New York Liberty 81, Houston Comets 73
A Liberty point guard with the initials LM kicks four kinds of ass- but not the one you might expect.
I feel like some sort of riddle has been posed here, such as "how many pounds of badassery can one stuff in a point guard?" Seemed to be a couple of answers on the floor tonight.
Got to the Garden pleasantly early for a change- I love a job that lets me out at 4 on Fridays for the summer- and got to see 'bout half the team coming in. Yellow is a good color for Jess, and Leilani was as cute as a button in a little blue frock.
Cut to 6:30 or thereabouts; imagine our surprise when we saw Megan Duffy dressed out… along with Leilani and Erin. Uh-oh, someone was hurt. Sure enough, Loree sat out the game with back spasms. If I'd known that, I would have nicked one of my dad's Lidocaine patches for her.
The anthem would have been much nicer if the singer could hold a note, because she had a very pretty voice. Also, seriously, people, get up on your feet and STFU. Even if you don't consider the anthem to be worthy of respect, respect the singer.
Tina's still got it. She beat the hell out of Cathrine on defense, a trend that's starting to appear distressingly often in the Game Notes Of Doom. Perhaps she's heard the criticism leveled towards her, because she seemed to be playing much more inside than I'd been led to believe. Michelle Snow seemed to be just kinda there, but she finished with 15, and I have to assume that they were on putbacks, because Houston was all over the offensive glass. Tante was strong defensively, and I think one of Coach Thompson's big mistakes was not having Tante on Shameka nearly enough. Pee-Wee started, and I thought Leilani played well against her- perhaps that step was lost somewhere? Off the bench, I was very impressed with Erica White- my, she's fast, isn't she? I got to see Houston doing a footwork drill, and she was just lightning quick. I mean, damn. I love good footwork, and she was flashing between the rungs of that ladder thing like she was going to try out for a tap troupe one of these days. Mabika is still Mabika. Not as fast as she used to be, but still decently fast, and you can take the woman off the Sparks, but you can't take the Spark out of the woman. Was surprised that we didn't see much of either Williams or Lyttle- or if we did, they didn't do much. No wonder I don't remember Lyttle- funny thing is that it looked like she was set to go in at one point, unless she's no longer #21? I dunno.
Leilani Mitchell, good gracious. Keep this up and I'll take back everything I ever said about you and do it to your face. Houston's penchant for giving up threes was fully in force tonight, because Leilani was hitting from outside- y'know, I kept wondering if Leilani could miss, and it turns out she couldn't. *beams* And Cathrine was lighting it up from beyond the arc, too, although having *all* her shots be threes discomfits me a bit. Might have had to do with the foul situation, but one can never be sure with Cathrine. She also had a monster block on either Thompson or Snow that was just totally awesome, and set some very solid screens. Ahem. Solid, refs. That means they don't move. Essence on Ajavon was an interesting matchup- Ajavon faked her out a couple of times, but then Essence made a couple of great defensive plays on her and the balance was evened out again. Shameka got clocked pretty bad on a jump ball- looked like she got an elbow in the eye or to the temple; we weren't sure if she was seeing straight, because she wasn't walking straight and she came out for a few minutes, but then she came back in and hit a three, so Coyle's gamble worked. Janel was solid- it's the hair, I tell you, because glory be, the blonde streak is gone and she no longer appears to have a racing stripe down the middle of her head. Good thing we got good play out of the starters, because we didn't get a whole lot out of the bench. Tiffany brought energy, but not particularly well directed energy. Erlana, except for one key stretch where she turned around the momentum that had swung Houston's way, looked like she was in over her head a bit. But she's a rookie. These things can be forgiven. Megan backed Leilani up, and she looked rather slow, especially against White. Lisa… maybe she was nervous because her dad was in town? I don't know. And Erin mostly got called for fouls and complained about them. Erin expresses her frustrations very openly. They can be seen from the upper deck. If you blinked, you missed Ashley; she barely played at all, and not at all in the second half. Probably for the best my mom missed the game, because otherwise there would have been a beating with a cane.
As mentioned, Lisa's dad was in town- guess this was a holdover from Seattle- and so were Tiffany's parents. Also, duh, Coach Stringer was in attendance with the staff. I think one of them was wearing the Rutgers scarf Coach Stringer had last year in the tournament, and if so, I need to find out where she got it so that I can put it on the Christmas list with the Cappie Patch Doll.
To the 53% of you who screwed up the trivia question- okay, thinking VJ inbounded to Spoon for The Shot, that's understandable; at least VJ would have been in the game because she was a starter and the starters would have been in for crunch time. To those of you who said Becky Hammon… no. Just no. You fail. I should mention in passing I do a surprisingly good Matt Devlin impression and have the entire call memorized.
To the folks in my section who got up the DEFENSE chants when the sound system didn't provide cues- y'all rock so hard. To the wet blankets in front of us- seriously, don't give us dirty looks for making crowd noise. We hadn't even started cursing at the refs at that point.
Because we needed to curse at the refs. Some of those calls were inexplicable. And then there was the one with the ponytail who felt the need to make late whistles. Considering one of them was Cathrine's… fifth, I think?… that was quite annoying.
