Just the Facts, Ma’am: Fordham started off strong, weathered a Pittsburgh comeback, and came away with the 58-55 win. Bre Cavanaugh had 21 points, while Mary Goulding notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Kalista Walters had 22 points and 10 rebounds to power Pittsburgh.
For golden Rams, understudies, point guard yelling, redundant raffles, grit, impossible shots, and “thanks, it has chairbacks!” join your intrepid and nostalgic blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, folks! Another day, another game. This time it’s Fordham again, hosting Pittsburgh at Rose Hill.
I put down the wrong game time, so we arrived right at tip off. There seem to be a fair number of Pitt fans in the house.
Fordham’s already starting to advertise the UCLA game, which is fantastic. I’d love to see that be a sellout.
At halftime, it’s 29-27 Fordham, after a run by Pitt. All things considered, this is better than I’d think we’d do if you told me before the game that we wouldn’t have G’mrice Davis. She’s in sweatpants, walking stiffly enough that I’m worried it’s either a knee or a back injury. I don’t know how much of this we can sustain; Mary Goulding has three fouls and Johanna Klug two. If things get bad, it might be Kendell Heremaia at center.
I’m not sure how I feel about the Pitt coaching dynamic with the McConnell sisters. Wouldn’t it be weird for players to have someone on the bench you know you can’t go to with any doubts about the coach, because of blood ties? I don’t know. Seems weird to me.
Pika Rodriguez got time in the first half, and yes, I did spend a fair amount of time trying not to think of little yellow Pokémon. Since she’s not particularly fast and she’s not particularly electric, it worked out okay. Cassidy Walsh likes to shoot the three. She’s got good length, but I don’t know if she’s really thrilled about being as tall as she is.
Suzie McConnell-Serio changed up the starting lineup in the second half, going with Kauai Bradley and Kyla Nelson. I can’t say as I blame her. Nelson has a nice shot, though she started trying to rush it in the second half, and made some intense defensive plays. I think she has a lot of promise. Bradley had great positioning on the offensive glass, including one that set up a putback by Kalista Walters. She’s got good speed as well; both of her baskets were on very fast dribble drives.
I don’t know why Danielle Garven didn’t play the second half- she didn’t appear to be injured from what I saw of her. She wasn’t impressive, either, but that’s not exactly a reason to go from starting to completely dropped down the memory hole. Yacine Diop and her strangely colored hair got off to a good start with the early three, but then the two charging fouls hit, and she never got into a groove before fouling out. She’s gangly, and I don’t know if she’s completely used to her body. Star of the show for Pitt was undoubtedly Kalista Walters, without whom Pitt would have been utterly screwed. She powered to the basket for lay-ups and floaters, and tore down offensive rebounds. I don’t know if she was already on the ACC’s radar, but if she wasn’t, this game should have put her there.
I wasn’t expecting that pronunciation of Alayna for Alayna Gribble. You’d think I’d remember more than that about someone who played just over half the game, but she didn’t make any mind-meltingly stupid mistakes or any particularly brilliant plays. She just played. Jasmine Whitney hit a couple of shots in the fourth quarter, but was otherwise unremarkable.
(It is at this point that I misplaced my notes, which aren’t always the greatest notes, but do help me highlight particular plays. I am annoyed by this.)
Katie McLoughlin is enthusiastic, and at least has a vague sense of where to be on defense, but offensively, she is not ready for primetime. Give her another year, though, maybe have her catch up to the speed of the college game, and she’ll be very serviceable. Zara Jillings brought the defense, and one of these days she’s going to get called for the blatant foul she seems to commit in every game I see her in; this time it was a hip-check that led to a Pitt turnover. The McConnell-Hyphens were not amused. Somewhat better offense from her than I’ve seen before, but so far it seems clear she’s more of a defensive specialist. And I’m okay with that. Defense is awesome. Everyone should play more defense, except my teams’ opponents.
(Hello, internet. I am a wee tiny bit loopy right now, and I don’t know why. I haven’t been up that long!)
