Just the Facts, Ma'am: The first five minutes were competitive, but UConn pulled away fast and hard to cruise to their eighth title, crushing Louisville 93-60. Breanna Stewart's 23 points led five Huskies in double figures; she also had nine rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. The Huskies shot 53% from the field overall and hit half of the 26 three-pointers they took. Sara Hammond had 15 points for Louisville.
For the end of the road, badly timed congestion, dramatic debuts, and suitable finishes, join your intrepid and airborne blogger after the jump.
Adding to the list from yesterday and today: Santa Barbara, San Jose State, Army, several Washington players (real Huskies wear purple, woof!), Phoenix Mercury, Drury, Nevada, Bowling Green, Green Bay, South Florida, Evansville, Kansas, USC-Aiken, Pepperdine, Liberty, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Towson, Southeastern Louisiana, Dillard, Montebello, Northwestern, UNO, Butler, CCNY. (And at the very last, Cincinnati. I'm 70% sure the woman in the airport with the Cincy backpack was Jamelle Elliott.)
We've made our choice and picked our side. We're in the lobby of the Sheraton New Orleans, where Louisville fans are already starting to gather for the pep rally in an hour. Some uncomfortably lost UConn fans have wandered through. (I may be a St. John's fan, but I'm not lost. I'm wearing red and white.) The woman next to us is hoarse from cheering in Atlanta. The guy across from us is completely sacked out. There's a woman with a Louisville pocketbook, which is awesome. Looks like the rest of the band came in from Atlanta. This is going to be good. And it was amazing. Got some side-eyes from Louisville fans for my St. John's gear, but it's amazing how quickly they became friendly when the magic words "anyone but UConn" were uttered. Shelby Harper came down and mixed with the fans for a while. Two different people had Louisville bottle cozies.
Two different security people had issues with the laptop that I got in on Saturday and Sunday with no issues, but they called a supervisor, so there was no need to get angry, because no one likes me when I'm angry.
Seriously, this coaching milestones video is all the awesome. Some amazing coaches up there.
We got our seats upgraded for the final through a friend who had to leave town after the semis. It's awesome.
The all-time Final Four coaches video is very cool, especially when they go back into the history.
Dear NCAA, why did you have to inflict Kym Hampton on us? It's bad enough Lib fans have to hear her increasingly cracked rendition of the anthem every year, but come on. Can't you go find Tari Phillips?
It was 11-7 Louisville at one point. It's 48-29 UConn at the half. Breanna Stewart has been fantastic. Louisville has been extremely disorganized.
They're doing a fantastic presentation on the AIAW at the half, with some true legends out there. I'm so glad the NCAA has decided to acknowledge the AIAW history (now can we acknowledge the AIAW records, maybe?). I have yet to detect a flaw in Lynette Woodard.
If you want to beat UConn, you have to come at them without fear but with discipline. You can't let them run out ahead and expect to come back. You can't throw up fast, wild shots; you can't slack on defense; you can't let UConn have open threes. I mean, really, how many times can you leave Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis or Kelly Faris beyond the arc and expect to not get your butt handed to you?
Shelby Harper was sort of a spaghetti move in the first half, briefly coming in and jacking a three before going back to the bench. She returned when the game was utterly out of hand. That's pretty much when Megan Deines got her time, too. Monique Reid played like an idiot. On back to back possessions she didn't bother following her shot, then slapped Stefanie Dolson in the face. Or maybe that was the stupid foul when Stewart hit the three-pointer. I forget which bout of idiocy that was. Jude Schimmel kept committing stupid fouls, though she got her shot together in the second half when UConn got less intense on defense.
Sara Hammond played like one of the only Cardinals who actually wanted to win the game. You can't miss the open shots that she did, but she was going hard in the paint and fighting for rebounds. Antonita Slaughter was covered pretty closely, but she also got the job done. She's going to be the steal of the 2014 draft. Sheronne Vails hit one off a pretty feed from Bria Smith, but that's about all I remember her doing- that, and being the recipient of a lot of feeds underneath because the UConn defense wasn't interested in her. Smith made a lot of stupid mistakes regarding the dimensions of the court and the position of the UConn defenders when she got into her passing game. I like her aggression, but not her judgment. Shoni Schimmel played out of control. She's always wild, but that seemed more prevalent than usual. I think they needed her to show a little more judgment.
The biggest cheer from the UConn fans (and a few non-affiliated fans like your intrepid blogger) came when Heather Buck got the steal and the fast break lay-up; my memory is that it turned out to be the last basket for UConn, which is appropriate. Kiah Stokes also got in near the end of the game, but I think she missed her opportunity to score when UConn was milking the clock near the end. I'm really starting to think Morgan Tuck intentionally takes that one bad three per game just to remind everyone what number she wears. I still like her physicality, though. Moriah Jefferson showed off her speed a fair bit in the second half. She's a lot of fun to watch. Bria Hartley was all right- not great, with some dumb mistakes, but efficient when she wasn't making mistakes.
It's a good thing this was Caroline Doty's last game, because it's become clear that she's terrified of making a move. She dodged taking at least two shots that were within her game. She was okay, defensively, though. Kelly Faris was all over the place, and she did a great job getting open beyond the arc, both off the dribble and with help from her teammates screening for her. Stefanie Dolson looked more for her shot in the second half, but was always on the boards and looking to help her teammates get in position. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was rock-solid. She's blossoming into the superstar she was expected to be. And so is Breanna Stewart. I wasn't impressed with her at the start of the season, and I'll happily get in line to admit that I was wrong, that the Stewart I was seeing in the first part of the season wasn't the Stewart that Geno recruited. She has such beautiful touch beyond the arc, yet can get inside and hit tough shots in the lane with a gawky sort of grace (it makes sense in context, I swear). She needs to get a little tougher about taking contact, but she's a freshman, she's got three more years to learn that, one of which will likely be spent getting smacked by Dolson in practice and all of which will probably include Tuck getting physical with her.
It took the officials enough time to call the elbow by Doty, but they did do it. Of course the UConn contingent objected to it, but if an elbow connects to a face, a foul is likely to be called, so they're just going to have to deal with it. Other than that, the refereeing was unremarkable. I think the crew showed great restraint in not calling the technical on Jeff Walz that he so dearly seemed to be asking for in the second half after Reid's idiotic foul on Dolson. You could almost imagine Denise Brooks telling Walz that they didn't want to humiliate him any further.
The UConn band was really loud. We were hearing them better than the Louisville band in front of us. (Though it was a relief not to be behind the UConn band for the first time in six possible chances.) The Louisville fans tried to get their chants going during some of the UConn musical segments; of course, the UConn fans got their call and response going at pretty much every opportunity.
Credit to the UConn fan with the ever-changing collection of signs on neon paper. I don't know how many of them she had, but they were plentiful.
