May 14th, 2019: Liberty at Dream (at Mohegan Sun)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: 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.

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.

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.

It's construction season on I-95. May all the gods have mercy upon our collective souls.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 lot 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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August 12th, 2018: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A third-quarter run from Atlanta propelled the Dream to an 86-77 win over the Liberty. Renee Montgomery poured in 30 points, including eight treys, to lead Atlanta. Tina Charles had 26 points to lead New York.

For the same old story, same old song and dance, failed defensive rotations, giving up big runs, and the relief of a mercy kill, join your intrepid and somewhat shiny blogger after the jump.

I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see the end of a regular season. Yes, I know the Liberty end the season on a multi-game West Coast trip, because life is pain and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is selling something. But this is the last time this year we're going ot have to hike up to White Plains, which means I'm done with Westchester County until November, and I can't wait. You know what? Scratch relieved. I'm happy. I'm happy I don't have to keep watching this trainwreck of a season and hike two hours each way for the privilege. And that's with assistance from the team, which I suspect will not be available for the 2019 season.

We play the Dream today, and I'm sure it'll be a good game, with three, maybe four, starters between the two teams injured. Yes. This will be fabulous.

I'm also not thrilled about them rolling Faith and Family Night into Fan Appreciation Day. I'm a godless heathen and I like it that way, and if the God portions are not optional, then I'm leaving. It's the second half of Eevee Community Day and I need more shinies.

The team is bribing us with breakfast before the bus departure. One of my fellow fans is engaged in intense discussion with Kym Hampton. I don't think it's going well for Kym. There are also people intensely watching a Little League regional championship game with the same amount of enthusiasm they would normally give the Mets. Then again, one could argue the Little League team provides the better product.

It's halftime and we're up 48-37. I'm confused. I'm also confused as to how they can call this a sellout with rows and rows of empty seats. Tina Charles has gone off, and Atlanta can't hit. It won't last, I know, but it's fun.

Tina's dad has brought out his most magnificent jacket yet. He gleams. He was crossing the little street between the clock and the arena, and did so without the aid of the cop acting as crossing guard, and honestly if anyone didn't see him there's no excuse. Overheard en route: "Got so many things to do today, and I'm up here." So say we all, sir.

The faith group running the Faith and Family Night event (which was thankfully after the game and only advertised in general phrases delivered with the enthusiasm of a cocker spaniel hopped up on Four Loko) had greeters on the front steps, urging every single person in with "You're amazing!" and "Thank you for being alive!" Since I was waiting for 2PM to come so I could set some lures and catch some Eevee, they were quite annoying. I was not the only one annoyed. I asked the cop if he had to do anything if I "accidentally" projectile vomited on one of them, and he hesitated before saying "No." Managed to dodge them on the way in.

Bad anthem. Never a good sign. Apparently Kym Hampton did her traditional tunesmithing while I was hunting Eevee.

They announced a sellout. The rows of empty seats would beg to differ. And judging from the ushers' approach to general admission being "yeah, you can sit anywhere" as opposed to "you can sit anywhere in the GA sections", something tells me that there was a shifted effect and the people who were like, "naaaaaaah" weren't people with GA tickets. I mean, we got loud in stretches, but after that collapse in the third quarter, it was hard to keep mustering up enthusiasm.

Blake Dietrick got her minutes in early. She's very loud on the floor. I appreciate that out of a point guard. I think the kid in the shirt with Dietrick on the back also approved of this message. The rim did not approve of Alex Bentley's shots- she had a three spin in and out and in and out, and another shot not get the roll. I can't say I'm sorry for her.

Imani McGee-Stafford is so big in real life, especially in such a small arena. She was several steps slow on defense, though her wingspan and the inherent length of her stride made up for a lot of that. For much of the day she looked like she wanted to be a foot shorter and not have to deal with all this basketball nonsense. I did enjoy the jump ball with Kia Vaughn, though. I somehow imagine that iron grip on the ball being a technique perfected against her brother. Monique Billings crashed the boards in one fashion so spectacular it served to confirm her identity when I couldn't see who Atlanta had brought in.

Has anyone made the Liberty aware that Renee Montgomery can shoot threes a little bit? Because she went off in the third quarter and added a couple in the fourth to boot, and I'm not sure exactly where the disconnect happened. Was it in a lack of film study to recognize that that was her shot, or in the help defense not being able to rotate quickly enough to get in her face? Granted, she hit a couple of dramatic contested threes at the end of the shot clock, so I can't argue with those. But it just kept happening. It was ridiculous. She was cold early and then she got on the hot streak. She had a steal right off Tina, too. Brittney Sykes drove the lane hard and got rewarded with calls. Getting hit in the face is not fun and I hope she's okay from it. She's got a lot of ups, too. She took a rebound away from Kia Vaughn, jumped right over and around her. Tiffany Hayes is absolutely pants at following her own jumper because she'll stand there and admire it, but she's absolutely relentless in pursuit of every shot her teammates put up. I wonder if she's realized the hypocrisy there. Watching her on the floor every time she gets knocked down and crumbles like a sand castle, I think we have at long last found a new queen to take the throne of Mery Andrade and DeMya Walker. All hail the Drama Queen!

Has anyone made the Liberty aware that Jessica Breland can shot the midrange jumper a little bit? Because she went off in the third quarter and added one in the fourth to boot, and you've already heard this part, haven't you? She was mercilessly physical on Tina Charles inside, and probably should have been called for a lot more fouls than she already was. Then when Tina was beat up and exhausted, she took her outside for the jumper. She also had a beautiful feed inside to Elizabeth Williams for one of the few buckets Williams scored. Williams was a shot eraser inside- took one away from Kia Nurse with enough force to potentially cause an international incident, had another big one on Tina. She's an anchor for them, the fulcrum of the defense.

Because their defense swarmed. Seems appropriate for a team that plays, however temporarily, at Georgia Tech. They were able to move quickly on the perimeter to cover all our options, and then bring the pain down low when we inevitably threw it to Tina, because that's what we do. Atlanta is an unbelievably terrible match-up for us on a good day. And my understanding is that the last good day was January 20th, 1992.

Rebecca Allen continues to be a useful offensive weapon, though she would be more effective if she could consistently keep her feet behind the line instead of on it. Her defense doesn't work in this system, though, and it causes me to dread every repetition of the Rebecca Allen Experience, because I know things are going to go terribly wrong at some point. Kiah Stokes finally looks somewhat like her old self, but even that's not saying a lot. She had some nice finishes on the inside, but she's still a step slow and not entirely certain on offense. Bria Hartley hit big contested shots, especially in the second half, but committed stupid fouls on defense. (Yes, Bria, that was a foul on the three-point shot by Montgomery. You can't high-five people's wrists.)

You may have noticed the entire bench is squeezed together in one paragraph, and that's because we had four players sitting out from injury or rest. Amanda Zahui B looked sharp and Marissa Coleman looked very pretty. Epiphanny Prince was in warm-up gear, and I couldn't see too much of Shavonte Zellous. Jacket and jeans, I think.

Sugar Rodgers's shot was off, which usually heralds a bad night for her. This was no exception. She was nowhere near being a factor. Brittany Boyd brought hustle and energy, but also recklessness and error-prone passing. I think she's in her own head right now, and it's messing her up. She's always been intense, and I can't imagine that apprenticing under T-Spoon is going to make her any less emotional or volatile on the floor. She needs tempering. Kia Nurse got off to a good start, but sort of seemed to disappear as the game went on. Bria was picking up a lot of her minutes. I'm worried that Katie's inexplicable rotations might be robbing our youngest Kia of her confidence.

Kia Vaughn, bless her heart. I did like the block she put on Williams, and the one finish (on an o-board, I think) in the paint. But her hands are terrible and guards were consistently outworking her for rebounds. It's no wonder Kiah was taking minutes from her. The only question was why Kiah wasn't giving Tina Charles some rest. Tina, of course, was fabulous, and in the early going looked like she was going to win us this game all by herself. But triple-teams have a way of weighing down a superstar, especially when no one else can hit a shot. She looked so tired. I hope she sits out the road trip. She deserves a break. Tina is, in fact, so tired, that I woke up this morning and the banner she signed had fallen off the wall. That's not an omen or anything, I'm sure.

Katie Smith is in so far over her head she can't see light. Her rotations are a mess, her clock management is a nightmare, she has no sense of when to use her timeouts, and the team seems to have tuned her out in record time. You can only say the same thing so many times before people stop listening. This is an absolutely untenable situation for a first-year coach. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, and Katie is far from that (even if she went to Ohio State). It's bad for both the team and the coach in question. Something's got to give. We lost an 11-point lead in something like four minutes. That's ridiculous. That's unacceptable.

Officiating didn't help anything (why yes, how dare Bec have her chest in a position where Hayes's arm might hit it?) but I don't think we can blame that for all our woes. I'd have liked to get a few more calls, especially on what seemed to be a pretty obvious clear path call on Montgomery. But it is what it is, so they say.

Any arena where stumbling out of bounds by the basket puts you halfway onto some excuse for a concourse and a third of the way towards the exit is not suitable for professional use, and I don't want to hear any arguments about the sideline space at Levien again in that regard.

The bus ride back was... interesting. Kym Hampton was our hostess, and she was taking questions the whole way back down, providing insight on player mentality and defensive rotations. I'm not sure I can believe everything she says from the business end, but there was enough I could corrorborate from other sources that I did some quiet freaking out. Story of the season, I suppose. Kym is very charming, and very sweet, and you have to be a particular idiot if you think she's flatout going to say she doesn't like anyone or there's anyone she would prefer to not have on the team. I hope I'm misreading between the lines, because if I'm not, we're going to make some terrible and short-sighted decisions for the 2019 roster.