Dear Coach Coyle: if a player is doing well, you leave her in. If a player is playing badly, you take her out and try to figure out what's wrong with her. You do not yank a player when she is kicking ass. This is what got Nancy Darsch fired. Not that I would mind seeing you get fired for the same mistakes, but that means screwing up my team, and this is a thing I do not approve of.
The Liberty have a couple of awesome t-shirts out. Can't wait to see those T-Fense tees all over MSG. The J-Mac and Cheese one… I can live without the pun. In general, though, I'd like to see more people in gear- there really don't seem to be a lot of committed fans among the folks in attendance, and that makes it hard to get crowd noise going. These kids deserve the kind of ruckus the Garden crowd used to bring. These kids deserve to have us blow the roof off. MAKE SOME NOISE!
There's always another game to look ahead to, at least when it's June, and Sacramento might be a bunch of question marks, but they're still the Monarchs. In the meantime, I'll rejoice in the victory and marvel at Leilani.
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6th, 2008: Houston at New York
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
July 20th, 2007: Houston at New York
Houston Comets 80, New York Liberty 74
Murphy's Law bitch-slaps the New York Liberty, but at least the Garden is shiny.
I should have realized from the git-go that this was going to be a game of missed communication, bad positioning, and utter incompetence shown on the floor. The boy and I finally got our season seats straightened out… after running back and forth between will call and season subscriptions… only to find that they'd moved us without our consent. We're now in 221, and the people there are really cool, so we think we won't kick up a fuss about the whole thing. Of course, we're still waiting for our Q&A passes…
And then there was shootaround. We scored primo spots. I was in the front row, right on the rail, he was second row, second position. Very nice. Right up until the cameraman planted himself in front of us while all the Comets ran by. I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not amused.
So, Houston. A few questions for you guys. Who went back in time and borrowed pre-Dylan TT? Why again were y'all kvetching about Tamecka Dixon's return? And when did Tante Maïga-Ba learn how to shoot long jumpers? Cuz those three questions have been bothering me all night. TT looked unbelievable- I don't think she's been this fast in years. Her shot was on, she was working hard in the paint, she was moving well- she looked better than I can recall her seeing in a very long time. I couldn't stop going WOW. And Dixon! Someone needs to tell her that she's old and busted up, because her jump shot was as smooth as it was when she was an All-Star and a Spark. Meanwhile, here's Tante hitting shots and making Erin's life a living hell. Not to mention the rebounding edge. The way Grant moves, and the number she's wearing, she makes me think of Dawn Staley in her last couple of years. She's too slight to last in this league- she'll wear down, wear out, get knocked over- but she'll eventually do well for herself overseas, and I wish her all the best no matter what she does. Smith also impressed me; even though she's another small player who will most likely not have a long career, she's got a good eye for the ball, and I'd be willing to bet that on replay, a lot of the steals that were credited to other players were started by her quick hands. Lyttle's pretty quick for a post, and that was part of the problem for the Liberty… but more on that later. Snow didn't impress me, although if she keeps up with the hitting and the facemasking, she could try out for the Texans. I was surprised at how little time Shields got- she does have a pretty shot, although I'll grant that anyone's shot is going to look better with Erin as their defender. But honestly, if Karleen's going to give Lyttle so few minutes, why bother starting her? Go with the lineup you want go with and admit that's the lineup you want to go with. It's not going to trick anyone. At this point, if I were coaching the Comets, I might pull a Kara Braxton on Snow to help get her head back together; Lyttle and Williams are certainly both competent enough, and I'd rather have Snow get herself together and be solid for ten years than go for one playoff berth.
Okay, Libkids, I think we've all forgotten a few basic things. That's Erin. She does a few other things, but she's mostly a shooter. Perhaps it might behoove y'all to give her the ball a bit more often. What's that? She's got a bigger, stronger, faster defensive specialist on her? Okay, fair enough. See that other player over there? That's Shameka. She's pretty good at making offensive things happen. Perhaps you might consider giving her the ball, especially during those times when she has a smaller defender on her? If nothing else, so Maïga-Ba can be drawn off Erin and Erin can hit the now open shot? That might be a good start to giving Cathrine some help. This isn't a one-woman show, and this isn't a one-woman game. Because Cathrine was hot, especially in the first half but also in the fourth quarter, but no one else was even in double figures. (For the longest time, I thought Cathrine had brain-swapped with Seimone Augustus; 31/2/1/2/1 looks an awful lot more like a statline #33 from the Lynx might put up than #33 from the Liberty.) Now, I do blame part of it on That Moron's playcalling, but there's also the fact that Loree wasn't getting the ball to the right people (namely, the ones in the white uniforms). It also didn't help that a couple of people weren't taking proper advantage of their touches. (Janel, I'm looking at you.) In any case, it was the kind of game that we got all too used to in 2006 and the kind of game that I thought the Libkids wouldn't be playing: one player goes off, and everyone stands around and watches her do her thing. Getting burned like a duck for a wedding on defense was also not good, and the worst offender (defender?) in this was Erin, who got flat-out beat a couple of times by Smith and Shields.