We didn't stay for the official outdoor trophy presentation. Not for nothing, but I've been to more than my share of UConn love-ins. I think I'll pass.
UConn threw the haymaker early, and Louisville was unable to recoer. They beat Louisville at the game that had gotten Louisville into the championship game, while Louisville seemed to have been doing the bulk of their preparation by studying Cal's defense on them. How many times can you sag off Kelly Faris before you realize she might be having a good shooting night? Louisville did't know how to prepare and they should have known how to prepare.
But congrats to UConn. They played a phenomenal game, and got what they needed when they needed it.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
April 9th, 2013: Louisville at Connecticut
Monday, April 8, 2013
April 7th, 2013: Louisville at California
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Louisville came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Cal 64-57. Antonita Slaughter had 18 points on 6-10 3-point shooting, while Bria Smith added 17 points and six rebounds. Layshia Clarendon led Cal with 17 points.
For bricks, pride, tiny banners, and total exhaustion, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
Teams spotted today: Akron, Louisiana-Lafayette, Ohio State, West Virginia, Duquesne, Montana, Central Florida, Spelman, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Mississippi State, Prairie View, Oregon State, Vermont, TCU, Marshall, Oklahoma, South Dakota State, Sacramento Monarchs, Atlanta Dream, Arkansas State, St. Francis (PA), Princeton, Clemson, Georgia, Carson-Newman, UTEP, UCLA, Purdue, Yale, Miami, Murray State, James Madison. Lots more Baylor fans today. Gotta shout them out.
The pitch of the arena makes our seats better than you would expect. The anthem was done by a local artist. She was okay, but not great.
At halftime, it's 37-27 Cal, and it could be more if Cal would stop throwing the ball out of bounds and if they could hit their free throws. They're 1-6 from the line. But they're owning the boards, and Louisville isn't hitting their threes. Monique Reid took a very hard tumble on a Cal drive, and she hasn't come back into the game yet. She did later in the second half, though, which is kind of reassuring.
What a heartbreaker- well, if you were rooting for Cal like I was. To see them come so far and then lose it all I think I'd be even more disappointed if Cal hadn't been so clearly outcoached in the second half of the second half.
It's a lot harder to see the fine detail from up here, so I apologize in advance if the notes are not as doomy as usual. Megan Deines played briefly in the first half and came in right at the end of the second to help give the stars their curtain call. Jude Schimmel complemented her sister well off the bench (though from up here, it's kind of hard to tell 21, 22, and 23 apart). Monique Reid got a lot of run in the first half, but much less in the second half. We'll see how available she is for the championship game.
Would someone please guard Antonita Slaughter at some point in the near future? You would think a coach from Brown and a team of players smart enough to go to Cal would have figured out that guarding the woman who hit three threes in the first half would be a plan for success. Instead, they let her get three more open threes. You do not sag off someone who has hit five threes. Honestly. Shoni Schimmel was distributing well in the first half, then got her shot going a little in the second half. That pass to her sister was a thing of beauty. Sara Hammond continued to be tough in the post. I don't necessarily like her, but she got the job done down low, especially in the second half. Sheronne Vails got the start, but with Louisville sometimes I get the sense that Jeff Walz picks a name out of a hat for that fifth starter spot. Bria Smith was very efficient and absolutely ruthless. She broke a pretty little fast break that got the crowd going.
Lots and lots and lots of red in the stands, in groups and singles.
Eliza Pierre's defense is scary. She was all up in her player's business (usually Shoni Schimmel) and gave them no room to operate. I love to watch that kind of thing. Mikayla Lyles played very late, when Cal was sort of throwing spaghetti at the wall. Reshanda Gray had an up-and-down game, and tended to make stupid mistakes right after making good plays. She needs to be more consistent.
Layshia Clarendon is amazing, and East Coast bias can do anatomically impossible things to its metaphorical self that I haven't seen her before this year. Stupid Pac-12 Network and its stupid disagreement with stupid DirecTV. She had ice water in her veins during the attempt to come back. And she has awesome hair. Talia Caldwell muscled up well in the post. Brittany Boyd made a couple of great plays- when she hit the three, I thought they had a shot. Afure Jemerigbe gave the announcer a lot of chances to get her name right with points and fouls. Gennifer Brandon rebounds like she has springs in her legs (and from overhead looks a little like a gazelle when running), but that shot... almost too strong for an offensive rebounder.
Cal seemed to get flustered in the second half. The perils of not having been there before, perhaps- they started throwing up bad shots and bad passes. The exceedingly nosy guy next to me (no, sir, you cannot borrow my computer, please stop staring at my screen) kept complaining that Cal wasn't dribbling the ball up. He had a little bit of a point, since Cal's passing was not sharp, but I don't think dribbling into the traps would have helped much.
The woman all the way at the end of our row hooked us up with nifty Cal cheering stuff. It was really nice of her. Signs! Tiny banners! A streamer for Moooose!
I'm very surprised that Cal doesn't seem to have done anything to address their abysmal free throw shooting. That was painful to watch.
I was rooting for Cal, but I wanted whoever won this game to take the title, so on Tuesday I'll be in red and white and cheering for Louisville. Anything to avoid another UConn coronation.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
April 6th, 2013: Final Four Super Saturday
Your intrepid and verbose blogger hits New Orleans, and New Orleans hits back.
I'm not used to things opening an hour and a half before things are supposed to start. The gates opened at 9:30, and it's quarter past ten, and I'm expecting things to be happening already.
The UConn autograph line is already packed, and UConn doesn't sign until after 12. Good Lord, people. Cal's line is pretty much empty.
Teams spotted so far: Monmouth, Texas, Southern Miss, Wyoming, Southern, Louisiana Tech, Drew, New Hampshire, Texas Southern, Marquette, San Diego State, UConn (of course), Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico, North Carolina State, North Carolina (and I think she might have been Charlotte Smith, but we're currently having a philosophical debate as to whether known affiliation allows for a double count for Elon), Oakland, Cal State Dominiguez Hills, Sam Houston State, East Carolina (though they were here for the combine, so maybe that doesn't count?), Boston College, LSU, Ole Miss, Allegany, Moravian, West Chester, Vermont, Washington, VCU, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Memphis, Cal (of course), Tulane, Louisville (of course), Notre Dame (eventually, of course), Michigan, Colorado State, Maryland (who are really showing out- fear the Turtle!), Wichita State, Baruch (CUNY up in here!), Arizona State, Oregon, NYU, Georgetown, Wake Forest, Richmond, Rutgers, Stanford, Detroit Mercy, Regis, Niagara, Quinnipiac, Texas A&M, Cal State Northridge, Baylor, St. John's (not us), Buffalo, Minnesota, Michigan State, Duke, Missouri State, Syracuse, DePaul, Delaware, Navy, Tulsa, Alabama, Nebraska, Illinois State, Marist, Temple, Middle Tennessee, Texas Tech, Florida State, Rock Valley, Harvard, Wisconsin, Emory, Maryville, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, one very nifty Canberra Caps Ardossi jersey, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx, and Connecticut Sun.