I'm glad to be done with Westchester. I don't want to go back to that place, where the lighting is depressing, the sound system is unbalanced, the seats are terrible, the layout is nonsensical, the capacity is unacceptable, the staff is unprofessional (woo boy are there apparently some stories about the county employees), and everything about the experience is less than minor league. This is not how you treat a professional team. This is not how you treat the fans of a professional team.

I'm relieved. It's over for now. I don't want it to be over forever. But there's so much at stake. Heavy words, I know, but it's been a heavy season. It feels like we're desperately pretending everything's going to be fine, putting on a show to paper over a disaster scene. It breaks my heart.

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June 7th, 2017: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma’am: The New York Liberty kept on rolling in their 76-61 win over the Atlanta Dream. Tina Charles had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead New York, with Kiah Stokes adding a game-high 17 rebounds. Tiffany Hayes and Brittney Sykes each had 14 points to pace the Dream.

For truce, buffer room, unexpected flashbacks, impressive youth, and guarded optimism, join your intrepid and comfortable blogger after the jump.

School Day.

Teams love it. The league loves it. There are even misguided fan souls who love it.

I? Am not one of those. I don’t like children. I don’t like large groups of children. I don’t like directionless screaming. I don’t like having to schedule vacation days, or else waste a $46 ticket, to be surrounded by thousands of screaming children. If I had my way, there would be no School Days, or Camp Days, or Kids Days. You want to do stuff for the kids? Fine. Why should season subscribers have to pay for it? Do an event that is exclusively for schools, not accessible to season ticket holders, no matter their VIP level.

To the three cops at Fulton Street: sorry, you missed the train, the doors are closed, y’all have to wait for the next train like everyone else. (Given that one of them was carrying a folding table, either they were returning from a shift as random search checkpoint personnel or on their way to a wrestling match.)

I am not comforted by the chaperones of the group next door using their thundersticks to mete out discipline. Y’all claim to be a leadership academy?

Well, this is going swimmingly so far. At halftime, the Liberty are up 47-29. Tina Charles is doing Tina Charles things, the bench has been productive, the kids around me are either engaged with the game or being quiet about their disinterest, and no one’s hit me with a thunderstick.

I could do without the anti-bullying slam poetry at the half, but this is what makes it E/I programming.

I’m starting to get the feeling that Layshia Clarendon is not a morning person.

Brittney Sykes is kind of adorable, in a refreshing honesty sort of way: as the half ended, she was smacking herself in the forehead for whatever mistake she made that led to the foul by Williams and the free throws for Shavonte.

I am totally here for Kyle O’Quinn’s mom kicking butt on the dance-cam.

There’s something bizarrely ironic or hipster or something about one of the “oversized” jerseys for Dress and Dribble being a Schimmel jersey. (And the other one was a Maddie jersey. I mean, really.)

Someone needs to get Mike W. a pronunciation guide. This is a recording. I think he had three different pronunciations for Damiris Dantas’s last name so far. We ended at four, and maybe the first one was correct.

I don’t think Atlanta are morning people. They rely very heavily on youth, and when that youth does not serve them, it’s going to be a long day.

Matee Ajavon was already working the ref before she even checked into the game. She was a sparkplug for the Dream in the second half, taking the rotation spot that had belonged to Meighan Simmons in the first half. She was aggressive at both ends of the floor. Meighan Simmons still likes to shoot, but to be honest, I missed about half her second stint on the floor because I was tweeting about the game (which will show me not to tweet during games, but it was picking up on something I started during a timeout). Brianna Kiesel is slight, and fast, and gritty. I admire that kind of player.

So are we sure that Brittney Sykes isn’t actually Deanna Nolan with a little plastic surgery and a fake ID? Because holy crap on a stick, she has the same two skinny braids behind the thick headband, the same build, the same ridiculous vertical, the same drive in the lane, the same fallaway jumper. I am genuinely weirded out by this. She doesn’t have the consistent athleticism that Tweety had, but she’s also torn her ACL multiple times, I can forgive that. I managed to miss her when Syracuse played at St. John’s, so I had no idea what I was getting into. Damiris Dantas, in addition to the indignity of having her name mispronounced all night (source: I went and asked a Brazilian), could not get her shots to fall, either in the lane or from the midrange. She had looks, and they simply would not fall. It was a bad day for her; it happens.

I know I joked about Layshia Clarendon not being a morning person, but I swear there’s something to it. She didn’t play great at all, but she was more out of it in the first half than the second half. In the second half, she was at least able to create a little bit, both for herself and her teammates. Overall, she didn’t seem to have the control and command over the game that she’s shown in Atlanta’s televised games this season. I really don’t like Tiffany Hayes. I respect her shooting, and her willingness to perform full-body sacrifice at all times. She’s a heck of a player. But at the same time, I could do without the flopping, and the milking of every time she hits the floor, and the dramatic overreaction every time there’s a call or non-call that she disagrees with, whether she was involved on the play or not. Tip, sometimes your teammates need to fight their own battles.

Bria Holmes managed to make a fantastic impression without hitting the broad side of a barn, which is pretty impressive when you think about it. She showed a lot of grit and hustle going after loose balls and tipping away rebounds. I love what she brings to the floor, and when she hits more shots she’ll be even more dangerous. Sancho Lyttle doesn’t have that spring in her step anymore, and her jumper is not the weapon she thinks it is, but it is still a very bad idea to attempt to pass over the top of her. Elizabeth Williams got bodied up all night, and it showed. She took a lot of contact inside, knocking her shots off balance. She was just as physical defensively, and she’s a solid defensive player. I like watching hard-nosed post players at work.

I originally thought this was going to be a game where we found out what Atlanta was made of, and if that was the case, then they’re not made out of very much except smoke and mirrors. But I think it’s more likely that this game was the aberration: they ran headlong into a defensive post tandem that was in the mood to prove themselves and a bench that was able to rise to the challenge.

I would very much like for Lindsay Allen to stop committing stupid fouls, but she’s a rookie; that kind of thing is to be expected. She had some nifty passes in this one. I think she’s more comfortable with the starters than she is with the other reserves; I think she has a better sense of what her role is when she’s subbing for Sugar or Bria. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe seems to have a knack for drawing trouble, or something, because this is the second game in a row where someone’s done their best to put a forearm in her throat. Lyttle was all up in her business, and I don’t know why. I mean, she’s stubborn, and she’s a little grabby, but not to the point of wanting to kick her ass that badly. Love her hustle. Love Rebecca Allen’s offense, but she’s got to play better defense. I’m not asking her to turn into DPOY or anything, but as the saying goes, defense is played with the feet, not the hands; she’s not doing enough to get herself in position to make the plays she needs to make, so she ends up reaching, and fouling, and causing Coach Laimbeer to throw out his arms and toss back his head in dismay. You know the pose. We all know the pose.

I’d also really like for Amanda Zahui B to stop making stupid mistakes on the floor so that she can be more than just a soaker-up of stray minutes at the ends of quarters to keep Tina from picking up cheap fouls and falling over (not necessarily in that order). I also want to know what’s up with Cierra Burdick, because she’s barely playing and her hustle seems to have disappeared in those precious seconds she does get.

Is it safe to say that Kiah Stokes might be back? She wasn’t the offensive threat today she was the last couple of games, but she was ferocious on the boards (Tina had to throw up the “aieee, don’t hit me in the face!” forearms under the basket a couple of times). The away-from-the-ball offensive fouls are starting to become a problem, especially since I don’t know what she’s doing (since they’re away from the ball and all that). But, most importantly, she’s being the physical bruiser we need next to Tina. Tina Charles got off to a hot start- she slowed down later on as the defense started to wear her down with doubles and triples, just draping themselves on her like so much laundry. I think the burden is starting to wear her down a bit- even though everyone else has been stepping up around her, she’s still expected to be the star, and needs to be if everyone else is going to have space to operate. Shavonte Zellous continues to be exceptionally passionate about all calls and non-calls that she believes should have gone in the Liberty’s favor. I keep thinking about the Barenaked Ladies line about wearing your heart on your sleeve and having a habit of taking off your shirt. (I’m paraphrasing.) She’s been handling a lot of the point guard duties- bringing the ball up the floor, initiating the offense, that kind of thing, and she’s surprisingly good at it. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting that.

As awesome as the three Sugar Rodgers hit from somewhere in the vicinity of Newport News was, it was the result of a broken play, and you could see Coach Laimbeer’s “no, no, no, YES!” reaction as she shot it and it went in. I think she’s starting to find a little of her confidence again, though. She’s taking shots in the flow of the offense- they might be quick ones, but most of them have been good quick ones. I’m okay with quick shots if they aren’t just panic heaves with no one in position to rebound. Bria Hartley is definitely better off the ball. This was not her day, but we survived.

On one hand, I appreciate the clarity of Janetta Graham’s communication on the floor- she was crisp on her calls and signals. On the other hand, it looked like she was trying too hard to ensure that the coaches respected her authoritah. I wonder if that has to do with being a fairly young female ref dealing with two NBA alumni coaches. I’m really, really not sure what was up with all the offensive fouls.

T-shirts are serious business, man. I don’t get it. People attack those shirts like piranhas.

