Just the Facts, Ma’am: All-Star MVP Maya Moore had 23 points, and the West created separation in the fourth quarter to win 130-121. Everyone scored in a high-scoring, free-wheeling shootout.
For fans, excitement, shooting threes, all the threes, and a lot of fun, join your intrepid and two-sport blogger after the jump.
Game day! It’s All-Star time, and it will be glorious.
We’re coming to you on tape delay- but not from KeyArena at Seattle Center. These notes are being typed at Seattle High School Memorial Stadium, where your intrepid blogger and two of her best friends (the one I married and the one who flew across the country for my wedding) are getting ready to watch the Seattle Reign take on Sky Blue FC. (Don’t tell my husband, but I’m rooting for Sky Blue. Go New York, even if you’re in New Jersey.) That being said, Seattle probably wins for having the best view in the league. Something about being able to look up at the Space Needle from the grandstand does that.
The Bite of Seattle is full of deliciousness, and right now so am I. So many delicious things. Would highly recommend the puffles.
Oh, yes, the basketball game. It was a lot of fun. My hips are still a little sore from the cupholders. The seats are a bit tight. I thought most of the players did a nice job of balancing the fun of the All-Star game with the competitiveness of actually playing to win. It was free-flowing, for the most part, and fun to watch.
I did get annoyed at Stefanie Dolson for blatantly backing off Breanna Stewart in the first half. I mean, really. Dolson had fun showing off her shooting range, though. She and the PA announcer were both thrown for a loop when she forgot to take off her warm-up shirt before checking in. (Um. Dolson. Not the announcer. The announcer was a dude.) Elizabeth Williams dropped a monster block that brought great joy to the crowd. She was the last off the bench in the first half, but part of the second line in the second half. Candice Dupree seemed to be getting fed the ball a lot in the first half; I’m not sure if there was some kind of proving herself thing going on. She seemed to take great pleasure in taking jumpers.
Sugar Rodgers landed a couple of jumpers that were very gratifying, and that doesn’t even go into her three-point shooting at halftime, which we’ll get into later. She had a nifty deflection. What can I say? That’s what Sugar does. I wouldn’t have picked her as an All-Star, but she made a good showing of herself. Allie Quigley also showed off her shot. She’s so smooth, and it's nice to be able to root for her to hit threes. It doesn’t happen very often. Layshia Clarendon had an awesome, awesome tip-in to end the fhird quarter, and then scored the next five for the East as well. I think she was really hyped to be there and wanted to take full advantage of it. Her energy was off the charts.
I can’t pull up the stats for this game right now, but I’m pretty sure Tiffany Hayes had the highest usage rate among East players. She seemed to be in the middle of every play. That’s not necessarily a good thing. For every lay-up or slick pass, you’d have a hurried shot or a turnover. It’s not all about you, Tip. Jasmine Thomas drove well and passed well, but I think that the big Wall Street Journal article on her improved three-point shooting got into her head or something. Her jumper was off.
Jonquel Jones had either family or friends at the game, with #35 shirts and a big old Bahamian flag in the stands, and she balled out. She finished down low with flair, flashed the three-point shot, and closed out the game by throwing it down (while it wasn’t the flashiest dunk, it was solid). She’s so much fun to watch, both because she’s so good and because she has so much fun out there- we could see her smiling from the upper deck. Tina Charles didn’t play a lot, and with the way Dupree and Williams were both playing, I can’t say I blame Miller. I really thought the East should have pounded it inside more. Alyssa Thomas slashed nicely to the basket, but again, I can understand why Miller didn’t play her too much. He’s got a season to think about.
I know Maya Moore had a very good game, and I can’t quibble with the leading scorer on the winning team getting MVP. On the other hand, I thought, and still think, Nneka Ogwumike should have been MVP. She got buckets whenever the East was making a run, and she boarded hard. Rebekkah Brunson seemed determined to prove that she could totally shoot from the outside. She’s still got surprising ups for a woman her age. (“Her age.” She’s two years older than I am and has way, way more vertical than I do.) Breanna Stewart got a lot of pop from the crowd, as is to be expected for the hometown team, and showed off some dipsy-do moves at the basket. It helped that she and Dolson seemed to be operating under a mutual non-aggression pact- as soon as one of them went to the basket, the one on defense backed off like she was on fire.
We actually didn’t see very much of Seimone Augustus, but she had the funniest play of the game, when she bounced it off Tiffany Hayes’s foot and the PA announcer promptly said, “There’s that veteran presence of mind.” Skylar Diggins-Smith mostly set up beyond the arc, moreso than most of the rest of her teammates. I’m not sure if she was looking for her shot or if she was in “just happy to be here” mode. She just didn’t seem to be trying to make herself a factor like most of her teammates were. Chelsea Gray showed off both her stroke and her slick, sweet passing. She had fun with behind the back passes and casual flips.