I love marching bands! I love traveling fans! I love the tournament atmosphere! Boom de yada! Boom de yada!
I think ESPN is doing a piece on Shoni and Angel, because, well, Angel just wandered through, hair all slicked back and pretty.
The trophy is in the building. I got a picture. I have taken many pictures. I will take many more pictures.
The Golden Bears have rolled out, and so far the practice seems fairly serious, at least until the band starts up and the tuba stands alone. They're pretty loose, though. I'm not sure what my favorite part about Cal being in the Final Four is, the pleasant surprise or the Straw Hat Band. But this is so much fun, and they have more beads! Shiny things! The Cal players were really hyped about seeing their fans- I think some of the people behind us may be serious boosters.
Louisville's band is AWOL, presumably in Atlanta with the boys, so they're borrowing part of the Tulane band. They're doing basic stretching first, and Monique Reid is biking to nowhere. Seriously, someday someone's going to hook a generator to those bikes and reduce energy bills in arenas by something like 5%. The Dark Angel herself appears to be the Cards' special guest for this. I guess she's supposed to inspire them or something. Louisville is taking this practice dead serious- one of the grad assistants is handing out a practice schedule. Good Lord, that's neurotic. And the band came out late, so they are here. A bit disorganized, but here. And rocking the heck out of "Stayin' Alive" and the Ghostbusters theme. Louisville players are helping throw the beads now. Shelby Harper has no arm. Cortnee Walton does.
WBCA All-American team about to be announced. Elena Delle Donne, Skylar Diggins, Stefanie Dolson, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kayla McBride, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Chiney Ogwumike, Odyssey Sims, Alyssa Thomas. Delle Donne gave a little speech. Pictures were taken. Plugs were made. Alyssa Thomas immediately went to find the Maryland staff and Laura Harper (who just ran off to glomp someone)
Notre Dame's turn to practice. They have names even on their practice jerseys. They are really committed to that gods awful lime green. :( Niele Ivey is gorgeous, though. Absolutely breathtaking. Jewell Loyd had a fantastic tip-in from a very defensive drill. The band started taunting declaring their intent to beat UConn. And then Diggins and McBride danced with pom-poms.
Capital One is sponsoring a contest in which all the shots have to be banked in, which is a little ridiculous, but both of the contestants managed it, which is awesome.
UConn's open practice was mostly three-shooting. I took pictures, but that's about it.
Battle of the Bands needs to stop being decided on crowd noise, because UConn fans would cheer for their band if they just farted in a vague sense of rhythm. Notre Dame's male cheerleaders did a remarkable worm stunt six deep. Cal was musically the best. Louisville was outmanned and stood no chance, though the flip on top of the pyramid was awesome. UConn's band took direct aim at Notre Dame- both of them played "When the Saints Go Marching in". UConn's was technically better, but they lost me when they decided to throw in "Who dat say dey gon' beat dem Huskies?" You do not steal the "who dat". And then they decided to take an encore they weren't entitled to. That stuff gets you thrown out of band competitions in some places. Musically, I think it was close between UConn and Cal, but Notre Dame was good and had great stunts. But UConn fans... sorry, guys, but stop with the blind loyalty and get some musical taste.
High-schoolers have taken the floor. Tamika Catchings and Swin Cash are the honorary(?) coaches. What is with the neon green on ALL the things this year? Seriously. I recognize a few more of the high schoolers this year.
Tulane band was very disappointing. I assume that's not the whole band, but they hit several sour notes.
Purple starters: Jessica Washington, Saniya Chong, Jessica Jackson, Diamond DeShields, Stephanie Mauvinga. Black starters: Kaela Davis, Alexis Brown, Kendall Cooper, Mercedes Russell, a young lady named Harper whose first name I didn't catch. (Linnae?)
I didn't really follow the game, because I wasn't interested, but it looks like Arkansas got a nice little shooter in Jackson, and maybe Rutgers fans have reason to be excited about Scaife.
Coda: after we adventured on Bourbon Street and found it not to our liking, we wound our way back to Canal and public transit through a side street. Suddenly I hear "Rebecca!" We turn around, and there's Shenneika Smith. Of all the places, and all the people, and all the times... it put a wonderful capper on the day. We chatted about Jeopardy! and the WBCA team, and it was good.
Monday, March 5, 2012
March 4th, 2012: Louisville at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Louisville forced overtime with an Antonita Slaughter 3, but the Red Storm outscored the Cardinals 12-5 in the overtime to claim a 68-61 win. Shenneika Smith led St. John's with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Nadirah McKenith added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists. For Louisville, Shoni Schimmel and Antonita Slaughter each had 16, with 11 of Schimmel's in the first half and 13 of Slaughter's in the second.
For rebounding, free throws, levitation, amazing shots, and why you need to guard shooters, join your intrepid and exhausted blogger after the jump.
Then there was an intermission, and much to my horror, I discovered that my battery had died, and because it took so long to find affordable food around the XL Center (what kind of arena neighborhood can't support a McDonald's?) I didn't have a chance to work on notes during the intermission like I thought I would, and I deeply apologize.
I do recommend Burger Baby, but not if you're in a hurry. Good, gourmet burgers. The meatloaf burger is amazing.
For the night session, also known as the entire damn reason we went to Hartford instead of Philadelphia in the first place, we got tickets through St. John's. Since St. John's was the higher seed, their allocation was right behind the home bench. I believe the applicable phrase in this situation is "Oh. Hell. Yeah." The seats were almost too close- it was hard to see plays at the other end of the floor, and you can't exactly tell Bonita Spence "DOWN IN FRONT!". Well, you can, but I wouldn't want to try.
I miss the hockey jerseys Louisville's band used to wear. They were stylish and awesome. These new band uniforms are too generic. The St. John's band brought out more wigs than usual, though I didn't see the gnome. That's a shame. I like the gnome. I guess he's not a traveling gnome. :P
So many shinies! Da'Shena Stevens cleaned up. I took lots of pictures. I don't think I've ever claimed not to have a horse in this race.
I did not get to see the comedic stylings of Jeff Walz, since my angle was wrong, but he had some good reasons to be annoyed and confused at the officiating.
Antonita Slaughter saved the day for Louisville. Shoni Schimmel will get all the attention, and she deserves attention, but she showed more detailed range with mid-range shots in addition to the long ball, and she hit the boards well. I was not expecting that out of her, and I was duly impressed. She was the one who stepped up in the second half, while Schimmel was making noise in the first half. This is my second time seeing Jude Schimmel, and so far I'm not impressed with her. Maybe she'll blossom later, but right now she seems like a small guard who isn't sure about her position and has no outstanding qualities. Sara Hammond got fairly physical in her time in the game, but wasn't statistically relevant. Shelby Harper only came in at the end of the game, when Bria Smith fouled out and someone needed to take her place; I think Walz was thinking threes, but for all I know he just wanted a fresh set of fouls. Shawnta' Dyer committed some rough fouls. I thinks he was the one who was undercutting a lot.
