Just the Facts, Ma'am: A competitive first half turned into a rout in the second half, as St. Francis of Brooklyn took down their local rivals from LIU 87-64. Jade Johnson exploded for 31 points, while Amy O'Neill added a triple-double with 16 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. Brandy Thomas had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blackbirds in the loss.
For milestones, scoring oddities, the walking and limping wounded, taking the elevator, going the long way home, and just general head-shaking, join your intrepid and very tired blogger after the jump.
Even if the Game Notes of Doom stop sometimes, basketball doesn't, and your intrepid blogger is juggling three different windows of notes on a C train to Metrotech, on my way to the Battle of Brooklyn at St. Francis. I think the trophy game was technically the first game of the series, the one in January I couldn't get to, but they're all battles to me.
Our LIU crew came through with swag. The husband is currently wearing the troll hair.
Either Coach Cimino is jealous of Tia Montagne's eyelashes, or the coaches both have opinions on whether she should be wearing them. There's a lot of respect between Coach Cimino and Coach Del Preore, which makes this rivalry a lot easier to live with than Awkward Bowl.
We're down 44-36 at halftime, and honestly, this is better than I was expecting.
For some reason, I find it incredibly funny that St. Francis piled into an elevator to get to their locker room. Meanwhile, poor Destoni Willock has to wait for them to go and the elevator to come back, because she's on crutches and definitely can't take the stairs.
Jade Johnson is absolutely killing us. She's already got 20 points, including her 1000th. Brandy Thomas, once she stopped shooting three-pointers and started powering inside, got going and has 12 to lead the Blackbirds.
I guess the dance performance at halftime is pretty good, but I have to write all the doom and Community Day starts in 12 minutes, so I haven't been paying that much attention.
Well, this was honestly what I was expecting, in the end. We're not that good and we're extremely short-handed. We gave it as much as we could, but we didn't have that much to give.
Daisha Davis has one move in the paint, and if she's able to power the ball in, she's set. Otherwise, she's lost. I'd like to see her develop more than one move, and learn to stop bringing the ball down where all the short people can get to it. The power dribble only works if there aren't three defenders around you all hounding the ball. Autumn Ashe brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm on defense, and she had a nice hustle play on the baseline, but her offense needs a lot of work. Ryan Weise was called upon for a lot of minutes, both because her three-point shot was going down and because of the injury scare with Tiya Misir in the first half. I'd like to see her be a little less scared to take the midrange shot- she looked like she was passing off midrange and free-throw line shots that she could have gotten off without getting stuffed. She's young. Maybe she'll get over it.
Ella Vaatanen looked like she was devoutly wishing she weren't 6-1, because there were expectations being put on her that I don't think she can handle. She's the only height we have that Coach Del Preore feels like she can rely on, and she seems like she has no idea what to do with this responsibility and this size. I'd be sympathetic, but I also would like her to do the things Coach is asking her to do. I would greatly appreciate if Brandy Thomas never took a perimeter shot again, because her strength is so clearly at the basket that it's a waste of her time for her to be launching threes or long twos. Not only is it a shot she's more likely to miss, but then there's also no one to rebound the missed shot. So it's a two-for-one disaster scene. I love the work she does in the lane, and I'd love to see her do more of it.
Tiya Misir gave us all a scare when she went down hard with the ankle injury in the first half. It looked really bad, but then she got up and was able to put a little weight on it, and then she came back into the game. I'm glad she was okay, because I think her family was sitting next to us, and that's just not something you want people to have to see, you know? She seems like a really nice kid, if a bit tentative on the floor. But being tentative is pretty much the story of LIU's life. Tia Montagne seems to have found a little more confidence running the offense, but there are still times when she's backing off shots she needs to take and slowing down the offense too much. I think she's one of the few players who seems able to respond to Coach Del Preore's style. Jeydah Johnson started the game red hot, but slowed down as St. Francis adjusted their defense and she started taking worse shots.
It just seems like there's so much more we could be doing and should be doing, and we're too scared to- as if we freak out as soon as we see a defense of any sort. That's not a good sign, and I don't know if these are the right players to deal with that, or if this is the right coach to help these players deal with that fear.
Coach Cimino used her deep bench at the ends of quarters a lot, to pick up cheap fouls and give her main rotation players some extra rest. It got ridiculous at one point when she had four players enter in three successive waves. I mean, really, that was some delay of game worthy stuff there. Kate Bauhof committed a lot of stupid fouls, but I'm not sure how much of that was actually in her job description, in terms of using up team fouls at the end of the first quarter. She's enthusiastic, but I can see why her minutes have gone down as the season's gone on. I'm more surprised that some of the upperclassmen have been relegated to mop-up duty, which is pretty much my collective comment on Dana DiRenzo, Mia Ehling, and Lorraine Hickman. I know these aren't Coach Cim's players, but you work with what you have, right?
I'm glad she's using Samantha Keltos a little more- I think she's got good potential around the rim. She's decently tough. Abby Anderson doesn't show quite the same potential, to me, but she's also younger and maybe has to develop more. Ebony Horton was a hot mess on offense, but her defense was really solid- she made life miserable for our ballhandlers. But her night was done after she committed a boneheaded mistake that you usually only hear about in blooper reels, and I'm so sorry that this had to happen.
You see, a keen-eyed reader of the box score will notice that LIU has 64 points, yet LIU players only scored 62 points. And that would be because Tia Montagne missed a free throw, every Blackbird was on the other side of the court, and Ebony Horton proceeded to secure the rebound and put it back up, as you do. Except, I must remind you, Ebony Horton plays for St. Francis of Brooklyn, not LIU-Brooklyn. Thus, this is an own goal. And since there were no nearby LIU players to credit for it, it goes down as a "team" basket in the play-by-play. Horton was officially 0-3 from the field. No LIU player got an extra field goal. No one gets to add it to their tally. I don't think I've ever seen a player get subbed out so fast.