Ladies and gentlemen, playing the role of G’mrice Davis in today’s performance will be Mary Goulding. So gritty. So clutch. Usually her ratio of “YAY!” to “WTF?!” is 2:1, but today it was more like 8:1. She threw up some wild ridiculous shots that had no business going in, but they did, and the crowd went wild. She rebounded hard and made big defensive plays. Some of the fouls were ticky-tack calls, but she does need to be more careful with her fouls and more aware of the foul situation. Johanna Klug does appear to have run headfirst into the freshman wall and begged for more. She was getting called for travels all day, with a three-second violation or two thrown in for good measure. Whoever’s in charge of post player fundamentals needs to get her in the gym and just work with her for a few hours, or days, or however long it takes, until her footwork is up to snuff.
Kendell Heremaia slid into the starting lineup with the injury to G’mrice Davis. Her three and a slick defensive play got her off to a good start, and her help defense was crucial in preserving the fouls on Mary and Johanna. But she was careless with the ball (there was one sequence where she threw it to somewhere she thought Lauren Holden was going to be, and Lauren was not, whereupon Lauren ripped her a new one with emphasis, which is sort of cute coming from a 5-5 guard). Lauren had a couple of bad, bad three-point attempts that airballed, but her drives down the lane made up for them, and she ran the offense well. Clock management could use a little more polish, but that’s been improving. Bre Cavanaugh had ice in her veins, running down the shot clock to the very end on two different occasions, making big hustle plays, and generally being awesome. She’s such a change of pace for this team. She takes a lot of hits but I could do without some of the embellishment. She’s going to get called for simulation one of these days.
Now that cheer and dance are occasionally making noise, the next step is to coordinate them.
Please stop hitting Bre, y’all. And if the officials could call it, that would be great.
That was a huge win. Pitt’s not necessarily a good ACC team, but they’re still an ACC team with ACC size. To get out ahead of them, lose that lead, and come back, and do it all without our star post- that’s big.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
December 3rd, 2017: Pittsburgh at Fordham
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
January 16th, 2013: Pittsburgh at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: 10 St. John's players got in the game, scored, and rebounded in the Red Storm's 61-32 win over Pittsburgh. Shenneika Smith's 14 points and nine rebounds led St. John's; Loliya Briggs had 10 points to lead the Panthers.
For the cruelty of rims, the revelations of the bench, missed jumpers, sparkly vests, and ramping up for the weekend, join your intrepid and somewhat purple blogger after the jump.
I do enjoy watching my team lay a good old-fashioned smackdown sometimes. There's something to be said for a competitive game, and something to be said for a tight game, but sometimes you just need to see the end of the bench get some minutes and cheer for them.
Nice job on the anthem tonight by the band, and the dance team was on point as well. Good luck at nationals, guys! (And let me know where I can get that vest in XXL. Shiiiiny!)
I think a couple of the guys from the men's team were sitting behind us. If they were, I hope they enjoyed our antics. We aim to please.
So, Pitt. I'd love to blame Pat Coyle for this, but that's just an old habit as a Liberty fan. I don't think she really has enough influence to explain just how bad this team was. There were hints of the things that drove us nuts in New York- shot selection, long-running offense that led nowhere- but I don't think it's all on her.
They dug pretty deep into their roster at the end, putting Brianna Brizzi and Bridget Higgins on the floor in the last minute. Marquel Davis really brought the intensity in the second half on defense; there were times when I thought she was the only player who was interested in trying to win for Pitt. The odd skin condition on Krista Pettepier's shoulder kept distracting me from her play, but that's because I'm insufferably nosy, and I've accepted that. She had an unfortunate tendency to pass and save the ball directly to Red Storm players. Okay, I don't think it's unfortunate, but I'm a bit biased in that matter. I remember when Ashlee Anderson was a factor for the Panthers, but she was mostly just in both teams' way. The box score says that Chyna Golden played, but I don't even remember seeing her number on the floor, which just shows how effective she was. There's a difference between not hearing a player's name and not seeing them, you know.
