July 20th, 2019: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Solid bench play fueled the New York Liberty's 83-78 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Marine Johannès had 17 points to lead New York, while Kia Nurse added 14. Nneka Ogwumike had game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds for the short-handed Sparks in the loss.

For a truly international game, distressing superstars, Chiney Ogwumike's earnest belief that she did not commit that foul, and role reversals, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
Happy belated birthday, Maddie! Happy anniversary, moon landing! (Happy birthday, dad!)

It's game day at That Dump in White Plains, known to less cynical fans as the Westchester County Center, as the Los Angeles Sparks (or at least whatever's left of them) come visit the New York Liberty.

After the smooth sailing of last game, it's back to the usual tangle of confusing and crossing lines, waits at security, and not having the ticket ready to properly. (Yes, I'm not sitting in my ticketed seat. No, I do not believe situating my mouth directly above the visiting bench is a good idea.

I don't know what happened, but I saw a trio of Sparks in hot pursuit of a teammate. No idea what was going on. Mostly guards, I think.

New DJ today. I like their taste better than the usual woman's.

On the other hand, substitute announcer is not as good as Mike.

Anthem singer thinks he's Whitney Houston or something. Narrator: He was not Whitney Houston.

It's 44-37 Liberty at halftime, and it's been reserve play doing the job for the Liberty. Marine Johannès is putting in work, with 13 points and some spectacular passes (unfortunately, Kalani Brown blocked the finish on the best one). Nneka Ogwumike has 12 points and seven rebounds for the Sparks, while Chelsea Gray has come on strong in the second quarter with 11 points, but most of the rest of the Sparks have been... not good.

There's a French family in the rows behind us cheering enthusiastically for Marine, and I love it.

I don't know if someone sprung for a spa visit for Katie or something, but she looks amazing. Refreshed, relaxed, well-coiffed, sharply dressed.

Asia Durr's street clothes brought to you by the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.

Beating the Sparks is always fun. After all, this is the league's oldest rivalry. How we did it honestly amazes me as well. I'm not used to our bench play being so solid.

There is a whole lot of Kalani Brown, but she seems somehow less balanced about it than her draft classmate Teaira McCowan. Her thighs/upper legs seem out of proportion to the rest of her. She brought a lot of physicality to the floor. Her foul trouble did not help with the Sparks' lack of available depth. I see her potential- she did a couple of numbers on Reshanda Gray with a quick turnaround for her buckets- but if she can't stay on the floor, she's not going to be any help to Los Angeles. Marina Mabrey drove hard and missed just as hard. I'm not surprised Fisher didn't go back to her in the second half. She was out of control. Karlie Samuelson took threes and hit a pretty big one late in the fourth to help keep the Sparks close.

Such a loss of depth for LA in the backcourt. Losing Parker is a big blow, but losing three guards forced Fisher to do a lot of juggling, and I think he was less prepared to juggle than he was to play without Parker. At least up front you have the Ogwumikes.

Yes, I know she has the assist numbers today, but Sydney Wiese is not a point guard. I don't know what she is other than a shooter, and a very quick one at that. She's certainly not a starter, and she's not the person I want initiating my offense if I have Chelsea Gray available to do that. (Which, to be fair, LA did not have for stretches in the second half when Gray got into foul trouble.) To borrow and abuse a turn of phrase from Shea Serrano, Chelsea Gray was out there ruining my life with big threes and ridiculous steals. She's so good. I was relieved and shocked when that last three was so off line. (And the petty part of me wants to say, "C'mon, you committed a push-off to get that open and that's the best shot you could get off?") Her hands are so quick, and she's so relentless. Physicality isn't necessarily the right word for her game, but she's not afraid to use that big build of hers to create space on offense or make her assignment uncomfortable on defense.

Speaking of making people uncomfortable as a defender, shoutout to Tierra Ruffin-Pratt for doing ridiculously hard work on players much taller than she is and often knocking those shots off line. There were a lot of switches by LA, and she's part of the reason they could get away with it. While I don't necessarily like how quickly Nneka Ogwumike moved into Tina Charles's head today, or how physical she was with Tina at both ends of the floor, I can respect it, more or less. I didn't realize how much of a perimeter game she'd developed until she was hitting threes early on in this one. For most of the first half, it was her, Chelsea Gray, and a bunch of not particularly helpful people. She's so good. I have to respect that. I do not have to respect Chiney Ogwumike's inability to shut up, stop whining, and sit down at appropriate moments. Yes, shockingly, Chiney, if you hit someone it's a foul. You went to Stanford, I know you're smart. Now that she's not on one of my teams, she annoys me too much to write about her.

Someday, Katie Smith will run a five-nation line-up out there, and I will rejoice. You don't even need to trust Han Xu to do it! You need Amanda, Marine, and Bec, plus either Nayo or Kia, plus one of the Americans! Presto, instant United Nations!

(In case you weren't sure I was a giant nerd. Spoilers: I am.)

For the honor and dignity of all Rebeccas out there, Imma need Rebecca Allen to please stop committing stupid unnecessary fouls on defense. She committed two of them pretty much back to back, and it was extremely frustrating. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe played the first half like her hair was on fire (her hair was not actually on fire)- going up strong inside and stepping outside for the trey. She cooled down in the second half. Reshanda Gray pretty much won the game for us. She had a couple of huge rebounds right at the end, and got the steal when LA had it within two. She was relentless. I do still need her to get the foul trouble under control, although in this game much of it had to do with these terrible officials and I place no blame on her getting called for a foul when she was the player getting hit.

So, this was my first look at Marine Johannès in a Liberty uniform, and I like what I saw. She needs to either tone down the fancy passing or she'll get more used to her teammates and more of those too-much-mustard-on-the-hot-dog passes will find their way to their intended recipients and things will get fun again. She gave us a long-range option with style, which is very nice to have, since most of our long-range threats are people I would like to not be volume three-point shooters (hi, Amanda). Maybe this was her best game, and we know no one is ever as good as their best game, but I think I'd be happy with even half of what she produced today, at least early in her tenure here in New York. Brittany Boyd needed a good thwack with the clue-by-four in this game. On one hand, I do sympathize with her getting clocked in the chin by a Chelsea Gray elbow and not having it either called or reviewed. On the other hand, that is no excuse to pull back from the shooter and basically stop playing. That was bush league, and she got pulled out of the game shortly thereafter. She got her head back in the game eventually, after a good long sit on the bench. She had her moments, but there was something missing.

I'm going to need Tina Charles to stop doing her Cappie Pondexter impression now. She's not very good at it and I don't want to see her descend into Cappie's fashion "sense". She took terrible shots early in the shot clock. She shot directly into unnecessary double-teams. She generally forgot about the existence of her teammates in order to take terrible shots. She was not good on defense. She let the Ogwumikes, especially Nneka, have their way with her. I know she's better than this, or at least she has a history of being better than this, but lately I'm starting to wonder if she's approaching the McCray cliff. Amanda Zahui B got off to a hot start offensively, but cooled off quickly and never seemed to recover. She got passed over in the second half by both Nayo and Reshanda, and I think Katie made the right call on both accounts. She's capable of banging, but she doesn't do enough of it to match up well with LA.

On the petty, shallow tip, I don’t like Bria Hartley's new hairdo at all. The gilding doesn't suit her. According to the box score, she lined up at three, but that's a little disingenuous; inasmuch as any of the guards in our three-guard set could be considered a small forward, Kia Nurse is probably the best candidate for the role, and none of them are particularly suited to it. Bria did not look ready to be back in the W after Eurobasket. I think she'll shake it off, but for now she looks bad. Kia looked out of sorts and under a lot of pressure. LA's switches defensively did her no favors. Ladies and gentlemen, your All-Star starter. (For the record, I didn't vote for her. Then again, I didn't vote for anyone.) I'll say this about having Tanisha Wright on the floor: there seemed to be a lot more vocal communication on the floor when she was out there. Even if it highlighted the team's issues with knowing the playbook and people knowing where they needed to be, it showed that at least people were willing to step up and address those issues. She's not a long-term solution at point, but if she can mentor Boyd and Marine, passing the torch without too much of a hiccup, I'll be okay with her sticking around for this year and maybe even next. (But next is a stretch, and honestly at this point I'm hoping that one of the people she'll be mentoring if she is here in 2020 is Sabrina Ionescu.)

Hoo boy, these refs. Love to see two terrible out-of-bounds calls in the first five minutes of the game. There was a lot of physical play, and a lot of the worst of it wasn't called. Credit them for some consistency, though: the sequence where the defensive player gets sandwiched between two offensive players and is called for a foul because... I don't even know... was called on both teams (Bec for us, TRP for them). I think the Sparks have a lot of nerve being upset about the foul differential, with the elbows they were throwing, but some things don't change.

Shockingly, if you give Liberty fans a beat to get the "Let's Go Liberty!" chant going to, we'll get it going. It was announced as a sellout, but there were a lot of empty seats. Something tells me there will always be a lot of empty seats, even if they claim to have sold every ticket. When we had reason to make noise, we made noise.

Look, kid, you already have one t-shirt, stop screaming for another one.

The guy who lost "Don't Get Torched" got screwed. The last shot was clearly after the buzzer.

I'm not expecting our reserves to play like this every game (but on the other hand, I'm not expecting our starters to play like this every game, either). It's great to see them do so, and I love how Marine is settling in with this team.

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August 19th, 2018: Los Angeles at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Sparks mounted a second half comeback, but it was the Sun who rose victorious in their regular-season finale, coming away with the 89-86 win behind 27 points from Jasmine Thomas and a 17-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist game from Jonquel Jones. Candace Parker led five Sparks in double figures with 20 points, adding 10 rebounds.

For grinding out defense, inexplicable arrival times, terrible calls, making the extra pass, fighting through screens, and tiny Gopher pups, join your intrepid and conclusive blogger after the jump.

Barring a deep run in the playoffs by the Sun, these will likely be the last GNoD of the season, since the less said about the Liberty the better, and the Sun are in Providence for the play-in round. So I'm going to try to make them good.

Our lovely and helpful ticket rep, Lindsey, has arranged for us to be at a pregame event in one of the suites, where Amber Cox will be giving a State of the Team address (and of course encouraging people to buy season tickets for next year). Snacks seem good. I'm eyeing the outlet on the counter for my phone. I'm favorably impressed by the clarity of language in their season ticket agreement. Novel concept, they actually tell you when they're going to bill you! (yes, I may still harbor some resentment towards the Liberty rep who once screwed up our card so badly that we had to hand him cash every game)

Sorry for the laughter, Amber, but your contingency plan involves the Liberty beating Phoenix. I love her sense of humor.