Kids weren’t digging the Timeless Torches. Their School Day routine isn’t one of the strongest they have, though. (I do think it’s weird we don’t have a regular dance team- we have kids and we have older dancers, but we don’t have the usual complement of svelte, toned, twenty-and-thirty somethings.)

The difficulty level goes up from here. But I think we’re starting to rise to the challenge. I do love this team.

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July 13th, 2016: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty found their footing in the second quarter and never looked back in a 86-62 win over the Atlanta Dream. Tina Charles led all scorers with 18 points, adding nine rebounds; the Liberty also got double-figure scoring from Sugar Rodgers (13), Rebecca Allen (11), and Shavonte Zellous. Tiffany Hayes led Atlanta with 12 points.

For matching shirts, avoidance, blank shirts, cheap shots, Swedes, the spoils of war, and resting the starters, join your intrepid and mildly embarrassed blogger after the jump.
Grunt. Grunt. Snarl. CAFFEINE. Seethe.

In other words, it's Camp Day at the Garden; for the second time this season, the Atlanta Dream bring an unwanted wake-up call to the New York Liberty.

Have I mentioned how much I don't like Camp Days? Because I could tell you again. I could tell you in detail, if you want. There's lots of detail I could give you.

Atlanta Zerg rushes off, which is annoying, or at least it would be if I were autograph hunting today. (Except for Meighan Simmons, who I guess started shooting late, so she has to do detention or something.)

It's 40 minutes before the game and I think I only see three or four groups. They better be coming soon, or I'm going to be very annoyed.

Ooooh, I like how that dress looks on Gold-Onwude.

At halftime, the Liberty are up 39-29. Strong performance from Rebecca Allen off the bench, and Tina Charles is being the MVP we know she can be. Atlanta's thrown pretty much everyone out there.

Beautiful bilingual anthem- English and ASL simultaneously.

Okay, whoever sold this enormous group tickets in our section did not think their cunning plan through. I think they've got kids clear down from row 16 to row 7, and whoever distributed their tickets forgot to sort them by row. It is very confusing.

To the kid behind me on the left: if your thundersticks go in my seat, they go in my backpack. Spoils of war.

I wasn't watching the rhythmic gymnastics at halftime. Sorry not sorry.

The Liberty are not wearing their #BlackLivesMatter shirts, but neither are they wearing the regular Liberty warm-up shirts. They're wearing plain black Adidas shirts. My guess would be that they wanted to wear them again, but got blocked for some reason. Speak out, Libs! Your voices matter as much as your lives!

Amanda's mom was here, with a couple of Gopher fans, cheering loudly with their thundersticks. She sat a section over from us and a few rows down.

So I'm not actually sure how much Michael Cooper cared about winning this game; it seemed like whenever Atlanta had acquired a little momentum, he'd make a sub and they'd lose some of it. It was strange. I also don't understand the long stretches without McCoughtry.

I love some Cal Bears, because underappreciated nerds need to be appreciated, but Reshanda Gray is not one of my favorite people right now. I was glad Cooper finally gave her a chance in the second half, but it very quickly turned into seething rage after she pulled down Amanda Zahui B. and put a foot in her face (and only because I respect Cal and Gray, and because I didn't see a specific motion, am I not calling it a kick). That earned her a flagrant 2 and a very quick removal from the site of play. Markeisha Gatling is a lot of woman- not very mobile and not necessarily skilled, but if she gets in position, she's going to get the rebound, and there's pretty much no way she's being moved. Rachel Hollivay plays very physical, and today it wasn't terribly effective, and then she lost her temper a bit near the end of the game.

I do not like Matee Ajavon. I have never liked Matee Ajavon. So when Ajavon came into the game and immediately fouled Tanisha Wright by putting her hands... uh, somewhere where an invitation is normally required for hands to be... I wasn't terribly surprised and I'm pretty sure it was a little bit of a mind game. She has an eminently punchable smirk. It's probably not a good sign for the Dream that Meighan Simmons took more shots than anyone else. She got most of those looks in the fourth quarter, though (one of her makes and a couple of open misses were very late, when Shoni Schimmel was on the case). Bria Holmes also likes to shoot, and she gives Atlanta a threat from beyond the arc. Carla Cortijo brings speed and aggression. She had a pretty finish in the second (I think) quarter where all you could do was shake your head and give her her props.

Elizabeth Williams is a rock down low, though her midrange game needs some work. She's a solid rim protector- she had one wicked one on Sugar Rodgers. She's developing beautifully. Angel McCoughtry didn't play all that much, and I'm not sure it was actually in the game plan for her to play all that much- it looked like they were force-feeding her somewhat in the first quarter, which seems to imply that she was trying to get her stats before she sat down. We thought she might get hot in the first, but she forced the issue too much. Sancho Lyttle had moments, but her strength was more defensive than offensive- her shot was all over the place, but she got her hands on a lot of balls (oh, dear Lord, that came out wrong).

Tiffany Hayes fell down a couple of times, and one time she even got the call. She likes that deep three rather more than most teams I think would find healthy. She's reckless and dangerous. Layshia Clarendon played with a lot of energy and speed. She was looking for her shot early, then they switched to force-feeding McCoughtry. I'm not sure how much of that was called and how much of it was desperation.

I feel like Atlanta might have had some idea of what our weaknesses were before the game, when they were shooting from deep, and then they completely forgot about it and went about what they normally do.

Shoni Schimmel sighting! (As an aside, a month too late, we've figured out what her Cheesy Musical Hook needs to be: the opening to any good subway breakdance routine. "What time is it?" "SHOWTIME!") She needs to hit free throws when she has them, and she really needs to be able to hang with her defensive assignment- she's lousy at the switches our system requires. Brittany Boyd brought speed, hustle, and strong disapproval off the bench (she let Gray know how much she did not approve of knocking Amanda over). She's so much fun to watch, and I'd love to see a backcourt of her and Shoni in a game where we're actually trying to score. That would be a lot of fun. Shavonte Zellous is occasionally where offense goes to die, and she really needs to stop begging for calls. But she brings it on both ends of the floor- there was one play where she leaped on a ball that Lyttle was holding and forced a jump ball pretty emphatically, sort of with the enthusiasm one sees from piranhas when they see meat.

Adut Bulgak sighting! They were so adorably happy for her. She needs to work on her handle, which is a problem because so do most of her teammates, so it's not like anyone on the team can give her good tips and tricks. There are a lot of things for her to learn, but I think she has the capability to learn how to get in position and how to scramble for those balls that she can get. I love her flexibility- she needs to maintain that while getting a little bit stronger and adding a little bit of bulk (otherwise she will get very broken and that will give us all a sad). Amanda Zahui B. wasn't as spectacular as she was against San Antonio, but she seemed to get stronger as the game went on, and she recovered well from being taken down. I like that her more successful plays were at the basket, not from the outside- I love to see post players do work in the post. Kiah Stokes hit her shots at the rim and protected our rim. She did some kind of work on the glass. Rebecca Allen had one of the best games she's played in a Liberty uniform. She was hitting from the outside, plus she had a sweet little finger roll down the lane (I believe the usual colloquialism is "like buttah"). She jumped the passing lanes really well- it'd be like, oh, hey, there's suddenly an Australian in the path of this pass.

(Everyone should have an Aussie. Canadians and Swedes are cool too, but we've got the only Swede, neener neener neener.)

Tanisha Wright brought the defensive hustle and ferocity, as well as the veteran leadership (she was talking to the ref after a bad call on Boyd). She's going to be a brilliant coach someday if she wants to be. Sugar Rodgers did the levitation thing again, which was pretty cool. (Off-guardium Leviosa?) She hit the quick shots, which was exactly what we needed from her. She almost seemed disappointed that she wasn't playing more, but honestly, we're going to need her more on Friday than we did today, and I'd rather she save a few of those threes for the Lynx.

Swin Cash appears to have misplaced her shot, so if she could find it again, that would be great. She brings scrappiness and defensive length, which is useful. I just wish she could be more consistent in something other than missing shots. Tina Charles's shot continues to be astonishingly flat-footed and high-arcing, and yet it works. It defies logic- but I'm a Mets fan, so I should be used to athletes doing the impossible. ('sup Bartolo) She did solid work in short minutes. It's good to be able to have her rested. Carolyn Swords was beasting on the boards, which is a good and wonderful thing. Having big games down low from the posts really takes the heat off of Tina.

The officiating was very light for most of the game, then things got a little unglued in the fourth quarter. I don't know whether it was that the officials realized they'd been letting a lot of contact go, or whether Atlanta got chippier as the lead got bigger, or what, but people lost their minds in the fourth. You had Hollivay getting the T, you had the questionable review on Boyd's foul, you had that nonsense with Gray- we were one moving screen away from something really bad happening, IMO.

The problem with doing three camp/school days in the same season is that the place doesn't get properly packed. Camp Days are supposed to be sellouts- 11317 is nice, but c'mon, man. And I bet it'll be the same next week instead of doing one big 17000 and a good 9000 night game. Worse, the kids never really seemed to get into it.

They're off to Minnesota now. Let's see if they can keep the momentum going.

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May 24th, 2016: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: For the second straight game, the Liberty faded down the stretch, and for the second straight game, they took an overtime loss, this time to Atlanta, 85-79. Tiffany Hayes had 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Dream; Atlanta got 15 points after halftime from Angel McCoughtry, who did not play most of the first half. Tina Charles had a monster game in the loss for New York, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, and six assists- but Sugar Rodgers (10 points) was the only other Liberty player to crack double digits in scoring.