Asia Logan took a lot of good shots... and missed them. She had at least three open jumpers that she clanked, including one that she seemed to leave short like she thought Shenneika was going to swoop upon it like Batman. If a defense is going to leave a scorer like Logan open, she should at least educate them on why this is a bad idea by hitting the shot. I feel vaguely disappointed, because players from opposing teams that are leaving the conference totally have some kind of obligation to help out young players learning defense. Loliya Briggs, despite her amusingly distracting first name (it's the spelling, there are too many jokes available, I'm sorry) played... not necessarily badly. Unremarkably might be the best word. I was impressed with Brianna Kiesel's defensive effort. She snagged a nice steal in the first half. Cora McManus was a big tough presence rebounding in the paint, boxing out effectively even if she couldn't pull down the rebound herself. When she went to the line at the end of the first half, I was so hoping that she would either miss both free throws or hit both free throws just so ESPN's graphics would be messed up.
Ladies and gentlemen, this game was so out of hand that Jennifer Blanding got into the game in the unofficial third quarter. We all love Big Love in the stands at Carnesecca, but you know a game's a blowout when she's playing half of the second half. And she looked good! She totally should have been credited with at least one steal and another block, and I think the rim just didn't like her. What I liked seeing from her was the way she set screens and made sure her teammates used them- that's the kind of thing you see out of a senior, and I'm wondering if Coach might use her in spot situations like that now. Ashley Perez still needs to catch up to the speed of the college game, but she's a raw freshman, I think we can give her time. She's become a little more confident in her shot, which is good, and I like her hustle. Cedrica Gibson got some first half minutes at the point, as well as garbage time in the second half. She definitely needs time to develop as a point guard who can create an offense; she mostly killed clock and dribbled in this one, though I don't know how much of that was coach's orders to not humiliate the opposition. Sandra Udobi showed muscle in the lane, if not great shooting. Amber Thompson seems to have developed an aversion to catching things. She blew passes (one of those turnovers was an iffy pass from Shenneika, but still) and had trouble coming down clean with rebounds. You're six-two and awesome, Amber, grab the ball!
Mary Nwachukwu seemed to have taken inspiration from the men's big win over Notre Dame- her hands were quick and high, and she was smothering shots beautifully. I also saw her setting screens and picks, which was a refreshing flashback. Did a little too much standing around on the boards for my liking, but I can deal with that. Shenneika Smith continued to do that thing where she swoops in and makes shots not go into the basket for the other team- even if she doesn't block them, she's like an urban legend and they get scared. Keylantra Langley got the start for Briana Brown (who was not present, suffering the aftereffects of getting her face stepped on versus Seton Hall- get well soon, Bri) and showed flashes of her old offense, but I'm not thrilled with her defense when the ball's being brought up the floor. She hasn't been quick to react to the pass. And if you get the role of defending the point guard as she brings the ball up the floor, you should probably be ready for the pass. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid game- not remarkable, but not needing to be. Aliyyah Handford continues to impress me all over the floor, doing all the things and doing them with the poise of a junior, maybe even a senior. Seriously, this kid is special.
Officiating was interesting, though there was one funny moment when Jennifer Blanding accidentally (one hopes) swatted a shot hard into one of the refs. And Norma Jones did show off a little bit of her dance stylings when she couldn't quite get clear of the end of the dance team's routine. There were a couple of calls that we'll charitably chalk up to game management and move on. (There were also some hilariously bad flops. David Stern does not approve. Neither does Mery Andrade; show some technique, ladies!)
Overall, there's not much else I can say about this game. We played well enough to win even when our deep bench was going against Pitt's starters; that's good seasoning and a nice win to build on before our next... oh, we're at Notre Dame on Saturday. :-/
Saturday, February 26, 2011
February 26th, 2011: Pittsburgh at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: On Senior Day at Carnesecca Arena, it was a junior who led the way, as Da'Shena Stevens's 15 points and eight rebounds helped the Red Storm beat Pittsburgh, 72-63. Coco Hart added 13 points, and Shenneika Smith had all 12 of hers in the second half for St. John's. The Panthers' Ashlee Anderson led all scorers with 20 points, and Taneisha Harrison had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
For flowers, the eternal choice between light and dark, defense, and about a page of unadulterated squee so sweet it will rot your teeth, join your intrepid and verklempt blogger after the jump.