Normally, I don't object to letting Shoni Schimmel go bombs away. She's a volume shooter and not a high-percentage one. Of course, in the first half, she was hot, with 11 points, and we were screaming at our team to guard her. (Defining "we" as your intrepid blogger, her dashing husband, and Kim's son Trevor, who should be a coach someday.) She cooled off in the second half as Shenneika Smith kicked up the D, but her teammates stepped up. Bria Smith scored all her points in the second; Becky Burke hit two big threes to give Louisville the momentum they needed to force the overtime. I've already mentioned Slaughter. Sheronne Vails got the start to provide some size in the middle, but Walz played her very little once it was clear who had the hot hand.
Keylantra Langley usually has a knack for making the big shot at the right time, and her field goal to end the first half was a prime example of that. She had one really awful turnover in a similar situation with the shot clock running down, but was otherwise solid. Tesia Harris was off her game- you can't stand there and watch shots when everyone in the building has been shooting like intramural kids, you have to crash the boards, especially when Louisville is absolutely slaughtering you on the boards. (Intentional pun is in fact intentional.) Briana Brown parlayed her big game against Georgetown into being the first player off the bench, but while she showed amazing hustle going after loose balls, she was not as effective as she had been against the Hoyas.
Amber Thompson, stop dribbling. You're six-two with surprisingly broad shoulders for your build. When you rip that rebound out of the air, go up strong with it, because when you do that, no one will be able to stop you except yourself. If she stops doing that, and if she can become more accurate with her chip shots, she'll be a force to be reckoned with not just in the Big East, but in all of college basketball. She's only a freshman. I believe she can learn- she's got the right person on the bench to learn from in Joy McCorvey. Eugeneia McPherson had a solid game with no egregious mistakes that I can recall. Da'Shena Stevens had to contend with the Louisville rebounders, but was able to draw fouls on them, and her game picked up in the second half. She can be sneaky like that sometimes. Nadirah McKenith, sporting a nifty new ponytail look, ran the offense well, though not as well as we've become used to. She wore down a little near the end of the game. Kim, please don't kill our point guard, we don't have any spares right now. Shenneika Smith was the hero of the day. She produced and produced hard on both ends of the floor, slashing to the rim, hitting threes, defending Schimmel- her steal and fast-break lay-up was the prettiest play of the game for me. All she needed was a cape.
Apparently there was an issue with the arrow and the refs gave the ball to the wrong team at the start of the second half. I hadn't noticed, but that was because my brain was starting to glaze over. I did think it was odd that the foul was on Briana when she was the one holding her shoulder in pain, and Nadirah didn't step out of bounds by herself. Also, it is not a good idea to get fancy with your footwork in front of Bonita Spence. That doesn't end well. Overall, the officiating was sketchy, and both coaches were ready to kill someone by the end of regulation.
We did our part to represent, and I'd like to think we played a role in Louisville's abysmal free throw shooting in the first half with our disconcerting of the shooter. The towels were whirling, and my throat still hurts from cheering.
Huge shoutout to the RedZone member who won the American Eagle shootout, nailing not just the $50 free throw, not just the $100 three-pointer, but a halfcourt shot for free jeans for a year. We really are taking the Big East by storm, aren't we?
We out-toughed Louisville, especially in the overtime. But those Cards can be a dangerously good team. I give them credit and more for not folding under pressure.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
January 8th, 2012: Louisville at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Strong second-half play from the Red Storm gave St. John's the 72-64 win over the Cardinals of Louisville. Eugeneia McPherson led St. John's with 16 points, while Louisville's Becky Burke led all scorers with 19 points, including five-of-eight three-point shooting.
For rowdy road fans, snazzy duds, the critical importance of early conference games, and inexplicable decisions, join your intrepid and psyched up blogger after the jump.
Sometimes you need a game for the entire season. Sometimes that game is in March, conference tournament time, everything on the line, win or go home. Sometimes that game is in February, the frenzy rising, the sharks scenting blood, big conference games mixed in with the biggest out of conference games.
Sometimes that game is in January, the second game of a new year, a game on national television against a team in the top fifteen of the polls that's down two key players and needs to make a statement just as much as your team does. Sometimes the bell rings early and the springboard is longer than you realize.
Louisville brought a large fan contingent- or more precisely, Bria Smith brought a large fan contingent. Am I the only one who thinks it's really tacky to start chanting “DE-FENSE!” at a true road game? Neutral site is one thing, but to go into someone else's house and get the defense chants going, or disconcerting the shooter... that's uncouth. They shut up pretty quickly after Smith fouled out, though.
Even if you didn't have a roster, and even if Louisville didn't have names on their jerseys, you'd be able to tell that Jude Schimmel is Shoni Schimmel's little sister. They look a fair bit alike, but also move very similarly on the floor. I hesitate to say that they play similarly, because Jude doesn't look to be quite as good, but they look like they had all the same influences. (Which, yes, I know, but it's one thing to know and another to see.) Cierra Warren brought size off the bench and a nice bit of touch in the second half. She also brought some of the most hilarious offended indignation I've ever seen. Clearly she transferred to Louisville for the drama classes, because North Carolina didn't offer sufficient acting courses. Shelby Harper saw time late, in what I like to refer to as “throw spaghetti at the wall” time, when Louisville was getting ready to start firing threes. She tried to bother our offense. It was cute, in a way. Antonita Slaughter seemed to think she was a three-point shooter. Either her shot was really off today or she's really, really not. (Is she any relation to Gwen Slaughter?) For some reason I expected more from Sara Hammond, but she's young and she only played briefly. Shawnta' Dyer got a lot of minutes off the bench, but she made very little impression on me. I think she was one of those players who got all up in Da'Shena Stevens's face and edged around foul trouble.
Bria Smith fears nothing. I think the strong support from friends, family, and miscellaneous people with signs behind the bench bolstered her. She was red hot in the early going, and I feared the worst case scenario (for this fantasy player, it was Louisville winning with someone other than Schimmel the elder being the big gamer). In the second half, she ran into foul trouble- literally, being called for charges when she drove the lane. She's damn good for a freshman- damn good for anybody, but the idea that she's just a freshman is mind-boggling. Becky Burke's stroke is still amazing. She's got such a quick release. I'm not sure what she was thinking driving in the last minute or two, though. If they're not guarding you on the outside, and you're that good a shooter, and you're down that much, and the officiating hasn't been helping you, why would you drive instead of taking the three? Sheronne Vails started, but wasn't impressive; from what I've read from Louisville fans, it sounds like they were playing musical starters again. Asia Taylor was also a non-factor, with the bonus of not being able to hit a shot. Again, this might be a matter of musical starters. Shoni Schimmel has all the tools to be the best point guard in the country- by her senior year. Right now she's still raw, still wild, and still not as good in her judgment as she should be. But she's only a sophomore, and she has good court vision, and she's amazing when she cuts into the lane. She's slick, and she's fun to watch. When she matures, she's going to be very special... and by then Bria Smith will be a junior. That's a scary thought as a Big East fan.