Candace Parker seemed to get more into the flow of the game in the second half, both going to the basket and shooting threes. A lot of people were shooting threes, but she seemed to be doing it more to have fun with it than shooting seriously. It’s like someone flipped a switch and told her it was okay to let people know she was enjoying herself. It's okay, Candace. We won’t tell anyone you’re having fun. Your secret is safe with us. Sylvia Fowles should not shoot threes, but she was very effective posting up down low. Makes sense. It's all kind of a blur at this point, and I do tend to focus more on my team than on the opposing team; since I’m from the East, “my” team is the one with Tina and Sugar. Maya Moore was her solid self, hitting the threes she couldn’t hit in the contest, and boarding with power. I think a lot of people would have given her MVP, and obviously that includes the people who made the official decisions.
Diana Taurasi was a bundle of energy, up and down the court at every opportunity. She launched without hesitation and without remorse from downtown. Ball went into her hands, there was a very good chance the ball was going up. She was having fun, and she did her best to make sure that everyone around her had fun. It’s fun to watch that. Sue Bird was showing off by the end, going behind the back and between the legs. Arguably her best pass was one that didn’t result in a basket, and Nneka not hitting that shot made me sad. She hit a very classic three- the “die bitches” play in action, even if it wasn’t in a “die bitches” situation.
If you took the WNBAAlien’s over/under bet, the over won. To be fair, it wasn’t an unwarranted review; it was the tip-in at the end of the third quarter, so it had to be reviewed. The refs let a fair amount of contact go before attempting to call it, and they started calling touch fouls instead of heavy contact. (Then the refs in the soccer game basically decided to make their colleagues look good, so that’s a thing. I mean, really, a player gets thrown into the boards, and y’all aren’t going to call it? Miss me with that nonsense.)
Shoutout to the old school jerseys- the Sonja Henning, the Betty Lennox, the Stacey Lovelace. Shoutout to the fully decked out Sacramento fan in her warmup jacket and cap. Shoutout to what I’m told was a Utah Starzz practice jersey. Shoutout to all y’all who were out there repping your teams: the Champion Leslie jersey, the Wings fans in the neon green behind the West bench, the bedazzled Dupree fan in the Indiana shirt, the Lynx and Merc and Sparks and Storm and Sky and Mystics and Liberty fans who rocked their colors and cheered their players.
The three-point shootout was fun! Admittedly, I’m biased because Sugar Rodgers kicked a whole lot of butt, but the crowd went wild when both she and Allie Quigley went on their runs. When Quigley all but ran the money ball rack... wow. I think next year they need to keep it to dedicated three-point shooters, even if they’re not All-Stars.
I love KeyArena, but I’m starting to understand why the NBA wouldn’t want to come back to it. It doesn’t have a lot of amenities, the upper concourses don’t really seem to be set up for a lot of people, there’s no wi-fi and probably no way to set up wi-fi, the seats are narrow, etc. It's a very nice arena, don’t get me wrong. But I recognize its flaws.
I’m definitely looking forward to next year! See you in... Minneapolis, maybe? All y’all better be there.
Sunday, July 23, 2017
July 22nd, 2017: All-Star Game
Friday, July 21, 2017
July 21st, 2017: All-Star open practices
For shenanigans, players doing things right, throwback jerseyse, complex offenses, the Brigade in the house, and halfcourt shots shots shots, join your intrepid and satiated blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon! We’re coming to you on a three-hour time shift from Key Arena in the heart of Seattle Center, reporting on the All-Star open practices.
Jonquel Jones spent, like, ten minutes signing autographs, and she might still be in the tunnel.
There’s a tall blonde over there who looks like Jayne Appel-Marinelli.
Sugar! Hi, Sugar! Go get ‘em, Sugar!
So far we have Storm fans (of course), Sparks fans, Lynx fans, a pair of Mercury fans, a Chicago fan (hi, Eric, you are probably reading this over my shoulder), and possibly a DC fan. (And of course, the two of us repping the Liberty, but given that I’m wearing an Isabelle Fijalkowski jersey right now, it’s hard to claim us.)
Players are sort of gradually drifting out and gravitating towards the tunnel where people are getting autographs.
The tiny All-Star kid has emerged and gotten her round of applause. I have a distinct lack of sentiment, so I don’t particularly care about this bit.
