Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty answered a second-quarter run from the Chinese national team with a third-quarter run of their own in an 89-71 win at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Xu Han and Kia Nurse each had 19 points to lead the Liberty. Li Meng had 15 points to lead the Chinese side.
For free t-shirts, soft goods, defensive lapses, strong stances, DAT TOUCH PASS THO, dubious fashion choices, packing the house, getting the gang back together, and coming home, join your intrepid and joyous blogger after the jump.
You know what today is? That's right. Issa gameday. Sure, it might be a meaningless preseason game, and most of the players we're expecting to be rotation players are unavailable, but it's game day. More importantly, it's a game day in a real arena and essentially a test drive to see if Brooklyn is going to happen next year. It's the New York Liberty versus the Chinese national team. It's WNBA basketball, live and in color. It's a taunting, tantalizing, teasing taste of the life we should lead as fans of professional basketball before we return to That Dump. (Well, most of us return to That Dump. Your intrepid blogger will not be doing the full season there.)
I'm not thrilled with the requirement to check backpacks at Barclays, especially given how long the process is to get them back. Gotta speed that up. Also, cashless concession stands are the devil, should absolutely be illegal, are probably going to cost the team money, lock people out of purchases, and may generally utilize the left-hand egress.
Those are pretty much my only complaints about the venue. We had amazing seats- you probably saw my big stupid face behind the bench at some point, or at least saw my big stupid clipboard. I know someone heard us at some point, because when we let out our best, harmonized, Flava Flav "YEAHHHH BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYD" we got a look from Reshanda Gray in her street clothes behind the bench.
I liked Reshanda's dress. I liked the cut of Amanda Zahui B's suit, but I'm not feeling the 19th-century prisoner stripes. Spoon remains a timeless national treasure. For the love of God, Katie, tuck in that blouse if it's juuuuuuust a titch longer than your jacket. Charmin's velour jacket was amazing.
Okay, the Fashion Notes of Doom are done.
I was honestly expecting a little more coherency from the Chinese side. I mean, I'm assuming they've played together before. I could be wrong. We didn't get rosters, so I had to pull everything together off the uniforms and the graphics (and the graphics took their time arriving).
I have belatedly realized that I've rendered the Chinese names in the traditional East Asian order of family name first, then given name. I'm choosing to leave them this way for the members of the Chinese national team, but reversing them for Xu Han while she plays for a Western team in order to keep her consistent with her teammates. If it turns out the WNBA, in its infinite wisdom- stop giggling over there on the other side of that screen- already reversed her names for me, I'll fix it at some point in the indeterminate future.
Both full rosters were announced before the game, and there were a couple of names that the PA guy didn't know what to do with. (He had the most trouble with Li Jiacen and Wang Xuemeng. And Talia Caldwell.) There was an exchange of soft goods. Somehow Brittany Boyd ended up with the ceremonial gift banner, and she looked like she was unsure of what to do with this and why she even got it in the first place. The more experienced international veterans appeared amused.
We saw the very end of the Chinese bench in the fourth quarter, after fouls had claimed Zhang Liting and Li Yuere. Wu Tongtong and Guo Zixuan did not impress. Wang Siyu actually got a couple of minutes in the first half, but I mostly remember her coming in at the end.
Yang Liwei made an impression on first entry into the game, but it was that of an aspiring actress, looking for fouls even as she threw elbows. She calmed down a little bit after some of the fouls started going against her, and her energy focused more successfully on going after loose balls. She picked up steam as the game went on. Zhang Ru made a great defensive play in the second quarter- I think it was an interception off one of our guards, but don't hold me to that. Zhang Liting played a lot of minutes in the high post, but fouled out in the end, and I’m not sure she was as effective as the minutes her coach gave her would have indicated.
