Long Island University Blackbirds 76, New Hampshire Wildcats 72
Stealth doubleheader is stealthy! The Game Notes of Doom re-enter the strange world of men's basketball and find themselves a robin in the midst of a flock of Blackbirds.
I had no idea when I planned this trip that this was a doubleheader with the LIU men. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed that I could stay for the second game I paid for and still get home in time for dinner. So I shifted seats to my preferred view, bought a thing of nachos and a hot dog, and prepared for another couple of hours of LIU basketball.
Oh! I probably should have mentioned them in the women's notes, given that they were there for both games, but it turns out that LIU does have a dance team, and a pep squad in the stands. The noise was unexpected, and a refreshing change from the depressing deadness that had filled the place for the holiday tournament.
The women wear their colors at home, but the men don't. And apparently the women don't always wear their colors at home either. I'm now officially and completely confused.
So, the New Hampshire men play nothing like the New Hampshire women (who also visited LIU; I swear I thought they'd left the second Turkey Classic game on the ticket by accident when I bought my general admission). Live by the three, die by the three, be resurrected and stalk the earth by the three, geez. I liked their big center, DiLiegro. Nice presence in the middle. Tyrone Conley had a wicked block- I keep thinking I've heard that last name before, and I don't know why. Solid play and nice range from Radar Onguetou. But, um, can I assume that Alvin Abreu was coming off the bench for disciplinary purposes? Because he kicked ass, and he kicked a lot of it in the second half- his shooting was one of the big reasons why New Hampshire made the game so dramatic at the end. Someone really needs to lace their Gatorade with Valium, though. I was betting random spectators the cost of a soda that he'd either have a heart attack or get a technical by the end of the game, given how far out he was wandering onto the court. Amazingly, he avoided both.
Daaaaaaamn, David Hicks. Just. Daaaamn. One-man highlight reel, this guy. Great ups, fancy moves, and one spectacularly flashy steal. Culpo got the start, which I don't think he did when they went to St. John's- he played well early, but was benched until late in the game for Jaytornah Wisseh and inexplicable reasons. Adomaitis was unimpressive, but he did what a center needs to do for a team with a lot of small, quick guards- he made space. I'm sure he did it more than once, but I have noted down an especially nice screen that left Kyle Johnson open for three. Speaking of Mr. Johnson, I'm pretty sure there actually isn't enough that can be said for him. He stepped up his game big time in the second half. Julian Boyd also had some great plays, though his were on the defensive end- he took a couple of key charges and had a blocked shot that kept the game manageable for the Blackbirds. As for the rest of the bench- you recall the "inexplicable reasons" crack about Culpo being benched? Wisseh had a really, really bad game. Flashy but stupid. As one of the folks behind me said, he was putting his head down too much, which meant that he wasn't watching the clock, his teammates, or the defenders around him. One of the worst mistakes a guard can make.
Pretty savvy observation for someone in the stands to make, right? Well. And we're into awkward moment number two. In my defense, I didn't actually plan to sit right in front of most of LIU's women's basketball team. They showed up after I did. Seriously, there are few things more awkward than sitting right next to a team while wearing the gear of the team that just shot 51% on them. Unless it's hearing one of them make devastating and accurate mockery of your complaints to the refs. I tried to keep a low profile, I really did, but it's hard to keep a low profile when you can't shut up, and oh yeah, you're wearing bright red. Did get to wish them good luck this year (and I did mean it; there are far too many Connecticut teams in that conference, and New York needs to take them down a peg, not to mention that I enjoyed watching them play and I'd like to see them do well). And the t-shirt drama will keep me giggling for weeks on end.
Gotta give a shoutout to the young lady in the Liberty shooting shirt, especially since I'm pretty sure that that was Marika Sprow. See, this is why we need the WNBA, so even reserve guards for mid-major schools have a dream to look up to.