For screaming, so much screaming, new living room decorations, passionate road fans, cool kids, defensive lapses, Huskies crying wolf, chemistry issues, questionable play-calling, so very many missed opportunities, and lousy officiating, join your intrepid and transient blogger after the jump.
Good morning, everyone! It's your intrepid blogger's least favorite sort of game of the year- School Day, the 11 AM start that messes with my circadian rhythm and forces me to endure thousands of screaming children for the sake of my team. To be honest, I was seriously considering skipping this one, but for work-related political reasons, I decided to take the days I was entitled to.

Of course, if there are children, there are thundersticks. They're black and white, but the 20th anniversary logo is pretty well done.

Atlanta rushed off in a hurry. Reshanda Gray disappointed the kids, but Meighan Simmons at least stopped for pictures (and for my hat, yay!).

We have a biddy game to start things off, and people are so adorably hyped when one of those little kids hits a shot. One kid runs a pretty nice fast break but is just too tiny to hit a lay-up. (No, seriously, between the braids and the gait, she looks like a very tiny Spoon, my heart is exploding with squee.)

God bless you for coming up here, you decked out Dream fan, but you're behind the wrong bench.

At halftime, New York is up 39-32, but the bigger issue for Atlanta is that Angel McCoughtry came out very early in the first quarter and did not return. She's been on the bench, but not playing. We're enduring an anti-bullying lecture/slam poetry session.

The kids behind us are into the game and loathe the officials as much as we do, so that's cool.

The officials have been lousy. The FT differential is ridiculous. Then Mount Laimbeer exploded, and now both teams are getting crappy calls on them.

Tiffany Hayes leads Atlanta with 13; Tina Charles has 10 for New York. Both teams are missing open shots and multiple looks.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGH AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGH RRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGH

Okay, fine, I'll write coherent Game Notes for you. They're going to be more collaborative than usual, since the Queen Mother and I are hashing the game out as I type.

Atlanta did a marvelous job playing the passing lanes and deflecting balls. That's one thing they're brilliant at. They closed like a trap and batted the ball away. 11 blocks and 13 steals- and that's just what made it into the stats.

Michael Cooper worked heavily with his deep bench in the first half. Everyone saw time. Reshanda Gray's only minutes were in the first half, and even then the announcer almost forgot to mention her existence. She was physical, but otherwise unremarkable. Rachel Hollivay hits hard- she bodied up early and often on the Liberty posts. She had good looks at the basket, but she missed them- then again, the rim at that end of the floor was doing odd things to shots. Lots of stuff was rimming out. Cierra Burdick's first half minutes were unremarkable, but there's something I would like about having her on the floor if I were a Dream fan. It might be the defense. She needs to lay off shooting after the whistle, though.

Meighan Simmons is still very fast, and still likes to shoot a lot, and is still terribly inaccurate when she does. I'm not quite sure when she managed to block a shot, but we were getting swatted a lot by a lot of hands; that might have been a block-by-committee that got assigned to her. Matee Ajavon played very briefly, missed an easy shot, and generally still gets under my skin just for existing, but I acknowledge and accept that it's mostly irrational. Carla Cortijo passes the ball very fast and very hard- in that regard, like a young Ticha Penicheiro. I think at least two turnovers were because the ball got there before the recipient. She's a good energy player. Bria Holmes did a good job drawing fouls and getting to the line, although with this officiating crew pretty much anyone in an Atlanta uniform could draw fouls.

Layshia Clarendon brought the defense (and as usual, the epic hair). She didn't play as much down the stretch, with Cooper going to Cortijo instead, but she came in for defensive shifts. She plays good, heady defense. I feel like I'm harping, but she was utterly useless on offense. Tiffany Hayes appears to have been working on her upper body strength- with the thickness of her shoulders and the long skinny braids, she was starting to remind me of Loree Moore. She took a lot of hits and fell down a lot. Either she has the strange combination of low pain threshold/high pain tolerance, or she gives no damns about her body, or she's really good at acting like she's hurt. It cost her on one play, where she hit the deck and no foul was called. That was a rarity. She got the call most of the night. She killed us from outside, and she killed us penetrating, and I'm pretty sure by the end of the night she had people wanting to strangle either her or the defender who kept bailing on her. (Ahem. Ta'Shauna.) She's reckless and wild and one of these days she's going to have a 2-19 night and kill her team that way. But if she were a Lib her jersey would be flying off the shelves.

Angel McCoughtry left the game very early in the first quarter, and she was limping when she came back for the second half. Whatever it was, either she got over it or they gave her some mighty fine painkillers to take care of it, because she lit up in the fourth quarter and overtime. That was the Angel we know to fear. She's still convinced she's a distance shooter, but as a Liberty fan I'm okay with that. She and Sancho Lyttle are still one of the most lethal double-team traps in the league, with long arms and active hands and absolutely no give. The two of them together forced I don't know how many turnovers off steals or rebounds or missed shots. Lyttle's shot was off, but for brief moments she looked like the Sancho Lyttle of the Houston Comets. And defensively, of course, she was ridiculous. Her hands were everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Elizabeth Williams was a calm center in the midst of the frenetic defensive activity. She's solid. She could stand to work on her free throw shooting, and she's got to finish at the rim, but she's an excellent piece for the next stage of the Dream's life cycle.

I like the Dream's uniforms. For them, that pop of red on the collar works, and the blue on blue is reasonably attractive. I'm not so sure about the gray jackets, though.

I think the training staff really needs to do something about this recto-cranial inversion that Brittany Boyd is suffering from. It's really getting ridiculous. She's trying too hard to take the fancy shot when she could settle for the straight up shot. She's telegraphing her passes. I want her to succeed so very badly- I'm typing these words while wearing a Boyd jersey, and y'all know how I feel about the price of jerseys. But the pressure is getting to her, or something is getting to her. Her body language is really bad. Everything seems to be accompanied by a grimace or almost a growl. I really hope she's okay. Shoni Schimmel played briefly at the end of the game, and just like last game, she went in about two possessions after she was really needed. She looked to be in a little better shape than she was last game. Something's off with Shavonte Zellous, too. Her shot is off, and because her shot is off, it's throwing off her entire game. She seems like she's trying too hard to draw contact and not enough to actually hit the shot. If you're not getting the calls, learn to recognize that and move on.

Kiah Stokes had a nice sequence with two blocks, and was solid defensively, but she's got to be more assertive on offense. I thought she played well on the boards and in the middle. Amanda Zahui B saw a few minutes in the first half, but she looked like she was out of sync with the team on both ends of the floor. Maybe she's not a morning person. I've been there. Swin Cash hit her free throws, which was more than I can say for most of our posts. It's good to have her defense and her leadership back. She's still a little rusty, but that's to be expected.

Tina Charles went into beast mode today. I'm not going to give her too much grief for the missed free throws, though it would have been nice if she hit one of them in regulation. But she put everything out on the floor and played out of her mind. Inside, outside, swatting shots, claiming boards, deflecting balls- I don't know how many of those steals were legitimately hers and how many she just initiated that other people took off down the floor. She was phenomenal. Carolyn Swords has to finish at the rim. She had offensive rebounds and chances to score, and she missed at the rim again and again. I like what she brings, but I need to see more of it.

Lindsey Harding was missing a lot of shots short, and we were irked that she wasn't getting yelled at for them. Katie Smith eventually took her aside and gave her a talking to, but it didn't seem like it had much of an effect. Sugar Rodgers had another bad shooting night, and reverted back to the approach of "keep shooting, it'll go in eventually". It didn't go in all that much, except for the wild shot to force overtime and drag the suffering out further. She was out of position a lot on defense. If Hayes is shooting as well as she was, why in God's name would you repeatedly leave her open to go double? Why is this a good plan? Tanisha Wright was okay, nothing more. I'm still worried about her shot and her tendency to pass out of good looks, though those two are probably related.

Bill, we need to talk. A lot. We need to talk about you sitting back with your feet up like you're chilling at the bar as Atlanta goes on a run. We need to talk about you hoarding timeouts like you get a bonus for having them left at the end of the game. We need to talk about you grinding the offense to a halt in the last seven minutes and clocking the ball. (I'm pretty sure Stringer was yelling at you to get the offense moving, Bill.) We need to talk about your personnel decisions in overtime, and why you won't use Shoni even as a decoy when you need three-pointers. We need to talk about why this team doesn't know their defensive schemes, and why people are out of position, and why we're not hitting free throws. Something's not right here, and 70% of what went wrong in this game comes down to coaching and coaches' responsibilities.

And then there were the officials. So many bad calls. So much contact allowed at one end and called on the other. And then so many bad calls on both ends of the floor. There was one play that should have been a jump ball and ended up being nothing at all. So many bad calls. So very many bad calls. And they went on both sides after Laimbeer blew his top.

Seriously, that Dream fan was amazing. She came up that morning, from Georgia (she had the Georgia voter pin on her visor), fully decked out: visor, pins, lanyard, schedule, shirt, wristbands, thundersticks, the whole nine yards. We should all be so passionate about our teams. (She was kind enough to pass along the thundersticks when I asked if she had extras. They will hold a place of great honor among the others in our living room.) I hope the rest of her trip to New York is full of magic, wonder, joy, and good karma.

I'm really wondering if Bill is still the right coach for this team. He's brilliant at evaluating talent, for the most part, and he trades well. If we could carve out a position for him to be in charge of that, and let someone else coach, and let Bernert continue to handle the business end, I think we'd be well off. But I've been questioning more and more of his decisions in the flow of the game. Getting outcoached by Michael Cooper has to stick in his craw. Right?