Dominique Ward killed us inside. She's got guard skills, but her length against our distinct lack of it made her a match-up nightmare. She had a few monster blocks, especially one on Brandy Thomas in the third quarter that I think killed our momentum. She plays with something less than a chip on her shoulder and something that isn't quite swagger, but lies somewhere on that spectrum- a confidence that in turn saps the confidence of her opponents. Ally Lassen really appears to be blossoming under Coach Cimino, or maybe it's just how she plays against us. She goes to the paint and she looks confident doing it. She killed us on the offensive glass, and that's where I'm going to get annoyed at our tall people for not stepping up and doing their jobs.
I don't usually have reason to pull out the "I'm starting to take a profound dislike to that woman" line in the first half, but Jade Johnson was pretty much single-handedly kicking our arses. Her pull-up game was a thing of beauty, her threes were falling, and we either couldn't or wouldn't stop her. If this was the game plan, it was a terrible game plan. The game plan where you allow one player to score and stop everyone else only works when you actually stop everyone else. Amy O'Neill has pretty much one move- drive the lane, penetrate so deep she's practically out of bounds, and throw up a wild one-handed shot. But she knows how to hit it with style, and she knows how to draw contact really well on those drives. Okay, she has two moves- option two is to pass once she drives deep. And she hounded our ballhandlers on the sideline and forced us into a lot of turnovers. Don't ask me how she got all those rebounds, though. The only thing I can think of is we were just letting a lot of balls go. Maria Palarino had a solid game, but for whatever reason, the way the PA guy does her name makes me think of '90s advertising. I don't get it, it doesn't make sense, but you didn't come to the Game Notes of Doom for dry analysis and posts that made sense, did you?
Pregame ceremony for Maria Palarino's 1000th point, and then Jade Johnson hit hers in the first half. I'd like to be happy for them, but this just feels like overkill somehow.
Not to say that the refs were bad or anything, but as we headed back towards the train station, I heard someone on the phone behind us talking about how the refs weren't making calls on penetration... and then I recognized the braids and the #5 backpack of Tia Montagne. Yes, as it turns out, the team does walk to and from St. Francis when the Battle is on.
I thought St. Francis had more than five people on their dance team, but it's been a long time.
We may not have won the game, but we took their money! One of the LIU fans won the 50/50 raffle and claimed the money off the dance group that had performed at halftime. I believe this might be a definite moral victory, or possibly an immoral victory, depending on what you believe about money being the root of all evil.
I don't know how much I can even say about LIU at this point. The team's short-handed and missing a lot of experience, and has a coach that doesn't do well with young players who need instruction in the fundamentals. I didn't exactly have high expectations for them in the first place, but this season has gone from bad to worse to lost in a hurry. With St. Francis, I can at least look forward to the old coach's players being gone so I can cheer for Coach Cimino with a clear conscience.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
February 16th, 2019: LIU at St. Francis NY
Saturday, December 15, 2018
December 15th, 2018: Albany at St. Francis
Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. Francis staged a spirited comeback in the fourth quarter, but fell short against Albany, 67-60. Amanda Kantzy had 20 points to lead the Great Danes, with Chyanna Canada adding 16 off the bench. Amy O'Neill flirted with a triple-double for the Terriers in the loss, finishing with 15 points, eight assists, and eight rebounds.
For terrible shots, a size disadvantage, small cheerleaders, amazing self-care, and attempting to limit the canine puns, join your intrepid and dogged blogger after the jump.
Good afternoon, fellow travelers on the hardwood road! Your intrepid blogger comes to you life and in smell-o-vision from St. Francis College in Brooklyn. We're in for a dogfight today, as the Terriers play host to the Great Danes of Albany.
There's some sort of alumni or welcoming event going on in the main hall where the ticket tables usually are, so they decamped to the student cafeteria. Conveniently, that's where the secret entrance to the seats on the bench side is. Somewhat less conveniently, the tickets are technically for the section opposite the bench, which is counter to good policy and especially inconvenient today, since we would have to navigate back to the entrance to go to the opposite side. Maybe think through the logistics of your building before giving out tickets?
This network has been temporary for as long as I've been coming here. Guys, y'all just need to give up the pretense at some point.
Ah, so that's what it was! SFC is retiring a jersey, and the fol-de-rol up front was for registration for the luncheon related to it. Ceremony is at halftime, so you should see more about it then.
Since what passes for a student section here appears to be mostly student-athletes, I shouldn't be surprised that the trainer gets an enormous cheer.
It's 30-19 Albany at halftime, and Albany is killing us with height. Chyanna Canada has 10 points off the bench for the Great Danes. Jade Johnson has seven points to lead St. Francis, but Dominique Ward has been making more of an impact IMO, playing tough defense and rebounding.
Holy carp, the honoree looks amazing. She looks young enough to be the daughter of someone who graduated in '79.
I think Coach Cim is starting to get frustrated with players not listening to her. There seems to be a distressing amount of it going around. Ebony Horton was giving off the same kind of body language I do when my mom's lecturing me and I'd rather be reading.
The cliché about the size of the fight in the dog versus the size of the dog in the fight is so applicable to this game I'm hesitant to use it. Terriers are definitely smaller than Great Danes, but are known for their tenacity, and St. Francis is definitely smaller than Albany, but mounted a terrific comeback in the fourth quarter. I mean, come on. The cliché is the script.
Lucia Decortes played briefly in the first half, and thanks to no name on the jersey and the PA guy taking a couple of possessions off, I almost didn't see her come in. De'jah Williams hit a bucket in the lane at some point, but I think I credited to the wrong player on my scorecard. My bad.
