Just the Facts, Ma'am: A spirited defensive battle went to Florida State, as they beat St. John's 57-53. Kiah Gillespie led all scorers with 22 points, adding seven rebounds. Alisha Kebbe had 17 points for St. John's, with Kayla Charles adding nine points and 20 rebounds for the Red Storm.
For all the usual complaints, lots of rebounds, terrible shooting, needing some more warm bodies, and autographs, join your intrepid and repetitive blogger after the jump.
It's game day at St. John's, as the Red Storm welcome Florida State to Carnesecca Arena, but your intrepid blogger is not quite dressed for the occasion. Long-time readers of the GNoD know who my favorite Johnnie is, and she's an assistant on the other bench today. Long-time readers also know that I wear her jersey (like, literally, because no one wore that number for something like ten years). It seemed inappropriate to do so today, though, so I'm wearing the jersey my husband usually wears and he's wearing another from our stash, after a little trial and error. (Have you ever almost been strangled by a jersey before? Not fun.)
Kiah Gillespie has a very large contingent here. I wonder if they were the ones who chartered the Dattco bus. (The shirts with Gillespie on the back and her picture on the front were a dead giveaway, if you were wondering.)
I don't even see Curteeona Brelove, on the bench or on crutches or anything. Meemo. :( She came out later with the gold laces wrapped around her boot.
The spear down the side of the shorts on Florida State's uniforms is very dramatic. I like the effect, but I always hesitate before complimenting the Native-based imagery FSU uses. I know, I know, they have permission, but it's complicated and I don't know if I should delve into it.
Something about Sky Lindsay's outfit isn't working for me today, and I don't know if it's the lipstick or the color of the top.
Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike when the men are scheduled at the Garden at the same time the women are scheduled at Carnesecca? Because we have to scramble to put together an alumni band, and I don't see either cheer or dance. And DSPN is working, so it looks like the husband and I are the cheer squad today. And neither of us can really pull off the short skirt.
(We ended up with about half the dance team and maybe a third of the cheer squad. Like many things about this game, it could be worse.)
We're shooting 18% from the field and only down two points, I will take this any day of the week and twice on Sundays, which is good, since today is Sunday. It's 19-17, so I'm sort of glad the only people who are seeing this game are the ones who are here, and the ones who have decided to pay for ESPN+. Lots of missed shots. Lots of questionable shot selection for St. John's and bad misses for Florida State. Kayla Charles has all the rebounds. Okay, not literally all of them, but we have 25 and she has 12, so.
I like Coach Semrau's top. I'm a sucker for the gradient look.
If our substitute PA guy doesn't stop mispronouncing Qadashah's name, I will not be responsible for the consequences of my actions, or those of her dad. Qadashah and Kadaja are different names and different people, okay? Why is this so hard? There's even a pronunciation guide on the scorecards this year.
CYO game and dance clinic at halftime. Neither terribly impressive.
I repeat: that is a lot better than I was expecting things to go. It helped that Florida State was almost as shorthanded as we were, and that they didn't have a lot of shooters. But they've got length, and their defense never let up. That's going to keep them in a lot of games.
Sayawni Lassiter is not ready for primetime. The first time she came into the game, she committed two boneheaded plays right off the bat, and didn't improve much from there. I would have thought she'd pick up more ball thought during her redshirt year, but she did not look ready at all. Savannah Wilkinson had a big block on Akina Wellere in the second quarter. She's a little bit more of a widebody than most of their players.
I honestly would not have guessed that Kourtney Weber played the most minutes off the bench for Florida State. Not by much, I grant you, but still. I'm trying to picture her on the floor, but I'm not seeing her clearly. I was very impressed with Morgan Jones, and since she got the second half start over Amaya Brown, I don't think I was the only one. She's quick and lengthy, and used both of these really well on defense. She had a couple of big blocks on Tiana England, because I'm starting to wonder about Tiana's learning curve. Jones seems like the kind of player I could enjoy watching for a while.
Driving against Valencia Myers seems to be a terrible idea. She swatted a lot of weak shots; if she saw hesitation, the next thing the shooter was going to see was the ball coming back at high speed. I think she was the one who had the really nice strip block. Her jumper needs work. A lot of work. But she's a freshman. Someone can work on that with her. (Preferably Wyckoff. I've seen her jumper and I've seen Joy's jumper, and I know which one is more fundamentally sound. There are many things I loved about Joy as a player, and that ain't one.) Kiah Gillespie got off to a very quick start, then became less of a factor until the fourth quarter. I think we were out of gas at that point, and she took advantage. She had a size advantage for much of the game, but elected to use it from the three-point arc instead of pressing it inside.