Kids, it's only a t-shirt. You don't have to fight each other like dogs over a bone. Don't get hurt over it. The Torch Patrol overshot their tee guns a bit, aiming for the upper deck and hitting the bridge a couple of times.

We need our young guards to get their act together. We need our veterans to play like veterans. We need someone who can make the chemistry work. Who's going to step up?

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September 1st, 2015: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Sugar Rodgers snapped out of a funk in style, notching 23 points in the Liberty's 80-75 overtime win over Atlanta. Kiah Stokes anchored the defense with four blocks and four steals to go with 10 points and seven boards.

For a Sugar crush, KIAH SMASH PUNY ANGEL SHOT, shrill griefing, aprons at last, grit, defense, so much contact, rescheduling travel, mismatches, and a wide selection of Cheesy Musical Hooks, join your intrepid and hungry blogger after the jump.



Greetings, Earthlings! We're coming down the home stretch of the 2015 season, and the Eastern Conference regular season title is in the New York Liberty's sights. But first they'll have to get past the Atlanta Dream.

We'll see how leaving the office half an hour earlier goes. It's not entirely by my own choice- how you decide to hold massive, marathon training sessions without a conference room, I'll never know, but as the saying goes, ours is not to question why.

I think they're starting to run out of good singers. The anthem and "God Bless America" were both pretty lackluster.

If this girl behind me doesn't stop cheering every Atlanta basket, I will not be responsible for my actions.

Love Sugar Rodgers's aqua physio-tape. Almost in Liberty colors.

The dancers who have done both pregame and halftime are at least dressed and competent.

At the half, the Liberty are up four, 41-37. I'll take it. Epiphanny Prince has been bothered all night, but Sugar Rodgers has stepped up, and Tina gonna Tina. Atlanta's been playing very tough defense, especially in the post. I think this "bring your superstar off the bench" thing that Atlanta's trying might just catch on. (Well, it's what I always said the Liberty should do with Becky instead of wedging her into the point guard spot...)

Atlanta played the better game for 35 minutes. New York played the better game for the final 10. I know we've beaten the Dream four times out of five and were one horrific free throw shooting performance away from a sweep, but we still match up really, really badly with them. They're a tough defensive team that defends the paint well and blitzes the passing lanes, taking away two of our strengths. But while they had a defense, we had a Sugar, and Sugar SMASH (or possibly Sugar CRUSH).

Sydney Carter got a fair amount of run to start the even quarters. She had a pretty floater in the lane that reminded me a little of Mark Jackson in his glory days. It amuses me that she ran the stretching during warm-ups, and not a trainer or anything like that. She's not going to be much of an offensive option, which takes away from the total Atlanta offense. Matee Ajavon continues to annoy me, but she ran a decent point and had a wicked crossover for a good shot.

DeLisha Milton-Jones: no minutes in the first half, first off the bench in the second half. Oh, Cooper, don't ever stop being strange and inscrutable. Her long arms were very active on defense, but she was not in for her offense- her only shot was a long three that I think came near the end of the shot clock. Reshanda Gray was physical, but again, I don't think she looked to assert herself offensively (and she should have been called for tripping Candice Wiggins on the sideline). Angel McCoughtry came off the bench about five minutes in and I don't think she sat down after that. Coming off the bench almost seems to be good for her- she comes in like a spring uncoiling, starting fast and staying strong. She had jumpers, lots of jumpers, but she was also super-quick on the passing lanes. I don't always like her attitude, but I can't deny her talent.

Shoni Schimmel looked more like the player Atlanta drafted, but she still looks a little- lost is not the right word, but like she's trying too hard to stick rigidly to the playbook. There was a play in the first half she almost blew because she stayed precisely where the pass was supposed to be, even though Sugar had read it like a book. Sticking rigidly to the playbook is not Schimmel's strength, and I don't think she's earning Cooper's trust despite it- when the chips were down, Ajavon was in the game. Tiffany Hayes is a drama queen and she annoys me. I do appreciate her doing the big upswept hair thing, only if because it makes it easier to spot her from further up in the stands. She goes hard, but I'm not sure if she knows the line between going hard and playing too rough.

I love Sancho Lyttle's game. You absolutely can't pass over the top on her, she stretches the defense with jumpers, and she can score at the basket. She's a defensive maven, one of the best there has been in the league. But she gets bent out of shape even when she's trying to get a foul call, and I think it's a miracle she hasn't gotten a technical for all the complaining she does. Aneika Henry came up with a lot of big plays at the basket, boxing out and grabbing boards. Damiris Dantas played limited minutes, and looked more than a little lost out there. I think that's why Cooper went with Henry more down the stretch.

Brittany Boyd still needs to maybe not mainline espresso before the game- she needs to realize there are speeds other than "go very fast". She brought hustle, and the cold-blooded three-pointer, but still didn't seem to be in the flow of the game. Candice Wiggins brought defensive hustle, but her shot was way off. To compound it, she did realize her shot was off- but not that Carolyn Swords was doing even worse and was not ready for her passes. There were at least two turnovers from that connection. Sugar Rodgers had herself a game. What I like about Sugar is that when she's comfortable, she feels like she can take smarter chances on defense- she's always a gambler on D, but she doesn't seem to be as reckless when she doesn't think she has as much to prove. She brought a dimension to our offense that the Atlanta D could not handle

And on the other side of the floor, they could not handle the Kiah. Kiah Stokes was a beast on defense. She came up with nifty steals on the baseline to snag rebounds from Atlanta players. She had onster blocks. She came through the backdoor, shutting it for Atlanta and running through it for New York. That young woman deserves a year-end award of some type. I don't care whether it's ROY, DPOY, or 6W. She needs to have her hard work noticed by the league. Essence Carson hit a three! An actual, no-doubt, well behind the line three! But I'm worried about her defense. She's still missing a step that she used to have. Granted, guarding Angel McCoughtry is not an easy task even for the best and healthiest defender out there.

Epiphanny Prince had a rough night from the field, but still came up with one shot-clock-beater, plus some good defense. And her teammates stepped up around her, which is really the best part of this team. It's always "next man up". Or woman, as the case may be, but I still believe in the gender-neutral usage of man, despite it being part of the patriarchal structure of our language. Tanisha Wright had shots falling short all night, but she hit clutch free throws late and came up with big defensive plays. I feel like there's a trend here. T was the heroine of the OT, IMO.

Carolyn Swords had a rough night. Couldn't keep the ball in her hands for a fair amount of it. She did most of her damage on the boards early. Swin Cash, I felt, was our most effective defender on McCoughtry, but because of the rotations and the way Sugar was playing, she didn't get a lot of minutes. Tina Charles got off to a good start, but Atlanta brought pressure and double-teams, forcing her into a lot of bad shots and longer shots. She's still damn tough, though.

It was not a pretty game. It was a game with a lot of contact. It was a game with a lot of fouls called and a lot of fouls that could easily have been called. I don't envy Denise Brooks and Tony Dawkins working with a rookie referee. (I also don't envy them working with a rookie referee who looked like he had a chip on his shoulder the whole night because he's shorter than most of the players- dude is about Piph's height.) It was nice to have the calls finally going in our favor.

That length of sweater is very flattering on Roneeka Hodges.

Smaller crowd than the last few games, but that's to be expected for a mid-week game against an opponent with no real local draw, with school starting, especially since Atlanta is not good.

On to Chicago. The magic number is 2. With a little help from our friends, Thursday night might clinch the regular season conference title. Go Libs.

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August 21st, 2015: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: New York shook off a slow start to take off in the fourth quarter for a 78-67 win over the Atlanta Dream. Tina Charles had a game-high 25 points, with Epiphanny Prince adding 18. Tiffany Hayes led Atlanta with 17.

For school supplies, bugg waggling, so many dancers, questions about officiating, flashlights, random cricket noises, and bringing the noise, join your intrepid and bleary blogger after the jump.



Good evening! It's game day at the Garden, where the league-leading Liberty take on the Atlanta Dream.

School supplies have been donated, and tiny bright flashlights have been received in exchange.

Atlanta, it's hard to be sympathetic to your plight when y'all don't sign. Okay, except for Angel McCoughtry. McCoughtry also provided amusement for wandering off the court. There's an aisle directly behind the court, where she was stretching out her legs by kicking out. Unfortunately, said aisle is also a pedestrian area. That's not how you're supposed to kick butt, Angel. Security gently suggested to her that her stretches might better be performed on the court.

Looks like it's going to be a pretty good crowd. Cheap seats are already filling up pretty solidly. The general admission policy is not working out as smoothly as security might like- too many people think it means any seat in the house, when it's restricted to certain sections. We're seeing a lot of seat jumpers and idiots standing in the aisle.

At halftime, the Liberty are up one, in a game that hasn't been very pretty. It's Garden of Dreams night, so we're seeing a lot of talent from the Garden of Dreams talent show. I'm not terribly impressed, but I've seen far, far worse.

There's a dude a couple of rows in front of us (or possibly was- haven't seen him since the middle of the second) who's kind of a ridiculous Sugar Rodgers [url=http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Stan]stan[/url]. Bill will put Sugar in when he's good and ready to do so, sir.

From an uninspired first half rose a much more competitive second half, and a fired-up Liberty team that decided they weren't going to lose to Atlanta. They drew the crowd into the game in a way I haven't seen in a long time. That energy is so crucial. That's the energy that becomes homecourt advantage.

Roneeka Hodges rocking the preppy look today. It's a good look for her.