(this is a really nerdy point, but I love the custom header on the PowerPoint slides) (oops, spotted the first typo)

So far it's basically Connecticut Sun 101, with the basics of the league, the team, and the personnel. aaaand there's the second typo, which is not good when it's a player's name. Sorry, Shekinna.

OH MY GOD TINY RACHEL BANHAM IN A LYNX JERSEY no, I get the point that this is about our players who grew up idolizing W players, and that the league is a goal to strive for even if you're not an athlete because there are management positions and whatnot, but TINY RACHEL BANHAM IN A LYNX JERSEY I IZ DED

The enticement to buy/renew season tickets is pretty good, and under beer circus stances I would allow myself to be lured. But a full plan is not workable for us, and I can't lay down money for a partial right now, no matter how nice the coasters are. Playoff tickets aren't enough of an inducement for a one-game round.

I was hoping for a little more inside baseball and a little less timeshare, but maybe we can buttonhole her later. There's still twenty minutes before the gates open. I mean, she does have to schmooze with the people who are laying down money today, and I do get that.

The “In the Paint” series concluded today with a poster of the entire team. Challenge accepted. Failed but accepted. On the plus side, the second and third posters are signed and ready for hanging on the wall. I think my favorite of the series is still the first; it captures both Jonquel Jones and the Sun's entire vibe best.

We are currently filling out an extremely detailed survey on the game day experience. The Sun are leaving no stone unturned.

Truth be told, I could put up with the Anthem a lot more if they did it as a singalong more often.

The fan appreciation messages from the team were good stuff. I thought it was interesting that both Layshia Clarendon and Chiney Ogwumike emphasized supporting the league almost as much as much as supporting the team.

It's 52-41 Sun at the half. Los Angeles has made the flashier plays, but Connecticut has answered with big shots every time.

If this whiny brat in the row in front of us doesn't turn around and pay attention to the game, I will not be responsible for my actions. Why drag the kid here when he clearly doesn't want to be here?

Nike really messed up the Sparks' gold. It's a bright, flat yellow.

To the family that came in five minutes into the fourth quarter, made a fuss about their seats, and left with about 1:30 left: why? It's not even like they went straight home- we saw them in line for the burger joint as we were leaving an hour after the game. I feel so bad for the kid in her Candace Parker jersey. Your folks can't get you there in time and they bail when the going gets tough?

That got closer than it had to be at the end, and there will be words to come about just why it got so close. But first will come the rest of the words.

I was surprised that Brian Agler decided to go to Karlie Samuelson so abruptly in the second half. (And to the autograph hounds working the rail behind me before the game: yes, she has a name. She's not just "Katie's sister". Not everything revolves around UConn.) She and Sydney Wiese, at different times in the game, were used to set up three-point shots, and that was pretty much it. Odyssey Sims got some good run in the second half, and she abused Rachel Banham driving the lane- she accelerated at will and hit the shot at the bucket.

Driving into Maria Vadeeva is not a smart life choice. If you throw a shot directly at her, she's going to block it. Her hands aren't great on passes, but she's a good big body inside. Essence Carson, the GNoD's favorite unique special unicorn, had herself a very nice offensive day, and kept up the defense, too. All things considered, I'm still happy for her. I like her and I wish her well, just not when she's playing one of my teams.

We didn't see a lot of Alana Beard. She had a really nifty offensive rebound in the third quarter, but LA was getting enough firepower from the bench with Carson and Sims that Agler decided to go heavy offense over heavy defense. I do remain impressed with Beard's tenacity, though. Chelsea Gray fired off some spectacular passes, and I'm grateful that her teammates missed the shots she set up for them on the behind-the-back passes. There's a tough, physical presence to her that gives the Sparks a lot of flexibility in the backcourt to create mismatches. Riquna Williams, I imagine, did not make a lot of friends today in the Nutmeg State. She was undercutting all day and not getting called for it; with the amount of times she blatantly reached in or tripped someone, she should have fouled out of the game. I take the kinds of plays where someone can get injured seriously. It seemed like beautiful perfect karma that she missed the wrong free throw and then banked in the one she was clearly trying to miss (you could see the over-compensation in her shooting form- she was definitely aiming long).

Longtime readers of the GNoD know that I loathe Ohio State institutionally (except for Jessica Davenport, and I guess I have to put up with Katie Smith) so I'm already not going to be the world's biggest Jantel Lavender fan. But that off-the-ball shot to Courtney Williams's midsection was dirty and cheap, and she should be ashamed of it. She was having herself quite the nice offensive day, even remembering where the three-point line was most of the time, so that kind of nonsense was completely unnecessary. She took advantage of more than one mismatch (like, seriously, why would Jasmine Thomas ever be on a post player?) and scored both insdie and out. Candace Parker looked frustrated much of the night; every time a shot didn't go in, she looked like she wanted to blame literally anyone but herself. I suspect La Leslie has been a bad influence in her on-court demeanor. It's a shame, because when she has her head fully in the game, she's a holy terror. She can make the ball look like an extension of herself, she moves with grace and fluidity, and she's got a full toolkit. She was killer on the offensive glass for LA; I think at least three of her baskets were on putbacks. She insinuated herself into spaces she shouldn't have been able to fit into.

I was impressed with the way LA used screens. There was a lot of motion to their offense, and it kept Connecticut running. Unfortunately for the Sparks, the Sun are good at that running bit.

We kind of had a sense that Chiney Ogwumike would not be available for the Sun not when she didn't start the game, but when Brionna Jones was the first sub off the bench in the first half. Brionna tries hard, but her reaction time was extremely slow. There were plays that it looked like her teammates were expecting her to make that she hesitated too long on, and they looked like plays other post players on the Sun roster would have made. But, wow, did Morgan Tuck ever step up. The three she hit at the end of the first almost brought the house down, but more importantly, she brought tough defense inside. I didn't know if she had it in her to be that good against someone as good as Parker, but she answered the bell. Game stories will talk about Jas's 27 points, or JJ flirting with the triple-double, but Morgan was the unsung hero of this game. Betnijah Laney was all over the place. She needs to work on her ballhandling, as long as she also keeps whatever skill/instinct I don't have the word for that allows her to realize exactly how bad the possession is going to get and somehow save it.

This wasn't Rachel Banham's day. It was pretty clear early on when her first shot was way off target, but she had to take a long shift in the third quarter, and it showed. She couldn't keep up with Sims, and she couldn't answer on the offensive end the way we needed her to. She is still very adorable when tiny and wearing a Lynx jersey. (Yes, that PowerPoint slide killed me dead from cute and I am writing these notes from beyond the grave, that's why they're taking me so long.) Layshia Clarendon committed uncharacteristically stupid fouls, but still ran the offense with a steady hand. I would have liked to see more of her and less of Rach in this one, but I understand the necessity. As long as we don't talk about that floater in the lane. You're not Mark Jackson, Layshia. You'd be a better commentator than he is.

(As an aside, the husband and I have a difference of opinion on the "double-point" backcourt with Jas and Layshia. He thinks it causes confusion. I think that as long as Jas is raining threes, the roles are clear.)

Speaking of! Jasmine Thomas took advantage of the openings created for her and rained down threes and teardrops. She has her days when she's hot, and there have been a lot of them lately. So fun to watch. I think part of the trouble we got into in the second half had to do with her foul issues shortening the rotation. Courtney Williams was not quite the same after that shot from Lavender, but she adapted- after missing two jumpers badly, she started knifing through the lane and got two back-to-back buckets. She's so fun to watch. She's like someone brought a can of Red Bull to life, only without the smugness from the advertising campaign.

Shekinna Stricklen was usually the one hitting the big shot to quiet the Sparks' run. She also had a nice defensive play late in the game that got us going. I still feel like there's so much more she can be than a jump shooter, that there's so much more potential for her to unlock to be a more well-rounded player, but at some point I will have to accept that it's not happening. Alyssa Thomas threw the ball to a lot of Sparks. The one shot she hit was a beauty- she spun off Vadeeva like something out of a slow-motion martial arts movie. But the 'point forward' concept doesn't work as well against a tall team like Los Angeles, especially when they have on occasion deployed the maneuver themselves. (Hi, Candace.) I don't know what I enjoyed more about Jonquel Jones in this game: those incredible fingers controlling rebounds like a puppeteer, or her consistent ability to make the extra pass. I don't think those were passes she would have made four years ago. I don't know if those were passes she would have made last year. But she consistently saw a teammate in a better position, and almost always, those teammates rewarded her with the assist. Just a phenomenal demonstration of team play. (Admittedly, trying to make the extra pass on a 1-on-0 fast break was not a good plan, since Jas was about two feet behind the spot she was passing to.)

We have to learn to control our fouls better. It would help if we had better officiating. But there are things we can control, and reach-ins are one of them. Recognizing how things are being called is another. LA was forced to foul deliberately at the end and still ended up with more free throw attempts than we did. This bothers me to my soul.

You know what else bothers me to my soul? Kurt Walker and that nonsense call on JJ. JJ is standing there doing her best impression of a six-and-a-half-foot tall bright orange pole, and Riquna Williams leaps into her like someone with a death wish. Somehow this is a three-shot foul. I haven't been this upset about a three-shot foul since Nadirah McKenith got called for that one on Skylar Diggins. (Rest in peace, Bonita, and I never truly meant you any ill, but that was still a terrible call.) I don't think every single call went for LA and against Connecticut the way the crowd did, but there were some pretty awful ones, many of which seemed to involve Riquna Williams dive-bombing people's ankles.

(As an aside- "Riquina" is a new and exciting typo. Sunterns, I am disappointed in you.)

I felt the crowd could have been louder, but it was nice to hear spontaneous noise instead of just cued noise from the PA.

It was quite a lovely experience to actually feel happy leaving a basketball game. I had started to forget what it was like. I'm looking forward to the playoffs. Thanks for putting up with us, Sun fans.

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May 8th, 2018: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty held off a third-quarter run from the Los Angeles Sparks to come away with the 81-75 preseason win. Kia Nurse led New York with a team-high 19 points, while Reshanda Gray added 11 points and 14 rebounds. Cappie Pondexter had 17 points to lead Los Angeles.

For young point guards, details I've assuredly forgotten, and impatience, join your intrepid and much belated blogger after the jump.

The crazy part of this whole thing is that after doing the double header and getting home at 1 o'clock in the morning, I'm turning around and doing it all over again.

Folks, if you want to kick up a fuss about where you're sitting, you show up early. You don't roll up at ten to twelve and block everyone else from boarding while you argue with the guide. Jerks.

Guys, whatever I did to my neck, don't let me do it again. It is so stiff. Ugh. Unfortunately, I think what I did was spend too much time on buses doing basketball things. I hope no one expects me to be coherent in real life for the next few days.