More Mercury fans have arrived. Shoutout to the fan in the Swin Cash Shock jersey! Throwbacks are the best. There are also a lot of people in Yankee gear here, which makes sense, since the Yankees are playing the Mariners this weekend in Seattle. (We considered going to the game on Sunday, but the ASG-Reign double-header is more practical, and also, women’s sports are the best!)
Biggest hand so far has been for Taurasi, who played it off like she was surprised. Merc fans threw up the X-Factor X. (I mean, I’m assuming that’s what that means, and they’re not making obscene gestures at her or accusing her of a flagrant foul.)
I think I spotted Señor Fred across the way. And the crew for the game will be Lobo and Ruocco.
Mercury Brigade is here! Hi, caune, mb, Huskie, and mmaniac!
Those practice jerseys are hideous. They are all the things that Adidas has done wrong with WNBA jerseys during their deal. It's no wonder half the players don’t even seem to want to wear them. Tiffany Hayes, Tina Charles, and Sugar Rodgers all have them sticking out of their back pocket, or reasonable facsimile thereof.
It’s her hair and her choice, but I still miss Layshia Clarendon’s golden ‘hawk.
Curt Miller is so far running fairly straightforward drills, and as I type that, we have a shooting contest starting! After that, though, it was back to running actual plays. It looks like Miller wants to pound the inside against the West (which isn’t the worst plan without Griner)
Size war! Alyssa Thomas is a bit of an outlier among the guards, but they really don’t have any alternatives if they want the teams to be the same size.
There’s a woman sitting next to Appel-Marinelli who looks just enough like Shameka Christon to make me wonder.
Oh, come on, AT, you were so far over the line you were practically in the paint.
Halfcourt shot contest won on the second round by Stefanie Dolson, who brought out some celebratory dance moves in response. I liked Layshia Clarendon putting up a finger to test the wind before putting her shot up.
Alyssa Thomas is wearing her jersey like a cape, and it’s working for her.
Dolson’s smile is gorgeous.
Jonquel Jones just bombed a three from parallel to the second E in the KeyArena logo on the court.
We’ve reached intermission. The fans are gathering thick and fast around the other tunnel, where the West comes out.
Someone’s being brought down to the VIP level and hugged gingerly by many players. I think that might be Swin Cash.
The fans are, perhaps not without reason, more excited about the Western Conference All-Stars. Nneka Ogwumike came out popping the West jersey, so I think this might be more free-wheeling than the East.
We have a Wings fan sighting! I thought I saw an Indiana shirt too, but it turned out to be a Los Angeles shirt.
Brave, brave Cougs fan.
Holly Rowe just got a cheer from the audience, and that’s cool.
“Fans, please welcome to the court your 2017 Western Conference All-Stars!” And the crowd goes wild.
What the WNBA is all about: Stefanie Dolson, Layshia Clarendon, and Jonquel Jones went into the seats to sign autographs and pose for pictures.
Someone gave Stewart what appeared to be her own custom Phillippines jersey. No, I don’t get it either.
Yeah, the West is going to be a lot more free-wheeling. We’re starting with a dance-off, with just a little tiny bit of awkward as people chant for Stewie, who wants to dance about as much as I do. She NOPE’d her way right out of that plan.
Breanna Stewart is wearing a body camera. This should be dizzying.
Reeve’s shooting contests are starters versus reserves, going from spot to spot, and they have to make a certain number of baskets to skip spots or at least not go backwards. From the way Seimone is leading the reserves from spot to spot, I think this is a common drill for the Lynx. It’s interesting to see how they consider their shots depending on the makes and misses.
Reserves won, and one of the starters took it badly. The second ball ended up in about the twentieth row. Unfortunately, the fan had to give it back.
I think Ace really wanted that lob for the dunk attempt. Stewart got rim, but nothing else. She was the only one who seriously tried. (Diana Taurasi attempting to dunk is not a serious thing.) I liked the dipsy-do lay-ups more than the dunk nonsense, to be honest.
Well, there’s free-wheeling, and then there’s Cheryl Reeve actually trying to install offenses. I think the players are listening as little as they have to in order to do this. Parker especially looks like she left her damns to give in Los Angeles.
Ticha Penicheiro in the house! Cute jacket.
Coach, your offense might be too complicated for an All-Star game if you can’t keep it straight yourself.
Now it’s quiz time.
Diana. Switch to decaf.
Diggins-Smith looks weirdly out of place and uncomfortable here. She looks like she doesn’t want to be doing this, for whatever reason. At least Parker more looks distracted than unhappy.