Sydney Carter played briefly in the third quarter. She's got a strange three-point shot. She spent most of the pregame with a giant pad wrapped around most of her back, so I'm not surprised she didn't play a lot. She was vocal during stretches before the game. Matee Ajavon annoys people on the floor (someday someone will put a mic over her matchups with Candice Wiggins and I think it will be glorious and profane). She cooled down in the second half drastically.

DeLisha Milton-Jones still has a little bit of that pretty jumper, but her greatest asset on the court is still her immense length, those long arms that get in the way of everything opponents try to do. Reshanda Gray showed a little bit of offense and a lot of defensive intensity, if not necessarily full execution of said defense. She'll have time to work through her mistakes in Atlanta, but I'm not sure she has the coaching she'll need to learn from those mistakes. Aneika Henry seems to have lost many of her minutes to Gray- she always seemed to be around the basket, but not necessarily making plays at the basket.

Shoni Schimmel is starting to look like a point guard again. She didn't look like an All-Star point guard yet, but she looked like a point guard. She showed a propensity for taking too many unnecessary shots, whether they were threes with the intent to break the Liberty's will or crazy drives with the intent to get fouled. Tiffany Hayes falls down a lot. Her diving irks me. I appreciate the hustle, but get up, woman. She kind of sneaks up on you. Angel McCoughtry... early in the game it looked like she was all for playing within the team dynamic and trying to keep her teammates involved. But when the pressure's on and the ship starts to flounder, Lori Ann comes out to play, and she gets rough, and she gets so easily frustrated. I think McCoughtry is trying to be the person she wants to be, and the person her fiancée wants her to be, and the person her team needs her to be, but she falls too easily back into her old habits.

Damiris Dantas is a nice addition for this team. She's not the answer at center, if only because of her size and style of play, but if they can pair her with a more traditional center, the Dream should be in pretty good shape. She has nice flexibility to her game. Sancho Lyttle did a lot of complaining and melodramatic gesturing to the referees, which is pretty hilarious given how bad they were to the Liberty tonight. I don't remember her being that much of a whiner, but she did a lot of it. She's sneaky on the offensive rebounds.

Atlanta seems like a team with a lot of pieces but not enough edges to the puzzle, so that they don't know where all the pieces should go. But I don't think they can keep trying to build around McCoughtry unless she has a complete personality transplant.

Avery Warley-Talbert played briefly and reminded us all why she doesn't play more. She's a sweet kid, and she's definitely not your stereotypical alumna of an evangelical college, but she's a deep reserve at best. Kiah Stokes needed a little push to get started on offense, but she locked down the defense, and had a really nice punchout of a rebound to Tina Charles for the putback. Essence Carson drew the difficult task of guarding Angel McCoughtry, and helped at least keep her from shooting.

Brittany Boyd is an energizer, a firestarter, the person who initiates the great and glorious feedback loop that powers the homecourt advantage. The three she hit to beat the buzzer was phenomenal. Candice Wiggins was a disruptive presence on offense, and managed to get into Atlanta's heads enough that she was getting thrown around by the end of the game. Sugar Rodgers played briefly, showing hustle but nothing for it except rebounds.

Tanisha Wright got hammered in the lane with no call, repeatedly, and her jumpers weren't falling. But she was a defensive stopper and a fantastic distributor. I kind of like the idea of her nd Boyd in the backcourt together. Epiphanny Prince hit a cold streak in the second quarter or so, but got hot again right in time. I like her play on the ball defensively as well. Even with the super scorers, you can tell the Rutgers pedigree.

Tina Charles leaned heavily on her outside jumper, which is really the only complaint it's possible to register about her play this evening. She looked rock solid. Swin Cash got going early, but we went to smaller lineups with a three-guard set, so she didn't see as much time. Carolyn Swords looked like she was finding her groove once more, though she's still having a little trouble handling some passes. She and Swin had some beautiful two-man game stuff going on.

Both teams came to play, and for the first half, Atlanta dominated stylistically and on the scoreboard. But New York punched back, and once we found our groove, we took over in the fourth.

Refs who allow blatant wrestling moves and don't blow their whistles can take a long walk off a short pier. Honestly, I don't know what Candice does to get so many non-calls against her, but she got a couple of brutal ones today. Everything seemed to be going against the Liberty for most of the game. It was frustrating to see what appeared to be a one-sided officiating job. In the fourth, at least the inconsistency was inconsistent and both sides saw calls they had reason to disagree with.

The only reason for the Liberty not to continue on this hot streak is because MSG staff doesn't seem prepared for a sudden attendance spike. Security is slow, too many stands are closed, and facilities staff doesn't seem inclined to do their jobs. The folks in front of us had an accident and spilled their sodas and nacho cheese. Right at the start of the second half, I attempted to get the attention of someone who could handle it. The shift supervisor led me to the usher of the next section over, who spoke to security, who said they'd radio for a mop. No mop ever came. C'mon, man. And while I'm venting at ushers, can they please urge people not to stand in the aisles, especially during play?

I love my team. I think it might be their time. Maybe.

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June 5th, 2015: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty came out strong and held on to the end of a 82-73 win over the Atlanta Dream. Tina Charles had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead four Liberty players in double figures. Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 27 points, adding eight rebounds.

For energy, copious t-shirts, choral performances, quick moves, juggling lineups, nice jackets, and the thrill of the game, join your intrepid and sore blogger after the jump.


Good evening, boys and girls! It's gameday at the Garden, after entirely too long. We get to talk and watch basketball at long last.

Well, at the moment, we're watching the Silver Cloud Singers and Dancers, in stunning regalia. Adorable baby dancer is adorable. I guess this is one advantage to the Shoni effect: exposure to other cultures!

Boo on security for claiming a group of seats were reserved and then letting other people stand there. Also, protip to Bec Allen: never say you're coming back out, because we all know you're not. No one ever comes back, except Crystal Kelly.

Candice Wiggins and Carolyn Swords rocking the Lib green nail polish. WANT.

Why are Atlanta's suits black? Atlanta doesn't wear black. So confusing!

Not feeling Tanisha Wright's hair.

New ref jackets are fiyah. (I believe this is the proper use of the hip modern slang?)

I don't know how I feel about the new jumbotron pictures. On one hand, I like seeing players' style. On the other hand, I prefer a focus on them as basketball players.

There's a blonde in the next section over who bears a disturbing resemblance to Jenny Boucek. I know she can't be.

Way too many empty seats so far. With our luck, the Garden's crackdown on the planned NOW/WSF protests turned people away.

There are a batch of people in "I am Anucha Browne" shirts, and I approve this message. Just because I question picketing MSG doesn't mean I sanction or condone Isiah.

Halftime involves Maddie getting his Katy Perry on. I don't even. I can't even.

You don't get to call dibs on t-shirts half a row away from you. There are rows of t-shirts available. Grab 'em later.

This has been a breakneck first half with so much energy! I honestly don't remember the last time watching the Liberty was this fun. 2008, maybe? There's pace. There's excitement. There's enthusiasm. It's fun! Atlanta's strategy seems to be to pass until they get an open perimeter shot. 11 three attempts in the first half alone. You have Érika de Souza down low. You have the athleticism of Sancho Lyttle to spread the floor. Why are you turning Tiffany Hayes into your secondary offensive option instead of them?

Slowing down the clock too early against a team that likes to bomb threes is maybe not the best option in the world. I sort of understand if Bill's trying to rein in the young guns and temper their enthusiasm, but he has to be careful he doesn't leave everyone crazy paranoid. And Atlanta played more to their strengths in the second half, cranking up the defense (especially on passing lanes) and going closer to the basket.

Matee Ajavon played briefly. She did not leave a good impression, but she never has. Aneika Henry saw time in the first half, but none in the second. Nadia Colhado was the primary post sub for the Dream. I like her board work. There's a lot of promise there. Yes, I know, the box score shows almost no statistical impact for her. But she boxed out well, defended pretty solidly, and got after loose balls. Erica Wheeler brought speed at the point, but only on offense. She got made a fool of defensively. Also, running out of bounds on the sideline near the Liberty bench and going into parts of the arena that are not in play seems to be her thing- this time it was the scorer's table, not the bench. Roneeka Hodges saw a lot of time in a small-ball line-up. It created mismatches, and she got open in her spots, but if that's what you're going to do, you have to either hit the shots or stop doing it. She didn't hit the shots. She fronted bravely on defense.

I'm not sure if Shoni Schimmel is going to be the long-term answer for this team. Her conditioning is bad; I think the only reason she doesn't register on the Kraayeveld/Adubato scale is that she has a darker complexion than either Cathrine or Richie. She does have the dagger mentality, I'll give her that- if the clock is running down, I want the ball in her hands. I just don't know if I want it in her hands at any other time. There are flashes of the star she was at Louisville and the All-Star MVP she was last year; the one that stands out to me was the one-armed pass she rifled to Tiffany Hayes for a shot in the corner (though I don't believe Hayes hit the shot). Tiffany Hayes took a lot of shots. She got on a hot streak at one point, which is the point where I turned to my stalwart companion and said, "Y'know, at least once a year I look at Tiffany Hayes and think, 'there's just something about that woman I don't like'." This was that time. Sancho Lyttle plays the passing lanes so beautifully, and kept balls alive, but wasn't a factor on offense. Neither was Érika de Souza. Part of that was the Liberty defense, but Atlanta didn't seem inclined to test it. They were content to pass around the perimeter and not even attempt to get the ball to the bigs. They went to that a bit in the third quarter, but then the Liberty defense tightened up again. Getting into foul trouble in the second and third quarters didn't help, either. She was big on the boards, though. Angel McCoughtry brought the fire on offense for the Dream. Late in the game, it looked as if she had decided that no one else was terribly inclined to attempt to win the game, so she was going to go it alone. I don't know if that's a good plan for Atlanta- it certainly didn't work when Cappie Pondexter was doing it for the Liberty. And it got to her near the end, when she got a technical.