Whenever Li Yueru reports to Atlanta, they're going to get a good one. There were moments when I was reminded of Zheng Haixia, but I think that was just how the jersey hung on her. She's strong, and she's got good power in the paint. If she can stay out of foul trouble, she'll be fantastic. Wang Xuemeng got going during the big Chinese run in the second quarter, and seemed to slip our defense at the most inopportune moments; she'd be the one at the basket ready for the pass while everyone else tangled in the scrum for the loose ball. Pan Zhenqi did all right, including a three off an amazing jump pass from Yang. It might have been the best pass of the game in a lot of games, but we'll get to that later.
I don't know what it is, but I like watching Li Meng play. She's got a pretty shot, even if it didn't go down as often as it seemed to in the flow of the game. She just seems fun to watch, like she has a sense of what she's doing on the court that some of her teammates might have lacked. Li Yuan made some good hustle plays going after loose balls, but looking at that box score, I'm not sure I would have defined her as the shooting guard and Li Meng as the point guard. She keyed hard on Brittany Boyd.
China picked up the pace in the second quarter and went hard inside. Our defense wasn't ready for the change, and our offense was a pile of hot garbage in that quarter. They did eventually key on Kia Nurse, but then Xu Han found her footing.
I see on the transaction wire today that Kolby Morgan was already the first cut from camp, and I don't know if I agree with her being the first. I don't think she had a place on the final roster, but at least she's fully functional. I don't think Kolby knew what her role was. She did have the one amazing touch pass to Xu for the amazing touch finish, but that was her one highlight. I know I come down hard on Kelly Faris for things that are out of her control, and if you're expecting me to apologize for it, that's a thing that's not happening. But she played in such obvious pain in this game that I almost wanted to hug her. I think I literally saw her have a back spasm on the court (at least that's the most logical explanation for why she almost went ass over teakettle into the lane during someone else's free throw) and at the end of the game she looked ready to cry. I respect her heart and her knowledge of the game, but it's time for her to go into coaching. Tiffany Bias looked lost and committed fouls she shouldn't have. Bianca Cuevas-Moore made a lot of great hustle plays and brought energy to the floor. I'm just not convinced she can consistently keep that energy pointed in useful directions. Tanisha Wright looked like she was auditioning for the part of Sugar Rodgers. The bad version of Sugar Rodgers. T's supposed to be the veteran showing the youngsters how to play the game; if that game was any indication of how her game has devolved since her year off and her subsequent detour to Minnesota, that's not a good sign. She took terrible shots and dribbled the clock into oblivion, and even her defense was shoddy.
Rebecca Allen, if you're going to take terrible stupid shots, have the courtesy to follow those terrible stupid shots for the rebound, please. You bring shame on our name otherwise. Megan Huff shows promise, but I don't think she can make it over the hump in this training camp. She needs some seasoning, but I can see her being a regular in camp, if not eventually breaking through and making a roster. She's got a good head for the game. On the other hand, I don't see Talia Caldwell making the team. She had a lot of trouble getting into and maintaining proper defensive positioning. (I'm just saying, it's probably a bad sign when a guard who's younger than you are seems to know where your post player butt needs to be on defense better than you do.) A couple of the fouls were terrible calls, and the blonde ref seemed to have it in for her, but overall I think I prefer Talia as a writer than as a rotation player. Avery Warley-Talbert had herself a day on the glass. Good Lord, did she get herself some definition since last we met. Are we allowed to make jokes about having a license to bare arms anymore? I'd have liked to see her finish a little better at the rim, but she's undersized and the primary Chinese posts were not. She is who she is, and she's very good at being who she is. Right now, we need who she is.
It's going to take me some time to get used to Asia Durr, because my brain is wired weird and I keep seeing Alex Montgomery when I look at her. Given that Alex was a defensive specialist and Asia is... extremely an offensive specialist, you can see why this is tripping me up. I see the potential. I see the firepower. I also see the learning curve against defenses that are better than college defenses. If she's got moves, she's going to have to use more of them instead of relying on her talent to power through, because it's not happening. Brittany Boyd ran into some intense Chinese defense, and it felt like she should have finished on more drives (and yet I only see her missing one shot in the box score). When she's on, she's playing the game at a better speed than everyone else. When she's not, it's Jessica Bibby and Sherill Baker all over again, and we can get that from Bianca. But even when her speed betrayed her, her hustle remained- she forced jump balls on players she had no business forcing them with.