Last night's secret word was inexplicable, as in "why did that coach just make that substitution?", or more often, "why did that coach NOT make that substitution?" I'm used to Houston coaches overusing and overplaying Thompson, but I would have given a lot of Snow's minutes to Lyttle and Williams (or at least to Williams, who seems to be Janel's kryptonite- maybe she was playing closer attention in high school than Janel was?) It's hard to argue with Dixon's minutes, but I'm sure that there were a couple of minutes that could have been given to Shields- perhaps the minutes that Hodges got, because Hodges did very little out there. On the Liberty's side, however… right, so, in the third and fourth we needed points and Loree had picked up that obnoxious habit of throwing the ball to the other team. Gee, who do we have on the bench who brings instant long-ball offense and allows that night's steadier ballhandler to take over point guard duties? Oh, that's right, Lisa Willis, who was a DNP-CD. Or Lindsey Bowen, who was deactivated because of what seems to be a PR decision on Blaze's part. Who's our best post defender, especially when Cathrine's channeling Seimone? Oh, that's right, Barbara Farris, who only got four and a half minutes. If we're going to do something stupid like run with Houston, who's our fastest, most athletic post? Oh, that's right, Tiffany Jackson, who got more rebounds in nine minutes than Cathrine got in 35, and who sparked one of the key runs that kept the Liberty in the game. Brilliant move by That Moron, running our starters into the ground when we've got Seattle on Sunday. I'm not going into the whole 118 seconds that Jess got, because she didn't earn much more in them (but, on the other hand, exactly how much did Loree learn from her quick hooks as a rookie?).
Also, strategy. Snow and Lyttle are athletic and reasonably fast for posts. The Warrior Princess also seems to have regained some of the speed she lost over eleven years. Their main guards are small and fast, except for Dixon. Therefore, it seems to me that this would be a bad team to try and run against, especially if you think or know that you have the talent to impose your will on this team. Our posts are… not reasonably fast for posts. Erin would lose a footrace with either Grant or Smith, and it might be close with Dixon. And Loree does know how to run a halfcourt offense. Therefore, it seems to me that the best thing to do would be to slow the game down, let Cathrine and Janel body up on Snow and Lyttle, exploit the odd matchup of Thompson on Shameka, and not get caught up on being young and fast for the first time in ages. Furthermore, if you're going to play the Comets' game, at least do it with the proper personnel. Use more of Tiffany and Barbara and force the Comets to stop and think. One size does not fit all, and it's important for a coach to know that and adjust his or her plans.
Don't get me started on the refs. Just don't. By the end of the game we were talking hanging, drawing, and quartering, and the boy suggested reenacting a scene that involved taxicabs as the quarterers. A straightforward out-of-bounds call turned into a jump at center court. Hands to the face by an offensive player turned into a foul on the defense. Pushouts turned into turnovers. It was inconsistently called, it was badly called, it was wrongly called. Both sides got benefits on various calls (it was the acting job by Erin that forced the jump at center), but the plays that the Comets got away with were a lot more dangerous than any of the errors in the Liberty's favor. It goes back to a point that was made in one of the Seattle-Connecticut threads- if you "let them play" in this league, someone's going to end up getting hurt and ending her career in a play that should have been curbed. It also goes back to the point that even if you're going to blow as much as an Eighth Avenue hooker, at least be consistent about it. No one likes an inconsistent blowjob. If you're going to miss the call on one end, miss it on the other.
Even the sound system couldn't get things right. Loree hit a shot and suddenly we heard "Every Rose Has Its Thorn".
It was nice to see Spoon, of course, though if she wasn't sending Kym or someone else the score she should have gotten off the Sidekick during the game, but that's just my opinion on handheld devices at games in general. It was also *very* nice to see Suuuuuuuuuuuuuue and her carefully choreographed shoutout to R Family. That's probably why the camera cut away from her so quickly- they were afraid pride was going to break out, and we can't have *that* at a Liberty game, now can we?
The Wayne's World video with Ashley, Janel, Cathrine, and Barb was the highlight of the night. Half the huddle was watching it during the timeout… while That Moron was talking. I guess she didn't have anything to say that they hadn't heard before. Janel looked oddly comfortable in a long blond wig.
Oh, and the new boards are really, really shiny. I approve.
May 12th, 2007: Houston at New York
New York Liberty 74, Houston Comets 63
There's no place like homecourt. Shay Doron struts her stuff, the Houston Comets are accommodating, and the Game Notes are cautiously optimistic.