Kumsal Aslan reminds me of Layshia Clarendon, both in her facial structure and in her defensive intensity. She stuck close to the ballhandler. Patricia Conroy provided a different dynamic off the bench, more of a widebody guard than the lighter starting guards for the Danes. Chyanna Canada displayed game both in the paint and with the elbow jumper. She overpowered us in the first half, with ten points and a big block on Abby Anderson.
Is there some kind of Swedish law that if your name is Amanda, you have to be super emotional on the floor? Because the way Amanda Kantzy was celebrating after fairly mundane plays like drawing a charge or making a block on a smaller player, you'd think they'd just won the conference title or something. She did most of her damage on the inside, then stepped out for a couple of relatively deep threes to force our defense out even further. Heather Forster got into foul trouble, and Albany was getting a lot of offense from Canada, so she didn't play as much. But her size was a factor, as was Alexi Schecter's. Schecter killed us on the glass and defended the inside well. She cottoned on to Amy O'Neill's favorite offensive move and shut her down on it.
"Adorable" should not be a word applied to college players, but there's a certain element of dandelion fluff-ness to Kyara Frames, Albany's quick little point guard. Her threes weren't going down, but she loaded up on free throws at the end of the game. Khepera Stokes wasn't much of a factor; Albany's coach saw the size advantage her team had and rolled with it, whether it was going with three bigs or putting in a larger guard.
Coach Cimino went deep to her bench at the very end of the game, looking for fresh fouls and offense-defense substitutions. Samantha Keltos still had one of her earrings on when she was called upon in the waning seconds. Kate Bauhof probably should have been called for a push on the play where she helped force an Albany turnover, but I guess I'll take it. I appreciate the hustle.
Ally Lassen didn't look comfortable playing against players her own height. I'm surprised, because she was so confident against a better team at Seton Hall, but she really seemed out of her depth against Albany's front line. By the end of the game, she looked ready to cry, whether it was from frustration or something else. Mia Ehling was usually the first one up when Coach Cimino wanted to yell at- er, I mean, gently but firmly explain to one of her players why the last thing they did was a dreadful mistake. Abby Anderson started off strong in the first half, but seemed to lose some of her energy in the second half.
On the one hand, I love Ebony Horton's energy on the bench. On the other hand, her shot is super frustrating, I don't know if she knows the defenses, and she doesn’t seem to be good at taking direction. On the other other hand, she's only a freshman, and with a detail-oriented coach like Coach Cimino, I would expect her to improve, so long as she's willing to do so. Amy O'Neill drove the lane and threw up shots that shouldn't have gone in, and yet somehow managed to do so. She's a bit of a one-trick pony in that regard, but as long as it works for her, I'm not going to tell her to stop. (Okay, I'm exaggerating. She dishes well too, so I guess that makes her a two-trick pony. Okay, I'll stop. I'm underselling her.) Jade Johnson loves her three-point shot. She loves it so much that she'll stand there and watch it, neither getting back on defense nor crashing the glass. I have so many problems with this. I like when she drives, but she doesn't do nearly enough of that.
Dominique Ward had herself a day on the inside- the official scorekeeper only granted her two blocks, but I will swear on my honor as a former Girl Scout that she had at least four. She just went up over and over again against taller players. She was the closest thing we had to an interior presence on defense. If her shot would fall, she'd be amazing, but so many of her shots seemed to be just thrown up there willy-nilly and went hard or long. Maria Palarino seemed to be driving Coach nuts all day- I think she got pulled at least twice for Teaching Moments based on either bad shots, bad fouls, or not being in the right place at the right time.
This team has a lot of mettle, but not a lot of fundamentals. Their shot mechanics are collectively a trainwreck. But when all hope seemed lost, they dug down deep and made hustle plays and big buckets. It's just the inconsistent offense that is going to kill them.
(Coach Cimino, if you're reading this: if you were upset at the Albany player running the baseline to inbound, and that's what got you so mad at the ref that you got the tech, I think the ref was unfortunately right; the player is allowed to run the baseline after a made basket regardless of an intervening timeout.)
This crew did not make any friends with either of the coaches. One of the St. Francis assistants was tasked with writing down their more egregious mistakes, and near the end of the game they lost track of the foul counts on individual players (but so did the coaching staff, so maybe that's on the scorekeeper). It got physical near the end of the game, which seems to be a thing that's happening more and more often, or perhaps my perception is just going that way more and more.
The regular cheer squad was absent, but there was a youth cheer group in attendance, and they were both adorable and enthusiastic. We need more enthusiastic fans.
Given time, I might be able to adopt this team, but they're going to have to grow on me first, and I don't know how long that's going to take.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
November 10th, 2018: Manhattan at St. Francis
Just the Facts, Ma'am: St. Francis surged in the fourth quarter to win 73-65 over Manhattan. Jade Johnson had 20 points to lead four Terriers in double figures. D'Yona Davis had a team-high 13 points for the Jaspers in the loss.
For unexpected wrestling terminology, facility shortcomings, NOT GETTING DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS DAMNIT, coaching the kids up, unexpected hugs, undesired selfies, and easing into a new team, join your intrepid and adventurous blogger after the jump.
We go from Iona's heel turn yesterday to a face turn today. Since John Thurston- he with the astonishing talent for finding dishwater blondes across the world yet overlooking most of the talent in his own city- has departed St. Francis College, it's a lot easier to root for them. It's even easier when we know the new coach. So we're on our way to Remsen Street to cheer on, instead of cheer against, the Terriers for the first time in I don't know how many years, as they take on Manhattan.
The in-game notes may be a little spotty. It's Pokémon Go's monthly Community Day, which is why we're in Brooklyn Heights instead of South Orange, so I have shinies to chase and stardust to collect. But you'll get your postgame notes, hopefully with the coherency and snark you've come to expect.
Well, St. Francis has a nice new floor, and the mural is still pretty boss, but every time I come here, I am reminded just how subpar a facility the Terriers have. The more I think about it, the more I think it's not a good look to have the half-closed bleachers be the side behind the bench (where cameras, such as they are, usually face).