We were down pretty bad in the third quarter, and then Kia Nurse decided that that was going to change. She put up 14 in the third quarter alone, and I think most of them were in the same run. Eventually China started sending a triple-team at her, and as a result we lost a little momentum, but until then it was her game and everyone else was just along for the ride. She was tough, and she was fearless, and she was determined, and she played like she wanted to prove she belonged on the posters next to Tina. Tina Charles did the Tina Charles things she always does. The husband noticed that her windup has gotten more pronounced, although maybe it was just this game. She got called for some dubious offensive fouls, as one does, and objected to them, as one does. She and Xu are going to have to get used to each other on the glass in order for them to rebound better as a team. Right now they seem to be filling each other's space. But I love what we're going to get from Xu Han. She's so raw, and she needs to strengthen up a little, but there's so much potential. Just the ability to find her in the airspace so few players can even reach will do wonders for our offense, and when she and the guards get to know each other better, woo-ee will this be fun. She moves with much more grace than you'd expect from someone her size. So many tall women don't seem to know what to do with their height, but she seems at least aware of it, if not necessarily comfortable with it. I'm sure she'll have growing pains. But I also feel confident that she'll grow through them.
It's training camp, so there's some disorganization to expect. We might have a better handle on it at Mohegan (and your intrepid blogger will be there to see it). I don't know if Katie knows what she has to work with yet. I don't even know if Katie has determined what she's going to do with what she has.
We got free t-shirts! Free t-shirts are best t-shirts! Except for the ones you somehow manage to catch because holy blessed Arceus I caught a t-shirt! (sorry adorable tourist lady, but it's an XL so I'm keeping it) BANNER DAY. (I like the design on the shirts they gave us, too.)
For whatever reason, the refs were just not calling lane violations in this game. It took pretty much every player involved falling into the paint to finally get one, and they just threw up their hands and called a double violation for a jump ball. The lack of numbers on the front of the WNBA jerseys is definitely throwing the refs off; there was a foul initially called on #33 Talia Caldwell that was actually on #3 Tiffany Bias (and was a terrible call, but I'm partisan), and one ref gave up on calling the Liberty players by number when speaking to the scorer's table.
Timeless Torches need a little more synchronization to incorporate the newcomers into the routine, but again, preseason.
The crowd really got going in the second half. It sounded like a real Liberty game for the first time in ages. We did notice that there were no "Let's go Liberty" chants, which might have been in keeping with the international friendly element. Then again, we had "DE-FENSE!" sound clips, so.
Xu bowed to both sides of the floor when she came off. I thought that was sweet.
There are definitely things the crew needs to work on, and I suspect it's going to be a very disjointed season as personnel drop in and out depending on international commitments, but I like the promise of our young players. I just want to see more out of our veterans, especially if that's the whole reason we brought them in.
(No, I didn't like the Tanisha Wright signing, thanks for asking.)
A brief respite, a rummage through the wardrobe, and it'll be time to hit Mohegan for all the games!
Saturday, May 11, 2019
May 9th, 2019: China at Liberty
Sunday, July 31, 2016
July 31st, 2016: Australia at USA
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Team USA broke open a close game in the second quarter and beat Australia 104-89. Diana Taurasi led the US with 20 points, 16 in the third quarter; she was one of five American players in double figures. Liz Cambage of Australia led all scorers with 22 points, adding eight rebounds, but she and Leilani Mitchell (18 points) were the only Opals to hit double digits.
For fluffy little bunnies, quarter stars, jingoism, flags, ill-advised passes out of the post, Husky fans everywhere, and distracted players, join your intrepid and slightly out of place blogger after the jump.
And this second game is going to be the most frustrating jingo-fest in the world, I can already tell. I know we're technically on the USA's home turf, but really, doing the t-shirt toss while Australia's on the court? Really?
