not going to happen. Avery Warley-Talbert did a lot of good stuff on the offensive glass. She never gave up fighting. And I love what Tiffany Bias showed as the back-up point guard. I don't know if she'll stick on the roster when Bria Hartley comes back at some indeterminate point, but she's proven her bonafides, as far as I'm concerned. She gave good effort on defense and hit corner threes on offense.<br />
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Tina Charles did good work on the glass, but didn't play much, and didn't play at all in the second half. Probably the right approach, given that this is the preseason and the points don't matter. We know who Tina is and what she can do. Amanda Zahui B started the game like a firecracker, and her offense was definitely impreoved, but she was still a trainwreck on defense. She rotates slowly and despite her own propensity for taking outside shot seems unaware that other post players like to do that too. Amanda, pls.<br />
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Kia Nurse was off her game defensively in this one. I was surprised, given that that's usually one of her strengths. It felt like she was forcing a lot on offense, which is both bad because it's being forced and good because she's out here actually trying to be an offensive factor, which we need out of her. Brittany Boyd was more aggressive as a shooter than I'm used to seeing from her, with mixed results. Rebecca Allen got into early foul trouble, which limited her effectiveness. I questioned some of the calls, but she was a little slow on rotations. I can't say I'm surprised, both because I know that's not her strength and because she played heavy minutes the previous game.<br />
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We got out to a way better start than we did in the first game, but we couldn't close. Since we were trying to close with our deep bench, I'm not exactly surprised by this.<br />
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At this point, notes on Atlanta (and on Dallas in the other game) are going to be sort of an amalgam of the two games. My brain is all squishy and I really don't care about either of these teams even on a good day.<br />
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Meme Jackson probably did not do herself any favors missing the two free throws late in the game that would have iced it a little earlier for the Dream. I don't see her time in Atlanta lasting too much longer. Blake Dietrick didn't play in the first half and then started the second half. She runs a solid point. I think she'll beat out Maite Cazorla, though. She knows the system better and I think she gives them more of what they need. They both got a lot of second-half run, and there's a chance they could both stick, but I think there are too many guards in front of them for Atlanta to keep them both. Tiffany Hayes really needs to skip the drama and stick to the drives. She's so good at what she does that it's insulting for her to resort to histrionics to get her way with the officials.<br />
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Whether it's intentional, situational, or otherwise, Imani McGee-Stafford spent two days with an expression of "I don't think I know what's happening, but I don't think I like it" on her face. She says she's gotten stronger, but I don't know if I believe it from what I saw on the floor. She looked like the same slightly tentative player who is inexplicably way too far away from the basket much of the time and doesn't set strong enough screens. Monique Billings did a lot of work in the paint with rebounds and on the perimeter with screens. She set a <em>lot</em> of screens. Her free throw release is a shooter's nightmare, and someone needs to work with her on it as soon as possible. It might have been working for her in college, but it's not so far this year. Nia Coffey played like her hair was on fire in the third quarter, going hard to the basket for buckets and then hitting threes when they were least expected. I was not expecting the third quarter to turn into a duel between Nia Coffey and Avery Warley-Talbert, but these are the kinds of strange things that happen in the preseason. Lynetta Kizer barely played in the first half, if she did at all, and then started the second half. She's tough, but there was something missing in her performance. Unless her only job is to take fouls, her performance did not impress.<br />
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I am starting to take a genuine dislike to Alex Bentley, and not the "I respect you, now please stop hitting shots on my team" kind of dislike. It's little things like her constant attempts to disconcert the shooter at the free throw line and big things like the attitude she hauls around with her. Who hurt you, Alex? Her shot was not falling in this game, and I get the feeling that's the way things are going to go for Atlanta sometimes. You rely so heavily on guards and a perimeter game, you're going to get burned as often as you burn someone else. Renee Montgomery certainly brings a lot of energy, both on and off the court, which is a good thing but can also be annoying when she's up off the bench yelling more than the coach is when she's not in the game. I have no idea how Brittney Sykes has this kind of lateral and vertical with her history of knee injuries. Forget DeLisha Milton-Jones's magic cheese, I want what she's having. She had no right beating Amanda on that jump ball.<br />