St. Francis has gone heavily to the Brooklyn branding, especially on the warm-up shirts.
There were small children dancing at halftime and having their pictures taken. One of them seemed really freaked out by the mascot, but ended up hugging him in the end, so that all worked out.
I remembered Manhattan as a second-half team, so I was pleasantly surprised that St. Francis was able to pull off the comeback in the fourth quarter. But our defensive rebounding was atrocious. Between the freshmen and the returners, there are a lot of bad habits to be unlearned, but I think Coach Cimino is on the case in that regard.
Manhattan went pretty deep into their bench, though some players only got a couple of minutes. Nyala Pendergrass came in very late, very briefly. Kania Pollard got off some corner threes, but couldn't get them to go down. Pamela Miceus showed some moves in the post and had a nice block, though they don't seem to have credited her for it.
Lizahya Morgan was unafraid to launch from deep, and some of them came at critical moments. She's a quick little guard. Sini Mäkelä did some work on the glass. Tuuli Menna picked up a lot of minutes in the second half and did a lot of good stuff inside. (Good stuff. This is the kind of incisive commentary all nine of you come to the Game Notes of Doom for.)
I still very much enjoy watching Gabby Cajou play, even if it's usually in frustration because her team is never my team, and even if she wasn’t quite as show-stopping as she was the last time I saw her. She was one of the few players for either team who was willing to shoot at the end of the shot clock. D'Yona Davis was also putting up some big shots. She looks good for a freshman. Candela Abejón didn't play that much, and I don't remember her very clearly.
Their inside players did a really good job of getting offensive rebounds. Julie Høier and Courtney Warley both used their height to full advantage, both in getting position and in getting reboudns even when they were out of position. There were multiple possessions with multiple Jasper offensive rebounds. Warley was throwing some elbows on her screens. She's a tough player. I think I could respect her more if she set better screens. Høier was very efficient. I was quietly impressed with her.
Manhattan fell apart in the fourth quarter, in ways I wasn't expecting. We were coming up with the 50/50 balls that they were getting in the first half. I'm glad we were able to buckle down at the end.
Coach Cimino was pretty quick with the hook whenever her players were making stupid mistakes, and there were plenty of stupid mistakes to go around. So she was doing a lot of subbing. Kate Bauhof is definitely still working out her way into college shape, both physically and in terms of fitting into the system. Alex Tudor got a couple of minutes in the first half, but I think they may have been to give someone else a Teaching Moment. Abby Anderson got her run in the second half and did a nice job of being a sparkplug on the boards (which we sorely needed).
Ebony Horton made a fantastic first impression. I can see where she needs work, how she can sharpen her passing and work on her shot selection. Coach was especially not pleased with her getting trapped on the sideline on one occasion, since is forced a timeout. But I love her driving ability, and when she can get the passes off, they're great. Ally Lassen hit free throws down the stretch and came away with offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, when we hadn't been getting them all game. Appreciate the hustle.
Good Lord, Amy O'Neill. She wasn't the star of the game, but she certainly had some of the flashiest plays, with dipsy-do lay-ups and long passes to get the fast break going. She goes hard for the ball, even if she doesn't get it. Mia Ehling hit the free throws when it counted to seal the game. Jade Johnson was hitting threes early, but she spent an awful lot of time flat-footed on the glass. I don't want to blame her for all of our rebounding woes, but it sure seemed like she could have been doing a lot more than she did in that regard.
Dominique Ward brings good size, but I was expecting somewhat better ball thought from her on the floor, given that she's a grad transfer. Maybe today was just an off game for her. Maria Palarino did well getting fouled on the glass. I'd have to do a closer reading of the play-by-play to determine this, and I'm too tired and I have two more games to write up today, but I think she did the best job of taking advantage of those times when Manhattan was in the penalty.
I know we were outsized, but we still gave up way too many rebounds. Too many times, we had a player in position and Manhattan just reached over her. Too many times, we stood and watched the ball as Manhattan charged for it. This is not okay. This is never okay. We have to be more assertive.
There was an enthusiastic rookie ref making a lot of calls on the floor. At one point Coach was pointing that out and telling her team that the official was calling every handcheck, that if someone fell down there'd be a foul called. It wasn't completely accurate, but it was a good benchmark. Not nearly as bad as the crew at the Iona game, but there were definitely some dubious calls. At least these ladies could count.
I'm interested in the development of St. Francis. I think, though I am biased, that they got in a great coach for a rebuild. Pointing out strengths and weaknesses seems to be a strength of hers, and I have faith in her ability to teach the game.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
February 17th, 2018: LIU at St. Francis NY
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A strong third quarter from St. Francis cemented their 64-54 win in the Battle of Brooklyn. Jade Johnson took game MVP honors with 23 points for the Terriers. Jeydah Johnson had 15 points to lead LIU.
For bad calls, possibly having the entire arena staring at you, literal-mindedness, dance teams, winning raffle tickets, dubious shot selection, and the fierce joy of rivalry, join your intrepid and emotionally exhausted blogger after the jump.
Basketball never stops. Neither do rivalries. We go from the Awkward Bowl to the Battle of Brooklyn, as LIU travels to St. Francis.
There's no nice way to say this: St. Francis plays in a dump. Except for permanent seating, the gym where my high school played its games was better (or at least better lit). Hell, the gym where we actually had gym class wasn't that much worse, and there were support columns in the middle. Pope is small, and not well laid out- you literally have to go through the cafeteria to get behind the benches. The lighting is bad. The red padding on the walls combines with the blue of the sidelines to turn them a purple closer to Albany or Hunter than any color SFC has ever warn. The bleachers are probably older than I am, and not well kept. It looks like the low-budget mid-major facility it is, with an added gloss of no damns given.
That being said, the graffiti-style mural on the wall is pretty cool.