This was not Tesia Harris's day. She looked like she was in well over her head. She was exploited defensively and inept offensively. Keylantra Langley hit one of her 'oh, hey, shot clock's running out, better hit a basket' shots, and her defense was solid, if not perfect. Mary Nwachukwu played well off the bench- she had someone to do the dirty work inside, freeing her up to look at the basket and put up the shots she's more comfortable with. She also boxed out well and did work on the offensive boards. This is what we're going to need from her going into the Big East season- a strong, reliable presence in the post to keep the pressure.
Amber Thompson looked like a freshman today- great hustle, good work going inside, but let a lot of stuff go through her hands and fumbled a lot of things that she's normally much better on. But it's sort of inevitable with freshmen. Shenneika Smith was solid, and her defense was on point. (All due respect to her, but c'mon, ESPN, she wasn't even close to being the star of the game. Why did you decide to interview her? Did you already have the story written?) Nadirah McKenith ran an excellent offense- every time Louisville made a run, St. John's had an answer, and she was part of why. She found the right person at the right time. Sometimes that person was herself. She helped shut down Schimmel, too. Eugeneia McPherson looked good, going to the lane and also hitting threes. If she can get a consistent outside shot going... we're going to be lethal. It's so good to see Da'Shena Stevens on the floor, and she's been battling so much that it hurts to see how much she's probably hurting. She got into a lot of grappling with the Louisville posts.
There were two calls that had Kim Barnes Arico about ready to go off on a ref, one where the refs missed a shot hitting the rim and refused to reset the clock, another where Da'Shena got hit in the face with no call. After she gave them several pieces of her mind, the officiating started to lean more towards St. John's. Overall, it wasn't bad- they let 'em play in the first half, less so in the second. When both teams are in the bonus with nine minutes left in the game, you might have a tightly called physical game.
I was disappointed in the turnout by St. John's. Look, guys, we're getting nationally ranked teams in here, we're on national television, would it be so much to ask that we make the place look a little less like a high school gym?
Dear dance team: can I have your jacket in an XL? Because it is awesome with the airbrushing and the sparkly logo.
We stuck around for the post-game autograph session, both because we both needed something for our cubicles and because we wanted to wish the team well. A lot of kids stuck around for that. Gee. I wonder why.
This was the crucial game for us. If we hadn't gotten this, I'm not sure any of the other games would have mattered for a chance at the tournament. But this was a big game, and a big win, and now I'm not sure what Louisville's going to do. I'm not sure if Louisville's sure what Louisville's going to do.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
February 10th, 2010: Louisville at St. John's
Comments are closed on this post- please direct all comments to the mirror post on Swish Appeal.
Neither snow nor sleet nor rain nor gloom of night nor a cold/flu/other respiratory ailment that has turned my head into the Incredible Gunk Factory nor moving the start time up five hours will stay this fan from her appointed rounds. The aforementioned respiratory ailment reduced my effectiveness a bit by taking away my voice, essentially turning me into the Harpo Marx of women's basketball fans by forcing me to communicate with the various Liberty noisemakers we packed to make up for the lack of a crowd.
If you stop the anthem singers in the middle of their rehearsal, they might be bad. If you then have the team's pep band perform the anthem instead, they might be gods-awful. As it was, the band was merely tolerable. The trumpets could use some work, though.
You would have thought that Louisville would have learned their lesson about lapping an opponent's court after l'affaire d'Georgetown, but apparently they're not going to let a little thing like a suspension-drawing fight stop them from their routines. Jennifer Blanding gave them a little guff as they came around, but there were no incidents worth mentioning. They're also one of the loudest teams I've ever heard during stretching and ball-handling drills. It's not a very good look for them. I coughed often and repeatedly at them for that.
I was impressed that we got the band and the cheerleaders in. I would have thought that they had class, but I guess maybe classes were cancelled? We made extra noise anyway. We happened to be in the same section as the St. John's men's team. I'm not sure they appreciated our racket. Someone in that general vicinity seemed rather fond of Coco, but I couldn't tell if it was coming from the team, the band, or elsewhere.
I guess LaToya Johnson wasn't as healed up as they thought she'd be- Cardinal Couple left me with the impression she'd be ready to play, but she didn't. I was also surprised at how little we saw of Brandie Radde. I thought she was going to be a high-rotation player, but the ball didn't seem to be in her hands enough (though maybe that was 'cause of Nadirah and the rest of our defense- they were all quite busy). Maybe she didn't want to seem like she was stealing shots from her teammates? Gwen Rucker really needs to work on her footwork. The refs weren't calling traveling a lot today, but she should definitely have been rung up for it more than once. Rachel Story busted loose for one lay-up that made me want to go down there and smack Kelly McManmon with my clipboard, because whatever is beyond matador defense in the lexicon of things one should never be seen doing on a basketball court, that was what Kelly was doing.
I suspect that Asia Taylor was the one player who wasn't on the St. John's scouting report, because she was the one player who really got loose for the Cardinals early. I guess it makes sense when you've got outside shooters like Burke and Harper to keep an eye on, a big center like Hines to worry about, and a double-double threat like Reid looming. Taylor's sort of the fifth wheel in that situation. Shelby Harper shoots like a lost Frese sister- Stacy Frese at Iowa State had a very similar shot. She's very cute, but she's very small. That didn't serve her well when the trap closed on her, and she didn't seem to know how to get out of it. I'm surprised Burke doesn't go inside more- she's got a strong build, and while I know she's got the good outside shot, she might be able to open up more offense if she were willing to drive it more. I think we did a great job of taking her out of her game, which took away from Louisville's offense. Reid and Hines both started to find their groove in the second half, but that might have had as much to do with us backing off on defense as it did with Louisville finding their offense. If I hadn't looked at the box, I wouldn't have guessed that Keshia Hines shot 50% from the field- she missed a lot of very easy shots by putting too much on them.