Magic numbers. That's what today was about. Today was about the numbers. 4 years, 2 seniors. 1 and 30, Sky Lindsay and Coco Hart. 20 and 9, overall wins and conference wins, the magic numbers to get this team into the NCAA tournament. It was about heart and soul and tears and the thrill of a bonus game on top of a game, but at its very core, it was about numbers.
For better or for worse, the way St. John's recruits and keeps players, we really haven't had seniors who don't play very often and are only remembered on Senior Day. Our two seniors are both starters, and Sky's started every game she's played in. One's been a constant; the other worked her way up from the bench and tried to step into some very big shoes.
Whatever complaints I have had about Sky's game- and they have been legion over the years- I will never deny that she has one of the greatest personalities I've ever encountered in the game. Charming and fun-loving, she's been a great ambassador for the team. She's embraced her role as a leader of this team and mentored the younger players. I'm going to miss the way her jump shot floats in the air before splashing down in a high arc, and I'm going to miss the way she's always dancing to whatever music happens to be playing, and I'm going to miss her mother's indomitable will and boots. (I still remember the WNIT year when Mama Lindsay was bound and determined to charter a bus to North Carolina.)
And whatever complaints I have made about Coco over the years- and believe me, they have been many- I will never deny her effort, her willingness to sacrifice her body against much larger opponents, her hustle, and her fight. She comes to play, and while much has been asked of her, she has given just as much in return.
The Senior Day presentation was beautiful- each player got flowers and a framed action photo, and then there was music video. We will not speak of the music video. I love my team, and I love Nadirah McKenith as a point guard, and I think Jennifer Blanding seems like a great person to hang out with, but for the love of God, they should not have made that tribute rap-whatever-it-was travesty of a video. No. No. A million times no. My heart appreciates the sentiment, but my ears still hurt from the badness. The anthem wasn't much better, either. Again, no. Just no. I think my theory about my team being very close to a girl group went out the window when Monique McLean graduated and Sheree Ledbetter transferred.
Leeza Burdgess is a very promising big. She still needs to have some of the rough edges knocked off her, as she's not as good at keeping out of foul trouble as she'll need to be, but she's got size and knows how to use it, which is what I always lok for in a big post. She needs to get on the right side of the line between aggressive and assertive if she's going to do well at Pittsburgh, but I think she has the capability of doing so. The other reserves for the Panthers were more or less irrelevant. I'll admit that I wasn't paying as close attention to Pittsburgh as I should have been, because it was enior day and I was still focusing on my team. So my apologies to Asia Logan, Marquel Davis, Kyra Dunn, and Yasmin Fuller. If you did anything exciting, I won't be able to describe it to your fans.
Agnus Berenato is taller than I thought. Also, Patty Coyle's jacket fits. Also, we nearly died laughing when Pittsburgh almost iced one of their own foul shooters, given that that was the last straw for the Liberty regarding Coyle. Ah, memories.
I knew Ashlee Anderson had to be something special for one simple reason: everyone on Pitt is either a senior or a freshman. Therefore, if a freshman is starting on a senior-laden team, she must be something special. I wasn't proven wrong, although I think our defense was more focused on Harrison and Sims, so Anderson as the lucky beneficiary. She's got a pretty stroke from the corner. Gets happy feet sometimes, though. She's only a freshman, so that kind of thing can be forgiven. Shayla Scott threw around more weight than she actually has. I think she got a little too physical at times. I don't think she needed to be climbing into players' shorts. Well, not literally, but close enough. Jania Sims was less of a factor than I anticipated- we did our best to cover both her and Taneisha Harrison. Harrison was able to get loose for a few shots, much to my annoyance. Chelsea Cole was never able to establish herself down low.
Pittsburgh played a very swarming defense, and if our passing hadn't been exceptionally crisp today, they might have caused us more trouble, but we were more or less ready for it. Their offensive rebounding was spectacular. There were a couple of points in the game where I looked over and said, “I'm tired of chanting DE-FENSE! No, I don't mean change it up, I mean I'm sick of Pitt having the ball.”