The starters beat the crap out of the second shooting contest, after the reserves won the first. I think the reserves were still on the first round of shots when the starters won. Coach Reeve: “Congrats. You get to start tomorrow.” By the end, when they only needed one made shot from each position to win, they were adding degrees of difficulty, whether it was distance (Maya went into the courtside seats), style (soccer throw-in), or just ridiculous (Big Syl, you may have gone to LSU, but you are not Pistol Pete).
Breanna Stewart won the halfcourt shot contest, after everyone took many attempts. I am constantly amazed at how close so many of the shots were.
It was a lot of fun. Come on, East Coast people, where are you at? Rep with us!
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July 5th, 2008: Minnesota at Seattle
NB: To the anonymous who keeps trying to shill that gods-awful idea of the "Outdoor Classic" on my blog- STOP IT. I will keep rejecting your comments, and if you're with the Liberty, Amy is going to hear it.
Seattle Storm 96, Minnesota Lynx 71
Lauren Jackson is a golden goddess, Katie Gearlds has cojones, and awesome Stormfans are awesome.
Sorry for the delay on these- I have been out of town, you know.
I still love Key Arena, although it occurs to me that the other thing it needs is some way of keeping one posted on the out-of-town scores; I had to rely on text messages and a friendly Storm fan to keep me posted on the Liberty (thanks, Awase!)
Anthem was less impressive tonight- the other night, on the clarinet, was quite lovely, but this gentleman seemed to have issues with finding his key. Ironic, in *the* Key, no?
Did Nicole Ohlde actually… you know… play? Because I think I remember seeing her for something like ten seconds, and that was the end of it, so either she didn't play all that much, or she was completely unforgettable when she was in. Seimone is Seimone. There really isn't much more to it than that. She'll get her shots, and most of the time she'll get her makes. She's so smooth and so good at finding her shot. DeForge was another one, I got the sense she was there but I don't remember her doing much- this might have had to do with the bench playing most of the game for Minnesota as the lead got so rapidly out of hand. Quinn seems to be slipping this season, but she's still a better option than Harding, who seems to have lost any speed she once had- there was one play where she was so frozen she looked like a statue, and I always had the impression that she had decent speed before the knee injury. Anosike played tough, and I thought she played well. (The woman behind me, who was giving Anosike and Hayden hell all night, might disagree with me, but that's fine with me. Hard for Queens to agree with the Bronx.) Wiggins did not have a very good game at all, and once that happened, she started whining. I try to like her, I really do, but on the court she comes off like she has a chip on her shoulder the size of a redwood, and she plays like she's entitled to any call she wants. Hayden got a little rough, and she too has lost her edge- before the game, though, we had a great conversation about "Shot Clocks", so if accommodatingly notes an order from the Twin Cities in the near future, he's quite welcome. Confused as to why she's hyphenated on the jersey but not in the PA announcements.
LaurenfreakingJackson. LaurenfreakingJackson from eight rows back of the Storm bench. I traveled with two Storm fans, and I think they thought they died and went to heaven. She's in fine form. But you don't need me to tell you that. Or that Bird ran one of the smoothest games I've ever seen from a PG- I think the worst tangle she ever got herself into was when she wasn't happy with her ponytail and Swoopes reassured her that it was just fine. Yo… she's a nice solid presence, but she can't do all that much anymore other than hit people. The fast break she attempted to run was not something I really wanted to see. Swin was really getting lost on defense, and I think that's why Agler kept pulling her. He had a good grip on the rhythm and flow of the game, I felt- something I've felt sorely lacking in New York's coaching, and something I am therefore more attentive to when watching other teams. I don't remember much of what Swoopes did, although I know she was in on a couple of pretty plays, because I remember hearing "from Sheryl Swoopes" over the PA. Katie Gearlds was on fire, and I was so glad to see that- she seems like such a sweet kid, and she had a career night. Beautiful. She's got cojones, too! How many times was she guarding 4s and 5s? Tanisha Wright had some unbelievable plays- for good or for ill in some cases. Little and Ely both struck me as there and getting things done. Kelly Santos seems to like to hit people. Kristin O'Neill got in the game for extended minutes, and everyone was screaming for her teammates to get her the ball so she could score, and I do believe the roof would have come flying off the building if she'd done that. But T wanted to get to double figures and I think they knew KG was going for a career-high, so. It is what it is, and I think O'Neill's proven herself worthy of a second seven-day deal.
Ashley Robinson sprained her ankle in the game against New York, and thus was in street clothes. Hot DAMN. I'm surprised people don't try to cause her mild strains just to make sure she dresses in street clothes for every game- yes, I know, I know, she's also an excellent shot blocker and a key piece of the Storm's bench, especially given Yo's age.