There's no place like homecourt. There's no place like homecourt. There's no place like homecourt. There's nothing like "Strike It Up" and "somebody, somebody hit the lights", even if we didn't have the real announcer and thus the cadences were screwed up. There's nothing like the home whites and the Garden and all the crazy silly little things you come to know and love. There's nothing like the usual suspects in their usual places and shooting the breeze with the folks you've come to know and… well, know. ;)
That Comet trainer is a scary man. Very intense. He was barking out orders during the pregame stretching, and everyone obeyed instantly. I didn't see Kostaki, Maïga-Ba, Tina Thompson, or Tari Phillips around, although I figure TT just got back from Russia and Tari may well have forgotten there was a game today. Thus, lots of rookies who I had trouble differentiating, especially since my neighbor kw and I were edumacating one of her friends. Liked what I saw from Davis, though, and Shields shows much potential. She's still a little rough around the edges, and a little rough on the court, but she may well prove herself to be worth the pick. Of veteran types, Byears played well, and Mistie Williams is nothing short of amazing- she never ever gives up. Snow started off hot, but she stiffened up at the start of the second half- she left the bench, and up in our seats we thought she'd gone back to the locker room, but it turns out that she was just biking in the tunnel. Her Majesty didn't score a lot, but I actually don't think she was supposed to be looking for her shot. I think she and Karleen both wanted her to work on other aspects of her game- she was one of the Comets' high rebounders, and she was working hard on D. Was not impressed with the rest of the Comet kids, even if they are a very nice bunch.
The beautiful, beautiful thing I see about this Liberty team is that it's a balanced team. You never know who's gonna take the shot, especially if Shameka's playing within the offense instead of jacking stupid shots. Cathrine was awesome today. Loree and Ashley were both fierce on D and on the boards, although both of them had some very questionable passes. (I think everyone's still figuring out the nametags.) Erin distributed. Jess had some foul trouble- that's something she's going to have to adjust to in this league. I think she was a little intimidated by Snow and Byears, but then that would be the explanation for most of our posts and why we played so little in the paint. And Shay! After she was such a nonentity in Bridgeport, I worried, but clearly she was waiting until she got home to bring out the good stuff. She hustled hard and took a couple of big hits from Shields and Hodges. I really like her. Yeah, the kids are all right.
Janel was not with the team. Considering current events, I'm going to guess that she was back in Wisconsin with her family. Poor kid.
Anthem by trumpet, so the lyrics couldn't be screwed up, but he did add a few too many frills for my taste.
Hi, Matt!
Patty=awful eggplant suit. Not a becoming shade for a woman who tends to turn red at the slightest provocation.
Kym was in the house with A'riel. It's so hard to believe that the lil bit she brought to that Phoenix game is going to be three this year. The kid is so cute- she really does take after her mom.
There was an unbelievably tall, skinny blonde wandering around concessions. I'm 5'6", 5'8" if I'm not slouching, and she was at least a foot taller than me. Looked kinda Baltic, Lithuanian or something like that. Lib Fan and I were trying to figure out who she was. I figure she used to be a teammate of one of the rookies, but that's a guess.
After the game, I hung out in search of autographs. The Comets were really accommodating, considering that we caught them in the midst of bringing back takeout pizza and sandwiches. If I'd had a camera… there was one possible frame where you had three really different Houston players- Cross, Leuchanka, and… Hodges, I think… all on cell phones. Pretty much everyone was on the cell at some point. Nicely dressed team, although Erin Grant + too-long jeans + flip-flops + New York streets=she has to have tripped in a pothole at some point. Favorite contrast was when Byears and Williams returned at the same time- Byears was very casual and Williams looked like a movie star, shades and all. Also spotted Shay after the game, also on the phone. Other folks said she was nice, and that a couple of our kids chose a different exit when they saw the folks gathered at the regular exit. Come on, seriously, we don't bite.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the Liberty- not about their record, but about their watchability, and their potential to be pretty damn awesome in a year or two. They're just so adorable! How can you not love them?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
June 16th, 2006: Houston at New York
Houston Comets 72, New York Liberty 58
The Game Notes are surprisingly impressed with the Houston Comets, and Shameka Christon and Erin Thorn may have switched bodies.
Patty, sweetheart, boobala, don't you *know* that pink totally clashes with that flush you have going on?
The Garden PA announcer gave Dawn the honor of being last announced for the Comets, and gave her a lovely little speech in honor of this being the last game she'll play on the Garden floor.
Congrats to Sheryl on 4K. That's awesome.
TT. OMG.
Dawn had an awesome look-away pass to Tari for a lay-up. Play of the night, methinks.
It was awesome seeing them on the offensive glass tonight, although there were long stretches during which Schuey was the one Lib surrounded by four red jerseys. Baaaaaaaad.
Canty is stealth. I looked up at halftime and was all, "wait, when did SHE get 12 points?" Then again, I managed to miss Tari's fouls, so what do I know?
Anastasia Kostaki is embarrassing my mother's people almost as much as Peter Angelos. *facepalm* And I'm sorry, we do not come in *natural* blonde.
Iciss should know better than to shoot a 3 in the face of the best American-born three-point shooting post in the league. That is just mind-bogglingly stoopid.
I still maintain the "Freaky Friday" theory regarding Shameka and Erin.
The Olivia guerilla marketers were at it at the Garden, handing out buttons at every opportunity... including during game action. Yes, they were actually inside, not at the door, but I don't think they were supposed to be handing stuff out. They're very pretty buttons, from what I saw of them (didn't get one, as they were only working the aisles and we sit in the center of a row). Still, their presence smacked of unethical marketing tactics... and I would be saying the SAME DAMN THING if they were marketing ANYTHING, mmm'kay?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
July 27th, 2005: Houston at New York
Houston Comets 71, New York Liberty 69
The Liberty do lots of boneheaded things, Patty Coyle needs to go away now, and Becky Hammon and Crystal Robinson decorate.