I have to give props to Jennifer Blanding today. I'm not quite sure why Kim Barnes Arico has her on a figurative choke chain, but this needs to stop. She gave good minutes, got inside, used her body well against the bigs from Pitt, scored a little, and got a bunch of blocks. At the first mistake, Coach pulled her, and that's not going to fly next year unless Mary Nwachukwu is ready and more than legit. Eugeneia McPherson appears to have left her offense in South Florida; hopefully, it just missed the connecting flight and will have hitchhiked its way to Morgantown so they can meet up on Monday. She also seemed a step slower than usual on defense. Amanda Burakoski looked like she'd lost a lot of the nerve she'd shown in the last few games, and I think that's a bad sign- unless, of course, she only has nerve when she knows Sky isn't going to play, which means things should be all right next year. (No offense, Sky.) She had one nifty save along the sideline that reminded me of Kelly McManmon from last year's team, who always made her best plays on the sideline. Buzz's threes were fairly well timed, though. Keylantra Langley got more minutes than she'd been getting in the last few games, and, um, at least she and Jennifer teamed up on a nice steal? Box credits her with four assists, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I read that. I don't think she's the right point guard for our system- she's more of a power player, and unless she's really going to develop her slashing game, that doesn't match our speed.
Sky Lindsay chose a pretty good game to show her stuff. She was all over the place on defense, chasing every loose ball like her life depended on it, and while not all her shots went in, more of them went in than usual. Nadirah McKenith ran a very solid game, and her sharp, stylish passes set the tone for the Red Storm offense. When Pitt started fouling her in the last minutes, she was able to build up her point total, and I sort of wish she'd hit the double-double, because points-assists double-doubles are made of win and awesome. Shenneika Smith did nothing in the first half- at least, nothing worth mentioning unless I'm Coach and I'm lecturing her about defensive lapses, questionable shot selection, lack of court awareness (don't pass the ball into the backcourt if you're in the frontcourt!), and overall epic fail. In the second half, the shots started to go in, and she got a little highlight reel action going. Da'Shena Stevens worked her butt off in the paint, and was absolutely screwed by the refs on block/charge calls. She's become a steadier contributor over the last couple of months- I mean, it's not like she hasn't contributed in most games, but her median is approaching her mean, and that's the kind of player we need with such streaky complementary players. Coco Hart took a little bit to get started, and it was clear that her head wasn't completely in the game, but she worked, and oh, did she work. At least one of her baskets was a putback.
Best play of the game for St. John's: Da'Shena in trouble, rifles a low pass to Nadirah, who rockets it over to Sky, who hits the long jumper. Nadirah's rifle pass to Shenneika for a soaring lay-up was pretty nifty too.
The referees were a bit inconsistent on their block/charge calls, and they let play get a little more physical than I would have liked, but overall it wasn't too much of a hot mess. One of the refs made a couple of really lousy calls in St. John's favor, especially the “simultaneous possession” where Da'Shena had her hands on the ball for about a nanosecond.
We bent but didn't break. I think that was the biggest thing about this game. We let them come close and we let them tie, but we didn't let them take over.
So you'd think that would be the end of it, right? We're two and a half pages into the Game Notes of Doom, all the bases have been covered, the pithy analysis has been provided, it's time to go home and rub your eyes after an assault by lots of text, right? Not quite. Because it's Senior Day, and we're probably in the NCAA Tournament, so we're not in the WNIT, but we're probably not getting a nearby site due to other teams being in the way, and while my team is going to Hartford, I'm going to Bridgeport. If this is the last time I'm going to see my team- the last time I'm going to be in my home arena this season- maybe the last time I'll see Sky and Coco- you had damn well better believe I ain't leaving until they kick me out. And as it happened, the men were on ESPN, playing at Villanova in a game that was a nail-biter at the time, so a bunch of us stayed to watch it on the screen in the lobby.
Oh, and there was a post-game autograph session scheduled. They had to delay that a bit because the players kept wandering away from the table to watch the game. Some of us made ourselves useful by announcing score, time left, and who was at the line to inquiring people around the back and sides. Some of us also went in on “DE-FENSE!” and “LET'S GO JOHNNIES!” chants. Yes, I know it's ridiculous to do that for a game that's on television, and trying to disconcert a televised shooter is generally not all that effective, but it was a warm and wonderful bonding feeling. (And yes, people behind me, I'm aware of the fact that they can't hear me counting down the shot clock- but the people behind us can, and that lets them know what's going on with the possession.) When St. John's won, there was general rejoicing, and Nadirah ran out from behind the table and started high-fiving people. It was awesome.