I'm still not a fan of men's basketball. It's just kinda there for me. It's faster, higher, bigger, stronger than the women's game, that's true. And the boxscores will tell you that the passing is sharper. But so much of that faster, higher, bigger, stronger seemed like sound and fury, signifying nothing. I'll stick to my game.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
December 13th, 2008: New Hampshire at Long Island
Sunday, November 30, 2008
November 29th, 2008: New Hampshire at Yale (Turkey Classic at LIU)
Yale Bulldogs 76, New Hampshire Wildcats 55
Yale and New Hampshire get along like 'cats and 'dogs, Yoyo Greenfield is not who you expect her to be, and Kristin Cole is an exceptionally good juggler.
Can you think of anything better to do on the Saturday after Thanksgiving than go to a basketball tournament at a school you know nothing about with four teams you have no emotional investment in? Yeah, I couldn't either, so off we went to the Courtyard LaGuardia Turkey Classic.
LIU has a nice little facility- very clean and crisp and modern, but you might want to eat before the game, or bring something with you, because I didn't see any concessions set up in the lobby. But we didn't venture out between games, so they might have set something up afer the games started. Not completely certain. Also, bring cushions- the entire lower bowl is bleacher seats, and they charge double for the chairbacked upper deck.
We joked that Yale-New Hampshire had to be moved to New York because if they played it in New Hampshire, someone might get killed. Very scrappy, very chippy game. Not that I mind that sort of thing, but the referees in it were pretty bad- there's a difference between taking charge of a game and controlling it, and a difference between calling a fair game and calling an even game, and these referees seemed to not know either.
It didn't help New Hampshire that they seemed to have been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug- they only dressed eight, and from the talk by New Hampshire families before the game, it sounds like one of the injuries was pretty recent. And there was a lot of foul trouble in the first half for their starters, so I give their coach major props for adroit player management- despite having three starters hit two fouls early in the first half, she didn't have anyone foul out until the waning seconds, when Candace Williams committed a dumb reach-in. They've got good height for an America East school. In terms of build and elbow pointiness, Racheal Fowler reminded me a little of Lisa Leslie- she's not someone I'd want to get into a rebounding battle with at all. She had a great save on the baseline that resulted in a basket by Kate Early. Candace Williams has some moves- a good scorer, but she got foul-happy in the second half, and that got her in trouble when the Wildcats could have used her. Amy Simpson's got a nice shot too. I think I've heard of her before, for some reason. The freshman LaRosa shows promise.
When I looked at the Yale roster, I admit that I wasn't expecting Yoyo Greenfield from Los Angeles to be a white girl with dirty blonde hair and a pixie face. So I stereotype sometimes, 'scuse me. She had a nice game, canning threes and running the offense, though there were a couple of possessions where she was getting her Becky Hammon on, and not in the good way (though also not in the "let me change my citizenship way", either, more like the "let me run into traffic with no help and throw up a shot that has no chance of going in" way). There was something I liked about Ashley Carter, but I can't put my finger on it. For what I'm assuming is a coach's daughter, Mady Gobrecht has one of the least fundamental layups I've ever seen a post shoot. I think she blew two or three chippies. Jamie Van Horne's got a nice three-point shot. Haywood Wright reminded me disconcertingly of Sue Wicks- similar facial structure, same eyebrows, same manner of running, and same need for kneepads. That was one of the things I liked about Yale- there were a lot of skinned knees, which to me means everyone's going after every loose ball.
I don't want to say it was a chippy game and there were a lot of free throws shot, but Yale's Melissa Coborne got to double figures without hitting a field goal. (She hit two shots late, but both after her tenth free throw went in.) There were a lot of jump balls, a lot of players on the floor, and a lot of hustling. A New Hampshire player had her head sat on; Wright had to leave momentarily to have her clawed wrist wrapped.
Yale opened the second half on a 13-0 run, and that really sealed the deal for them; they were up 9 at half and won by 21, so the run basically provided the rest of the cushion and allowed them to let New Hampshire play them even for the rest of the half. Greenfield hit a couple of shots to spur that run.
It's an odd thing to notice, I'm sure, but I like how both teams run their drills. Yale was shooting free throws (hey, Kim, are you listening?) and on-ball defense, and New Hampshire's drills were pretty crisp. Very neat and efficient. Something tells me Yale's going to take the Ivy by storm, given their upset of NC State, their close play against Kentucky in the first round of this little tourney (as reported by the friendly New Hampshire families), and their blowout against New Hampshire.