I'm really tempted to root for Australia, just to be contrary. I'm not okay with treating three teams neutrally and then going all out for the US. This is not okay with me. I mean, literally, they had the USA come out to the Liberty's entrance music. I'm okay with patriotism, but in small amounts.
At halftime, the US is up 54-48. Elena Delle Donne has been perfect, with 17 points. Leilani Mitchell has 16 to lead the Opals.
Maybe it's a stupid petty thing to take the organizers to task for- but why was the US anthem the only one introduced by title? Either introduce all four anthems in the event as "La Marseillaise", "O Canada", "Advance Australia Fair", and "The Star-Spangled Banner", or introduce them as "the national anthem of insert-country-here".
This was a faster and somewhat more interesting game than the first one, although the first one was more competitive for longer. Sometimes it can be fun to see the best players in the world, even when they're outclassing everyone by a country mile.
Is Laura Hodges the artist formerly known as Laura Summerton? She looked vaguely familiar. She was physical, but not always efficiently so. Marianna Tolo didn't have an easy job- congratulations, you're the backup center, so you get to take on Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles. Have fun. I thought she had a pretty good handle on the little things for her team- screens, boxing out, that kind of thing. Rachel Jarry mixed it up inside defensively, but I'm drawing a blank on her offense. Cayla George only played very briefly in each half. I don't envy her the expectations that come from being a forward wearing #15 for the Opals.
Tessa Lavey came on a little stronger near the end of the game, though whether that's an improved sense of how the game flowed or a decrease in general defensive attention, I don't know. She had some nice back and forth with Natalie Burton. She shoots very quickly, possibly too quickly. There's such a thing as overthinking things for a shooter, but there's also such a thing as shooting without getting properly set. For a player who did a lot of shooting from the outside, Katie Rae Ebzery got to the line a fair amount (though those might have been for over the limit fouls). Stephanie Talbot is promising. There's something about her that reminds me of Penny Taylor. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something.
Liz Cambage has a huge amount of talent, and if someone could talk her into harnessing it, she'd be unstoppable. But she can't keep her head in the game- she misses a couple of shots, and she starts getting frustrated. She also seems too dependent on her dominant hand- she didn't seem comfortable shooting from the opposite side, and it cost her. When she puts her mind to it and uses her build to her favor, she's amazing. Natalie Burton was solid, if unremarkable. I'm not sure she's long-term starter material, though. Penny Taylor started off decently enough, but tapered off. I think the USA keyed on her and forced her into some really bad shots. She was more focused on the perimeter than I'm used to, and I don't think that's a coincidence.
Erin Phillips remains feisty on both ends of the floor. You already knew she was going to be tough on defense, but she found ways to get her shots off on offense, too. Again, she seemed more reliant on the jumper than she is in the W, which makes me think the US defense was focusing on preventing the drive. Somehow, though, they managed to overlook Leilani Mitchell, who had herself a fine game. Mitchell found the few lanes that opened up and took full advantage of them, and she had a nice game from the outside too. She wasn't really able to keep the US guards in front of her, but they had just as much trouble with her.
(Someone needs to really drill the words to "Advance Australia Fair" into her, though. It's super obvious when she's the only one not singing along. {Especially when Cambage is really animated about it.})
So, uh, in case you didn't know this, Elena Delle Donne shoots real pretty. You give her an inch of space and you might as well just put two points on the board and hand over the ball, just to save time. She was phenomenal in the first half. Angel McCoughtry set things on fire- metaphorically, not literally- in the second quarter. She was fired up and ready to go. Brittney Griner lost the first round against Cambage, when she got two quick fouls and had to sit down, but she definitely won the second round. And then Cambage got the fourth foul, and Tolo and Burton drew the unenviable task of trying to guard her. Sylvia Fowles was strong defensively, but not so much offensively, and her court vision needs work. (Do not pass the ball to Geno. For a myriad of reasons, this is not an effective strategy. She came out of the game right after that.)