I love everything about the design on the back of LIU's warmup shirts, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the milk crate.
Jeydah Johnson just ran up four rows bleachers to greet the folks behind us, so I'm going to guess that her family came out for this game. Didn't turn around to look (it's not polite to stare).
SFC is wearing Play4Kay warm-up shirts and LIU is wearing pink socks; if they've turned a rivalry game into a pink game I will be very annoyed.
Dance team just showed up, and I don't mean the Terriers'. I told y'all this was a rivalry. One of them has a kidlet in tow.
Aaaaaand Drew Winter's not warming up with the rest of the team. At least Autumn Ashe is off the crutches. Small mercies.
I don't applaud recorded anthems. Especially bad recordings.
At halftime it's 33-21 St. Francis, with a hearty amount of help from some of the worst officiating I've seen in years. Y'all thought Paris Jones fell down by herself? Nah. Meanwhile, we're getting hit at the other end with no call.
I don't know what god Coach put the fear of into the refs, but they weren't as awful in the second half. We had opportunities that we didn't capitalize on, and those are going to be the things that Coach Del Preore is going to hammer home in the next film review.
Destoni Willock got some run, mostly in the second half, and did very little with it. A reasonable chunk of it was spent subbing for players with four fouls. I'd really like to see something more out of her. I had lower expectations when I forgot that she was a junior college transfer. Stylz Sanders was actually switched to the bench for this game, but played a lot of minutes anyway. Her lack of size is becoming a more and more apparent problem, and I hate to say it, but it's a more or less self-correcting problem. She's a senior, after all.
Seneca Richards continues to improve, and that's been the bright spot in these losses. She's got a good head for what she needs to do on the floor at what time and score. Paris Jones, bless her heart, is so tiny and tries so hard, and she did hit a very nice three near the end of the game, but she's more than a step slow on defense. Going to her is desperation time, but these are the things you have to do when your starting point is injured.
DeAngelique Waithe picked up two quick fouls in the first two minutes, and that was it for her for the first half. When she came back in the second half, she looked a step slow and a whole lot confused. She shook it off in the fourth quarter, picking up boards and putbacks. I don't think she likes losing to St. Francis. I don’t think she likes losing, period, but she seemed to be taking this game even more seriously than most. Ella Vaatanen wasn't able to build on her success in the last game I saw the squad in, and she got benched pretty quickly, not to be seen again until it was time to give out fouls.
If Jeydah Johnson could consistently finish on those penetrations in the lane, we'd be in far better shape. She's also got to do a better job of being aware of time and score. If you're down three possessions with less than a minute to go and you have a shooter open in the corner, you don't go for the contested shot in the lane. I don't know if I should be riding her so hard, since her offense was part of how we were in this game, but her freshman tendencies came back to bite us late. I'm also not sure just how much she's listening when it comes to game strategy and how much she'd rather do what she thinks is the right thing to do, whether it actually is or not. Denisha Petty-Evans brought offense and quick steals, but came up hopping on a steal attempt. She shook it off. I'd love to know what the design on her sneakers was. It looked fun. We need someone like her, but a four-year player, someone we can build an offense around while everyone else defends. Tia Montagne shares the freshman affliction of timidity that plagues so many young point guards. She keeps looking for the perfect pass, the perfect shot, and she hasn't yet understood that she's not going to find it. When she drives, I'd like for her to be able to aim for the backboard and get it towards the basket instead of a wild heave.
Free throws win ball games, and we left too many points at the line. Given how few opportunities we had, not taking advantage of those stings quite a lot.
Y'all are undoubtedly tired of hearing me complain about not being able to tell St. Francis players apart (I mean, come on, can one of you at least wear a French braid or something?) so I'm going to keep it to a minimum. At least I'll try. That being said, shoutout to Dana DiRenzo for her headband and bun to differentiate her from the rest of her teammates. She didn't do a lot on the floor, but at least I can refer to her as something other than "the one with the ponytail". St. Francis didn't really go on the perimeter for their subs, for the most part; Mia Ehling was the only other guard to get off the bench, and she didn't play a lot. I think she hit her free throws at the end of the game during the foul derby.
Abby Anderson's not ready for prime time. Gotta hit the free throws, or else the opponent is going to just keep targeting you. Samantha Keltos was able to take advantage of defensive lapses to get close to the basket for easy buckets. She's a big girl and makes herself an easy target. Casey Carangelo played very briefly. She's tall, and she might be useful for them at some point.
The way the PA guy says Maria Palarino's name is so annoying that I was screaming for us to stop her just so I wouldn't have to hear it anymore. She brought a good amount of hustle to the floor. Lorraine Hickman did a good job of cutting to the basket and making herself available for passes and putbacks. Alex Delaney still thinks she has a three-point shot, and admittedly the one shot she did hit was a trey, but she's still at her best throwing her weight around in the lane. I admire her toughness and I'm glad she's managed to get some of the chippiness out of her game in the last couple of years.
Amy O'Neill has an odd hitch in her shot, but it works for her. She sliced through the lane like a hot knife through butter. Very quick. Very annoying. Jade Johnson decided this would be a lovely day to demonstrate that she can in fact hit shots while standing in one of the cabs on the Wonder Wheel. She was unstoppable, not that we seemed to be doing much to try to stop her. Beautiful jumper. It's no wonder she was the game MVP, and no one else really had any business being considered.
Too many three-pointers. Cannot cope. Too much second half rebounding. Cannot cope.
These notes aren't as detailed as I would like them to be because I was being very fannish for much of the game, screaming at the top of my lungs, cheering every possession, riding and dying with my team. Rivalries can do that. It's glorious and cathartic and enraging all at the same time. And I certainly have my reasons for disliking Thurston. (The rest of St. Francis I don't really have an issue with.)
St. Francis has a step team. They're not that good, but they bring good spirit on the sidelines. I miss our spirit squad.