Amaya Brown started the game, and like many a Florida State player, she brought a lot of length to the floor. But I don't think Coach Semrau was happy with her defense, so Jones got the bulk of the minutes in the second half. Nicki Ekhomu has impressive ups and good speed. I don't think point is her natural position, but she did admirably filling in; she kept the offense moving at a fast pace, even if it wasn't always the most effective fast pace. I'm assuming Nicoletti was supposed to provide some of the outside threat that would complement this team's ability to get to the basket. Nausia Woolfolk (whose first name is, unfortunately, either pronounced exactly how you imagine it or was being butchered all night by our PA guy) provided solid defense and a fantastic offensive rebound in the second half. She charged the ball on that play like a streak of lightning.
I don't know how the short roster will hold out in the ACC, but they've got some really good young players that are going to get a lot of chances to develop this year.
Shamachya Duncan played briefly, and surprised one of her teammates by passing the ball to her. I should be surprised we didn't see more of her, whether it was as a spare set of fouls late in the fourth or as a breather to give someone, anyone, a much-needed rest. But Joe Tartamella apparently doesn't believe that players need rest or anything like that. On the other hand, Machi is inconsistent and Jasmine Sina is nowhere near the player she was at Binghamton, so I can understand Joe not wanting to give them extended time. Kadaja Bailey continues to look lost, which disturbs me. She looked great at the beginning of the season, but now looks like she's forgotten everything she ever knew about our defense and our offensive sets. There's so much potential there, but there's something not clicking, and it worries me.
I like when Tiana England drives, when she doesn't let fear or the pace throttle her game. It's when she stops and kills the clock that things seem to go wrong, whether it's not having enough time to make plays or excessive dribbling that leads to fumbles and turnovers. I think she's in a no-win situation, though, because she's either going to be too slow or she's going to try to do too much. Qadashah Hoppie did a good job of driving the lane and getting fouled. That kind of play comes with drawbacks, and while the box score doesn't track blocked attempts, I think she came in for a fair few of Florida State's swats.
Kayla Charles was a beast on the boards. I love it. She was relentless, whether it was going all the way up or going all the way down (I had my heart in my throat the one play where she brought the ball all the way down to the floor with three Florida State players surrounding her). She's still getting frustrated too easily when she doesn't get the call, and she has to understand that she's not going to get the call. Akina Wellere's in an interesting and not necessarily good spot. She's definitely shying away from the three-pointer, and the ones she takes aren't from her comfort zones. She's stuck somewhere in the middle, and I feel bad for her; I think she's in a no-win situation. I'm sure it's been spun to her as a chance to expand her skill set and potentially play overseas, but I think it's serving the opposite purpose. She's trying to force things she's not comfortable with. Alisha Kebbe has, in these last few games, been the eye of the Storm, the calm center around which the defense pivots, and the person who comes up with big baskets at the right time. She was on fire beyond the arc in this game. She's been solid for us, the leader that we need.
We came out with really good energy, and we fought back at the end of the fourth quarter, but for much of the third and fourth, we didn't have enough left in the tank to counter Florida State. They carry almost as short a roster as we do, but Semrau was willing to use a lot more of it, and that helped them in the end.
The officials let a lot of contact go on both sides, and we got away with more of it than Florida State did, so all in all, I can't really complain too much, except in the generalized way that a good fan of the overall game should.
Gold laces today in support of battling pediatric cancer. Gold and red are a classic combo. Unfortunately, in some cases, it's the fries and a Big Mac kind of combo. The kid they were honoring was adorable, though.
Today was also autograph day, which meant a chance to say hi to the squad, update the flag, and get the snazzy new poster signed. It also meant hearing more about Meemo's ankle than I really wanted to know, and I'm now sorry I asked. Which, for all I know, was the whole point.
Now it's another month until the next home game. I really want to know who designed this schedule, because it seems to make a negative amount of sense. At least we'll have Awkward Bowl.
Monday, December 10, 2018
December 9th, 2018: Florida State at St. John's
Saturday, November 28, 2015
November 28th, 2015: Sam Houston State at Florida State (LIU Turkey Classic)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Florida State leaped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back as the Seminoles dominated Sam Houston State 94-37. Brittany Brown's well-rounded effort led the way for Florida State, with 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, and foru steals. Leticia Romero notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists against zero turnovers. Angela Beadle was the only Bearkat in double figures, with 10 points.
For orange, handicrafts, cheesecake shots, intercepted passes, guards, hand stamps, and friends in all the right places, join your intrepid and pebbled blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, boys and girls! It's another basketball day here in Brooklyn, as the Turkey Classic lumbers on. Florida State is in action again, this time playing Sam Houston State.
This format is terrible. I blame Texas Southern, the team that backed out of the tournament and turned it from a four-team, two-day, two-doubleheader affair into this three-team, three-day, two-arena, round-robin mess.
Mom is distracted by small, adorable Seminole fans.
SHSU's uniforms are really, really orange.