And we got to wish them luck (well, not everyone, because Nadirah and Eugenia did a runner, which is a shame, because I really wanted to say thanks this year to them). And we got to give Sky and Coco a proper goodbye, which resulted in one of Coco's relatives insisting we take a picture with her, I am not making this up.
Good luck, and good-bye, and thank you- that's just the short form, Red Storm. Good luck in Morgantown, in Hartford, and in wherever the committee places you- our hearts are with you, even if our finances keep us from following you. Good-bye, even if the road hasn't yet come to its end for you, because we love you and miss you already. Thank you- thank you for Manhattan, Columbia, Nicholls State, both Seton Hall games, Southern Miss, Santa Barbara, Liberty, Rutgers, Georgetown, and Pittsburgh.
Thank you for the four-on-five minutes of the Southern Miss game, for Buzz teasing us at Seton Hall, for Nadirah's lay-up against Rutgers, for Eugeneia's amazing game against Maryland, for all the times Da'Shena got up again, for Shenneika's acrobatic drives through the lane, for Coco's boxing out, for Sky's hands on every loose ball, for Jennifer's strength on the block, for Zakiyyah's laughter every time she sees us during the entrance video, for Keylantra going to the floor, for Briana's hustle for every loose ball, for the Barnes and Arico families' tolerance of the crazy people in the jerseys.
Thank you, Sky, for snarking your mother at the Columbia game, and your family seeking stats at the LIU game, and your mother's boots, and the incredible family resemblance between you and your mom (and your sister), and knocking Syracuse out of the Big East Tournament yea all these years ago, and every dance move you've ever busted in shootaround, and for the pink streamer at Key Food which is right next to me on the bookshelf.
Thank you, Coco, for liking my hair, and for stepping up into big shoes, and for calling New York home for four years, and for every rebound you've brought down, and every putback you've fought to put into the basket, and for every time you've laid out to draw the foul.
And as the lights go out on the home slate for 2010-2011 at Carnesecca Arena, it all circles back to these small things: good luck, and good-bye, and thank you.
Monday, April 14, 2008
January 22nd, 2008: Pittsburgh at St. John's
The Game Notes do not approve of players who just give up on the game- but they do approve of live wires and firestarters like Sheree Ledbetter and Kelly McManmon.
This nonsense has got to stop. I'm not paying to see a team just fucking give up out there. I'm not paying to see Monique McLean do her best Pretty Pretty Princess impression, combining the worst traits of Becky with the worst traits of Shameka. I'm not paying for power trips and bullshit. I'm paying for some goddamn basketball.
Are you tired of me complaining about the St. John's band? Cuz I'm tired of me complaining about the St. John's band.
Marcedes Walker continues to impress me less and less whenever I see her. Yeah, she's big, but a lot of that size jiggles. She was losing positional battles to Joy, who's a lot skinnier than pretty much anyone on the floor. The tattoo seems more and more like false bravado every time I see her. She got her points, but I'm willing to bet that she padded her stats with a lot of o-boards on her own misses. Shavonte Zellous continues to impress me with how she gets around her opponents. Kia's no slouch, but she was burning the hell out of Kia. Winn had a better game than she did against Duke, but I'm still not sold on her. Next year is going to be interesting for the Panthers; I'm not sure that the supporting cast around Zellous is going to attract enough attention to prevent teams from doubling or tripling down on her. She's got size around her, but so much of the offense goes through that big three that I don't know if that size is any good. Tough team. Some Penguins and Steelers on that roster.