Note to self: I'm going to have to find a new go to meal at Mohegan. They changed the way they store the ingredients for the taco bowl, and it looks kind of gross. It still tastes okay, but the proof will be in a few hours, or rather, will not be in a few hours. (Did not have an abreaction, but I still think I need to find a new meal.)

Being the loudest person in the arena, or at least in the section, does make one memorable.

“We're going to make the entire state of Connecticut glow orange.” Part of me wants to go full Dalek and yell, “THOSE WORDS ARE BLASPHEMY” at Matt. Given how many old Husky fans there are here, I can't be the only one.

Yeah, Tina isn't warming up. Time for another round of “quick, act surprised!” It also looks like we're not trying to fake anyone out with Brittany Boyd, either. Nor do I see Shavonte Zellous. 404 error: no damn to give found.

Blaze, don't hit Erin Phillips in the face with your flag.

22-16 Liberty at the end of the first. Kia Nurse is off to a hot start. There's no one within two sections of me, so I'm basically in St. John's mode, wherein I make as much noise as possible because no one else will. I'm getting echoes up here.

36-33 Liberty at half. But I may pop a blood vessel if we keep giving Cappie Pondexter the weak-side midrange corner. We've left her open there three or four times, and after she missed the first time, she didn't keep missing.

Does Brooke McCarty not realize that you're supposed to jump for a jump ball? Forcing them on much taller players is only half the battle. Unless she's expecting the other team to be laughing too hard at the contrast between her and Mercedes Russell to react, all she's doing is delaying the inevitable. I know we scored on one, and we may have scored on the other.

Sidebar: the ushers in my section both days were absolutely delightful. Kelly on Monday was super sweet, and David on Tuesday was very friendly.

58-55 Liberty at the end of the third, which is better than it could have been, since LA took a lead in the middle of the quarter. The STH in front of me has arrived, so I have to turn down the volume and put my shoes back on.

81-75 Liberty final! Both teams got after the refs. Differential was 4-0 against us, and in college would have been more, since there was an offensive foul or two tossed in the mix. Then Katie put the fear of Katie into the rookie ref, and the fouls went against LA in a torrent. I thought we got away with more in that run.

Someone needs to find Kaylee Jensen a better bra. I was starting to get sympathy pains up front by the third quarter. I was surprised by the smoothness of her three-point shot. She's not Danielle Adams, but she does seem to have a little bit of range. From the way she was racking up fouls at the end of the game, I wonder if she has a stamina problem. Taya Reimer got a few minutes in the third quarter, but I have nothing down on the scoresheet for her. At least Kathryn Westbeld distinguished herself by going after loose balls on the floor.

Karlie Samuelson shoots threes. This is not a recording. She got into less foul trouble this time, but I think she also had less time to get into foul trouble. If I were forced to make a choice, I'd keep her over Wiese, but I wouldn't keep either of them if I didn't have a choice. I like Brooke McCarty's heart and hustle, but she's got to get stronger if she wants to play in the WNBA. Her slightness is more of a problem than her height, IMO. I didn't see anything out of Gabbi Ortiz that impressed me or made me think she's more than a space filler until one of the guards gets back.

Shakayla Thomas's jumper was somewhat less effective in this game than it was against Connecticut, but her length and constant motion on defense made her very dangerous in the passing lanes. LA is going to need to either keep her or trade her, because in these two games, she's looked too valuable to merely cut. Mistie Bass set up Sydney Wiese for a three with a vicious pick. I don't think there's room on the roster to keep her, but she's still incredibly useful, even after a surprising number of years in terms of an athlete's career. Essence Carson hit a three-pointer! No, I don't mean a foot-on-the-line long two, although she had plenty of those as well. I mean an actual counts-for-three-points-on-the-scoreboard three. If she's finally figured out where the line is, after all these years, LA just picked up another four to five points a game. Y'all think I'm exaggerating, don’t you? She looked really good.

Okay, I didn't realize until I looked at the box score how many rebounds Wiese had. I think they were the kind you chase down when they get loose, not physical ones down low, but that's still a fantastic skill for a guard. She put up a good line, but there's something I can't put my finger one that has me doubting everything she does on the court. I'm going to have to analyze game tape at some point, because this doesn't make sense to me. Cappie Pondexter will probably not get this many shots when the rest of LA's starters are back, but she'll take them when she gets them. We kept leaving her open, which is a thing that pretty much everyone in the WNBA should know not to do at this point. Unless, of course, we were attempting to run the defense that we're going to use on LA when they have everyone back on this shell of a Sparks squad. But that would just be silly, right? Why would we show our hand without it actually being effective?

I think my favorite part was when LA jobbed themselves out of two free throws in a four-point game by calling a timeout right when Pondexter was about to get fouled. (Sidebar that I think I should have mentioned before: this time, Tonya Edwards was the coach up and about, though Agler looked more animated on the sideline than he did in the first game. I actually like the notion of letting the assistants do much of the heavy lifting in a preseason game.)

I'll reiterate the point I made after their game against Connecticut: most of these players have no chance of being involved in the Sparks' plans for 2018, and the ones who do are going to be playing very different roles. About all you can really gauge from a preseason game like this is who might be ready for primetime elsewhere and how the coaches handle their players and their business.

How does a guard even get a three-second violation called against her? Shoni Schimmel, I am side-eyeing you so hard right now I think I just gave myself a facial cramp. She's just not fitting with the personnel that we have, and she seems to be caught between trying too hard and not giving enough of a damn on the court. Worst of both worlds, and we have enough guards in camp that I don't think we need any of that nonsense. Kolby Morgan slid over to a more traditional PG role in this game, and seemed more comfortable in it than she was in the first game. Still not WNBA material, but she had one nifty steal and some good shots. She's got to realize that you can't just flick up random junk in the lane, though; the best case scenario involves missing in embarrassing fashion. Kelly Faris played like she realized her career was on the line, diving for loose balls and driving on offense. But while I realize Karlie Samuelson can be exceptionally annoying, you can't just shove her out of the way, Kelly. That's just rude. I think two of her turnovers were offensive fouls. I don't know if that performance was enough to tip the scales in her favor, but if that's closer to what we can expect from her than the Dallas game was, I'd be okay with it.

(That being said, FFS, Connecticut fans, can you applaud the players who call Mohegan Sun Arena their home more than random Huskies and Husky transfers? Maybe?)

I like what I've seen out of Leslie Robinson, even if there's no way she should make the final roster. She's got good hustle, and a pretty good passing eye. The problem is that she's not ready for the big leagues. She'll do well overseas if she wants to, but she does also have that Princeton degree to fall back on. Mercedes Russell had moments near the basket where she looked like she was actually able to use her height to her advantage, but she's stiff and slow, and if she makes this roster, it's strictly because of positional needs. Shay Murphy spent a lot of time arguing with the ref. While I can't blame her for disagreeing with his assessments, I think she got caught up in it too much, and it affected her play. She's got to keep her head in the game if she's not going to contribute statistically.

I'm even more excited for Kia Nurse's prospects after this game than I was after the last game. I love what she brings to the floor offensively and defensively, and the flexibility she gives us in our lineups. She lined up at three, but I can see her fitting in there or at one of the guard spots, depending on match-ups. I think her instinct for the game are better developed than the average rookie's, and she's going to fit in well when the rest of our veterans get back. Sugar Rodgers brought a lot of energy, but I think she was getting worn down from being so obviously the primary offensive option for much of the night (given that she was one of the few regular starters to even be in the building, let alone dressed out for the game). Lindsay Allen had another solid outing- not spectacular, not remarkable, but that's not what we need from her. Fireworks are Piph and Sugar's job. Lindsay's job is to not screw up. That sounds kind of callous, but I'm all about the steady, no-nonsense point guards.

Much better game from Reshanda Gray than the one against Dallas. She was able to get inside and get the boards that she wasn't getting position for against the taller Wings. In a game like this, I can see where she'd be a serviceable backup, but muck like my concerns about Kelly Faris, consistency is the question. If Reshanda can do this more than she can fail like she did against Dallas, I'd love to have her on board. But if she can't consistently compete against WNBA posts (and let's be honest, most of the players for LA in this game were not of the caliber she'd be facing on a regular basis, except for Mistie Bass) then I'd rather take the time to try and develop a younger player. We saw more frontcourt time for Marissa Coleman, which is also useful going forward. She's streaky, but I like her and what she gives this team. I realize that goes against the pervious statement about developing young players, but I think we can get more use out of Marissa than Reshanda, all things considered.

Tina was very loose on the bench. Funniest moment: the Sun host started urging everyone to scream. Brittany Boyd tilted her head back, and I don't know if she was pretending to scream or actually screaming, but Tina gave her the "oh no baby what is you doing?" side-eye and sort of scooted away from her like "I don't know her".

I have questions about our rotation, but that's going to depend on who's available and who's healthy for the start of the season. I think we have a lot of flexibility as long as we have everyone. But if we don't have Boyd and we don't have Piph, things could get dicey in a hurry.

I'm still ready for the season to start. I may have to watch more of it on television than I'd prefer to, and I suspect that bitterness will leak through all season long. But this is my team and I love them.

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May 7th, 2018: Los Angeles at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Rachel Banham's buzzer-beating three-pointer gave the Connecticut Sun a 68-65 win over the Los Angeles Sparks in their first preseason game. Jasmine Thomas led the Sun with 12 points, with Betnijah Laney and Chiney Ogwumike each adding 10. Shakayla Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench to lead the Sparks.

For color commentary, a distressing lack of taco bowls, opinions on hair, underrated guards, the numbers game, and the futility of free agents, join your intrepid and reversed blogger after the jump.

On to the second game, which features the Los Angeles Sparks and the hosting Connecticut Sun.

Cappie Pondexter's hair appears to have exploded. Again.

There is a Spark with glasses bending herself in ways that don't look anatomically possible. Pretty sure that's Essence , and I'm slightly weirded out.

The Sun's gear is extremely orange and gives me a craving for citrus. I am less impressed with the Sparks' gear; the yellow looks wrong, too washed out and not proper gold. The purple on the jerseys is nice, though either it absorbs a lot of sweat or it's two-tone, with a darker purple in the back.

Tyra Buss is so tiny next to real pro players.

Sun fans seem enamored of Rachel Banham for no good reason that I can discern. Quick, act surprised.

19-11 Connecticut at the end of one.

Tic-tac-toe is not a new schtick. Y'all stole that from the Liberty, and our game day crew actually knows the rules. These guys missed a winning diagonal.

32-31 Sparks at the half. 2nd quarter foul differential was pretty bad. Shakayla Thomas looks really good for the Sparks. So does tiny but fierce Brooke McCarty. I like the vision Lexie Brown has shown on both ends of the floor for the Sun.