Breanna Stewart played briefly, but she left no real impact on me except that she's still a ways off from being the next Delle Donne (I seem to recall Geno subbing her for Delle Donne and vice versa). Lindsay Whalen drove pell-mell, almost recklessly, into the teeth of the Australian defense. She missed her calling in hockey, she really did. (And yes, I know, women's hockey doesn't allow checking, it's a travesty and a sham and a mockery.) Seimone Augustus flashed crossover moves and faked defenders out, but it took a while for her to find her groove.
Tina Charles did not deal well with the size of Liz Cambage, and I think the mask may also have been affecting her vision- her shot looked off when she took it. I think she got the start because of the home crowd (Geno seems to have played to the arena for his starting lineups), but she wasn't on top of her game. Tamika Catchings brought her usual brand of ferocity to the floor, especially on the defensive end. Maya Moore started the game on fire, automatic on the jumper. She started forcing things more as the defense tightened on her. She's really scary when she puts her mind to it, though. Switch in Whalen and Fowles for Bird and Charles, and this starting five might be All-"Team-I-Don't-Want-To-Meet-In-A-Dark-Alley".
Diana Taurasi was the star of the third quarter. Four points at the half, twenty points ten minutes of game time later. That's what Taurasi does. She was bombing threes like nobody's business in the third. Sue Bird wasn't looking to score, which was almost disappointing by the end, when she was the only member of Team USA that hadn't scored a point. She found her teammates well and she controlled the pace of the game. But I think in real competition, as opposed to a friendly, we're going to need her to be more of a threat, either offensively or defensively.
If Team USA has a weakness, it's at point guard. Our guards are capable, but they're not up to the same par as the rest of the squad.
How in the nine circles of Dante's classical inferno did Tiara Cruse get FIBA certification? I mean, the officiating wasn't terrible, but it got very physical, very quickly- there was a back and forth where you had a player basically be allowed a free revenge shot. (I think it was Talbot and Delle Donne, but don't quote me on that.)
I was surprised I didn't hear as much of the Aussies as I expected, though they were likely on the other side of the arena.
This was the kind of game both teams needed- they showed enough of their strengths to feel confident, but recognized enough of their weaknesses to know what needs to be shored up before Rio.
See you on the other side of the break, boys and girls!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
September 19th, 2007: Australia at USA
The Game Notes of Doom are fangirled and fangirl in return, Val Ackerman finally gets a good night's sleep, Courtney Paris is slick, and Cheryl Miller may or may not be drunk.
You know that phrase, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world"? I generally try not to use it because it's so over the top, but in this case, it's actually kinda true. Every game is a unique experience, but this one was a little more unique than most.
Took the 12:30 bus from Chinatown- rode standby and managed to get the last seat, which was in the back of the bus and with a party of guys who descended in some way from the Iberian peninsula. One of them was a Spaniard, another said he was Brazilian but had a Spanish-speaking brother. We talked sports part of the way up, and I think if it had been a slightly earlier tip I would have been able to talk them into going. The bus got in a little after three, allowing me to get to the box office and score a seat four rows off the floor for $30. Alas, I won none of it back, but such is life.
Got to meet a couple of Mikes from the boards (well, say hi to SportsPageMike again) at Geno's- mikejofm had the good sense to wear a Rebkell shirt so he would be more easily recognizable. I'd started my lunch/dinner a bit early, so I only got to have my soda with him and his companions before heading into line for the game. If anyone else was there, I was the one in the Rebecca Lobo Liberty jersey.
For once I have to specify that it was her Liberty jersey, because there was a woman there wearing her National Team jersey. We bonded immediately. And then she found out I do the Fan Blog (yes, I know, not as often as I should) and she fangirled me. I think that was a first. It was very gratifying. I walked around the arena with a huge grin on my face for a good long while after that. I felt like such a big shot.
Recorded instrumental rendition of "Advance Australia Fair". Live vocal rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner". We would have been better served by a recorded instrumental rendition.