For St. John's the question became "who actually wants to play this goddamn game?" There weren't nearly enough answers. Kia came to play, no doubt, although she needs to- if need be- defy the set play and take the damn shot sometimes. She's forcing a lot of passes, and they're going on her shoulders in the boxscore, even if the pass is good and the receiver is off in lala land. Joy came to play, and she did a helluva job trying to deny position to someone who's got… I don't even want to think about how much weight Walker has on her. Probably a small child's worth. Kristin came to play- Mom keeps accidentally calling her Loree, and tonight she did a damn good Loree impression. Sheree came to play- but in the few minutes she gets, Sheree always comes to play. Kelly came to play in the second half, and her defense in the backcourt helped key the run that made the game respectable. Those five together took a twenty-point Pitt lead and brought it down into single digits. The rest of the team… I want to know what the hell is wrong with Sky. She doesn't seem to be playing with any confidence at all. I know she had a rep, but she doesn't seem to be showing any hint of it now. Monique… don't get me started on her. She's ballhogging, she's not playing defense, she's making stupid decisions on the court, and finally, finally, tonight, Coach hooked her for all the crap she pulled. Monique seems to have the longest leash of any player on the team, and it doesn't seem fair. Hopefully, Coach noticed that the big run we made came with Monique's ass glued to the bench. Tiina… on the one hand, she was really out of it when it came to the loose balls, but I think she would have been a little fiercer if she hadn't been saddled with major foul trouble, much of it undeserved. Coco was royally out of it; she was not playing like she usually does at all. And Recee, I honestly think she's scared after she hurt her knee at Rutgers. She's hesitating in ways she never did before.
That all being said, the last time I've been this proud of a lineup was when Tiina, Monique, and the three freshmen had to go the full twenty last year. Kia, Kelly, Kristin, Sheree, and Joy made things happen when they were out there, and I'd really like to see more of Kristin and Sheree.
I know I've been this frustrated with teams before. How long have I been a Liberty fan? I'm just scared for next year. But take it one day at a time and all of that.
December 8th, 2007: Maggie Dixon Classic
Shavonte Zellous, Chante Black, and Rashidat Junaid impress; meanwhile, Kia Vaughn is… not well.
Nothing like a doubleheader where the gates open before noon to wake you up, huh?
First of all, I am not pleased with the turnout. Where the hell was everyone? I know the folks on this board did their part- I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd- but come ON. That was some pathetic attendance, and not attendance that would look good at all on the television. It's the kind of thing that makes people who happen to come by ask why it's on TV, or why it's in such a major arena. I mean, we did get some good noise out of the crowd, especially in the first game, where you had the Duke fans hollering, the Pitt fans hollering, and the Rutgers fans hollering for Pitt out of a combination of conference loyalty and the urge to see the team that just beat you lose in turn.
So, after all the talk this year of Marcedes Walker, as compared to the talk of her in previous years, I have to say I'm not as impressed as I used to be. She seems to have let the praise get to her head, because she's gotten very passive on the court- there were times when she was letting the tall but slender Chante Black push her around, and times when she simply wasn't chasing rebounds. At the same time, she's got brass ones enough that when her team needed her, she did step up, and enough that she has the WNBA logo tattooed on her right biceps- I couldn't see closely enough to tell whether she completely copied Cappie's tattoo or whether it's simply the logo. Shavonte Zellous also has the logo, on her ankle, but as of right now, she's got more of a claim to it than Walker does. That girl can ball, jeez. Now I completely comprende what the Maryland fans were talking about. She's a heartless shooter and a damn good hustler. I don't know if she really does have next-level game, or if she'll be exposed on bigger stages and/or without the muscle of Walker to back her up. Mallorie Winn… okay, I didn't get my program until halftime, so when I first saw #0 come off the bench and royally fuck up her first two passes, I turned to the boy and said, "Okay, she needs to not pass anymore." At which point she put up the most godawful three I'd seen all day to that point. So I figured that maybe shooting was a bad idea for her and she just needed to sit down. Then I got the program and realized that this was the once touted Mallorie Winn. Er, what the hell happened to her? No one else from Pittsburgh really stands out in my memory, although this probably has more to do with the fact that this was the first game of a doubleheader.