It actually looks like Bobbie Kelsey is calling the plays for LA. It's definitely not Agler.

Oh, come on, sound crew, you don't play “Car Wash” once during the first game, but you break it out in the second game?!

Of *course* the dance cam music is the Twist. I'm sure Bass is amused. Not.

54-45 Sun at the end of the 3rd. Some nice plays from Brionna Jones cleaning up the garbage.

The problem I see with these two teams is that there are 10 players on Connecticut that should have a roster spot locked up- and 14 on the Sparks. Bit of a problem when you can only carry 12, innit?

There may be some lingering crankiness in these game notes, because I have been finding for a taco bowl for the last six hours, and it turns out that the Mexican section closes earlier than everything else, so now I am starving and I still don't get my taco bowl. I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS. I mean, it could be worse; it looks like they're closing up for the night, so if Rachel Banham hadn't hit that three I'd really be scrambling for dinner, and you don't want to get between a fat chick and food. (I can say this about me, but you better not try.)

Okay, it's time to experiment with text-to-speech again, because while there is room for me to stretch out and type on this tablet, I will probably throw up if I attempt to do so for very long. You'll probably be able to tell the text to speech, because the capitalization will be off, and there will be some very strange typos, for which I beg your forgiveness.

I really feel bad for most of the players that the Sparks brought to training camp, because as outlined above, there really isn't any room for them on the roster. That is, unless Brian Agler decides to do something completely unprecedented and trust young players over veterans. In other words, no room on the roster. (Although, to be fair, that analysis doesn't leave Mistie Bass out of the running.)

Kaylee Jensen is a big body who can bang, and no one can deny her physicality, but I questioned her judgment on the floor. I don't think she used her fouls very effectively, and she's not very mobile. Taya Reimer got a few minutes in the second half, but I don't remember a thing she did. That's probably not a good sign. Kathryn Westbeld was able to force a few loose balls, but wasn't able to do anything with them. I respect the hustle, but you have to be able to do something with it in order to succeed in this league. I was very impressed with Shakayla Thomas, though to be fair, I've always been impressed with Shakayla Thomas. I saw her a couple of times at Florida State, and I thought she had the physical tools to be a WNBA player. The question was always whether she could develop a jump shot. And this game, she certainly demonstrated more of a jump shot that I've ever seen from her. She also made some great defensive plays and sparked a fast break with a lead pass to Pondexter.

From what I saw tonight, Gabbi Ortiz does not have the tools to be a WNBA player. She doesn't have the shot, she doesn't have the vision, she doesn't have the defense. She does have the build, but that's all she had going for her tonight. I thought Brooke McCarty had a much more impressive outing. She had one steal that was so fast I blinked and suddenly the Sparks had the ball again after a basket. She brought a lot of hustle and some really great defensive plays. On another team, she might have a chance to make the roster. But the Sparks are just too overloaded with players who have too many guarantees.

Essence Carson's shot has not yet joined her this season. Then again, there are times when I wonder if it's going to join her at all. Of course, she hit one of her patented foot on the line two pointers. I was, however, impressed with her interior rebounding. She seemed to be playing a lot of forward in the Sparks' lineup when she was with the starters, which makes a strange sort of sense given that most of their forwards are not yet with the team. The more things change, the more they stay the same; when Cappie Pondexter was the focal point of the offense, it immediately turned into the same old thing that we used to see from her with the Liberty. She would run the clock down, dribble, dribble, dribble, shoot. If she thinks that's going to happen when all of the Sparks' starters, she's in for a big surprise. I don't think Parker or Nneka Ogwumike will put up with that nonsense. I was deeply and profoundly unimpressed with Sydney Wiese. That's nothing new. She didn't do anything of note, and she looked lost. Honestly, I didn't think she should have made the roster last year, so you can imagine I'm not thinking she should make the roster this year.

Karlie Samuelson shoots threes. I don't think anyone is surprised by this observation. She's a Samuelson. It's what they do. However, her defense was not great. She was fouling all over the place, sometimes unnecessarily. Mistie Bass is who she's always been. She's a savvy veteran post who knows all the moves, all the tricks, and all the ways to get under your skin without getting called for a foul. She's physical, she's tough, and you're going to hate her if she's playing against your team and you're going to love her she's playing for your team. If the Sparks did want to go younger, she would be a good veteran presence to have around to teach them all the tricks. But there aren't that many tricks you can teach Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike at this point.

It's virtually impossible to say anything concrete about the Sparks from this game. After all, their entire front court rotation was unavailable, plus they were playing without Chelsea Gray to run point, plus they didn't have Alana Beard as their defensive ace, plus they were short at least two bench players. So, basically you had players doing the things they were good at, and you had a bunch of players who will not be in regular season games.

Springtime in Connecticut! You know what this means? Construction season! It looks like we're going to be taking the scenic tour of beautiful downtown New Haven. I don't know if my sarcasm is coming through or not.

If the game had ended pretty much any other way, my notes on Rachel Banham would be very different. But it's easy to forgive a lot of sins when you hit a deep, game-winning three-pointer for your team. On the other hand, she only had two shots all night and her defense is bad. I can see her trying to work on her defense, but so far it's just not working for her. She's trying to be a defensive ace and she's about a defensive 7. Tyra Buss is tiny, and adorable, and hustles, and has absolutely no place on a WNBA roster. I'm sure she's a lovely person, but she doesn't bring anything to the table that other players don't do better. I'm already very impressed with Lexie Brown's defensive instincts and court vision. For a rookie, she's got a very good sense of the floor. I still don't understand why Jessica January keeps being invited back to training camps. I really don't. Of course, around the time I was saying that, she hit a big 3, so I guess she might have something to offer. Even when she was at DePaul I didn't think she would be that good. I feel like the wait for Leticia Romero was a bit of a letdown. She didn't seem very active in the game and she didn't seem very involved.

Would someone please, for the love of my sanity, please teach Nikki Greene how to set a legal screen? She almost cost Connecticut the game late with two consecutive offensive fouls. And if you're going to be that kind of defensive liability, you have to be able to consistently finish at the basket, and she wasn't able to do that in this game. She pops up every other year or so in somebody's training camp, and I'm beginning to wonder why. Brionna Jones did a really good job on the offensive glass, but she needs to finish more consistently at the rim. Cayla George should probably also sit in on those classes on setting screens that Nikki Greene needs to attend because she followed up Greene's two fouls with one of her own. I'm not impressed. I have never been impressed. I get the feeling Betnijah Laney is stuck between positions. I like what she brings to the floor, especially her hustle. But I don't know if she's a four or a three, and Connecticut have enough players with that kind of issue with Alyssa Thomas. I don't think they can afford to have two. Morgan Tuck did a good job of getting to the line.

(Holy Mary, Mother of God, it is either too early or too late for the ruckus this woman is making in the train station. I can't even.)

If Alyssa Thomas doesn't spend a good chunk of the Sun's next practice shooting free throws, I will be very surprised. She's never been a great free throws shooter, but she was really bad today. Other than that, she actually looked pretty good. She brought a lot of rebounding and great defense. Chiney Ogwumike didn't play much, but when she did, she looked like the powerhouse she once was. I realize she was not playing with her peers per se, but she still looks good and she still looks strong. That's a good sign for Connecticut. I think they really need her.

Waterbug is really an unflattering term, but somehow it really seems to fit Courtney Williams. I mean it in the nicest way possible, mind you. I think she's a great player, and she's really intense on the defensive end of the floor. That's actually saying a lot, given her more offensive propensities. But she's really dedicated herself to making her opponent's life miserable on the defensive end. She knows how to use her quickness well. (Also, the short blonde buzzcut suits her.) Jasmine Thomas is such an unsung heroine for this team. She's solid, she's heady, and she's reliable at both ends of the floor. Much like Kelly Miller was for the champion Phoenix teams, she's not going to get the headlines, but she makes the engine go. It's always great to see a player find her niche.

Curt Miller was very animated, and very orange, on the sidelines. He actually seemed to tone down the leaping up and down in rage when the fouls mounted up in the second quarter, which surprised me. I thought there were some dubious calls there.

I think it's going to be hard to tell where some players fit into this roster, but it seems like Connecticut has a lot of good pieces that fit well together. Sometimes that's better than having all the best players. If they can get their fouling under control- which was a problem for them last year, too- they're going to have a very good year, with their depth in the backcourt and flexibility in the frontcourt.

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August 13th, 2017: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma’am: The New York Liberty ran off a 20-0 run to take control in their 83-69 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Tina Charles had 21 points to lead the Liberty, with Shavonte Zellous adding her 19 at critical moments. Odyssey Sims had 18 to lead the Sparks.

For shiny objects, defense, a couple of lingering concerns, and a good crowd, join your intrepid and nostalgic blogger after the jump.


Let’s hope I manage to get these up on a more timely basis than I did the last batch. Night games wreck my sense of timing. It's gameday at the Garden once more, as the New York Liberty take on the Los Angeles Sparks.

It’s Breast Health Awareness Day, so shoutout to all y’all who have kicked the ass of breast cancer and other associated diseases (hi, Mom!) and much respect for those we lost. I loathe pinkwashing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good cause.

Sparks lineup appears to be bugged, unless Williams is not only back from injury but starting.

There is a man behind the Sparks bench who is either Tina Charles’s dad or someone who wants to get into a fashion war with him. It’s very difficult to win a fashion war with Tina’s dad. From here I can’t tell if the suit and hat are Sparks yellow or Liberty orange.

Uh, Sue? Are you okay? Poor Sue Wicks looks like twenty years just slapped her in the face at once. (I worry about people. I worry about people I should probably not be worrying about.)

Pink jerseys today. Very pink. Joy. Rapture. My eyes already hurt.

Good anthem singer, but she tried to hit notes she couldn’t quite manage.

At halftime, it’s 44-35 Liberty, after the Sparks ended the first quarter with an 11-point lead. Epiphanny Prince and Tina Charles are leading the way for New York. Candace Parker has 10 and 4 for the Sparks, but midway through the second quarter she hit the deck and was very slow getting up. She got up and got back in, but it looked like her hamstring was bothering her.

There’s someone on the baseline who looks like Cappie disguised as a Rastafarian. I don’t know if it’s her, though it would be funny as hell if it was.

The dance troupe at halftime can certainly move. Equal parts beefcake and cheesecake. It’s a balanced diet.

Shoutout to the dude who was so hyped for the Tina Charles trade that he bought a custom jersey before the black jerseys were ready. The #31 looks weird on blue, let me tell you.

Refs are letting us play.

Good eye by Maj Forsberg on disallowing the basket from Shavonte Zellous. Basket came on the second shot attempt, which was after the shot attempt on which she was fouled.