Eugeneia, stop shooting, at least until you worry more about making the shot and less about drawing the contact. She was 1-7 from the field- she probably could have improved that to 3-7 if she'd done more to make sure she got a good shot instead of the contact. She's got incredible ups, a lot of strength, the mindset of a defensive tackle, and good speed- sometimes, she just needs a little common sense to go with all of that. Likewise, I wish Coco would ditch the habit she has of flopping. If it's obvious from the other side of the arena that no one hit you as you folded to the ground, then perhaps your flop is not going to convince the official standing right there. Good hustle, as always, but just some boneheaded plays, as always. Kelly, except for a few awful defensive sequences, actually played pretty well. She had a couple of rebounds that she fought for, and she canned four treys to put her over 200 for her career. My boyfriend, who slogged through the snow with me and therefore deserves a shoutout, whipped up a sign for her pretty much on the spot. I was happy to be wrong about him jinxing her by making it when she hit 199. It was enough of a blowout that we got to see extended time from Jennifer and Amanda.. Buzz scored a three and Jennifer put in a lay-up, so everyone scored, which is always a good thing. I really think Buzz is making a case for Kelly's minutes next year.
We see you, Shenneika Smith! I love when she does her "psycho" look- she gets this smug little smile on her face, her headband moves up to stand her hair up, her eyes roll up a little in her head- almost like "yeah, bring it, punk, I'ma smack it into the next ZIP code". She got a lot of rolls today. I love watching the way she moves, too- it's sort of a weird cross between Deanna Nolan and DeLisha Milton-Jones. She had the gaudiest stat line, but I think Nadirah had the best game- she was the field general for the offense, and then there were the seven steals. She picked Louisville clean- a couple of those plays were SportsCenter worthy, in my biased opinion. I'd say half her points were on fast breaks off steals- and then she got fancy. I've also got to love what Joy was doing. She set the tone for them by hitting the deck constantly for loose balls- no question, she was sacrificing her body for the good of the team, and this is one of the things that makes her a player whose jersey I'd go out and buy with pride. Her work- and Shenneika's, and Coco's, to be completely fair to the three players with more o-boards than defensive rebounds- on the offensive boards kept a lot of our possessions alive. Sky had a good first half, but it was almost as if she got stage fright when her mom and sister got there at halftime; the only really good play she made in the second half was a three-point play that I think Coach needs to tape and show Eugeneia: "This is how you take contact and go to the hole. You think about hitting the shot first, then you take the contact. The officials aren't going to give you anything- you have to take it." Da'Shena had a good day from the line- 4/5 (actually 5/6, but her first shot didn't count because Walz wouldn't shut up and the ref waved it off). She got dinged pretty good and spent some time on the bench getting stuff put up her nose. I think that caused us to back off a little, between the increasingly absurd lead and the physicality of Hines and Reid.
Play of the day for St. John's was first going to be Nadirah's block on Harper, because it was a pretty sweet block, even if Harper's a little bitty. Then it was going to be one of Nadirah's steals where she just plucked it out of the air. But then late in the game, Joy and Eugeneia teamed up on a play that made my heart go pitter-pat, so that decided it. Joy swatted a shot, keeping it in bounds. Eugeneia scooped up the ball and fired the outlet pass to Joy, who swooped in for the lay-up. I love when teammates reward each other. Really, though, there were a few baskets with sweet passes attached. The ballhandling was pretty crisp today for St. John's.
I really don't know what to say about the officiating. While I appreciate the philosophy of "let 'em play", I think they let it go a little too far. I know it's gauche to complain about officiating when you hit fifteen free throws, but Keshia Hines should have fouled out of the game earlier than she did, and I wasn't thrilled about Gwen Rucker's elbow encountering the side of Buzz's throat, or the time Da'Shena had to spend with the smelling salts and tissue up her nose.
Shoutout to Adrienne Johnson, working the radio for the Cards- nothing but love for a former Rocker up in here. Also, shoutout to Frisco, who was kind enough to confirm for me that that was Adrienne Johnson. It's good to have friends who know how to answer not just the question you're asking, but the one that you haven't gotten around to asking, too.
This was definitely worth the hike through the snow and suffering in the cold. I love my team so much. *tiny cough of victory* Go St. John's! Don't get creamed too badly by UConn!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
April 7th, 2009: Louisville at Connecticut (NCAA tournament)
Victory! Defeat! Tiny adhesive Cardinal heads!
Nota bene: These notes are being written the night of the title game, though I'm unable to post them in St. Louis- I no can haz intarwebs. :(
Either way, this game was going to be historic. Either way, it was a privilege to be there for the game. Either way, it's been a fantastic ride.
Accidentally being booked at the official Connecticut hotel had its advantages. We wandered into the official UConn pep rally. We stuck around for a while, enjoying the cheerleaders and being very confused by the bright orange fountain. But though the cheerleaders' nerves of steel- doing two-and-three-level pyramids on sidewalk is pretty courageous- impressed us, the fans were only moderately involved, so we got bored and wandered towards the arena. Since it was too early to go in, we wandered towards Union Station. Then we heard the dulcet strains of a marching band and wound our way through the mall until we came to the hotel of the Marriott and discovered the Louisville pep rally. This was not moderate involvement. Card fans were revved up for this historic occasion. They brought large inflatable Cardinals and small adhesive Cardinals; one of the latter is still stuck to my shirt.
It's a shame the players couldn't channel the fans' enthusiasm and energy. Angel McCoughtry and Becky Burke seemed to be the only players out there who gave a damn. I honestly think they lost a minute of game time because Deseree' Byrd took five to ten seconds on every possession to get the play. Thank every God there's no ten-second rule in the women's game, or this probably would have been a thirty-point game with the extra L'ville turnovers. I liked the idea of having her drive on Montgomery- she's bigger and stronger, so theoretically, she should have been able to muscle Montgomery out of the way and score. The theory fell flat on its face when Byrd couldn't even find the barn to hit the side of. Same problem for most of the Cards, come ot think of it- I don't have a box score accessible, but I shudder to think of what Louisville's shooting percentage was, especially in the second half, when most of their shots were random flings at the glass. But Byrd was especially guilty. At least McCoughtry hit some of hers, got to the line, and got some steals, and at least Bingham was active on the boards. But the rest of the Cards did a disappearing magic trick behind their two stars. Well, okay. Burke didn't play much of the game, but when she did, she was on top of things. Ditto for Monique Reid, who's going to be a key player for them next year, judging from her play this postseason.
I could be wrong, but Tina Charles might have gotten tired of Geno being pissed at her. She went absolutely nuts out there. Louisville doesn't really have a center, so Charles devoured Candyce Bingham for lunch and had room left over for anyone else who came at her. With Charles in the middle, they didn't need much from anyone else, but Montgomery was more than willing to drive and add some offense, and then Maya Moore started adding her contributions in the second half, and that, as they say, was the end of that. Not to mention that Moore's defense was beautiful. She's so graceful. God. I hate piling compliments on a Husky like this, and I hate having to find new ways to be impressed by her. Make it stop. McLaren was a game-changing weapon off the bench, not in terms of anything she necessarily did, but by clogging the paint and slowing the game up. Louisville was having enough trouble on the boards and, y'know, actually hitting shots, but with two bigs in against the very small Cardinals, Louisville was screwed. UConn's screen-setting led to a lot of ugly mismatches. Byrd on Charles is made of fail. And I liked that both teams deliberately stopped the clock to get their subs in.