Our dance team kicked their team's butts. Then again, either SFC has a really small team or they were short-handed, so that's not much to crow about.
There was an actual-facts Franciscan brother in the stands, in the brown robe and everything.
I'm sorry we lost, but I think we gave as good an accounting of ourselves as we could. I look forward to next year's Battle.
Monday, February 20, 2017
February 20th, 2017: LIU at St. Francis
Just the Facts, Ma’am: Dionne Coe’s back-to-back three-point trips in the fourth quarter sealed a 62-58 win for LIU Brooklyn at St. Francis College. Coe finished with 12 points, 8 in the second half. LIU was led by Shanovia Dove’s 31 points. St. Francis got 20 points from Olivia Levey and 15 from Rachel Iozzia to fuel their offense.
For physical post play, holding, falling down, serving up crow, clutch free throws, awkwardly trying not to meet people’s eyes, and the Marist alumni reunion, join your intrepid and easily amused blogger after the jump.
A three-day weekend is just an opportunity to squeeze in another game. St. Francis hosts LIU in the return match of the Battle of Brooklyn, and your intrepid blogger is settled on the bleachers and ready to fly solo.
I’m thinking that Stylz Sanders and Aja Boyd might need to show Gabrielle Caponegro that drill they do where Stylz bodies up on Aja going to the rim.
I’m also starting to think that Seneca Richards suffers from a case of RBF. She looks substantially less cranky when she’s animated.
It is too nice a day out. It’s cooler than it was yesterday, but it’s still not mid-February weather and I am still not okay with this.
The seat cushions at the SFC press table reflect the different evolutions of the St. Francis terrier, and I’m not sure if it’s intentional or they just didn’t want to keep replacing the cushions. I think it’s the former, because those cushions would be a custom job, and it’s cheaper to do those in bulk.
Last year, when the game at St. Francis was the trophy game, LIU brought the spirit squad. It’s 20 minutes before tip, but it looks like that’s not happening.
It’s a super-fast remix, but I’m amused that SFC is playing “Bombs Over Baghdad”. I’m not entirely sure they realize that’s got a wee tiny bit of political overtones to it.
That may have been the worst anthem I have ever heard. The singer seemed to think she was the lovechild of Mariah Carey and Adele. She sang like she had just learned the words two days ago, wandering up and down the scale like a drunken bum wailing in the middle of the night. I couldn’t keep a straight face, and I wasn’t the only one.
At halftime, SFC is up 29-23 behind three-point shooting in the first quarter and defense at the right times. Shanovia Dove has 10 points to power the Blackbirds.
This is not good basketball. But this is one of my teams and I will ride with them until I drop (or something forces my hand).
And someone needs to tell me what’s up with De’Angelique Waithe, or I may go a little bit psycho. We could use her against Olivia Levey.
*tries not to be a creepy stalker*
*ends up in line behind half the team at Chipotle*
My life, y’all.
That was one heck of a finish. Coach Oliver said I bring good luck because I was sitting behind the bench when we walked into Brooklyn Heights and walked out with a win last year. Given how the SFC-SFU game went, I’m thinking it might be more being bad luck to SFC, but I’m okay with that.
Kat Phipps still needs to pull her shorts out of her you know what, but I like her grace in the clutch, especially for a sophomore. Tori Wagner seemed genuinely surprised that she was being called for a foul for putting a forearm in Aja Boyd’s throat. You can’t do that, y’know. Lorraine Hickman brought good size off the bench but didn’t seem particularly assertive. Someone’s going to have to be that big body when Olivia Levey graduates in the very near future, and I don’t know if any of these young posts are ready. Dana DiRenzo had a basket that I think was off an offensive rebound, but I’m not sure, only because the wi-fi at this Chipotle isn’t great. It’s actually the wi-fi of the bank next door, but I won’t tell if you won’t tell. Etta Andersen is as unmemorable as the average small ponytailed blonde tends to be.
Look, SFC, if you want me to be able to differentiate your players on a regular basis, either recruit something other than blondes or put names on your jerseys.
I do not like Rachel Iozzia. It’s nothing personal and it’s not based on anything negative she did on the court. That is the “I do not like this person” of respect because they have a distressing tendency to do good things against a team that I am rooting for. In this case, it was hit straight-away threes at a shockingly efficient rate, and convert on and-1s. SFC has outside threats, but someone’s going to need to step up big time when she graduates in that very near future. Maria Palarino was a little bit obnoxious and a lot physical. (I may be prejudiced against her because of the PA announcer, though.)
As usual, Alex Delaney managed to find herself in the middle of tripping plays and foul trouble. I have no idea how that just keeps happening around her. [/sarcasm] I would like to respect her hustle and her ability to rebound, but somehow she always seems to end up doing something that makes me want to pull someone’s hair out. Samantha Keltos was unmemorable, and got switched in and out a lot. Olivia Levey was a match-up problem for us because of her build- she was able to power right through both Aja Boyd and Gabrielle Caponegro, who both had the dubious honor of attempting to guard her at various points in the game. If she could finish more consistently at the rim, she’d be an even bigger threat, but as she is, she’s very hard to check without fouling. She played like she knew it was her last home game.
SFC was able to recognize who the hot hands were- the two seniors- and fed them accordingly. Their defense swarmed, but they had trouble rotating, and in the end that was their downfall. Their passing and receiving weren’t crisp, which led to turnovers.
Someday I think we need to organize a field trip to a Sun game. The husband and I will get together, round up Janee and Philecia and Coach Oliver, and go watch a game that we have no emotional investment in. I get the feeling it would either be an absolute blast or we’d end up banned for life, but it would be worth it either way.