Well, that was fun! Parker’s injury/cramp was really the turning point in the game- that spurred the Liberty’s big run, which in turn gave the Libs enough of a cushion to hold off the periodic attempts by Los Angeles to come back. We definitely had advantages, and I don’t think this is sustainable, but it was definitely fun!

Sandrine Gruda came in at the end of the game, put up a weird-looking jumper, and did nothing else of note. I honestly expected to see more of both her and Tiffany Jackson-Jones in this game, with Ogwumike’s foul trouble and whatever was bothering Parker, but Agler gonna Agler; where he’s going, he doesn’t need reserves. I would have liked to hear Jackson-Jones get a proper introduction so she could get a proper round of applause on BHA day; she certainly got a lot of high-fives at the tunnel during halftime. I don’t know. Maybe she doesn’t want to be thought of as “the breast cancer survivor”, but if we’re gonna have BHA against the Sparks, it seems appropriate to honor her.

Jantel Lavender really seems to have drifted outside, at least offensively. I know the midrange-take-a-step-back-and-it’s-a-3 jumper is a big part of her arsenal, but she seemed to lean far too towards dancing around outside on offense. She was still rebounding well and boxing out well, but I feel like she might be more useful to them going hard in the paint. Sydney Wiese soaked up the reserve minutes at guard, and while she showed some interesting moves, she didn’t bring a lot else. There were stretches where she looked like she was panicking, and the opportunities she had she didn’t take well.

But Los Angeles really didn’t rely on their bench much. Even when it seemed like it might have been a good idea to pull Nneka Ogwumike out because of foul trouble, or Candace Parker after she made it clear that she wasn’t 100% after going out in the second quarter, Agler rode his starters. Credit where credit is due, Ogwumike was able to work around that on both ends of the floor. She was solid inside and out, physical in the first half but more of a help defender in the second half. It wasn’t a spectacular Nneka game, but I don’t think it was ever going to be. Candace Parker didn’t seem the game after leaving in the second quarter- yes, she walked it off and came back into the game, and played almost all of the second half, but she looked more hesitant. Her ballhandling wasn’t as fluid and her rebounding was more tentative. She backed off of shots she normally takes. What astonished me today about her was the fine ball control she has with her hands. The kinds of plays that normally seem to go off other players’ fingertips were corralled when she got her hand on them. It’s fascinating, and must take ungodly strength, dexterity, and skill to pull off.

Alana Beard brought physical defense, and definitely made her presence felt at that end of the floor. She had a big block on Bria Hartley that was very impressive. But her shooting was as bad as she made other people’s shooting. Odyssey Sims took ridiculous advantage of Lindsay Allen. It just wasn’t right. I think she had three baskets in a row in one sequence. She had one shot that pretty much put the “Lucky” back in “Lucky Lefty”, going in and out and back in. She brings a lot of speed to the game, but sometimes it’s rushing headlong speed, not necessarily practical speed. Chelsea Gray opened the game hot, both hitting shots and dropping sweet passes (she had a little bounce pass backwards to Ogwumike that might not have been an assist because Ogwumike had to take a step back to set up the shot, but it was sweet). I got the sense that when the Sparks got away from letting her run the offense- when Parker or Sims was orchestrating and initiating the offense- they weren’t as well off. She has such good vision.

(As an aside: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a trade where both sides have benefited so spectacularly and so equally, where both players have flourished so quickly, and where it’s so clear that neither player would have had the same results had they stayed in place.)

I’d have to go back and look at entirely too much videotape, but I’m not sure if Lindsay Allen has defended a lefty as offensive-minded as Sims on the pro level yet. It was not one of her better defensive games, which is not a good sign since half the time Bill puts her in the game when he's frustrated with how Bria’s playing defense. I do like how she’s developing offensively, though; her vision is improving and she’s becoming somewhat more willing to take the shot when it’s given to her. Sugar Rodgers’s shot selection continues to boggle the mind. She’s bringing hustle, and she’s bringing energy, but energy isn’t always helpful if it’s not properly directed. Her threes from the corner, in rhythm, were good; her drives down the lane, less so. Rebecca Allen, in a reversal of her usual role, had a couple of nifty plays on the glass (a nice pass to Amanda Zahui B off a wild rebound) and on defense (an emphatic block on Jantel Lavender), but missed the wide-open misrange jumper the Sparks defense gave her. I think she was just confused at being that open.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe finally got her Cheesy Musical Hook, and I can’t believe I didn’t even think of pulling the “Rain” portion of her name for it. (“Love Reign O’er Me”, if you were wondering.) It was a nice little basket. She didn’t bring much otherwise, but I still think we need to see more of her. Can’t run Tina and the Kia(h)s too much; something’s going to give. Kiah Stokes was quiet statistically, and couldn’t seem to believe the fouls that were being called on her. She was physical. Amanda Zahui B had her hair straightened, and I so wanted to ask what conditioner she was using, because her hair was so shiny! She had a pretty good game in limited minutes. I think she might be getting her confidence back.

(Yes, as a matter of fact, I am distracted by shiny objects.)

Bria Hartley got off to a really good start, and even the shots she missed were good shots. She’s found her footing in these last few games, I think. I’m still not completely happy with her defense, but she’s become a more effective player on the offensive end of the floor. I’m still not thrilled with her, but I’m not frothing at the mouth about her either. Epiphanny Prince found her offense early, which was a relief. She and Sugar still don’t pair well together, and that’s troublesome if it becomes necessary to put them both on the floor, but at this point I think we’re going to have to settle for one or the other having her act together on any given day.

We can’t keep running Tina Charles into the ground. It’s going to backfire on us in the end. There was one defensive sequence where she was expected to be the primary defender on both Parker and Ogwumike, and that is not a tenable situation for someone who’s also expected to be the primary offensive option at all times. Tina’s a workhorse, but that doesn’t mean we can ride her to death. She’s powering through it, but the wear is starting to show. Shavonte Zellous was the firestarter for us and the doom of the Sparks. Whenever LA made a run, Z was like, “Nope!” and hit a big shot or made a solid defensive play. She was hitting the angle three and the midrange jumper, which is always a good sign. I love the energy she brings to the floor, and the active leadership she shows. We do need someone to be a stabilizing presence, but Shavonte can definitely be the leader-by-example. Kia Vaugh continues to be kind of aderpable and mostly not in in the clutch.

Officiating was surprisingly beneficial, though I did side-eye the Sparks only getting one foul in the first quarter.

Lots of huge steals. The defense stepped up. I think we forced five straight turnovers off the Sparks at one point. Good stuff. I’m proud of this team.

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May 30th, 2017: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma’am: A strong start by Tina Charles and the Liberty gave way to a Sparks rally and a 90-75 Los Angeles win. Candace Parker had a team-high 22 points, with Nneka Ogwumike adding 20 points and 11 rebounds. Tina Charles had a game-high 25 points for the Liberty, with Epiphanny Prince adding 21.

For reflection, delayed reaction, sandwiches, panicking, patriotic spirit, and the possible presence of an unwanted smell, join your intrepid and concerned blogger after the jump.

I’m devoutly hoping that I got any bad karma I might have out of my system before gametime. The Liberty have enough problems- Brittany’s injury, Kia and Piph whoring themselves out overseas going to Eurobasket, Kiah and Amanda’s struggles- without any other bad juju affecting the team.

The Sparks aren’t going to be easy, that’s for sure. Loaded frontcourt crashing into a strong defensive frontcourt- but I think the guards will be key. We need Bria Hartley to be... better. Let’s just leave it there.

Seriously. If the Liberty have a day like I just had, it’s going to be a very long night, and WNBA policy forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages after the end of the third quarter.

At halftime, it’s 38-36 Liberty, mostly through the very hard work of Tina Charles, no thanks to the refs. (Seriously. Tiffany Bird needs to never work in this league again.)

Beautiful anthem tonight, in honor of Military Appreciation Night. Well done timeout presentations, too.

To the three people in front of us, respectively tracking the Yankee game, reading his news feed, and playing Words with Friends: sorry our passion for our team is interrupting your phone activity. You paid ~$50 for these seats each why?

Mike W is having a rough day. I know he knows how to pronounce Ogwumike, but he’s been botching it badly. (On the positive side of the ledger, he’s gotten to say Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, and relished every syllable of it. He likes long names, hyphenated names, vaguely exotic names, and long vowels; Nayo’s name is like the jackpot.)

It’s a bad sign when the three attempt Tina all but airballed and got real sheepish about is only the third stupidest thing the Liberty have done in the first half (highlighted by Kiah Stokes and Shavonte Zellous knocking each other out under their own basket).

This was not good, and not just because we lost, and not just because we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. This was not good because the stars did what they had to do and the people behind them did sweet Fanny Adams to help. Players we were expecting to be more than they are have not been. Players we already had expectations for have been disastrous. It’s barely June and we already have to rethink the makeup of the roster. Losing Brittany Boyd didn’t help; losing Epiphanny Prince and Kia Vaughn to Eurobasket definitely won’t help.

Short bench for the Sparks, because we’ve all met Brian Agler and we know how he rolls. Sydney Wiese got some good open looks in the first half and showed off that pretty left-handed jumper, but once the defense started to close more on her, she was less effective. I think that might have been why Agler didn’t go back to her in the second half. Jantel Lavender stretched the offense to the high post with long jumpers, and brought physicality down low on defense. Riquna Williams does love to shoot, and her speed caused absolute chaos on defense. But when she was off, it gave the Liberty long rebound opportunities and took Los Angeles out of their groove.

Alana Beard picked pockets like a professional perusing the tourists of Times Square. Having her on Tina Charles wasn’t gong to end well for the Liberty if Tina had to do any amount of ballhandling. She took advantage of opportunities on the fast break, but is historically enough of an offensive threat that we couldn’t sag off her very often. Essence Carson was soid on defense, and of course now she can figure out where the three-point line is. Of course. She got a pretty good hand from the crowd (and I think there were a fair few folks from Paterson there). Chelsea Gray showed the passing eye she’s so well known for; by the end of the game, she and her teammates were really starting to show off with behind the back flips. More importantly, she kept the pressure on. I don’t know if I would have had her taking quite so many shots to open the game if I were Los Angeles.

I really would like to know what is with Candace Parker’s on-court attitude. Is she trying to mean-mug her way through and just doesn’t have the face for it? (Some people just can’t pull off certain expressions. It happens.) She looks like she’s perpetually smelling something bad. Her ballhandling is exceptionally graceful, and when her jumper is falling, it’s beautiful. She cuts fluidly- not to the level of Chamique Holdsclaw in her heyday, not quite T-1000 liquidity, but gracefully. She’s a stark contrast to the under-the-basket grit of Nneka Ogwumike. Ogwumike knows where to be and isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to get there. I admire her toughness. I don’t know if I admire the dramatics both she and Parker put into their reactions. Parker is more demonstrative, so it comes off worse (there was a play that inspired me to ask if Tennessee had a diving team).