This, my fellow fans, was the very definition of a choke job. We had this game in the bag. We should have won it going away. Instead, boneheaded mistakes by everyone eligible to make boneheaded mistakes cost us the win. I spent most of my ride home plotting colorful ways to kill Patty.
What Crystal was thinking when she launched that shot with four left on the shot clock, I will never know. That wasn't the shot we needed, and we had time to put something better together. In any case, her common sense and her shot are both still on the baggage carousel, so I don't think tomorrow will be much of an improvement. Vickie was quiet. Too quiet. Plus, she seemed to get awfully chippy with Tari during #24's limited minutes. I think she objected to us chanting for Tari when the subs came in. News flash, Cap: maybe you should have gotten off your ass and done something authoritative instead of letting Tari turn into a cause celebre. Weird as it sounds to say it, I don't think Becky got enough touches, but there will be far more on that later. She made a couple of dumb plays, but that was the story of the night, so I can't come down on her too hard. Elena was quietly savvy; a buddy of mine from the lobby brought up an interesting question that may be more profound than he knew: "When did Elena Baranova turn into Sue Wicks?" As in, making contributions that don't necessarily show up in the stat sheet but do change the game. She was hot offensively early, but then Patty pulled her and it all went to shit after that. Ann was a player of extremes: she made some fabulous plays, she made some incredibly stupid plays, nothing really in the middle. La'Keshia was on fire in the first half, but then Patty pulled her and it all went to shit after that. Loree was nothing, Catherine was nothing, Erin was nothing.
*puts on flame-retardant suit* Which, of course, leads me to everyone's favorite precious Baby. She has shown flashes, I'll grant that much. Flashes, however, should not merit a player more minutes than two starters and almost twice as many touches as the next most trigger-happy player. More often than not, she chucks up the first shot she sees, her defense is shite, she's overaggressive when she needs to step back and thinks too much when she should just drive. For some reason, the playbook seems to have been the Son of Van's Playbook: "Get the ball to [Baby] Swoopes." Comet fans understand the furstration of that kind of play-calling, and they have the original Swoopes to make the play more often than not. I'd be bitching any Lib player out for 4-14 shooting, but the fact that it was Sista Christon makes it even more galling. Don't tell me Becky couldn't have taken Canty on a couple of more drives. Don't tell me Ann couldn't have gotten up in Snowy's grill. Don't tell me Vickie couldn't have... well, done anything that might have been helpful. I like the girl, don't get me wrong, she's a total sweetheart with a world of potential... but this was not the time and not the place for Patty to decide that she should try to unlock her inner Swoopes. Not in front of Her Majesty.
Oh yes, Patty. Dear Coach: Please die now, in as painful and public a manner as you can, thanks.
For Houston, Swoopes was amazing. I suppose you lot in Houston are used to that, though. Tina looked good, too, although she's not quite back on form. She got an elbow in the throat, from what I've gathered from postgame reporting, and went down like a stone. We worried about her, and we were relieved when she got back up. Snow got into foul trouble, but she kept Ann off balance, and of course, at the end of the game, she struck (like a COBRA!?). In general, the Comets killed us on the offensive boards. I grant that we had fewer missed shots than Houston did, but still, we whould have been turning their offensive boards into our defensive boards. I don't even want to think about how many second or third chance points they had. It would probably make me froth at the mouth and fantasize about dismembering Patty again, and my shrink says that's not healthy. Janeth, of course, was ice down the stretch. That woman knows no fear and no doubt. Canty wasn't really an offensive threat, but she seemed to run the offense well. Tari played five ineffective minutes, and was fully aware that we still love her. The only thing I remember about Rasmussen was her dramatization of the hit that Shameka put on her with the booty. If the deep bench played, I wasn't aware of it. The damage was done by Houston's starters; Sheryl never sat. Van threw candy to the crowd. Really, Lib fans, y'all should know better than to take candy from strangers.
The refs didn't suck tonight so much as they tilted. I'm willing to accept that the Liberty were guilty of most of the calls made on them, but I find it hard to believe that the Comets weren't pulling any of that borderline legal crap that the Liberty were. It also didn't help that the callling-style changed throuhout the game, alternating between a sensible use of the whistle and excessive blowing.
"Reality show night" should generally be a sign of impending doom. They did, however, have a hysterical Trading Spaces with Becky and Crystal, in which they decorated each other's lockers. Becky did Crystal's with olive green drapery and a birdhouse. Crystal did Becky's in shades of purple, with a welcome mat and a stuffed pillow thang that said "Cutie Pie". What I found most interesting about it is that to the casual fan, they seemed to be decorating in schemes that would match the recipient's, but to those more in the know, the decorating schemes seems more in line with the decorator's personality. (Plus, I get to find out yet another reason why I like Crystal: she shares my color sense. *grin*) And the blooper reel was a hoot; Becky seemed amazed at the concept of foldable Frisbees. But seriously. Next time they do a reality show theme, I want a chance to vote Blaze off the island by dumping her in the Hudson.