Aussies look weird when they're wearing regular shorts and their national team gear. It's disconcerting. I thought for a second they were experimenting with a new style of uniform while they were overseas, but no, just part of the warm-ups. This time around, Carly Wilson was activated, Michelle Brogan was deactivated, and the numbers got shuffled around a bit. Wilson put on a bit of a shooting show, especially early in the game and early in the… fourth, I think? You'll have to pardon me if I'm a bit fuzzy. Porter was less stupendous offensively, but I still like the way she moves on the floor. Also, the general consensus among people at the game was that there's no way she's only 27, that she's gotta be in her 30s at least. Then again, everyone seemed surprised at Tully's age. Maybe you're only as old as you feel, or some claptrap like that. Tully, at one point, went flying into the scorer's table… and as she left the game, the announcer gave the substitution and added "She told me she's okay!" Which, okay, you know she'd tell him even if she had just broken three bones and was gushing blood all over the floor, but I thought it was a sweet moment. She runs her team well, and the US is going to need a second point guard just to make sure that Tully and Birdy never match up in Beijing- Tully knows the kid too well. I like watching Rohanee Cox on offense- okay, obviously not if she's playing against my team, but she seems to know when to pick her spots and hit her shots. I will be very surprised if she's not in the W by, say, 2010. Most of the Aussies who came on the trip seemed to be tall, blonde, and interchangeable, and all of them seemed willing to use whatever joints they could on their opponents. Hollie Grima especially put a hit on Seimone Augustus that had the EMT sort of sauntering towards the court in case he was needed, which is never something you want to see at a game.
Anne, whatever plan you were going with that night, don't go with it again, 'kay? That was a little too close for comfort against an Australian side that was seriously lacking in star power. I understand what she was doing; what she did on Sunday worked, but it's nice to see what else might work- or in this case, didn't exactly work and really wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been for Candace Parker. She just went off on the Aussies, hitting every big shot she needed to hit and fighting on the boards- there was also one play where she probably could have dunked but settled for the soft finger roll. Probably for the best ;we might have seen someone's knee get taken out if she'd dunked in an exhibition game. Brilliant as she is, and lucky as the lottery winner will be to have her, though, I'm happy with who my team has- I don't want Ace so much as I want Ice. Wiggins didn't have a great shooting day, but I love her defensive intensity and her intensity overall. Lawson's shooting was a bit off, and she's not a point guard, but she captains that defense most sturdily, and I wouldn't want to be a ballhandler in the same building as her, let alone be a ballhandler she's defending- seeing her up close and personal kind of hammers home just how intense she is. Bird was still shaky- there were some points where I found myself thinking she'd be better off as a two than as a one, which is definitely not an opinion I want to have of our starting point guard. I'm sure that given time with this batch of players she'll develop a proper sense of timing in how they work, but I didn't like the chemistry I was seeing out there. Augustus is getting a pass (for what it's worth, although she was playing well early on) after that hit from Grima put her shoulder out of joint and gave her serious breathing problems. It's never fun to see a player curled up on the court in agony, looking for all the world like someone's going to have to administer the kiss of life any moment. Thompson looked like she left her brain in Trenton- she was completely discombobulated out there, although I liked some of what she did on the defensive end, in the paint. Milton-Jones was not memorable, although she managed to look shorter than I remembered her. Cash played some minutes and looked a little out of place, although I do know she has a lot on her mind. Brunson was Brunson- I swear, she looks more and more like her "mama" every day. Very little of Paris, and Jess didn't play at all, which made me very sad.
As negative as that assessment sounds, I think the issue here is more getting used to each other and less having the talent. Once we get the team together that we're going to take into competition, and they start getting used to who zigs, who zags, and who does the jitterbug. We'll also have the more vocal players back, which we really don't have right now- I was struck by how little talking the US players did to each other. Oh, they'd make a ruckus to distract the Aussies, but they hardly ever communicated with each other. Compare to Trenton, when there was a whole lot of playcalling and signaling coming from Jess. Now, somehow, I doubt Taurasi will put up with quiet on her floor, so that's a problem easily solved, but we need to not make everything reliant on one player.