I was surprised the mayor showed up, too, but I admit being rather neutral about that. Y'all still have the Storm, so I'm happy about that.
Favorite curse word of the game- Yo after either her first or second foul, in which she ended up on the floor and with the foul. A very loud F-bomb escaped her as she stalked back towards her bench. I wouldn't want to get Yo Griffith mad enough to start cussing at me, would you?
The crew wasn't too horrible, although there were a couple of sketchy calls- but a couple, not an entire game's worth. I was worried, since Scott Twhat-the-hell's-his-name was part of that crew, but the female ref and the other dude seemed to have control of it.
I'm still on cloud nine. Everything was just so cool!
July 3rd, 2008: New York at Seattle
Seattle Storm 84, New York Liberty 71
Paging Loree Moore to the New York Liberty. Will Loree Moore please get her ass back to the New York Liberty?
My first visit to the Key was everything I could possibly have hoped for, and I get now why people speak so highly of it- the only thing that went wrong was that, oh, yeah, the Liberty lost, and for me, that is a sad-making thing.
I really like Seattle Center. Very pretty- reminded me a little of the Mall in DC. Bought my tickets yesterday, exchanged teasing words with the folks there, and came back today to drop off some tickets at will call. On my way there, as I tromped along the street, limping because my right pinky toe is in fact one giant blister, I heard someone yell, "Hey, Queenie!" Besides the fact that that fulfilled one of the fantasies I'd had about this trip, it was all kinds of cool- the driver was Brrringy, of Stormfan fame, and she brought me over to jilly's house, where I met her and her infamously photogenic kidlets, then gave me a lift back to the Key. I think that's one of my favorite things about Stormfans- it's like one big Internet-connected family.
I love the Key. I mean it. I don't understand what the hell the NBA's issue is with it. I felt more comfortable there than I ever thought I would in a strange arena- I think it's because here it's clear the WNBA team is the tenant, at least during the season, (yeah, yeah, ignoring the Sonics news)- the people who run the Key are focused on the team that's there at the time. At the Garden, I always get the sense that the Liberty are the red-headed stepchild. The curtains helped- for a while, I even forgot that there were seats up there. About the only thing I don't like about the Key are the cupholders- they make the seats too narrow and the aisles too narrow. But if that's the only complaint I can come up with...
Would someone clue me in on what happened to Janel? Why she didn't play part of the second quarter and the entire second half? Because she better have been hurt or sick or something along those lines, because I can't seriously believe that That Moron would have passed the event horizon of stupidity for some petty reason. I don't think that helped our attempts to defend Lauren Jackson- note that I said attempts, this is LJ we're talking about here- because Cathrine was gods-awful on defense, and while Erlana tried, she's a rookie and easily tricked. (Also, Erlana? You ARE NOT IVORY LATTA. please stop with the fancy dribbling. What is with centers who think they're point guards on this team?) Cathrine at least got some of her shots, but I cannot express enough my extreme frustration with her "rebounding" and "defense". Loree did not put any mark on this game. At all. Essence brought more offense in one game than I've seen from her in two weeks straight- I just wish she'd figure out that the WNBA three-point line is further back than the collegiate line, because we might only have lost by ten if those long twos had been threes. It's uncharcteristically stupid of E to make the same mistake over and over and over again. Shameka got hot late, though the Storm fans I was with were very impressed with her range. For some reason, when Cathrine was playing like the worst kind of crap, that was when That Moron decided to deviate from her pattern and go with Leilani before Tiffany... and then put Tiffany in for Janel. The logic or lack thereof broke my brain a little. Leilani played well- fluffy little bunny has nerve. Lisa... did not play well. Let's leave it at that. Not a lot of Ashley, and a very momentary Erin Thorn sighting. I just don't understand my team sometimes, I really don't.
Lauren Jackson is unfrickinbelievable, and I realize this is belaboring the obvious liek woah, but she really is amazing. Bird played a great floor game, not to mention the scoring she put up because she ran circles around our guards. Swoopes, yeah, what tweaked knee? She helped turn the momentum back around right when the Libkids had cut it to 9. Cash was solid, and I thought played above average defense. Griffith was there, and part of the fierce rebounding (yeah, seriously, I knew it was a bad sign for the 'kids when Seattle's first possession started with four offensive rebounds before LJ could score). Don't remember much about the Seattle bench, to be honest with you, but, yeah, Tanisha Wright is not a point guard. Seattle loves their Huskies, though- O'Neill got one helluva hand when she came into the game, though she didn't play all that much. I guess solid but unimpressive might be the word.
Wish these notes were doomier. But I'm wiped.