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It always seems like Jessica Breland does more good stuff than shows up in the box score, and I'm at a loss for words to describe it. She just fills in the gaps that are left when Atlanta goes so heavily perimeter/drive oriented and forgets about height and fun stuff like that. That's a lot to put on one player, but she handles it really well, though she handled it less well in this game than in the Dallas game. Marie Gülich did well in the middle, though she didn't have the same level of success that she had against Dallas. She missed a lot more easy shots in that game, but overall she really looks like she's found her niche in Atlanta as she had not in Phoenix.<br />
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If Atlanta's perimeter game is on, and their driving lanes are clear, they're unstoppable, as they were against Dallas. But if they go cold from the field, and the defense starts to collapse on them inside, and suddenly they don't have an interior presence they can get out of trouble with, then they're vulnerable.<br />
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Atlanta has a lot of energy. I imagine it's easy to love them for it. I imagine it's easy to dislike them for it too. I'm somewhere in the middle.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8857924242062313445.post-83297940231175366612019-05-15T05:56:00.000-07:002019-05-15T05:56:54.294-07:00May 13th, 2019: Liberty at Sun<strong>Just the Facts, Ma'am:</strong> Connecticut controlled most of the way in their 100-66 preseason win over New York. Jonquel Jones had 19 points to lead the Sun. Rebecca Allen came off the bench to lead the Liberty with 18 in the loss.<br />
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For road trips, eating dessert first, being Very Tired of the same mistakes over and over again, partisanship, and depth issues, join your intrepid and Very Tired blogger after the jump.<br />
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<span id="fullpost">On to the main event, the Sun and the Liberty!<br />
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Liberty have dressed Reshanda Gray and Amanda Zahui B. No one else appears to have arrived. Might be able to give a Sun roster check in the second half.<br />
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At halftime, it's 51-37 Sun. Believe it or not, we had a second quarter lead. But our second unit can't run with the Sun starters.<br />
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Spotted: one #lostmani, if found please return to the Dream team bus.<br />
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I am extremely done with former guards for the Lynx and the Storm who wore 30.<br />
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Sun fans, please explain to me why you love Rachel Banham so much. I am perplexed.<br />
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Officiating so bad in the first half that Tanisha Wright is currently having some animated words with the crew during the break.<br />
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I would really like for my team to stop testing my oath to swear as little as possible in the GNoD. Would that be too much to ask? Apparently it is too much to ask. Because we were extremely not good in the second half of this game, and it really feels like most of the issues can be laid at the feet of the coaching staff. And when Connecticut has their foot on your throat, they don't let up. And we rolled over and played dead in response.<br />
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So the PA guy messed up the intros and announced #7 Avery Warley-Talbert as the starter instead of #17 Amanda Zahui B. There was an awkward pause, and then Tina, Asia, and Kia went out there. Brittany Boyd was the last starter announced, and she and Amanda looked at each other awkwardly before Boyd went out. Then Amanda shimmied down the aisle to join the rest of the starters. (All things considered, maybe the PA guy had it right after all and Katie was the one running the wrong lineup, but we'll get to that later.)<br />
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Bianca Cuevas-Moore didn't get off the bench until the last two minutes. So much for her big game against China. She did have a nice block on Natisha Hiedeman. We also didn't see Talia Caldwell until the end of the game, when Tina Charles subbed out for the last time. (The time when Tina shouldn't even have been in the game, but that's not the point yet.) Talia promptly went on to commit a foul, which seems to be the sum total of her Liberty experience. I'd love to see her chronicle her time as a Liberty player, but I'd like for that time to be shortened. I have no idea why Avery Warley-Talbert played as little as she did, unless it's simply that Avery is an established product. Once she knows the system as well as she's going to, you know what you're getting from her; why waste time confirming it? I like Megan Huff's hustle, but I don't think she has the next level speed or skills. Kelly Faris played briefly, did not look good on defense, and offense isn't her thing. Between all that and the radiator tied to her back whenever she wasn't on the floor, I really don't want to see her make the roster. I'm hard on her for things beyond her control, and I acknowledge that. So if y'all do not believe I'm speaking from a genuine, heartfelt, well-meaning place here, I understand. But, please, Kelly. Retire before you break yourself more than you already have. You'll be an amazing coach. Go get started on that.<br />