Atlanta, I don't know what you were doing, especially in that first half, but if you want to keep doing it against the Liberty, I'd be all right with that.

I loved the bench play tonight! Lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm. Carolyn Swords needs to work on her catching and holding abilities, but she got inside and got position. The big girl played fearless. I approve. Rebecca Allen really, really brought the hustle- there were at least two plays I could think of where she stole a rebound away from Atlanta. I'm waiting for her to hit a three just so I can belt AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE. Sugar Rodgers was a spark and a lightning rod- great hustle, big shots. On nights like these, I understand why she stays. Swin Cash brought the offense, especially in the third quarter, and came up with a couple of key rebounds and baskets to keep Atlanta at bay. The star of the night, at least among the crowd in my area, was Brittany Boyd, who broke Erica Wheeler's ankles at least once, maybe twice, and fired up the team and the crowd like Four Loko injected directly into the veins. She was everywhere. She was relentless. She got a little crazy, and got a bit distracted by the Timeless Torches, but rookies gonna rook.

Candice Wiggins rocking the Knicks hair, which might explain why her mojo was a wee bit absent. She was capable. She wasn't abhorrently awful, but she did nothing of note, and had trouble keeping up at both ends of the floor. Tanisha Wright eems to be the point guard whose job it is to slow up the game, as opposed to Brittany throwing things in fast forward. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you need to throw the chutes. And I like the flexibility she provides us to switch around everyone else in the backcourt. She brings a lot to the table. Essence Carson still needs to get the hang of the extended three-point line. I'm really glad to see she's been cleared to play without the goggles. She was defensively assigned to McCoughtry for much of the night, during the times that Swin wasn't, and the results were... less than spectacular. Kiah Stokes was a bit more of the late-senior-season Kiah than the awesome preseason Kiah, but she brought defense against de Souza and rebounding, especially in the second half. Tina Charles did her thing- finishing at the glass, pulling down boards, all that good stuff. She had one shot that was especially pretty, a left-handed finish on a fast break. She got a little too one-on-one in the third quarter. I think she forgot she has teammates now.

Play of the night: Sugar steals a rebound on the baseline, performs a full spin to get possession while still staying in-bounds, gets the ball off to Tina, Tina outlets to Tanisha, Tanisha hits Swin for the lay-up. It was beautiful.

Officiating was close. Daryl Simpson showed an annoying tendency to blow his whistle about three seconds after a foul actually happened. Stay with the pace, man!

Not-quite-on-court thing I liked: after Brittany got subbed for, she went to the bench with a bit of that chip on her shoulder showing, at which point T-Spoon took her in hand and gave her a pep talk from behind the bench. They're going to get on like a house on fire. Possibly with screaming if it doesn't go well.

Lots of athletes in the house: John Starks, Dick Barnett, a couple of current Knicks I wouldn't know from a hole in the ground, Prince Amukamara (we looked to see if either of his sisters were there), and Bart Scott.

A great start- and a nicely balanced one. It's clear that the starters of this game won't all be starting in September, or even in July.

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May 27th, 2015: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Atlanta Dream turned on the afterburners in the third quarter to lead by as much as 23 in a preseason win over the New York Liberty. Angel McCoughtry and Erica Wheeler each had 13 to lead Atlanta, while Érika de Souza added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 12 points.

For reversals, troubling injuries, enthusiasm, missed shots, so very many players, defensive energy, cool shirts, cool hair, and too many kids, join your intrepid and clammy blogger after the jump.


Good morning, gentle readers! Wow, that came out too enthusiastic. I hate mornings. I hate Camp Day games. And yet here I am at the Garden for Camp Day versus Atlanta in the preseason. I love my team. I may disagree strongly with their management decisions, but they're still my team and I have to love them or there will be nothing left to love.

To the kids in section 108: knock it off with the thundersticks already. It's a half hour before the game. My head already hurts.

Matee Ajavon, it is not cool of you to blow off all autograph seekers, especially the one in the Rutgers tank top. Erica Wheeler signed for her.

I forgot how hard it was to get Liberty autographs at Liberty games. And Swin Cash still eludes us all.

Flopping in a biddy game? For serious? Shame, because the fast breaks are actually pretty good. (And no, young lady in the headscarf, neither team is the Liberty.)

Substitute announcer. I think it's the Seton Hall guy. I wanted to hear how Mike W. did the names for the newcomers.

Oh, hey, cool, another kids' game. Though this one's going to have to be pretty fast if they want to get the players on the court on time. Atlanta just came out, and Shoni Schimmel's face, even nine rows away, is pretty fantastically WTF. And Sancho Lyttle will not be denied. She wants her basketballs! They came on before the kids had finished clearing the floor.

I still do not approve of the "Strike It Up"/"Turn Down For What" mash-up, but I am a stick in the mud and I want all these kids to get off my lawn.

At halftime, Atlanta is up 44-39, but that's mostly on free throw shooting. I love what I'm seeing from the newcomers for the Liberty, especially Rebecca Allen, Kiah Stokes, and Brittany Boyd. The energy is fantastic. For Atlanta, I've been very impressed by Sequoia Holmes and Erica Wheeler. Wheeler really, really wants a W job. (That being said, running full speed into Bill Laimbeer is not a recipe for long-term health.)

Scary moment near the end of the first half- Nadia Colhado got into a collision with Rebecca Allen and a Dream player, and rolled around on the floor holding the top of her head. But she's back out for warmups, so it must not have been as bad as we thought.

Candice Wiggins is rocking blue and orange hair. I'll let it go, but I'd prefer the seafoam green. I know a lot of players prefer the NBA connection, or at least the appearance of an NBA connection, but we wear black and seafoam. Also, who wants to be affiliated with the Knicks right now?

So things fell apart a little in the second half, but I don't think it's as big a concern for the Liberty as you might think from looking at the splits or even watching the game. Laimbeer seemed to be feeling out his players (not feeling up, that's Isiah's job {yes, this will probably be the first of many inappropriate jokes about Isiah Thomas until such time as he takes a long walk off a short pier}), his rotations, and who can run what plays with whom. Cooper got into that more in the second half, once they'd established the big lead early in the third quarter.

So many players, so little time, but we'll see how many of them left anything resembling an impression.

Matee Ajavon seems to be back up to speed and snarl. I think she picked the defense up a little. Samantha Logic got in very late and had some nice passes, including the prettiest play of the game, a sweet assist to Erica Wheeler for three. Sequoia Holmes didn't make a statistical impact, but I give points to a player who has the court awareness to at least try and get her team to stop play while a teammate is hurt. Ify Ibekwe mixed it up on the glass. Aneika Henry was solid on the boards (you might notice a theme here) and set tough, not always legal, screens. Martha Alwal is tall, but that's the only impression that she left. Roneeka Hodges doesn't have the shot she used to. Nadia Colhado works really well with Érika de Souza on the boards- she was mixing it up on the offensive boards and taking advantage of balls that were not fully possessed. There was one sequence where she and de Souza were going back and forth rebounding the misses. She has to finish at the rim, though. But the biggest and most pleasant surprise off the Atlanta bench was Erica Wheeler, who seems to have studied the road map that Michelle Campbell wrote. She shot well, though perhaps more often than she would in the regular season, and played fantastic on-ball defense on our rookie point guards. I'd keep her if I was Atlanta.

Sancho Lyttle still has those quick hands. Do not pass a ball anywhere near her unless you play for the Atlanta Dream, because she will jump that lane and take that ball. She seems to have taken her offense out to the perimeter for good. Érika de Souza is a load down low and went hard to the rack whenever she had the opportunity. The rim robbed her twice; I'm honestly surprised she missed as many shots as the box score would indicate, and I’m using the ESPN box score, so it's not that WNBA.com is broken again. Angel McCoughtry was her styling, acrobatic self, at least when she played, but there will be more on that. Shoni Schimmel fired up some shots late, but overall didn't look great, nor did she look like she was thinking about getting into game shape. Tiffany Hayes did a nice job of drawing contact going through the lane, and it's really annoying when she hits threes.

The biggest concern for Atlanta right now: in the second half, McCoughtry abruptly pulled up short as if cramping, dropped to the floor, rolled to the sidelines, and was helped up putting no weight on her left knee. They took her back to the locker room briefly. She came back out, but didn't play (by the time she was back out there was only about 4:30 left in the game, and Atlanta was up big). She didn't come out to the handshake line, and she left on crutches.