For Duke: Chante Black. I love her. Love at first sight. I like the way she plays the game, though she could stand to put on a little muscle. But I love the way she moves, the way she positions herself, and the fact that she seems to enjoy doing what she does. So many players have such severe game faces that the *game* portion of the whole thing gets forgotten. I was also very impressed with Abby Waner's hustle- she's got a nose for where the ball is going to be, and a boundless determination to make the ballhander's life a living hell. I don't know if she's a prospect, but she's definitely fun to watch. McCallie's big on posts (and on big posts), so I'm sure we're going to be seeing more and more post offense as she figures out what she has and what she wants. This might be a down year for them, but dollars to donuts their big push is next year. I mildly liked Karima Christmas, but I can't get past her name. (Not so much her last name, even- I work with a Karima who has a less than charming personality.) Again, I'm sure there were plays by Duke that intrigued me and made me go wow at the time, and were not Chante Black blocks, but time has eroded them from my memory. :(
Intermission consisted of some speechifying and some charitable donations, the second of which I approved of more than the first. All four teams were out there, some a bit more enthusiastically and respectfully than others. No brownie points to the two Blue Devils who chatted through the whole thing, and none to the RU players who were fidgeting. Not surprised that the Army players stood stoically through it, and would you really be surprised that Essence Carson was the picture of patience?
As an aside to whoever put together the remembrance videos: why did you think it was a good idea to show the one with Geno? Come on. The rivalry has gotten nasty enough that fans will do embarrassing things because of it. Yes, they booed the video. No, I'm not proud of them.
Beautiful anthem- they did it between games, perhaps so they could have the color guard?
Army was screwed when, three minutes in, Cara Enright went down hard enough that we heard her hit the deck, stayed down for a very long time, needed help to get up, put no weight on her leg, and went straight to the locker room. This is not a good combination of events, and bodes no good for a team when said events happen to their star senior guard. Alex McGuire had to take on the entire offensive load herself, and while she was willing and able, no one else could step up to help her. Hawkins and Anthony both did the bulk of their scoring late in the game, and Stone mostly disappeared after the first few minutes. Unsurprisingly, Army plays very tough, very physically, and very tenaciously. They welcome contact on both ends of the floor. They drive. They have surprising post presence for a team that can't really recruit above a certain height. They're fun to watch- I just don't know if they have the talent to compete, especially if Enright's out for any extended length of time.
I think Coach Stringer was pissed. Perhaps out of concern for nagging injuries, perhaps out of not wanting to run up the score, but IMO mostly because of the Duke game, she benched the entire regular starting lineup. There are small children who might not even have been aware that Katie Adams ever played who saw her start today. And Rashidat Junaid took full advantage to display her post moves and soft touch on the Garden floor. Granted, Rashidat started out with an advantage, in that a) she's already been playing better than Kia Vaughn, and b) er, we'll get to b later, suffice it to say that there may have been a reason Kia was playing like crap. Brittany Ray also decided to shoot the lights out, given the opportunity to start in place of Heather Zurich (who didn't play at all, perhaps because her face still isn't quite right after that hit early in the season, and if you don't have to…). I was glad to see Myia start, too, because I like watching her play- I don't think she's the kind of player who needs to start, but she's a most excellent sixth woman. Honestly, things unraveled temporarily in the first half when Stringer reluctantly began bringing the starters in. In the second, it was clear that the starters, or at least Prince and Ajavon, had gotten things together enough to look good. Essence was very quiet in her limited minutes. The defense was fantastic and the rebounding was splendid.
Terrapins, we need to have a talk about the use of germ warfare in out-of-conference play. I'm *sure* it's just a coincidence that after we play the Maryland Ptomaines, Kia comes up with two awful games and spends part of the second half barfing into an empty Gatorade cooler. Yes, the joys of sitting in the endcourt and having no one shielding the bench. Come on, guys, we share your team colors, can't you cut us a little slack? At least if you're going to use germ warfare, take advantage of it yourselves, don't hand it off to another team to take advantage of!
In the crowd: a batch of high schoolers and middle schoolers, Blaze and her posse, Dan Hughes, Marynell Meadors. The last two are as per Megan, the Liberty's devoted ticket rep, who joined us for a bit of the second game. During the first game, the Army squad obligingly posed for pictures in their general area. During the second, Pitt brought their own cookies and nifty warm-ups, while Duke socialized quite a bit in our section and the section behind what had been their bench.
I was at five games in eight days. Bonita Spence was at three of them. Bonita, we must stop meeting like this.