Drew Winter played very briefly in the first half, but I don’t think Coach Oliver was happy with her judgment on the floor vis-à-vis shot attempts versus passing. Unsurprisingly in that case, Drew didn’t play in the second half. I like Autumn Ashe defensively, though Coach seems to prefer her offensively. I’m worried about her communication skills, though. There was a sequence where either she or Seneca Richards clearly didn’t know the play- Autumn set the screen, Seneca almost ran into it, gesticulation occurred. There was another sequence on the bench where it didn’t look like Autumn was listening, either, but now we’re getting into eavesdropping territory. (Though is it really eavesdropping if you say it loud enough for the fourth row to hear?) Victoria Powell seems to be on an upswing, penetrating the paint and showing less fear than she had in previous games. Defensively, though, she wasn’t able to keep up, and that meant fouls. And that meant Coach stomping her heel.
I could have sworn Brianna Farris hit the first shot of the game, but she faked it just that well. She brought the defense early on. It’s fun watching her- she’s so intense. Shanovia Dove was the offensive catalyst, as she usually is- she drove fearlessly, to the point of running headlong into a swarm of white jerseys multiple times. I think this was when Coach let out the “shoot for the points, not the foul!” that made me a little warm and fuzzy inside. (It’s one of my favorite rants, if a rant can be said to be a favorite.) Dionne Coe, for all the smack I’ve talked about her this year, was undoubtedly the hero of the game. She hit the three free throws late, then followed up the Terriers’ answer with a three-point answer of her own. She’s not perfect, and she had a lot of pace and tempo issues in this one. But what a finish!
Aja Boyd did not have an easy time of it in this one; Olivia Levey is a big body underneath, and SFC sent multiple players to help just in case. She needs to go up strong and go up hard. She has a world of potential that I want to see her unlock. Gabrielle Caponegro rebounded well, but she’s still too hesitant with the ball. She needs too much time to think about what she’s going to do, and by the time she’s come to a conclusion, there are two defenders swarming her. Combine that with hands of stone, and you have a recipe for disaster. We’re lucky her fumbles didn’t lead to more turnovers. She’s got to work on that.
I understand a staff’s frustration when the team doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do. But it seems a little either petty or counterproductive to express that frustration even when the thing that wasn’t supposed to happen works out.
Officiating was… not of the good. I don’t think Coach Oliver likes Rachelle Jones very much, and I think the feeling might be mutual. Jones seemed to be blowing the whistle on LIU more than her compatriots, and less on SFC. When Brianna Farris gets knocked down with no call, and then gets called for the foul for the audacity to be knocked over, we’re going to get annoyed. If you make the call, the coach won’t yell at you.
I’m not saying, I’m just saying: most schools I go to, the basketball team is majority-minority and the dance team is all white girls with long straight hair.
I don’t think there were many of us cheering for LIU, but we did our best to get loud.
That was a really fun, really solid win. Something to build on- but then again, half of those points are graduating at the end of the year.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
February 6th, 2017: St. Francis at St. Francis
Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a slow start, the Red Flash of St. Francis University found their three-point shooting groove and put away the Terriers of St. Francis College, 75-59. Katie Reese, with six treys among her 19 points, led five Red Flash players in double figures. Maria Palarino led the Terriers with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
For so very many threes, careful phrasing, alliances, and brevity, join your intrepid and snowed in blogger after the jump.
Weeknight games are not unusual for your intrepid blogger, but they aren’t usually at teams she loathes. But St. Francis of Pennsylvania is one of the schools we follow somewhat more loosely than our core six, and we can’t see them at LIU because LIU is one of our core six, and we can’t see them at Wagner because I am tired of climbing that ridiculous hill. Therefore, if we want to go see the high scoring Red Flash, we have to do it at St. Francis College. (I refuse to refer to them as St. Francis of Brooklyn. They don’t represent Brooklyn.)
It’s already been a heck of a day. I realized I forgot to give my mom back her keys yesterday (no, I don’t want to talk about the Super Bowl, thanks for asking); fortunately, mom lives fairly close to both my job and St. Francis. The transfers were tighter than football pants, though. I’m all sweaty and I didn’t get a chance to bring dinner.
I don’t applaud recorded anthems. Or recorded anything, unless there’s a performer pretending they’re singing it.
The Red Flash got off to a slow start, but the three-point shooting came on big in the second quarter to power them to a 39-31 halftime lead over the Terriers. Katie Reese is channeling her inner Katie Smith with 15 points on five threes.
Jessica Kovatch is that masked woman, but the mask doesn’t seem to be working for her. She looks super uncomfortable in it.
That awkward moment when the gym is so small, and you’re so close, and you’re so loud, that when you yell at the ref about a detail in the rules, the coach turns around and asks you the same question about the rules.
There’s a halftime free throw shooting contest going on, and the kid in the UConn sweatshirt had the worst performance. There’s a joke in here, but I’m too tired to find it. You do it.
I apologize in advance for any oddity about the notes. I’ve had to borrow my husband’s computer for game notes, since the hinge on Jocelyn is no longer working. I’m saving my notes on the most awesome flash drive (no pun intended).
Lost Michigan fan is lost, but I think she’s aligned with us, so I’m cool with this.
I get the feeling that being a full-time Red Flash fan is a fabulous and frustrating experience, one laden with the highest of highs and the lowest of “WHY DID YOU DO THAT STOP DOING THAT” moments, and the ratio of those moments is the difference in the game.
(Side note and somewhat shameless plug: we’re taking a late dinner at Hill Country’s lower-end chicken joint, and that is some good chicken, with some nicely complex biscuits and crispy fries. Brooklyn is definitely winning the post-game eats war.)
Coach Haigh got to put his deep reserves in at the end of the game, so we got to applaud for Jillian Scott and Sam Marino (seriously, she looks like she needs ID to see a PG-13 movie). Taylor Allison got spot minutes, but she impressed me more on the bench than on the floor. That’s not an insult or to say anything about how she played- that’s more a commentary on how sharp she was in supporting her team even when she wasn’t playing. She was the one who reminded everyone about the ten-second possibility (this is the play where we and Coach Haigh both wondered about the application of the ten-second backcourt violation) and she was encouraging and helping her teammates on the bench. That’s the sign of a leader.