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Reshanda Gray played hard on the glass, but she's got to hit those shots and she's got to stop committing those fouls. Again, I'm starting to feel like I'm playing a recording. Tiffany Bias hit corner threes, hit the floor a lot, and was the referees' redheaded stepchild for some reason. I don't understand. Y U NO RISPEK TIFFANY? She was impressively solid in this game. I don't see how she fits on the final roster unless we have a <em>lot</em> of wild variance due to Eurobasket, but she looks like she's put in a lot of work. Xu Han was extremely disappointing in this game- Jonquel Jones outdid her at the "being tall with long arms" thing and Brionna Jones outmuscled her on the regular. She got more and more passive as the game went on, and I swear to Arceus if I see her take one more pointless contested straightaway long jumper I will not be responsible for my actions in the rage blackout afterwards. Tanisha Wright, for some inexplicable reason, was mostly playing at the off guard, which... okay, Katie, you understand that hasn't been T's strongest position since, like, Seattle, right? And she did not look good doing it. Yes, she burned Banham, but Banham burned back at least once, and also, I expect more out of Tanisha Wright than to draw even with Rachel friggin' Banham. I also do not expect a two-game streak of panicking with ten seconds left on the shot clock, forgetting about the existence of her teammates, and throwing up a floater that could best be described as hot trash on a platter. Rebecca Allen was the only real bright spot off the bench, and we know she's inconsistent. If the good Bec shows up for most of the year, then I'll be happy. But I liked that she was assertive on offense, and that she found a niche in the defense.<br />
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I am having trouble finding words, concepts, and sentences that are not profane to describe the epic fail that was Amanda Zahui B attempting to defend Jonquel Jones. Or, indeed, doing much of anything. She was late on rotations, she was careless with the ball, and she seemed determined to foul out as quickly as possible. If she keeps playing like this, I am perfectly okay with her joining the Swedish national team for Eurobasket at her earliest convenience. Kia Nurse showed flashes of being the dominant offensive player we know she can be, but they weren't consistent, and she backed off too much on defense. I don't understand why we were forcing the ball to Tina Charles so much. Tina forced terrible shots, especially in the first quarter, but she can't be held responsible for other people choosing to pass into double-teams to get her the ball. She gets stuck. She got loose in the start of the third quarter, much of it off her rebounding, but then she was racking up the fouls. When Katie put her back in down 30 in the fourth quarter and she promptly got her fourth on a cheap reach, I was half-expecting her to decide, "nope" and deliberately foul herself out of the game. It would have been a selfish decision, but one I could have been okay with, because seriously, Katie?<br />
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I'm starting to run out of patience with Brittany Boyd. And please bear in mind I wrote those words wearing a Brittany Boyd jersey. I love her, I want her to succeed, and I still believe she <em>can</em> succeed. I just don't know if she will, between her own shortcomings and the utter cluelessness that this franchise is marinating in. (It's so bad I almost called it a program, because it sure ain't professional right now.) I like the hustle plays she makes, but she was getting burned on defense and making bad choices on offense. Do better, Boyd. I'm even more scared of the extreme tentativeness we've seen out of Asia Durr in these first two games. I mean, we brought her in as a scorer, right? This is the thing she's supposed to be good at, right? So why is she not getting the ball? And why does she seem terrified of it when it does eventually come to her? She needs to be looking for her shot more.<br />
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We have a supporting cast around Tina for the first time in a while. Can we maybe act like it? Our rotations make no sense and our positioning makes no sense. I have no idea what we're trying to do when we're not force-feeding Tina, and that's a thing I don't think we should be doing. Katie still seems to be in over her head. We can do better.<br />
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So, Connecticut. What about you? Part of me was surprised to see so little so late of Emma Cannon, but on the other hand, she's sort of an established product from her time in Phoenix. You know who she is and what you're probably going to get, so the question becomes whether or not she's better than the variables you're bringing in. And looking at this Sun roster, I would have to say no. She's a physical post off the bench, but they get that from Brionna Jones. I was surprised at how little we saw of Kristine Anigwe, though I wonder if we're going to see more of her against Dallas. I think she might have potential, but it's hard to tell. Regan Magarity only played in the fourth quarter, and I was not impressed with what I saw (or the poor kid's bootleg-looking jersey with the name all spaced out). I don't think she's ready for the big time.<br />