It still takes a lot for me to get used to Los Angeles- the team of glitz, glamour, and cover girls- as a defensive-minded team that will rough you up in ways other than elbows. I still think they’d be far easier to like without Parker.

Oh, dear. I have to talk about the Liberty bench, don’t I? And I have to do it without swearing. This should be a challenge. Okay, let’s start with the posts, they’re less swear-inducing. Kia Vaughn was very active, and I still think one of the fouls she got called for should have been given to Bria Hartley. She was tough on the inside, but as always, once the double or the triple comes she has no idea what to do. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe got extended minutes. She’s very quick and light on her feet- extremely mobile. She’s got a great motor. Unfortunately, her idea of shooting the ball is rather akin to throwing it at the glass and hoping it goes in. Putting it on goal is a noble idea, but perhaps in another sport. (We have a Canadian. It’s the Stanley Cup Finals. ALL THE HOCKEY JOKES.) Amanda Zahui B came in at the very end of the game, after repeated chants from the stands had no prior effect. (People, we are talking about Bill Laimbeer; y’all are making it less likely he’ll put your favorite in.) She didn’t do anything other than almost commit a foul.

Rebecca Allen had the chance to really get a rocking crowd rolling at the end of the third quarter, but she missed the three. She, like many of her teammates, seemed scared to shoot, which is more of a problem for her since she’s primarily in for offense. And then there was the nightmare that was Bria Hartley. I’m starting to think we might have been sold a bill of goods on Bria. She looked like she was in shape, and maybe she is. But her brain, her reflexes, her skills, and her basketball acumen have not caught up to her physical condition. Her passing was bad. Her shooting was bad. Her defense was bad. We cringed whenever she was ready to check in, and you can’t tell me we were wrong for it. She doesn’t seem to have figured out the schemes on either end of the floor, especially on defense. We’re lucky Riquna Williams missed as many of the looks that Bria gave her as she did, otherwise this would have been an even uglier margin.

Whatever is wrong with Kiah Stokes, she needs to get it together in a hurry. She was getting outmuscled, outworked, and out-timed (if that last is a word). Granted, Lavender, Ogwumike, and Parker are an adventure for any post, but Kiah shone as one of the league’s top interior defenders last year. Did the officiating help? No. But she’s got to work through that, and in her third year the excuses start to run thin. There’s no excuse for her to be out of shape, playing heavy minutes in one of the more competitive leagues. She was actually benched for a couple of minutes to start the second half, with Bill going to Kia instead. Tina Charles played her heart out. I’ll assume the stupid fouls (especially her fifth) were from exhaustion. She started the game on fire; for the first five minutes she was the offense. We were calling on her to do everything, and she answered; there were a couple of sequences where she was the one bringing the ball up. She has such a phenomenally well-rounded game. But she can’t do it alone, especially in the frontcourt. Someone needs to step up next to her.

I use the phrase “next to her” deliberately, because Epiphanny Prince certainly stepped up behind her. Piph went hard to the basket, and in the second half she turned up the on-ball defense hard. She showed heart and hustle. She tried to drag the team across the finish line when Tina had to play back because of the five fouls. Sugar Rodgers was solid- I question some of her shot selection, but this is a Sugar thing. She went to the floor for loose balls and made plays that way. If I’m going to question her on defense, the question is going to be how the rotations managed to leave her on Candace Parker. Shavonte Zellous’s jumper appears to have abandoned her (honestly, this is the version of Shavonte who literally couldn’t beat me in a Pop-a-Shot contest). She made up for it pulling down boards and making passes out of the paint to open shooters. She brought her lunch bucket for this game.

Our team was scared to shoot. This is a problem. There was one possession where Shavonte had a good look at a three-pointer with ten seconds to go on the shot clock. Three passes later, the ball was back to her and she had to rush a shot. The supporting cast needs to step up, especially with Piph and Kia- two of the better performers in this game- heading off to Europe for the next three weeks.

We need a guard. Bria’s not doing the job, and we are paper-thin in the backcourt. Either that, or we need a small forward to swing Shavonte over to two. This is still not ideal, but it is what it is. Cierra Burdick was a DNP, and I’m wondering if she’s hurt or if there’s a transaction in the works involving her. I know about Lindsay Allen coming in, but I don’t think she can be the only answer.

Officiating. Let me tell you. Highlights of the absurdity included a Spark tripping over Essence Carson and the foul promptly being called on Kia Vaughn, Alana Beard hitting Piph in the head with the ball and Piph getting called for the foul, and (in the interest of fair play) a block by Kiah being called a travel on Parker (though that one got overturned). Lots of late whistles, to the point where the refs looked like they were watching the game on tape delay. I can’t even.

So, clear-path fouls. Would I be correct in comparing the clear-path rule to the offside rules in hockey and soccer? If another offensive player is ahead of the ballhandler, it is not a clear-path foul (but it would be offside) and vice versa?

We’ve got a long homestand coming up, and it’s adventure time with a short roster. These are the times that try women’s souls, or at least the advertising skills of ticket reps and the patience of coaches. We have to show heart. We have to show hustle. We have to be a team that people can believe in, even if we’re not necessarily a good team during that time.

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May 3rd, 2017: Los Angeles at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma’am: A second quarter outburst set the tone for Connecticut in their 79-62 win over Los Angeles. Danielle Adams led all scorers with 17 points, all in the second quarter. Odyssey Sims paced Los Angeles with 12 points.

For one-woman wrecking crews, foul counts and miscounts, endless reviews, disappearing fans, camouflage, culinary tips, and rude mascots, join your intrepid and annoyed blogger after the jump. (Dear bus driver, why didn’t you pee before we left Mohegan, instead of waiting until we hit the state line?)

We’ll do this backwards again, second game first, once I can get my eyes to stop bleeding. Can we cut refs in the preseason? Because I’d really like to put Tiffany Bird on waivers. Suzanne she is not.

I have adopted protective coloration to better fit in with the locals. (Look, man. It took me years and years of collecting to finally find a 2003 Sun jersey in my size, damn right I’m going to show it off.) (As an aside, Champion and Reebok have wildly different opinions as to what constitutes XXL.)

Do not go to Geno’s late on a weeknight, the night shift is utterly clueless.

I love Brittany Brown’s enthusiasm on the floor, on the bench, and in the stands (she watched her former Florida State teammates in the first game). I think she’s playing at too fast a speed, not letting the game come to her. Her teammates weren’t helping, either, but we’ll get to Sydney Wiese in a little while. Chelsea Hopkins brought the quickness and the adroit dribbling moves. I don’t know how well she meshes with the rest of the roster, but I like her. I am spectacularly unimpressed by Jamie Weisner, fourth-quarter mini-surge not withstanding. I am even less impressed with Mikaela Ruef. She’s more versatile than Weisner, but she isn’t as good at the things she does as Weisner is at the things she does. That made sense to you guys, right?

Nina Davis is sneaky at getting to the inside. I love her rebounding instincts- as soon as she knows a shot is off, she’s off to the races to the rim. She just can’t get through the higher, denser trees around the basket the way she could at Baylor. I think she’ll have a very successful career in Europe, but I don’t think she’s going to translate well to the W. Heart and brains can only get you so far. I really don’t like Saicha Grant-Allen. She flops, she’s unduly physical, and I don’t think she knows how to set a legal screen. I’m not even sure she should have been in the game at the end; the stats I keep show her with only five fouls, but the official scorer and the scoreboard had her at six. I think one may have initially been announced for Tiffany Jackson-Jones and later corrected, or something, because that’s where my stats and the box score differ. Part of me wonders if she knows she doesn’t have a chance and is taking it out on everyone.

Sydney Wiese’s handle was abysmal, especially in the early going. She was fumbling, missing passes, and not taking good care of the ball. She was hassled by the Connecticut defense, but when you’re getting schooled defensively by an offensive specialist, you might have a problem. Odyssey Sims decided she had to go it alone, which is not a good plan if she wants to integrate herself into the returning core of the Sparks. Lavender, Ogwumike, and Parker don’t need another hero. She drove fearlessly and had a nifty steal, but driving into traffic is a bad plan.

Karlie Samuelson continues to be the best of the crop of blondeish Pac-12 shooters that Agler brought in, at least in game action. I thought she did a good job getting her shot off and helping her teammates get open. I thought her game was the most balanced out of the four (who I presume are all scrapping for the same roster spot). Tiffany Jackson-Jones was physical, and had a ridiculously bad time finishing at the rim. It was bad. She was defended decently, but not well enough to explain all of those misses. Avery Warley-Talbert rebounded like someone with something to prove. She also showed good leadership on the court, helping signal her teammates go where they needed to be.

No minutes for Gamble, Go, or Jackson, so I think we know who’s on the chopping block. If my math is correct, there are eight roster locks (Beard, Carson, Gray, Lavender, Ogwumike, Parker, Sims, Williams), and cap room for three bench players. Based on the last two days, I’d keep Samuelson, Warley-Talbert, and Hopkins. If there’s room for one more, coin toss between Davis and Wiese (only to save face).

These games tell us nothing about Los Angeles. How can they tell us anything when their top five are out of the picture? At most, they tell us that Odyssey Sims needs to slow her roll. (And also stop flopping. Friggin’ drama queen.)

This was the kind of game where you understand why fans could fall in love with Kelly Faris. She was all over the floor, making hustle plays and making smart plays (there was a sequence where Connecticut inbounded with one second on the shot clock, and I’m pretty sure she deliberately took the shot short so she could get the rebound and the partial reset). Her offense and her offensive thought are still lacking, but on nights like this, she might just earn you more points indirectly than you lose from direct scoring. Allison Hightower was inexplicably in love with the sweeping scoop shot, and it was a love that languished unrequited. I love, love, love her defense, and the movement is back. Rachel Banham set up for corner threes and had one particularly nice rebound under the Sparks’ basket in the second half. Jessica January had a three go halfway down and pop out in the first half, and another one go awry. Turns out she needed to take another couple of steps further back to recalibrate. She got a lot of run in the fourth quarter, and I’m not sure what Curt Miller thought of her ability to handle pressure defense. Being the one person on the floor with a handle couldn’t have helped.