Our tickets were next to a set of boors who didn't seem to understand the concept that the national anthem is a time to shut up, stand up, and take your hat off, not a time to buy cotton candy and get pissy at the people who are respecting the anthem. If foreign nationals can get the concept, why can't some Americans? As soon as the anthem was done, we moved our seats. We were going to anyway, because the chairs we had were sagging and the seats blew, but I could not stand the thought of being next to those assholes any longer.
So between one thing and another, and the giant-ass cockroach that is crawling around on the outside of my screen, I am NOT a happy camper.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
May 23rd, 2004: Houston at New York
New York Liberty 68, Houston Comets 62
The Game Notes move down for the night and enjoy the view.
(Just as an FYI, I cross-post these notes to wnbatalk.com and espn.com SportsNation. So if a reference doesn't make sense to you, it's probably someone from the other board.)
Dude. I am so f*cking thankful. Out of the more-or-less-blue, LibertyMascot up and decided to buy me and my mamacita seats in Section 85. How cool is that? We were close enough to watch VJ and Kym sharing a moment, close enough to see Maddie keeping Tari company as she stretched, close enough to see far too much gum-chewing (notable offenders were Kym Hampton and Kedra Holland-Corn- dudette, no one cares what kind of gum you're chewing, keep it to yourself). We could see the look of frustration on Elena's face when she missed a defensive assignment and hear the calls that the refs would occasionally and notably screw up. It was so COOL! Okay, so it had the disadvantage of having disinterested fans in front of and next to us, but hey, ain't nothing perfect. And then Admin Kate hooked me up with Seattle stuff. *applauds the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer* The Lynx-Storm game got the front page of both sports sections. How cool is that? The Liberty never get a photo chunk of the front page!
Okay, enough me babble. Y'all want to hear about the game. Straight up, it was awesome, and not just because the Liberty won. The place was rocking, even though it wasn't a sellout. It was a game well-played by both teams, tough without too often crossing the line (though Becky didn't really need to head-butt Tina Thompson). This is a rivalry of respect, not one of near-hatred. Tina put everyone on notice that this is her year- what did she end with, 35 points? It was more than half of the Houston total, I know that much. She has entered the pantheon for real. Everything was going in, and she was even getting the princess treatment from the refs. *pauses* Did Houston have more than two or three triples? I know she and Sheryl went deep, and I think someone else did too, but I don't remember the words 'three-point goal *insert Comet name here*' coming over the PA that often. The guard rotation for the Comets was interesting- seems VanChan the candy-throwing man (my nick for him) was operating on the one strike and you're out rule for his guards. Sheryl doesn't look right- she went down hard once, and absolutely hustled after one ball in particular. Kedra Holland-Corn is a one-woman press- she picked several pockets and hassled anyone who even looked like they had the ball. And plase God, make Tiffani Johnson go away.
Sure, Becky was high scorer, but Elena was the story, at least of the first half. A dobule-double by halftime? Sweet. I think international-play-Elena has arrived in the WNBA. DeTrina White was also very impressive- her hustle reminds me of a time long gone. And it looks like we're back to the 'let's throw the ball as far as we can and make VJ chase it' school of fast breaks. Fortunately we're getting away from that. Somewhat. K.B.'s regressed slightly, but she runs the offense well and still does some neat trick dribbling when people knock her down, and got totally shafted on an over-the-back by Tiffani Johnson. VJ was as solid as ever. Heck, even Crystal was getting in on the rebounding thing. And Becky managed not to have Sheryl pick her pocket too many times. Bethany didn't get too much time, didn't impress when she was in. Tari is still coming back slowly, but I'm sure Tina picked up her slack on the VGM end. The team gelled well. It was pretty- a lot of passes, a lot of nice passes (notably a thread-the-needle look from Elena to DeTrina). The problem I have is that Shameka Christon looked an awful lot like Lindsay Whalen yesterday. And think, we could have had Nicole Ohlde. The other problem is that they can't keep up the intensity- it ebbs and flows. Not of the good.
The refs were the usual refs- inconsistent, lax, but fortunately tolerant of people yak-yak-yakking at them, otherwise we'd have seen some T's tonight. They blew a couple of calls, especially one on Crystal where she was *so* in position deep in the paint.
Got to chat with Glenn a while, and that was cool (and dude, don't think I didn't see you blowing Becky that kiss near the end of the game). Saw Joe with all his pins and such. If I conversed with any other posters, didn't know that I did. I'm the one with the impressive cap and the medium black bag, who tends to know where everyone's been and where everyone is now. I usually sit up in 210. Stop by.
Monday, January 14, 2008
August 18th, 2003: Houston at New York
New York Liberty 67, Houston Comets 64
An epic duel graces the Garden hardwood, Linda Fröhlich is as cute as a button, and our bench needs time.
This is not of the good. Crystal seems to think that she’s a Knick; she’s taking shots that are out of her range and not playing defense. C-Rob, please take a long look in the mirror; you lack certain attributes that are necessary to play in the NBA. Meanwhile, VJ is the only one who’s scored so far for the Liberty. Tamika’s doing her ‘dude, where’s my brain’ act again. Tari, of course, is Windexing the glass in that way which has gotten her over a thousand rebounds in her WNBA career.