I had the pleasure of sitting with a couple of very well-informed, knowledgeable, and very long-time followers of the women's game who were familiar with the international nuances and knew the game inside out. We all concluded that the US needs at least one more point guard, and I took rather vindictive pleasure in dissecting Bird's mistakes while the UConn faithful cheered the things she did well. One of them also said that Hammon had declined for certain, and she claimed a pretty damn good source at USA Basketball, so I'm inclined to believe her. So with Loree injured, Lawson playing well, and Hammon a decline, can we just shut the door and lock it tight on the whinging there?
After the game, 'twas off to the hotel lobby. Mohegan Sun is the only place I do this, and that only because it's the only reliable spot and it's part of the complex- within the arena, it's touch and go because of the narrow space and high rail (though I did net about half of the Aussies). A couple of the folks I've come to know as Connecticut's Usual Suspects were around- also got to say hi to Rothum and #1Margofan, and one of my fellow Liberty Usual Suspects was around, although she didn't have her iconic backpack. Dan Hughes paced across the lobby several times- I finally jokingly asked him if he was waiting for someone to recognize him. The Aussies were the first team up, still in uniform. Michelle Brogan seemed surprised that someone recognized her from her W days- I probably should have mentioned to her that there was someone wandering around in a Michele Timms jersey, too; she might have gotten a kick out of that. Our former Madam President, Val Ackerman (looking like she at long last got a good night's sleep), came through. A few of the US players did, too: Bird, who was in a bit of a mood (then again, if I had a bag of ice half the size of my head taped to my knee and I'd just had Tully down my shorts for an hour, and I just wanted to get to my hotel room, I'd be pretty cranky, too; hell, I'd be downright antisocial, so props to her for stopping), Parker, Davenport (who I probably should have told I was wearing her shirt under my jersey), Milton-Jones, and Cash. Courtney Paris went around us, which ought to earn her full points for disguise and concealment, since we didn’t see her until she was at the elevator to the hotel, and how does one miss a 6'3", 250lb center? Thompson signed for some people, but she was on the move, and with her son and possibly her mom.
Cheryl Miller was in the house again- she's changed over the years; she looks a little softer around the face, although that might have been a function of the hairdo. She had a Reggie shirt on. She was very genial, although one of my companions wondered if she might have been a bit sloshed. Well, it's certainly a Mercury tradition…
I also got to do something I've always kinda wanted to do ever since I read The Same River Twice, and it's going to sound absolutely silly to most of you. I almost didn't get Cash for the scorecard that's going to a friend of mine in Australia, because she was deep in a long conversation with someone, an older woman elegantly dressed. Turned out that that woman was Chris Dailey, she of the many myriad rules UConn players must follow- including this thing she has where she'd like them to sign a legible autograph. As a collector, I too appreciate the finer points of penmanship, and I always told myself that if I ever got the chance to meet her, I was going to thank her for making sure that there would always be at least some presentable signatures in the league. So I did, and I did.
(As an aside, one of the things I really like about WNBA fans, as compared to the stories you hear about fans in other sports: pretty much everyone, except for a couple of kids, waited for Cash to finish her chat with CD {and then Bird and Jamelle Elliott}- and gave them a clear bubble of space for privacy when it became clear that Cash *was* in fact pouring her heart out.)
One of the best plays of the game was by the Aussies- Porter (I think) got a rebound, zipped a pass to Poto, who barely touched it over to Wilson in the corner, who then buried a three. Parker and Thompson did some great work on the boards. My scribbled notes indicate that Cox and Porter also had great assists, but I can't remember what they were. I know Lawson had a nifty recovery that led to one of Parker's many buckets.
I think one of the things I found so fascinating and compelling about that night was how it brought together the past (Val, Cheryl Miller), the present (most of the players on the floor), and the future (Parker and the young Aussies). It felt very cyclical and deeply right.
September 16th, 2007: Australia at USA
All kinds of interesting people show up to Sovereign Bank Arena for an international friendly… including the Game Notes of Doom and Jessica Davenport's A-game.