Unsurprisingly, there aren't a lot of people here, and they seem to be mostly family and friends.
At halftime, Florida State is up 51-18, and Brittany Brown is up 22-18. Florida State's been intercepting passes like nobody's business. Sam Houston State is not good. They're not accurate, they're not sharp, and they don't move without the ball.
The Bearkats used a lot of subs, often at the same time- there were more than a few three-at-a-time subs, at least one instance of four-at-a-time, and at least one where five players checked in at once. (Poor Shadijah Moore drew the short straw on that one, being the last player sitting on a bench otherwise emptied of players.) They stayed stationary often on offense, and instead of throwing the ball to where a player was going to be, they would throw it to where she was- at which point Florida State would intercept the pass and run the break. It wasn't pretty.
Ashleigh Cooper played a few sporatic minutes late in each half and provided no marked impact. Jasmine McCants, who is not a center anywhere outside the Southland, was solid, and I think she was able to play a little more outside than her team would ordinarily ask of her, since she was closer to the size of the Seminoles' perimeter players than she was their post players. Shadijah Moore brought physicality and occasionally questionable plays.
Morghen Day reminded us physically of Lindsay Whalen, but not in style of play- she was more of a shooter than a driver. Jasmin Anderson and her tall hair made a little noise late with a three-pointer. Kamry Orr fearlessly drove the lane, you should pardon the pun.
Angela Beadle was outmatched by the Seminoles' posts, but she showed flashes of skill down low. She has an unusually exaggerated followthrough on her shot. Saundra Guillory came up with some nice strong rebounds late in the game.
Because Sam Houston State went through a lot of players, it's hard to differentiate among their guards except as people who were throwing the ball to Florida State players. Shernice Robertson was the most aggressive, which led to the most mistakes, but at least also led to some points for the Bearkats.
I think my favorite thing about SHSU was the personalized clipboards the coaches were carrying around. I know that's damning with faint praise, but they were distinctly unimpressive and lacking in effort.
It took a long time to get Rachel Antoniadou into the game, which I thought was ridiculous, given how far ahead Florida State was for most of the game. She shows promise as a shooter, but she needs a lot of work. Emiah Bingley ran a fair amount of point, or at least dribbled the ball at the top of the key to run out the clock. Maria Conde really got a lot of run, both because Sue Semrau was experimenting with different frontcourts and because the margin started out ridiculous and stayed ridiculous. She's very raw, and she seems terrified of contact, but there's a lot of potential for her. I'm not sure Florida State is the right system for her, though.
Kai James was intimidating down low, but more for her size and physical presence than anything she was doing near the basket- she didn't seem to be calling for the ball very much, and did little with it when she got it. Ama Degbeon moves like a woman who's terrified that her knees will fail her- she shot her free throws very stiffly and didn't seem to move well on the floor.
Leticia Romero is slick. I had forgotten about that ankle injury she was recovering from, which might explain why she wasn't as sharp as I was expecting her to be. But she still dropped some beautiful lookaway passes to her teammates, and made good decisions with the ball. I understand the Ticha Penicheiro comparison I've seen once or twice. Brittany Brown decided she was going to have herself a day, whether it was from behind the arc, hitting lay-ups on the break, or finding her teammates on the break. The shots she missed were hittable shots, and I think that got into her head a little bit. I really enjoy watching her play.
Ivey Slaughter has some nice inside moves. She has to remember that there's no checking in basketball the way there is in hockey, though. You can't bump someone that hard on the baseline and expect to get the call. Shakayla Thomas provides interesting lineup flexibility and can score both inside and out, but was careless with the fouls she committed on the defensive end. Sometimes you have to remember how breakable mid-majors are. Adut Bulgak looks like a pro player playing amongst college kids. She moves with more confidence and grace among them, and scores well inside and out. I think she gets one three-point attempt per blowout, when Sue Semrau decides to let her go a little wild.
Refs called a tight game early, then swallowed their whistles, then seemed to realize that things were getting a little out of hand in the second half and adjusted accordingly it got physical.
LIU came for the first half of the game, coaches sitting center court, players sitting in the endcourt. They left before halftime, but came back in the second half. To be honest, I think LIU might run SHSU's plays better than the Bearkats do.
Of course we went to Junior's for dinner. Expensive, but worth it. The chocolate mousse cheesecake is to die for.
Friday, November 27, 2015
November 27th, 2015: Florida State at Long Island
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A spirited defensive effort from LIU-Brooklyn was no match for a taller, faster, stronger Florida State team. The Seminoles won going away, 78-42, behind 20 points and nine rebounds from Adut Bulgak and 15 points and seven assists from Brittany Brown. Paris Jones led LIU with 12 points off the bench.