Inconsistent refereeing, blah blah blah cakes.
Dear UConn band: please do not jump the other team's turn. Please also learn to coordinate with your loud, passionate fans so that you're chanting the same thing at the same time.
Oh, Geno. Seriously, don't ever change. You're one of the best-written characters in women's basketball; we couldn't make you up if we tried. Going through the de-netted hoop was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on a basketball court.
In conclusion: ladies of Connecticut, ladies of Louisville, ladies of Stanford, ladies of Oklahoma, and the rest of the field, it's been a pleasure and a privilege flying with you this year. Things may not have turned out the way I would have liked, but there's nothing in the world like being at the Final Four when the confetti comes down, the net gets snipped, the trophies are handed out, the winning fans cry with joy, the losing fans cry with grief... and, eventually, the lights go down.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
April 5th, 2009: Louisville at Oklahoma (NCAA tournament)
Louisville Cardinals 61, Oklahoma Sooners 59
Angel McCoughtry cranks it up, the Cards D up, and alas, Courtney Paris will have to pay up.
Oh, what a game. This is what you pay the big bucks for.
We started our day out at Hoop City, where we saw lots of people and lots of different teams, sort of rubbed elbows with a bunch of coaches, got autographs from Nell Fortner, brought home souvenirs (I outshot him on the five-bar shootout, but we both got the same prize :(), watched the Battle of the Bands (Stanford got screwed because the fans were strictly partisan on their voting), the Mascot Challenge (the Louisville Cardinal won), and soaked in the experience.
After that, it was off to the Scottrade Center to join the rest of our fanbase. We were up pretty high, since we went through the lottery and didn't know people, though there was a woman giving out tickets for lower deck seats on the concourse. The people two rows behind us, who were nearly back into the wall, took full advantage of that.
A nicely performed anthem by the Louisville band, who seem to be enjoying their experience. Though it's technically improper, I do like their tradition of holding hands during the anthem- even with the mascot. They came out slow in the first half- really bad, looking like they didn't know what they were doing. They kept themselves in it with their defense, and it probably should have been a warning sign for Oklahoma that they'd kept two starters off the scoreboard and limited McCoughtry to four free throws, but they were still only up twelve. Then the second half started, and Walz, having screwed with his lineup in the first half, brought the players I think were his usual starters back in, and Hines especially played like someone had set a firecracker under her butt. And McCoughtry just up and decided that this wasn't going to be her last game, that if her team was going to make school history, they were going to keep making it. She was making plays she hadn't been making in the first half, and that really fired her team up. Bingham was the only relative constant, and I think she played her way up the draft board as a three, though someone is going to have to work on her shot so she doesn't do a split every time she shoots. Byrd showed questionable decision-making when it came to her shooting, but she set her teammates up well. Reid gave them good minutes when the wrath of the refs came down on their pivotal players- I think that was a critical part of what allowed them to come back. Becky Burke's threes were the back-breakers. I really liked watching Walz play chess against Coale, especially when McCoughtry, Bingham, and Byrd were all saddled with four fouls- he kept playing strong defense, but sent Burke and Reid after the ball instead of Byrd and his forwards.
I do have a soft spot for the Sooners, and I don't know that this was the way I'd have wanted them to go out. Courtney Paris just seemed off her game tonight, which I guess we can credit to the Louisville posts. I mean, don't get me wrong, she was a force inside on the boards, but she didn't seem to be fighting for her shots as hard as she usually does. Ashley was more effective as a scorer, but Louisville keyed on how to stop her in the second half. Hand's hot shooting early opened things up, but she couldn't replicate it in the second half. And though they deflected a lot of balls and got after a lot of boards, they weren't able to effectively convert them. In the first half, their offense was clicking, and that passing drill I mentioned in the notes from the open practice would come in very handy as they patiently chipped away at the Louisville defense until a shooter finally got open. In the second half, I don't know if the Cardinals were reading the passing lanes better or they were starting to panic, but they weren't moving as crisply and things just fell apart for them.
Refs sucked. Again, all I ask for is consistency. It doesn't even have to be competence anymore. It just has to be consistent incompetence.
Louisville traveled really well. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting them to, but they were loud and proud. Oklahoma was also well represented, though I was't amused when they all hied for the hills after the game. I can understand wanting to get away from this building of despair, but y'all did realize you basically threw $40 in the trash, right?
As a fan of the game, I'm disappointed for Oklahoma that it ended this soon, that the Parises didn't get to take one last shot at their title, that they crumbled under the pressure. As a fan of the game, I'm ecstatic that Louisville is extending this sparkling run, that Jeff Walz is really showing that he can shine as a coach, and especially that Angel McCoughtry has one more chance to strut her stuff on the national stage. I live for this.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
April 4th, 2009: NCAA Final Four open practices
Teams vary their atmospheres, and the Game Notes of Doom are starstruck.
OMG. OMG I'm actually here, so help me God. It's real. I'm in St. Louis. I think I may die of squee.
So my Final Four experience actually started on the flight to St. Louis, with a plethora of UConn fans, a temporally confused LSU fan, a small group of Stanford fans, three NEC basketball players, Phyllis Mangina (presumably on her way to the WCBA convention), and Rita Williams (presumably on her way to Geno's Final Four party). I think there were a couple of other people on the flight I should have recognized, but I was already operating on one hour of sleep (which I'm still operating on, so please don't be surprised if my accounts from this beautiful Saturday lack my usual eloquence and ability to make sense).
We checked into our hotel and found ourselves confronted with the UConn band and more than a few Husky fans. Orbitz picked a lovely hotel for us- shame about the infestation. ;) It was a bit of a hike to the Scottrade Center, which is a very pretty arena, but nothing too bad. Probably not something that could be done from Hoop City, though.
Oklahoma practiced first. It was a very dry, business-like practice. Started with loose stretching, some shooting, some post moves, then moved to inside-out plays, then perimeter shooting. Then the team split up and did a couple of shooting contests. I don't know the scoring rules, because it seems like they went twice, and after the second time, one group did sprints. My favorite part was the next drill, which involved using a set number of passes before taking the shot- seven or eight passes were the minimum. I liked the idea, especially the way some of the players executed it, with faux-penetration and backing away as if the defense had come in on them. Then it was on to more traditional drills- shooting, then shooting and defending, more shooting, and then a two-shots-at once drill.
Then we went to the Oklahoma autograph sessions, which is not so much "get your poster signed" as it is "wave hi to the nice ballers while you rush to the end and pick up a signed poster". It was kind of like being on a conveyor belt. Abi Olajuwon got a bit of a kick out of my shirt- I was rocking the Narbonne tee that Sass sent me. Wished them all luck and thanked them kindly.