So the interesting thing about this game was that it wasn't the A-list team, for the most part, which meant seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces- and in the Aussies' case, matching faces and game to players I've heard about from the Aussie correspondents. It was almost nice not to really know who anyone was; I didn't go in with expectations.
So after all these years, I finally get to see Natalie Porter play. Man, talk about the one that got away! I wouldn't have minded *her* coming off the bench instead of any of the array we had behind Whitmore in 2000. Big, strong, quick, nice outside shot, though she's a little chippy for my liking. Liked Rohanee Cox's shooting- looked like she had both a nice shot and good shot selection. I also see the potential in Abby Bishop that some of the Aussie posters had mentioned- she looks kinda like the impossible lovechild of Penny and LJ, just the way she holds herself. Laura Summerton has either lost weight or those bodysuits are much more flattering than WNBA uniforms are, because she looked quite slim, and I recalled her being much bulkier in the W. Mom thought she was playing dirty, but I disagreed. Tully was Tully- I had thought she wasn't playing this tour, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her out there. The Aussies seemed surprisingly physical, although it was more out of the guard spots than it was the post spots. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the younger players come over eventually. There aren't enough Aussies in this league. Something needs to be done.
What a wonderful day for Jess to have one of her best games of the year. No, she didn't hit her shots, but she did a damn good job drawing fouls and getting to the line. There was one play where she was on the boards and the ball just went to those big hands of hers like it was magnetized. If she can work on her footwork and foot speed, or just steal Courtney Paris's feet, she'll be a monster. She did take a hard hit to the face in the late third or fourth and was pretty much out after that. Tina Thompson looked *good*- maybe it was just because she didn't feel the need to put on her lucky lipstick, maybe she finally put her shoulder back together, but she was ON. She played a lot of three with two bruising post players out to help her, which I thought was an interesting little wrinkle; who are our threes with Catch out? Kara Lawson was all over the damn place- if she keeps up this pace, I don't want to hear any more about any damn Becky Hammon. I'm officially on the "Liberty, please draft Candice Wiggins" bandwagon. Love to watch her go. Parker was hot early on, but seemed to cool early in the game. Loved me some Courtney Paris, but that's nothing new; big girls need love, too, no discriminating. Most of the Americans seemed to be on top of their game. Milton-Jones wasn't particularly memorable. Augustus showed she really was working on the defense thing, but… eh. Bird really did not look good, and there were a couple of moments in the game where I turned to my mom and said, "You know, it'd be nice if we had a backup point guard, one who could make good passes, maybe shoot a little, defend, take a lot of punishment… wow, I wish I knew of a guard like that in the pool."
Sarcasm. Just another service I offer.
The stargazing was almost as much fun as the game itself! St. Joseph's was tailgating about two parking spaces over from us, we spotted Patty heading for will call, and we were in the row behind Michelle Edwards (who was going over this season's Rutgers uniforms with someone, presumably another employee of the state university of New Jersey), who gave me a peculiar look when I whooped and hollered for Jess until I popped my shirt. A few seats down was Jenny Boucek, who, um, really shouldn't walk around Trenton like that. There were Owls and Tigers and Pirates, oh my! (I have the sneaking suspicion that one of the Temple student managers was in our row; she looked rather familiar.) We almost got run over by a Princeton center. Chelsea Newton was in our section- RU has some really nifty sweatshirts this year! I think I also spotted Anne Donovan's mum, or at least a Donovan of some sort; she looked just like AD, except older, with fluffy white hair. Someone else spotted Blaze, and yet someone else spotted Cheryl Miller. Took all the intestinal fortitude I had not to walk up to Patty and say, "That Davenport kid can play, huh? Would've been nice to see her on the court for us." I think I was afraid she'd think I was serious- please bear in mind that the shirt I was wearing was my Davenport tee.
I'm really looking forward to Wednesday; maybe we'll have more of the roster by that point and it'll be more competitive.
Requisite ID: brunette, blue Davenport tee, section 115, abandoned all hope of finding everyone.