The lovely Sue and her lovely lady friend are here taking in tonight’s game. I think we might need to enlist Sue in our ‘take Becky shopping for decent clothes’ mission; lady has her some fashion sense. Wowzer. I do believe Joan Jett has also rejoined the ranks of the Liberty faithful; nice to see her again. I hope they’re both good omens.
And why did Tomato-Head take Linda out of the game? She brings pure heart and pure passion (the pure basketball will come in time). Plus, let’s face it, she’s a warm body who can rest poor everyone. (And she’s just too cute anyway.) Elena’s been actually making herself useful, bless her soles. And I actually saw Miko rolling around on the floor to force a jump ball. And our girls have actually been winning the tips, even against the tall willow that is Michelle Snow. We’ve gotten those extra possessions off jump balls and offensive rebounds that have let us get the extra points.
And what the hell did Gardenvision have Cooper flashing up on the screen for? She’s not even in the time zone. Much like Elena’s head on defense. She’s been all right on offense, but her defense has been lacking.
Now this is the basketball team I’ve been missing for most of the season. This is the heart, the hustle, the passion, that I’ve loved. And is it just coincidence that Sue’s back in the building? Tari almost got into it with Tiffani Johnson, but showed restraint. Good onya, Tari.
Sheryl Swoopes is incredible. Which might be the reason for the Liberty’s foul trouble; we’ve already got four and they only have one. They don’t need to work as hard as to stop us, and that bothers me. If Richie has a lick of sense, K.B. comes in before the next official timeout to up the tempo and make the Comets have to guard all five positions. I like the big lineup with Elena, Miko, and Tari, but it does have some element of risk if one of them gets in foul trouble.
Holy shit, Tamika just nailed a three-ball. Nailed it pure. I’m in shock. And her reward is to be the one that K.B. replaces. Some days you just can’t win. Hopefully this isn’t one of those. Heh, nice catch by a fan in the fourth row. Little too adrenaline-pumped there. Would someone on the Liberty please try to contain Tina Thompson? It might make a nice change from trying to seal off Swoopes. Arcain’s been quiet. Too quiet. I worry that she might bury the dagger on us because we’ve been lax because she hasn’t been very offensive. I am seriously hoping that Tari and Crystal show up. And Elena has responded. Okay, I’ll take those points.
Linda.is.too.cute. She’s up and screaming and high-fiving after every made shot. Someone said that she might be our new Sue Wicks. I know no one can replace #23, but I think Fro’ can fill that position of hustler and team cheerleader. She’s a good kid. She keeps the bench energized; and that’s something important for chemistry.
Spoon was just brilliant. Fronted Swoopes for about five seconds, long enough to keep her from getting the basket and long enough for the team to get back. Granted they got two points anyway on Arcain free throws, but that took time off the clock, and we can only hope that that turns to our advantage in the waning seconds. And so far… Swoopes missed a three, and that’s good for us. (Bad for my VGM, though.)
They need to stop doing this to me. My mom’s family has a history of heart trouble, and I don’t want a dramatic victory or defeat to be what kills her. Or me, for that matter. (Really, I don’t. Even if she’s pissing me off right now.)
I’m trying to be euphoric, really I am, but my mom decided this was a brilliant fucking time to discuss financial matters, so I’m pissed. I’ll try to get the mood back. Vickie was incredible tonight. Though she has shown more flaws as of late, the fact remains that she is all game all the time. That steal to seal the game, and the way she evaded all the Comets who tried to catch her- beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Five of our top six really showed up tonight- Elena, Miko, VJ, Spoon, and Tari. Crystal was the only one lagging, but I cut her some slack because she’s sick- I saw her coming in and she looked sort of like death warmed over, so I will give her some mercy. But Elena and Tamika both played like power forwards, which was a novelty considering the amount of time they’ve both spent floating around the perimeter and avoiding rebounds. Tari, of course, hustled after everything that looked remotely like a possible rebounds, netting her the team high with six. The only problem I have with that is that it drags her rebounding average down from the 8.4 she had posted. And Spoon… holy hot damn, the old lady still has some juice in her. She played with more hustle than I’ve seen out of her in a long time, and even showed off some moves that I don’t think anyone’s seen in a long time. I know I’m probably obsessing, but I suspect that she had a certain someone on her mind and sure as hell wasn’t going to disappoint this certain someone at this time of the year. It is the same reason that I have no doubt that no matter how tired they are, the Comets will beat Seattle tomorrow. There is no way that they will allow themselves to lose in their own house on that night. Especially when the opposing point guard wears #10. The Comets will simply not let it happen. It may be a blowout, and I think it will be. It may be a buzzer-beating nailbiter. But there is no doubt in my mind that the Comets will come out on top tomorrow. (Sorry, Stormies. You can have the game in Seattle, in my mind, deal?)
Sort of speaking of Houston, it was very, very nice to finally get to meet you and your posse, recycler. Hopefully we’ve all given you a sufficiently warped picture of how crazy we Liberty fans are. That was one heck of a halftime we spent. I like chatting with you. You should come more often. And you, and your friends, and every Houston fan that was in the arena, and every Houston fan in general, should have your heads held high. Your team played a hell of a game and should be saluted.