Danielle Adams’s second quarter was the stuff of which legends are made and folk heroes born. Three after three after three, and the crowd went wilder with every one. She had Connecticut’s first 17 points of the quarter on five treys and a midrange shot, then made the pass on the next basket. But either Los Angeles adjusted their defense to take her out of the game or she didn’t like the angles on the other side of the floor, because she had nothing in the second half. I think that’s where the strength and conditioning problem kicks in. Brionna Jones was physical inside and is catching on to the art of the screen. She did a nice job keeping balls alive inside. (Uh. As it were.) All the fouls on Reshanda Gray were bad calls. I mean it. All of them. I have no idea what even they were thinking with that flagrant. She was tough inside, but one can only do so much when the deck is stacked against you. Jennifer Hamson was very tentative, and I have to remember it’s admirable, not hilarious, when tall post players dive for loose balls like they know what they’re going to do with them when they get them. Something seems off about her shot mechanics, but that might be a height thing. Very tall posts seem to develop odd shooting motions. I’m not sure what to think of Shekinna Stricklen, or even how to categorize her. She needs to stop committing stupid fouls, this I know.

I still don’t know how Courtney Williams fits on this team, but I like her stubbornness. She’ll be in your face on either end of the floor. She had a nice defensive sequence on Wiese that led to a Los Angeles shot clock violation. Jasmine Thomas seriously needs to lay off the ticky-tack hand-check fouls. They’re starting to impede her ability to stay on the floor, or at least to keep the game flowing. She didn’t see the floor a lot, which makes sense considering the margin.

Alyssa Thomas is a one-woman fast break party. When she gets going, there’s no stopping her. I don’t know if you can even draw up offensive sets for her, or if it’s like improv. “Alyssa, you just find points somewhere, okay? You’ll figure it out.” Jonquel Jones set the tone with a big early block. I think it was on Sims, but I can’t see the tiny number in this light. The three-pointer is not necessarily her friend at this point in her career, but it’s good for her to try. Morgan Tuck was solid, especially early on, getting jumpers and points in the paint. Her services weren’t required for most of the game, and I think it was the right decision for Miller to use her as sparingly as he did.

I think these Sun kids (Sunkids? Sunkidt?) have a lot of potential, and they’re developing together, which might be just as important as each player’s individual development. They’re getting ready to gel as a team, to rise or fall together. That’s really cool.

So many reviews. Too many reviews. Really out of control officiating. Tiffany Bird did not leave a good impression yesterday, and she didn’t leave a good impression today. I’m almost tempted to ask Daryl Humphrey how he got saddled with these two clowns.

Good win for the Sun- yes, it’s a meaningless preseason game against a JV roster, but it had to feel good for the kids.

Reshanda Gray was utterly adorable in the “This or That” feature. First car? “A bicycle!” Spirit animal? “A unicorn.” Come to New York, Reshanda! We will love you and appreciate you and be socially active with you and appreciate your beautifully unique dorkiness!

I don’t completely understand why people get tickets for a doubleheader, show up for the second game, and leave in the middle of that. I don’t understand why it’s a thing. Why commit to the event if you can’t watch more than half of it? Sun fans are a strange breed- the season ticket holders can be passionate, but so many of the people who appeared on camera looked like they didn’t want to be at the game. Then why are you here?

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May 2nd, 2017: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma’am: The New York Liberty clamped down on defense in the second half for a preseason win against the Los Angeles Sparks, 81-65. Kia Vaughn had 14 points to lead the Liberty, who won the battle of the boards 41-20. Karlie Samuelson had nine points to lead Los Angeles.

For unexpected rookies, bus schedules, nail polish, chatter, so very many players, indifferent stars, and some nice defensive plays, join your intrepid and disordered blogger after the jump.

I shouldn’t even be able to do this. But I couldn’t get the week before the All-Star game off, because reasons. (Do you care about office politics as they relate to other people’s romantic mistakes? Neither do I.) So after some thinking, then some more thinking, I decided to take the week of May 1st off. Going to the May Day rally didn’t happen, but the rest of my plans are in place.

I’m writing the prologue to another round of meandering notes on a bus headed north on I-95. We’re somewhere in the vicinity of Port Chester, or maybe Rye. Since most sane and sensible people are working, I have enough room to type. We’ll see how it goes on the way back. The timing of these games is not ideal. Starting an hour later, improbably, would have been better. (It makes sense in context. The two relevant buses are the 1PM that leaves Mohegan at 9, and the 2:30 PM that leaves Mohegan at 10:30. I’ll be on the 10:30 in either case, but as a stand-by, not as a guaranteed seat, and that’s the last bus back to NY for some time.) (Operation Make The Last Bus was a success for the first day. Kind of worried about that window opening, though.)

There’s something different about the route every year. The ticket office moves; the bus pick-up moves. The route changes. Businesses along the way open, or close, or change their facades. What strikes me is how green everything is. I’m using to seeing the scenery in summer, or even autumn. The flowering trees are usually long out of bloom. But it’s the first week of May, and it’s warm. Amid the green there are flashes of pink and white. Anticipation lingers in the air.

Holy Toledo Rockets, I just noticed there are USB ports in the roof of this bus. BRB, recharging.

I know the superstars won’t be in this game, but that’s okay. That’s totally okay. I’ll see Epiphanny Prince and Kiah Stokes all through the regular season. I might not see some of these kids next week at Columbia.

If you’ve seen my black clipboard, please let me know. I can’t find it and I’m rather nervous. My copy of Shot Clocks is absolutely irreplaceable. (No, seriously. Among the players who have signed it is Margo Dydek.)

Two days, two games per day. First up... oh, I’ve already forgotten which combination of Liberty or Sun versus Sky or Sparks it is.

The on-board entertainment has switched from some show with messed up family dynamics to what appears to be Chinese Idol. There’s someone singing, and there are three judges in black leather chairs watching him. I don’t know if this is the audition stage or the competition stage, though.

OK, Mohegan, no comps, no regular season trips. $36 per seat is not going to happen on a regular basis.

So far the one other Liberty fan I’ve seen appears to be three sheets to the wind. It’s quarter to four, lady! (There were a couple of others around, including a couple who served as part of the Sun fan tunnel to start the second game. They were better behaved.)

Shoutout to my neighbor Van, a passionate Sun season ticket holder who seemed to enjoy shooting the breeze with a friendly Liberty fan. I don’t know if I really needed to see the x-rays of his collapsed spine, but other than that (and one awkward moment discussing the dance team) we got on like a house on fire. He loves his team. How can you not love that?

Mohegan is still feeling their way through the preseason. New staff on hand, new protocols in place, training underway. Well, preseason is the best time to work out all the kinks. Shame it didn’t extend to letting my bag through, but it is what it is.

Look, Sparks, y’all have got to stop with the random signings. I wasn’t prepared for Aundrea Gamble.

I think I might have overdone it on the chatter at Brittany Brown, but I really did enjoy watching her play at Florida State. (I’m a sucker for the ones who play defense like they want to tear your throat out.) She was really friendly, and a little confused as to how someone in Liberty gear had seen her play. (LIU Turkey Classic, by the way. Maybe other games? There are tags.) Her teammates seemed happy to leave her taking the shots at the end of the shot clock, and she was all, “Fine, if none of y’all want to shoot...” Chelsea Hopkins is tiny and quick, and she’s got some moves. Something about her doesn’t seem durable, though. I can’t put my finger on it, but I don’t see her being viable for any real length of time. Ah-Ra Go got a lot of support from the bench when she hit her basket, and she was tenacious defensively. Not ready for the next level, though. Jamie Weisner was in to take shots from deep. I was unimpressed. As unprepared as I was for Aundrea Gamble, I think Gamble was less prepared for the game. Somewhere in there is a joke about them signing a player named Gamble in time to play at the casino, but I am le tired.

Methinks we should have changed the play signals after people left. Avery Warley-Talbert, at least twice, was calling out our plays on the defensive end. I thought the big knock on her was she didn’t take in information well? Apparently what she does take in sticks. She was physical underneath, then tried to play it off. So did Mikaela Ruef, whose screens were not kosher. I do not like that woman. Jessica Jackson played a couple of unremarkable stretches. Nina Davis seemed to come on stronger on her second shift. She didn’t have a statistical impact, but I like the way she slithers into small spaces. She hasn’t figured out what to do with those spaces yet, but maybe after a couple of years overseas she’ll lose the hesitation.

Sydney Wiese started the game on fire, but streaky shooters giveth and streaky shooters taketh away, and once our defense started making her think, she started hurting the ballclub. Odyssey Sims can be a pinball out there, which was fun for the Sparks on defense- she had a fantastic steal on Kia Vaughn that may also have relieved Kia of her wallet. She got to the line well. Karlie Samuelson was very impressive- good perimeter shooting mixed with good play on the inside. If Agler is auditioning Wiese, Weisner, and Samuelson for one roster spot as the token shooter, last night’s performance might give Samuelson the edge.

I still don’t understand how Tiffany Jackson-Jones doesn’t get called for traveling. Her footwork is abominable. She was very physical on defense, and couldn’t understand why she kept getting called for fouls. TJ, it’s like you’re using your arm as a hammer or something. You’re not baking soda. Saicha Grant-Allen sets screens with elbows, and I don’t like that. I admire her fearlessness in the paint. She’s going to be a good complementary piece somewhere, but I don’t think it’s the WNBA, and I don’t know how European teams feel about post players who are mostly there to facilitate for their teammates. She did admirably as an understudy to the Sparks’ posts, in that case, bearing in mind their top three weren’t available.

I get the sense that this Sparks offense wasn’t designed to emulate anything LA will be doing in the regular season, but instead to gauge who on this roster will survive to the regular season. That has its perks, but at the same time, it might take longer for Agler to figure out how the survivors fit in with the regular rotation. (On the other hand, the man has championships in two leagues, so he probably knows more about this than I do.)

Ameryst Alston is still too tentative out there. Shoot the dang ball, Ameryst! I’m sure she’s a nice kid, even if she did go to Ohio State, but Bill keeps giving her chances and she keeps showing she’s not ready. Jacki Gemelos showed some of the same tentativeness early on; on the other hand, the three at the end of the game was completely unnecessary. Her shooting is nice, but shooters are streaky, and I wasn’t impressed with her lateral movement on defense. She can’t keep up with the switches. Bria Hartley looks very well recovered from the baby. Bill tried her out for a stretch in the fourth quarter as the lead guard, and it didn’t go as badly as I was expecting. She had a sweet feed to Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe down low that got the paltry crowd going. Shacobia Barbee is stockier but shorter than I expected. She had a nice crossover move on Weisner (I think- can’t tell if that scribble is 5 or 15) but nice doesn’t count if you don’t hit the shot afterwards. I’m hoping to see a little something more out of her against Chicago to see what Bill sees in her. Brittany Boyd brought her usual speed, sheer stubbornness, and rebounding presence to the floor. She hits like a freight train, and trying to step in front of her is a life decision a defender will regret if they don’t time it correctly, because not only will it hurt, it’ll be a blocking call.