Jill Falvey was scrappy out there, but not much of a threat offensively, which made her somewhat of an anomaly among the fire-at-will shooters the Red Flash sent out there. Courtney Zezza brought the thunder down low, with plenty of blocks inside. She had a rough start to the game, being the victim of that inbounds play where the inbounder throws it off the defender's back and gets an easy lay-up, but she recovered defensively. I'm not sure I like her as an offensive threat, but it's fun to watch her blast opponents' shots out of the air. Ace Harrison turned it up in the fourth quarter, laying the boom down on a shot and slashing through the lane. She was big, both in the important sense and in the physical sense.
I understand that Jessica Kovatch is rocking the mask, and that since this is college, it is a generic mask with quite a lot of padding shoved into it, not one that's designed to fit her face. I understand that her vision is compromised. But her shot was way off today. So was her passing. She seemed surprised when rebounds came into her general vicinity. And let's not talk about her defense, because there's nothing there to talk about. So I came in hearing the hype and came out provisionally not believing the hype. Fortunately, the Red Flash have a lot of shooters, and her teammates stepped up around her. Maya Wynn, which is probably one of the best names going in women's basketball right now, was shooting from the general vicinity of Altoona and hitting them, and she disrupted a lot of passes. Samiah Bethel was also very active on defense, bringing the energy and keeping the energy up.
Katie Reese's shot left the building at halftime, but made a quick, triumphant return in the fourth quarter, to the point where my scorecard indicated she was going to need to share the wealth. Strangely, the moments I remember of Halee Adams were not good ones- dubious shots, the one sequence where she didn't seem to know where she was supposed to be on defense- but she hit threes late when Reese and Kovatch faltered slightly. Her teammates did a great job setting her up- Kovatch and Harrison each had flashy passes to hit her for threes.
It's not the most complicated offense to explain- everyone cuts, everyone passes, and the person with the best three-point shot takes it. Like Villanova, there are one or two players whose specialty is not the three, just to keep the defense honest, and to penetrate for the kickout. Unlike Villanova, the offense moves at a pace not comparable to glaciers. The pressing defense was fantastic to watch- getting two consecutive ten-second calls will fire up any team.
This is not a shameless plug, because regular readers of the GNoD know that coaching one of my teams, providing me with tickets, or sending t-shirts does nothing to keep me from saying how I feel about a coach. (See: "why does Coach Tartamella yell at people who aren't playing?", "why doesn't Coach Bozzella switch to decaf?", "is it at all possible for Coach Oliver to turn off the sarcasm?", and other such questions.) But I like watching Coach Haigh work with his team- he has a knack for teaching, and for keeping his cool.
I'm really starting to wonder if John Thurston has a rotation, or has any idea who his players are, or where he's going and why he's in this handbasket. Every game he seems to be trying something different. This makes it even more difficult to write about the Terriers. You're expecting me to differentiate among nine white girls with ponytails who have no names on their jerseys, are playing wildly inconsistent minutes, and are being shuttled in and out.
At least Meg Crupi wears braids. It makes her easier to spot among the ponytails when she hits threes or goes inside for rebounds. I understand why Thurston's cooled on Olivia Levey- her conditioning isn't where it should be. She's a load in the paint, and she plays physical, but I don't know how long she can sustain it, and she doesn't really finish on the other end. Samantha Keltos did a nice job cleaning up in the paint on some of the Terriers' misses, and probably should have gotten more minutes than she did.
I'm really not exaggerating. I had a lot of trouble telling apart Mia Ehling and Etta Andersen- similar builds, single-digit numbers, scattered minutes, and the PA announcer's tendency to not announce when either of them came into the game. They were there, and they were in motion, but it's hard to place what impact either of them had on the game. Tori Wagner got in really, really briefly at the end of the first (I think) half. Dana DiRenzo got in briefly in the second half after being DNP in the first half, which I thought was strange because I was used to seeing her get more playing time.
Rachel Iozzia's three-point shot annoys me, but that is because I root for teams that she plays against, so I don't like when she does things. She has pretty good range. Kat Phipps looks to have gotten a little heavier since the Battle of Brooklyn (or I didn't get a good angle; either way, probably not my business). She drove well in the lane.
Alex Delaney did not get up to the shenanigans in this game that she did against LIU, for which I was grateful. She was good at setting screens. Maria Palarino was a favorite of the PA announcer (about whom more later), and used her height to create mismatches inside and on the perimeter. Lorraine Hickman did a good job on the boards- she was a pleasant surprise, since I hadn't seen much of her before.
I really don't know what to say about St. Francis College. They seemed disorganized- their defense looked good for stretches, but they weren't able to adjust when the Red Flash started hitting their shots. The offense looked like they were trying to run similar things to the Red Flash, but with less success (but slightly more paint play).
Other than the play where Maya Wynn got knocked down with no call, then got called for the foul for being on the floor, and the ten-seconds that should have been, the officiating was up to the usual standard for NEC WBB.
Announcer dude, please go back to the '90s. I say this as someone who does her earnest best to imitate the MSG announcer, so you know it has to be pretty egregious. This dude was annoying, and totally gnarly about it. He had the vocal mannerisms of a particularly obnoxious surfer bro, which is kind of strange for a program in the heart of Brooklyn. We're not even near Rockaway Beach, dude.
Not much of a crowd. They got into it a little bit early on, but as the Red Flash poured on the threes, they fell out of it.
It's a confusing layout, but the cafeteria's nice.
I'm not allowed to adopt any more teams. Six is enough. Six is more than enough, and I don't need any more teams that share conferences with someone who got there first. But if I could, I would totally adopt the Red Flash.