For seat cushions, new teams, ill-advised drives, disconcerting the shooter, questionable uniform choices, a lack of rstoer cards, changing numbers, elegance on the bench, and a work in progress, join your intrepid and stuffed blogger after the jump.
Happy Day After Turkey Day, everyone! Today is not Black Friday- it's Blackbird Friday, as LIU-Brooklyn hosts their first home game of the year against Florida State.
I don't know anything about LIU basketball so far, but the softball players are really nice- they were manning the table where the complementary tickets are held, and they were very helpful.
I forgot how much I liked LIU's facility, except for that one flight of stairs that is an inconvenience when traveling with my mom, who has two artificial knees and two artificial hips. (She's the Bionic Woman, but don't tell anyone I told you.)
The band is less jazzy and more percussion-driven than I remember. Dance team is more traditional, too. I'm a little sad about that.
Mom decided that sitting directly behind the Florida State radio team was a good idea, so we're mostly around FSU fans. I do not like this and do not recommend it as a course of action.
At halftime, Florida State is up 41-26. They're bigger, faster, stronger, and more aggressive. LIU's playing spirited defense, but the offense is stagnant and the shot selection questionable. There's still a lot of work to be done.
(Is it petty to say that Sue Semrau looks like a version of Kim Mulkey with fashion sense? Well, I can be petty if I want to be.)
Emiah Bingley seemed very fond of the weak-side three, with mixed results for the Seminoles. Maria Conde is extremely raw and still seems to be growing into her body, but she has the right moves and a lot of potential. Rachel Antoniadou was aggressive on defense late in the game, and had the favor returned by Paris Jones so hard that she was rubbing the back of her hand before she took the free throws.
Kai James is a lot of woman. Nobody on LIU was capable of moving her. Ama Degbeon started to get some reps in the second half, running some of the same plays that Adut Bulgak was running.
Brittany Brown impressed me, getting all up in people's business on defense and hitting threes. She wasn't spectacular, but she was solid, the kind of presence Florida State needs to complement their star parts. Leticia Romero really didn't impress me in this one. She was there, and she read the passing lanes well, but she didn't make a lot of big plays. On the other hand, she really didn't have to.
Adut Bulgak is the real deal. I love how gracefully she moves, and how she's able to get position down low on the boards. Granted, she was playing against much shorter players who she could just reach over, but she moves really well, and I can see her being able to adjust smoothly to the 4 in the WNBA. Ivey Slaughter started the game off very well for the Seminoles, scoring down low around the basket. She cooled off a little bit, but still played well on the glass. Shakayla Thomas showed a tendency to add unnecessary degree of difficulty to her shots, which meant she was throwing the ball over the basket a bit. She's tough and very aggressive.
Florida State adjusted very quickly to the LIU defense, and to LIU's lack of size, going to big lineups with Kai James and Adut Bulgak. They had much bigger players and dominated the boards.
Lily Abreu looks a lot like Stephen Curry around the face, but she doesn't shoot like him. Shame- we need an outside shooter. She, like many Blackbirds, looked like she was still trying to find her place in the defense. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something I like about DeAngelique Waithe- she seemed to put herself in the right place at the right time much of the time. Paris Jones made a good first impression, hitting shots and bringing energy. She won over the Queen Mother in a hurry. She seemed to be one of the few players for LIU playing with any sense of urgency.
I really like Brianna Farris's defensive intensity, but she needs to pick up some discipline and stay with her man- a lot of the time she was ducking out to get on the shooter and leaving people open. I'm also not sure about her shot selection, but her defense is her strength. Jolanna Ford reminds me of a couple of Red Storm forwards from back in the day- mind you, she's going to have to get a lot more floor burns and pull down a lot more rebounds before I really compare her to Joy McCorvey, but she has a similar build and can play a similar style. She's not consistent, though.
I... get the feeling that there wasn't a lot of structured offense at LIU before Coach Oliver took over. Shanovia Dove and Shanice Vaughan were both guilty of repeatedly driving the lane without even looking for a teammate to pass to, and then throwing up bad shots that had no chance of going in. Dove was at least rewarded with free throws for doing so more often than Vaughan was, but I don't think this was supposed to be the game plan. Stylz Sanders drove the lane hard as well, but looked for her teammates more. On the other hand, she was also more careless with the ball.
I knew going in that LIU was a work in progress, but there's still a lot of basics that have to be covered before we can get to the more complex issues of designing an offense. The biggest concern was an overarching lack of speed of play. As a team, LIU was too hesitant to shoot (granted, they were all facing larger defenders, even when they had shooting guards on them), slow moving without the ball, slow making decisions with the ball, and telegraphing their passes when they did decide to pass. They have to think faster and be faster on the floor. Learning to run backwards and prepare for passes would also be helpful. Outside shooting is something we can recruit for given time.
Perhaps not the most optimal of introductions, but I've seen worse. And Florida State is a very good team with a very good coach.