Because we were on the Oklahoma line, we missed part of Louisville's practice, and I'm starting to regret that, because what we saw of it was hysterical. When we entered, they were doing dribbling drills and some individual shooting. Their band and cheerleaders, like every team but Oklahoma's, were involved in the festivities as well. They practiced free throws and did some more shooting. Then the dunks of great LULZ began- each Cardinal taking her turn running for the basket and being lifted to the hoop (or not- Coach and his loyal assistant did miss a couple of approaches) for a resounding (or not) dunk. We were rollin'. Then they scrimmaged. They finished up by stripping down to their compression bras and taking halfcourt heaves. They must practice those a lot, because there were something like four hits out of twenty shots- including one that was nothing but net, and one from Coach Walz himself. He was very satisfied with himself afterwards.
I don't think Geno was taking the practice seriously. He spent most of it shooting the breeze with Lobo, Burke, and a couple of the other ESPN blondes. Jonathan performed with the cheerleaders. They came out lapping the court a la the Liberty. Unlike the other two teams, they did their stretching as part of the practice- I guess they wanted to kill as much time as possible. They did some disorganized shooting. The bigs worked on their pivot moves. More shooting. Then there was a shooting contest of some kind, but I'm not sure what the split was. Loved the fast break sequences, especially when Moore got slick with the passes. Then they ran a few plays, but probably not ones they plan on using very often. More shooting. Shooting contest- posts took twos, perimeter players took threes, and the bigs won.
Stanford's tree is freaky, and needs another layer of foliage to be decent. They did some dribbling and ballhandling drills, ran a layup drill, did some halfcourt stuff, did a contest of some kind where the losers did pushups, and shot free throws. Then Sass distracted me, but I don't think we missed anything exciting.
I don't want to say the Huskies were popular, but the line for their autograph session was as long as the one for Oklahoma... two hours before UConn was scheduled to go. Crazy.
We changed seats after the autograph session, and ended up sitting behind some young coaches-to-be and in front of Joanne Boyle. I think I spent as much time scanning the crowd people-watching as I did watching the actual practices.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
February 13th, 2008: Louisville at St. John's
With great Cand(y)ce comes great power, and Jeff Walz has learned well from Brenda Frese.
I have had it with this shit. I have had it with my team giving, at best, a half-assed effort. I'm tired of ballhogging and complaining to the ref instead of talking to teammates, sick and tired of blonde moments and freshman mistakes, frustrated with the fear of going up and the lack of desire to go in. I really have had it with a coach who is at best in over her head and at worst a hormonal bundle of tyrannical cluelessness. Is this a Division-I, Big East team or not? This is a question that should have been answered long before the 24th game of the season.
Louisville certainly is an in your face team. I could hear their coach all the way from the other side of the arena (although, granted, a St. John's crowd doesn't make all that much noise even when there are people there, and there really weren't, which is a whole other bundle of issues because student tickets were free, but what are you gonna do?). He does seem to reflect his former employer in that regard. If tonight's game was any indication, that's one helluvan offense they have- 96 points in a college game is nothing to sneeze at. They provided some cheap laughs when, during their chest-bumping, Chauntise Wright knocked Desereé Byrd to the ground. Angel McCoughtry made an impressive showing on both ends of the floor with her athleticism, range, and great hand, and if she comes out this year, some team will be lucky to have her, that's for certain. If she doesn't come out this year, well, some team will still be lucky to have her. The player who really brought it tonight for the Cardinals, though, was junior forward Candyce Bingham, who seems to be channeling the general power of awesome that the name Candace/ice/yce bears. She reminded both me and my mom of Dupree, in build and in style of play. It was getting to the point where I was yelling at the Red Storm not to let her score because I was running out of room to mark her field goals. Chauntise Wright is a scary big woman, but she uses that bulk well, or at least she was using it well against the slender and/or utterly FUCKING USELESS posts that St. John's put against her. Patrika Barlow had a knack for being everywhere. Mom rather liked her. Maybe it's just the name. ;)
I've mentioned before that I'm throwing this season away and blaming it on pregnancy hormones, right? Because Coach Barnes Arico is making no sense, and her lack of making sense is leaking over to her team, which is in turn fucking things up fourteen ways from Sunday. I know I'm biased because Joy's my favorite, but how in the blue fuck do you sit a starter who is in only mild foul trouble for just over half of the second half? And how is this going to help team morale when she happens to be one of your co-captains? And it's not like Joy was playing badly, either. Compare/contrast to Tiina, who looked completely lost out there- I honestly think she's actually regressed since sophomore and early junior year, which should be a red flag. Coco made a lot of dumb plays- hustle plays, I'll grant, but she's got to go up with the ball instead of coming back down, because her handle is nonexistent, and this leads to turnovers. Monique had one good defensive stand on McCoughtry, but one out of several isn't going to cut it. She was really forcing her shots, especially in the second half, which makes no sense whatsoever, because it looked like Sky had finally found her shot and some of her confidence. She's not a point guard by any stretch of the imagination, our Sky, but she was finding, taking, and making her shots at the two- at least in the first half. When Kia got into foul trouble, Sky had to shift to the point, and as of right now, she's not ready to play point on the D-I level. Kia… girl, I don't know what's wrong with your head, but you better get it on straight. Even her own cheering section was calling her out for talking more to the refs than her own teammates. Kia, maybe you wouldn't have to talk to the zebras quite so much if you didn't actually commit the spectacularly dumbass fouls. About the only highlight for St. John's was Kia's bullet pass to Joy for a layup in the paint. I love the connection the two of them have- I only wish we had more time to see it. Kelly played well off the bench, although she was also forcing some of her shots, and guess what? She made a play on the sideline that resulted in a steal! Recee played hard, but I think Wright was a little much, even for her. At least she and Sheree were both aggressive.
This is the third game this season that we've been competitive at the half and then completely fallen apart in the second half. What the hell is Barnes Arico saying, or not saying, in that locker room? I honestly don't know, but I think she's lost her team, and in turn lost this season. Her team captains aren't doing their jobs, or perhaps aren't being allowed to do their jobs. The result? Tiina's acting like a stereotypical blonde and a stereotypical Euro, Kia's not talking to her teammates (and sometimes it's really obvious she doesn't want anything to do with them), and Joy? Well, Joy seems to have been marginalized, which isn't good when she's the only one I hear actually communicating with her teammates. (And Nikki Jo. But Nikki Jo lives in the doghouse with Charisse and will never see the light of day again, apparently.) It's to the point where I'm almost grateful this season is coming to a close and will most likely end on March 3rd. At least when things go wrong for Rutgers, we can blame everyone else most of the time. When St. John's fucks up, they fuck up. And all of this interpersonal shit makes me nervous about next season…