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I would like to see Natisha Hiedeman make this final roster, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Big East fan with a not-so-secret soft spot for Marquette's class of '19. She brought a higher gear to the game. It hurt them sometimes, as when she got blocked by Bianca Cuevas-Moore, but I think it fits with the style that Miller wants to play. Layshia Clarendon had a quiet game, but I don't know how much she was being asked to do. I remain spectacularly unimpressed with Rachel Banham. I would absolutely take Hiedeman over her, but again, I recognize I have multiple biases in this situation and may not be the most impartial judge. Bria Holmes has a nice shot.<br />
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I see what everyone's been saying about Brionna Jones taking a step forward this year. She leveraged her bulk and her strength really well against our posts, whether it was Xu or even Tina. (This is why I want Tina off the center spot; it's too easy to beat her up there, perfectly legally.) She's finishing plays I don't know if she was finishing last year. Much will be asked of her, and I feel more confident that she'll be able to answer the call than I was looking at her last year. Bridget Carleton showed flashes of good play, but I don't think she's making this roster. She needs a year or two of international polish, whether it's in an overseas league or with her national team. Even then, maybe she won't have the speed for the WNBA game, but we'll see. I like Morgan Tuck, but I get the feeling I would like her better if she weren't a Husky and could thus be evaluated on her own merits instead of the blind loyalty Connecticut fans give her. She's a good, solid rotation player, and she does a lot of good things on the offensive glass, but she gets cheers like she's a superstar, and it annoys me.<br />
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(seriously, I have no real problems with UConn as a basketball team and program, I just have had one too many bad experiences with UConn fans)<br />
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I have come to the conclusion that it is very easy to love Alyssa Thomas when you're rooting for her and very easy to dislike her when your team is playing against her. I was not happy with her repeated and uncalled holding on Tina Charles. That spin move is a thing of beauty, though. I can't deny that, even on a day when the Sun is not my team. She's a little bit awesome and a little bit terrifying, and I think that's the way she likes it. Somehow we keep forgetting that Shekinna Stricklen shoots threes. (If this were any more specifically meant to call out Amanda, it would be in Swedish.) I get that she's not built like a traditional long-range shooter. She's also been doing this for seven years now. A clue, y'all, please to acquire it. On my Sun days, I'd like to see her be more of an interior force and use that thick build of hers to power through smaller defenders, but I can see how she instead slips bigger defenders on the perimeter. Jonquel Jones took charge both inside and out, getting around the defense to either hit outside jumpers or go up in the lane. She is, as the Internet parlance goes, a problem.<br />
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I loved seeing Jasmine Thomas take a few extra seconds at the end of a timeout to talk to the Sun's young guards. That kind of mentoring is important, and I don't know if every veteran is willing or able to provide it. She was merciless and deadly efficient in this game, setting up offense with her defense on steals and breaks. Courtney Williams got loose for elbow jumpers. Don’t' ask me where the assists came from, though. I had a terrible angle on the Sun's offense. We'll be switching to an upper deck sideline view tomorrow, which is now today because I am so tired.<br />
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Connecticut's starting five can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the league and probably beat most starting fives. But I know from painful experience that that isn't always enough. If Brionna Jones can be consistent, and if they can get solid production from one of the reserve guards, they'll be okay. But if they're only five or six deep, and other teams can go eight or nine deep, those big leads might not be safe, and the afterburners might not be there for them to use.<br />
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Officiating was very lackadaisical, and I’m not okay with that, especially in a preseason game. If someone gets hurt because the refs are swallowing their whistles, I am extremely not okay with this. (Also, seriously, guys. AT had Tina in a hammer lock. Exactly what were you expecting Tina to do about that? I may or may not have yelled "ALYSSA STARTED IT!" at that point.)<br />
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Love how Sun fans only get into the game when they're up 20. And really, disconcerting the shooter when you're up 30 is ever so classy. We had enough problems without y'all "helping".<br />
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I hope we learned from this game. I don't know if I can do more than hope.<br />
</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00419482533163075635noreply@blogger.com0