Cierra Burdick got off on the wrong foot, not getting her warm-up jacket off fast enough and drawing a delay of game warning from Tiffany Bird. But her first play was to chase down a rebound on the baseline. I know I’m biased, but I just love what she brings to the floor. She needs to get better at doing some of the big things, but she does all the little things out there. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe is stronger than her build would indicate. She’s not afraid to mix it up down low. She had a really nice play where she recovered from what I thought was a block on Rebecca Allen by Chelsea Hopkins and got the putback. Renee Bennett’s outside shooting touch is intriguing, and she sets screens worthy of the number she wears (Cathrine Kraayeveld’s 33). I’d like to see her do more work on the inside; I think the Chicago game will be very telling for her. Ivey Slaughter’s minutes all came in the second half, as near as I could tell (the Sun’s PA announcer wasn’t always on the ball with announcing subs) and were surprisingly effective inside. I don’t know if she’ll make the cut this time around, but she’s interesting. I like how she works the baseline.

I know Lindsay Allen’s a rookie, and maybe I shouldn’t be expecting a lot from her, but I do expect a four-year college player from an elite program to at least be able to attempt a lay-up from the “wrong” side of the basket, not to cross the lane, open herself up to defensive pressure, and miss the shot anyway. I don’t think she fits our system, I don’t think she fits our style, and unless she really applies herself a la Sugar, I don’t think this was a good idea. Sugar Rodgers wasn’t terribly involved in the game, but I don’t think Bill wanted her to be. She didn’t play a lot and was fairly passive when she did, except when she was committing stupid fouls.

Tina Charles made it clear she looks at preseason games the way a certain former Sixer looked at practice. At least pretend to rebound, Tina, the ball’s right there! On the other hand, she was doing a lot of individual work before the game, working on those power moves with the coaches. And Tina is still Tina. It’s just less obvious in the preseason. Kia Vaughn was strong inside, but reacted too slowly when the defense swarmed her. She has that unfortunate tendency to pose when she gets the ball and is ready to make her turn, and other teams know that, and they’re ready for her. This is probably not going to work against Chicago. But when Tina’s fully engaged, and Kia’s not getting so much defensive attention, this could be very, very fun. Rebecca Allen looked tentative in the early going, like she wasn’t ready for this and didn’t want to get dragged into it. She still looks like she’s finding her feet and not yet ready for the pressure of expectations.

I <3 this team. There’s just something about them I like and I don’t know what it is. It’s going to be really confusing once we have Kiah and Kia in the same place, with Bria on the side and maybe still Kai. All we need is Gillespie, the former Terp, to really confuse things. (Kiah, but she pronounces it Kai-ah) I thought Jeff Smith had really good control of the game from the officiating end. Things didn’t get too crazy, and he was right on top of the clock when there were some stoppage issues. Tiffany Bird seemed to be letting Bill Laimbeer under her skin. I understand that under a ref’s skin is his normal domicile, and he was still riding her after the Liberty got the call, but you can’t let it be that obvious. Change partners and go for tomorrow!

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May 21st, 2016: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Los Angeles Sparks made up eight points in less than two minutes to force overtime and beat the New York Liberty 79-72. Nneka Ogwumike had 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Sparks, with Candace Parker adding 14 points and 12 rebounds.. Tina Charles had 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead New York.

For missed shots, odd spacing, planning epic birthdays, friendly neighbors, security issues, and ennui, join your intrepid and distracted blogger after the jump.


I could make a joke about this game really going to the dogs, but what kind of bit- aaaaanyway. It's a grayish day in New York as the Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks renew the league's oldest rivalry (perhaps only by a couple of days, but don't hate just because y'all weren't there right at the get-go).

It's also the celebration of Maddie's birthday, which means lots of kids and a calendar of Liberty players with dogs. I don't think Epiphanny Prince is a dog person. (I, for one, am looking forward to Maddie's next birthday party. That'll be 21. SHOTS SHOTS SHOTSSHOTSSHOTSSHOTSSHOTS)

Candace Parker, if people are holding Sharpies and trying to get your attention, ignoring them is not a good plan. And I was going to tell her she deserved to be on the Olympic team, too. Maybe there's something to the chemistry thing, or maybe I'm just petty.

I'm not digging the blonde on Essence Carson's ponytail.

There's something appropriate about the Liberty wearing their black and the Sparks wearing their gold in this first meeting of the 20th season.

At halftime, we're tied at 34. Candace Parker has 10 points, seven boards, and some monster blocks. It's been a balanced attack from unexpected sources for the Liberty, with eight from Carolyn Swords and seven from Brittany Boyd.

Moment of quiet and small video tribute to a deceased STH (and mom of another). Very nice touch: "We Are Family" isn't usually memorial music, but it's the music played when they show a former Liberty player, or "Liberty family", on the Jumbotron. In other words, she was included as Liberty family, on the same level as Kym and Sue. (In assuredly unrelated news, there's an awful lot of confetti drifting loose from the ceiling today...)

That was a frustrating game, but it could have been worse. We can pinpoint the things that we did wrong: free throws, close-range shots, offensive rebounding, offensive sets at the end of the game. We got a lot of good contributions from a lot of people. And it's still early in the season.

I was surprised we saw so little of Chelsea Gray. Maybe I shouldn't be; she doesn't really fit with the personnel the Sparks currently have, or the style they want to play. Her passing is pretty slick, and she seems to inspire her teammates to pass just as showily. Ana Dabovic is a bit shot-happy- not that that's a bad thing in the offensive scheme, but she's definitely better on offense than defense. She fell hard for a lot of shot fakes, especially from Brittany Boyd.

Jelena Dubljevic barely played, and left no major impression. I was surprised that Eugeniya Belyakova got so much time, but I think Agler likes something she's doing on defense, even if it's just being really tall. (I'm also amused by the different Romanizations of her name- on the roster, it's spelled Eugeniya, but on the website, it's spelled Evgeniia. Slightly confusing.) The Liberty were not impressed with her on offense- when you're a tall forward and Shoni is being hidden on you, you're not considered a valid offensive threat. That lasted until she hit a three late. Ann Wauters was good defensively in the few minutes she got off the bench. Jantel Lavender was physical on the boards, but didn't seem fully involved in the game. There was a weird sequence near the end of the game where Parker appeared to be trying to hug her or something, and she was no-selling it like nobody's business. Like, "please remove your arm from around my neck right now, thank you much" level of no-sell.

Essence Carson brought the defense, but her shot has left any building she's in. It went wide often. She missed open lay-ups badly. Watching her during shootaround, there's a hitch to her shot that I can't put my finger on, but don't think looks right- there was a lot more push from her right hand and less guidance from her left than seemed proper. She got a very warm welcome and a highlight package. It looked like Agler had no trust in her offense (which I can't blame him for)- she sat out some key minutes late in the game. Alana Beard is in fantastic shape and moving really well. She looks like she's never had an injury history. She started the game red hot, taking advantage of what the defense was giving her in order to keep the more recognized threats bottled up. Her offense cooled down a little later, but her defense was utterly crucial to keeping Los Angeles in the game. Kristi Toliver was off for most of the night, but she hit the big shots when Los Angeles needed them. Her moping mostly was not as evident as usual. She also came up with a nice defensive play at the end of the game, which I wasn't expecting from her.

Candace Parker seems satisfied to take long shots and use her athleticism to beat players instead of her talent. She took a lot of long shots and a lot more complicated shots than she really needed to. If she'd gone inside more, LA probably would have romped. As it was, she did a nice job on the boards and using her length to block shots. Nneka Ogwumike is a beast, and this needs to be her team, not Parker's. She dominated down low. We threw all different defensive looks at her, and she was just like, "nah, I'm gonna score now." She knows her strengths and she plays to her strengths.

It's hard to envision Los Angeles as a defensive-minded, blue-collar team, but they suffocate the passing lanes and play really tough defense. Parker sticks out in that scheme.

I don't know what's wrong with Shavonte Zellous, but someone needs to fix it with the quickness. Her shot is AWOL, her drives are questionable, her ballhandling is shaky, her court vision is lousy, and her defense is so-so. She gave us a lot of minutes, and they mostly weren't good ones. You can't airball a shot late in the game like that. Brittany Boyd brought energy and a renewed fire. She was closer to her normal self this time around. I don't know if benching her helped or if she's moved past whatever was causing her recto-cranial inversion all by herself. Shoni Schimmel played a little, brought a little offense, but I would have put her in in the overtime just to add an extra shooter. I'm really not sure what to think of her and what she brings.

Kiah Stokes was back on defense. It was good to see her blocking shots- she had a few beautiful ones, including a deflection off a Parker shot that looked so natural that you'd think Parker missed it all by herself. It was also nice to see her taking and hitting shots. Amanda Zahui B had a quiet few minutes, but they were good defensive minutes. I might have wanted to see more of her, but on the other hand, I don't know whose minutes I would have taken away to put her on the floor longer.

Sugar Rodgers started off not shooting well, and she made some bad decisions down the stretch in overtime, but if she hadn't gone off in the fourth quarter, we wouldn't have had overtime in the first place. I'm not sure what to call those- Sugar highs? Sugar spikes? But this was last year's Sugar more than this year's Sugar: capable of incredible feats in a short stretch of time, but in the long run capable of making you tear your hair out. (That being said, her rebounding and her reads on long misses have improved immensely. That's cool.) Lindsey Harding got the start over Boyd and continued to demonstrate her lack of familiarity with the new shot clock rules. I don't know how comfortable she is with the team, and how much of that is a function of time. Tanisha Wright found some of her offensive groove, but she was passing way too many open shots and good looks for my comfort. I like her at the three less and less, and fortunately, this was the last time we're going to have to do this. I don't think she can take the physicality of the forward position in the modern WNBA.

Tina Charles was solid, but she missed a lot of interior shots that she should have made. She and Carolyn Swords both had good looks at the basket that they missed. I really like what Carolyn brings in the starting lineup, but I'm worried about her stamina. She's registering more and more often on the Adubato-Kraayeveld Scale, and doing so earlier and earlier in games. As for Tina, we all know how I feel about her taking perimeter shots, especially three-pointers. I know, I know, but it's going to keep being a point in the game notes until such time as either the shot becomes more reliable or until she stops doing it.

The missed shots at the rim were the most frustrating thing about this game. LA had a lot of makeable shots that they missed, and we failed to take advantage of that. No team should have two separate possessions of empty third chances. If they're right at the rim, you have to hit them.

The best part was how into it the crowd, or at least our area of it, was. There was far less waiting for the sound cue than usual, and I like that.

Officiating was lousy, but what else is new.

Getting Swin back will help with the perimeter defense, and maybe with some of the missed putbacks. I wasn't expecting this game to be as close as it was, so that's a good sign, in a perverse way.

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