On to New York. Amber Orrange should not make this team. Harsh, but she doesn't have the WNBA vision or the WNBA handle to make it in the league. Maybe if she plays overseas for a couple of years she'll be ready to try again. I saw nothing positive out of her. I did like Chelsea Hopkins's passing eye- she and Essence Carson hooked up for two late beauties- but her handle leaves something to be desired. WNBA guards will not give you a chance to get the ball back under control. Sugar Rodgers committed dumb fouls but somehow found ways to get the ball in the basket. Sugar is high-risk, high-reward, and has always been. I don't know if she's worth investing in. I like Shanece McKinney's hustle, and I like the work she puts in, but I don't think she has the talent to cut it. She will push her teammates, but in the pros, is that enough to keep her on the roster? Candice Wiggins's shot fell consistently short. Ominous. (Also, if you have bright, multi-colored hair, do not put yourself in a position where an official can decide to call a foul on you. You are easy to spot that way.) Avery Warley-Talbert hit the boards well, but she has to finish. She absolutely has to finish. She missed at least two easy shots right at the rim, and she had trouble with free throws. Rebecca Allen made a really good impression. I love her slashing ability, and she seems to have range. Her shot wasn't falling until fairly late, but that's a risk you take. She brings other things to the table. Brittany Boyd has solid vision, but she's still learning the speed of the game, and what plays she can and can't make against WNBA competition. I love her eye on the boards- you hear about it, but it doesn't click until you see it. Carolyn Swords falls down an awful lot. She clears space well down low, and she can be a useful player for us, but I'm worried about her durability. If she can stay healthy (and upright), she shows flashes of being similar to Sue Wicks. And no, that is not because she's blonde and, er, oh dear, how to put this... looks older than her years, at least in profile (please don't kill me please don't kill me). I didn't realize how many rebounds she came up with until I looked at the box score.

Kind of worried a little bit about Swin Cash. She really didn't bring much of anything today. She was okay defensively, maybe a little better than okay, but that was it. Essence Carson found her shooting mojo late in the game. I think she's still finding her way back. She seems to be shifting back to the two instead of the three, which I've long felt is where she belongs. Tanisha Wright ran a solid point, and I liked watching her on defense. Tina Charles was mighty pretty on offense, going to the hole and finishing, but I worry about her lack of rebounding. Then again, that might just have been because Kiah Stokes grabbed all the rebounds. I'm on the bandwagon now. I like the way she plays, I like the way she gets work done down low, and I like how she fits with this team. Tiny thing I liked most about Kiah today: she made a huge, crowd-firing block into the third row... and as she saw it go out of bounds, she scowled, as if infuriated that she hadn't kept it in play.

Officiating was mostly solid. Tiara Cruse was feeling her oats early on, but then Bill yelled at Denise Brooks.

Shoutout to the kid who customized his school-issued green t-shirt into a Neymar jersey.

There's still work to be done, and I'm not anointing us Eastern Conference champions yet, but I like this team more than I've liked squads in the last few years. There's promise and camaraderie. The energy, especially in the second quarter, doesn't come through in the statistics, but it was there, almost tangible.

It's good to be home.

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July 16th, 2014: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A double-double from Tina Charles and a banked-in jumper from Cappie Pondexter sealed the deal in a physical win for the Liberty, 77-75, over Eastern Conference leaders Atlanta. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 18 points and 15 rebounds; Cappie Pondexter was held to eight points, but had seven assists. Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 20 points, just missing a triple-double at nine rebounds and nine assists.

For surprises, shadow achievements, a lack of hair, so much snot, injuries, and futile waiting, join your intrepid and uncomfortable blogger after the jump.


Morning. I refuse to consider any morning where I have to be surrounded by thousands of screaming children while fighting off a sinus infection to be good, so I am not telling you good morning.

Apparently Michael Cooper is one of those "if you're not early, you're late" people, since pretty much everyone for Atlanta sprinted for the gate at 37 minutes to tip, and at 35 DeLisha was telling us they had a minute to get to the locker room, when usual clearout is at 30 minutes. Swung and missed today. I really don't like having to stake out after games, but if Natasha Lacy's only on a seven-day contract and she doesn't come out for warm-ups, what's a completionist to do? And if Atlanta doesn't stop for anyone, how am I supposed to get the newcomers? (I refuse to call Céline Dumerc a rookie, she's older than I am.)

Our usher said to us, "And here you are again! You're at every game!" Yes, that's sort of the point of having season tickets, hon.

The camp group in front of us is startlingly well behaved and seems into the game. I approve.

We're up at the half. Huh. Not what I was expecting, but the posts have really stepped their game up. We're still giving up too many open looks to the United Nations up front, but Avery has rebounded like a beast and Plenette came up huge in the second quarter.

This rhythmic gymnastics team is creepy. Like, I'm pretty sure there are states where you can't watch this performance on YouTube without troopers knocking on your door to ask uncomfortable questions.

Beautifully drawn dreamcatcher on a Schimmel fan's sign. I am sort of expecting Atlanta to sell those one of these days- it's too easy.

I think Dumerc actually used Lyttle's leg to deflect her dribble so she could regain control of it.

That was exhilarating at the end! I thought we were done for. I thought Atlanta was going to force the overtime and overwhelm us at the end with superior firepower. But today was the day where Cappie Pondexter saved up all her superheroics for one big shot, and one big shot was exactly what we needed. (I'm mildly annoyed that I'm late writing notes because my team is impossible to snag if you're an utograph collector, but it is what it is.)

I see what Michael Cooper sees in Nadia Colhado- she's a young post who can move a little and shoot a little from the outside. She's not quite as athletic as Sancho Lyttle is, even now, but she's a little bigger. Amanda Thompson actually got the second half start (I don't know why McCoughtry was late out of the locker room), but was unremarkable. She's got the right build, but I don't know if she has the skill for this level. Céline Dumerc seems to have a knack for big shots- she ended the quarter with a beautiful three. It's pretty obvious that Jasmine Thomas is being phased out, or at least primed to ease out of the starting lineup. I'm surprised Dumerc isn't starting already, to be honest. Aneika Henry gave tough minutes down low. Shoni Schimmel barely played, which is starting to surprise me. I know Cooper wants to bring her along slow, but there's slow and there's stuck in quicksand. Then again, she did not have her shot today, so maybe she's a situational sub. Matee Ajavon played! The schaudenfraude connoisseur in me approves of the fact that she looks lost, somewhat broken, and appears to have put on weight, but when it comes to Ajavon, I admit that I'm an utter cad. (Never liked her, even in my Rutgers days.)

Érika deSouza really staked out her spots in the paint, especially on defense. She and the rest of the United Nations front line made life miserable for Tina Charles. On the other hand, she didn't get that many touches, and got moved away from the basket on offense more than I would think Atlanta wanted. Sancho Lyttle had a little bit of the jumper going, and she was quick defensively, but I look at her and think of the match-up nightmare athletic freak she used to be, and I just wonder when she really lost so much of it. Tiffany Hayes annoys me, and not just because of the timing of her makes. I don't like her drama and I don't like her style and I don't like her flopping and I just wish she'd get over herself. Jasmine Thomas was pesky defensively, but it's hard to believe she had four field goals. She really seemed like a non-entity out there (which is part of why I think Dumerc should be starting- you need to have someone out there with a bit more oomph if they have to corral Angel McCoughtry). McCoughtry is phenomenally athletic, and she always, always, is a presence on the floor that you have to watch out for, but all things considered, except for one egregious lapse in the first half where she got open for a three, I thought we did all right on her. Yeah, I know. One assist and one rebound from a triple-double and I think we did all right on her. She had to work for a lot of what she got. I'll say this for her: she's not the immature, whiny, preening, Angel she once was. She seems to have grown into herself.

I do not think Essence Carson is a morning person. She looked like I do when I get up.

Swin Cash looked a lot more comfortable in the sets than she did last game, and she was excellent when she was defending McCoughtry- she has the right build and the skill set to make her life difficult. She hit a couple of nice shots in the second half, including one that was credited to Plenette because the scorer may have been slightly drunk or something. Sugar Rodgers got the offense going in the first half with long jumpers and a spectacularly tough drive down the lane for an and-1. She's grown on me. I feel like I should disapprove of that for some reason. Plenette Pierson was tough on the boards and came up big in the second quarter with a couple of back-to-back baskets. I would like to know what she said to the ref to get that T, though. I understand her frustration, but you have to keep your temper when you're in a game that's turning close.

I cannot say enough about the hard work of Avery Warley-Talbert down low. I think she knows that her starting spot is in jeopardy from Swin, and she played with such fire and such hustle that despite the lack of scoring, this might have been my favorite game of hers this year. She was going after every loose ball, fighting toe to toe with deSouza and the rest of the bigs. That, no pun intended, is Liberty basketball. Alex Montgomery was sharp defensively and came up with a big third quarter three. She wasn't hitting a lot of shots, but we didn't need her to. Anna Cruz drove hard- crossed over Jasmine Thomas with a pretty move that had the crowd roaring, though her jumpers were not as successful as her drives. She was pesky on defense, too. Cappie Pondexter wasn't getting elevation on her shots- something in her legs was not right, and her shots were short off the front iron. But instead of taking a lot of bad shots, she became more of a distributor. (I am not believing those fifteen shots attempts in the box score. Doesn't seem to fit.) There were a lot of plays going to her in the third and fourth quarters, despite her condition, which didn't make sense to me, but they don't pay me the big bucks (and the Garden doesn't pay me any bucks at all). She saved most of her superheroic strength for that one shot at the end, and you would have thought the roof was going to come off. Tina Charles was energized on the boards, but offensively, everyone knew she had to carry the bulk of the load, and that included Atlanta on defense. She took a lot of bad shots, forced away from the basket or in the teeth of two defenders. I'm not thrilled with them, but she kind of had to.

Play of the day: Cappie's little drop pass to Tina for the deuce. Pretty as a picture.

I still can't believe we won. I was there and I still can't believe we held on. Now, can we do anything with it when we get out on the road? (And will Natasha Lacy still be on the roster when they get back to New York? Mama has a cap to work on.)

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