Were there problems with this game? Well, one: Richie, who else? He needs to have more faith in the bench. We need to see more of Erin and Linda, and I’d like to actually see Bethany play before the season ends, if that’s all right with him. Those gals will never mature unless he demonstrates that he can trust them in key situations.
Having said that, however, this was a hell of a game. This game proved that the Comets bring out the best in the Liberty and the Liberty bring out the best in the Comets. This was the kind of game that could only draw fans to the league and not push them away in disgust. This was the pure heart, pure passion, and pure basketball that I yearn to see every night. And both teams brought it, which made the game all the sweeter. So I salute both teams for never letting up and for playing through the usual appalling refereeing (though it wasn’t too egregiously awful tonight, I must say). And I thank them for making my price of admission seem like the greatest of bargains. And I further thank them for proving to me once again that this is the game as it is supposed to be, unsullied by offcourt clouds of suspicion or other priorities or simple disinterest. Every second of the game, there were ten players on that court who wanted nothing more than to win, and that is all a fan can ask for.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
May 18th, 2003: Houston @ New York (preseason)
New York Liberty 67, Houston Comets 64
The Comets come to New York to kick off 2003, the Game Notes Of Doom debut, and I am horribly, horribly wrong about Teresa Weatherspoon and the Liberty's season.
*waves hand eagerly*
I was there! Okay, first things first, I have to apologize to Linda Fröhlich. *embarrassed, grovels* 11 rebounds today. Granted, Thompson wasn't around, nor was Tiffani Johnson, nor was Tammy Jackson, but still. She subbed quite nicely for our All-Star posts (Tari and Elena are, I believe, still overseas. Neither played.). She's a keeper.
The rookies played, as did Lindsey Yamasaki and Maren Walseth. I was moderately to very impressed. Our neoyorquina, Sonja Mallory, made a major impression pretty much as soon as she came in the game; she blocked a shot into the seats, rebounded when the possession continued, showed off some fancy footwork, and proved that she fears no ref or player; she LEVELED Sheryl Swoopes. Sorry, Swoopetastik and the rest of y'all Comet fans, but I loved every second of that. She's a keeper, and I no longer miss Bernadette.
Susan Moran had a season of pent-up hustle waiting to burst out; she was all over the place. She broke up two Comet fast breaks. Her ballhandling is nothing to write home about, but she's not Becky.
Of the three rookie guards- Molly Creamer, K.B. Sharp, and Erin Thorn- I was most impressed by the latter two. Creamer made some stupid mistakes. Sharp was the best of the point guards, and Thorn shows the potential to be a Hammon-type, only taller and with better defense.
Yamasaki was inconsistent but talented. Walseth was quite capable and seems to be a good utility player, someone in the mold of Sue Wicks. Bethany Donaphin, another New Yorker, played well but not well enough; her basket, however, was the one that gave the Liberty the lead in the second half.
Now for the rundowns y'all been waiting for... Spoon was fabulous, simply fabulous; whichever rookies survive the cut will have a helluva fight for minutes, she's playing ten years younger. VJ looks like she's put on some weight, but it might be muscle; she was, of course, herself, except for one pass into a crowd which I like to think of as getting her mistake of the season out. Crystal... Crystal is Crystal, but I thought she was wearing a padded bra. TMI, I know, but she might have put weight on too. Miko looked fantastic, running great, moving well, scoring at will. Becky drilled three threes, but her defense sucked ass- at least seven Houston points could be traced to her losing her assignment on defense. Camille Cooper, on the other hand, SUCKED. Her offense was atrocious, her defense nonchalant, her skills overall lacking; she missed layups, let passes bounce off her hands, and committed bad fouls. I move her up on my cut list, especially with Tari, Elena, Miko, Linda, and Sonja ahead of her on the depth chart.
There were stupid things, but the chemistry seems to be working. Blessedly, Richie sat the starters for about half the game, with Fro' getting a bit more time. My rough estimate, I'd have to check the box for exact numbers.
Moving on to Houston
Don't worry, it's almost over. Sue Wicks was at the game, of course, with someone I believe is her significant other; saw the lady once or twice before with her. She was sitting with Kym Hampton and some truck-driver type guy. I wonder if it was a double date? She dressed well and was gracious to everyone around her. Nice to see retirement hasn't changed her. They were front row, right across from the Liberty bench. The Garden was pretty loud. Lot of Girl Scouts. And of course, season subscribers who are stupid enough to scream their throats raw at a preseason game. I'd put attendance at between six and seven thousand.
So right now, my predictions for the Liberty are all sunny. My cut list of four is: Camille Cooper, Molly Creamer, Bethany Donaphin, and Erin Thorn (and the last two or three are quite questionable and either could stay without me screaming bloody murder). Sonja Mallory is a keeper, and I'd love to keep Maren Walseth around. Of course, Tari and Elena throw off these calculations, and of course one game should not decide a player's fate. But if I were Becky Hammon, I'd watch my back in the next couple of years...