Just the Facts, Ma'am: Syracuse scored 38 of their 78 points in the paint, including a 36-point effort from Kayla Alexander, and stormed back from a 14-point deficit to beat St. John's, 78-65. Alexander was one of four Orange players in double figures, with Syracuse getting strong games from Iesia Hemingway and Shakeya Leary. Da'Shena Stevens led the Red Storm with 18 points, while Eugeneia McPherson added 16 off the bench, 15 in the first half.
For lots of post play, a call to arms, frustration, mysterious collapses, and some serious coaching questions, join your intrepid and pessimistic blogger after the jump.
I've given up trying to figure out St. John's. I'm sorry, guys, I just can't do it anymore. A week ago- less than a week ago, six days ago- it looked like they'd finally found their cojones again after beating Georgetown in overtime, gutting it out against a team that might have been better than they were. Today they rolled over and died against a team that isn't nearly as good as they are. And I don't know whether that has more to do with a galling lack of senior leadership, some questionable coaching decisions, some team-wide malaise, or them getting too big for their britches, because those are all possible reasons why they fell apart in the fourth quarter.
They were honoring the Army and the ROTC today, so there was a little halftime ceremony, and the ROTC presented colors. Anthem was performed by the St. John's mixed chorus, and they were all right- not great, but not awful. Someone left their blackberry near the mic, and at one point everyone heard the chirp of an incoming message. I had to fight off an attack of the giggles.
I don't know what happened, but Kim Barnes Arico was hot under the collar even before the game. She had a very long and animated conversation with one of the Syracuse assistants. I don't know what it was about, but I thought it was interesting that she and Hillsman didn't chat before the game- most head coaches seem to do that kind of thing.
Carmen Tyson-Thomas wears a number with a lot of expectations at Syracuse, and she's not doing too bad a job with it. Phylesha Bullard was the sixth woman in the first half, but the real sixth woman was the very broadly built Shakeya Leary, who's built like a 95% scale version of Keke Carrier. She was the two in the one-two punch in the post, when Syracuse was going at it in the paint. We weren't able to match her bulk, and though she took advantage of it, she didn't take as much advantage of it as I thought she would have. On the other hand, she did a nice job setting up Kayla Alexander by being that two, so there's that. Three other Syracuse players got into the game, but it's very hard to write a meaningful analysis of players who play a total of four minutes, so if you're looking for that, I do apologize.
Tasha Harris is a big girl. She looks like she wanted to play football at some point in her life and got sidetracked by basketball. Apparently the scouting report said that she was a deadly outside shooter, because our defenders (ahem, Shenneika) kept going out to cover her and leaving Erica Morrow wide open. Iasia Hemingway got loose in the second half- that's when she scored all her points. She's another big- I thought she was a forward when she originally transferred, so I wasn't looking for someone her height when trying to figure out who was who; the only reason I was able to figure out who she was before Syracuse took off their shooting shirts was that she said hello to a few folks who I know are from Newark (I think they're Nadirah's friends and/or family). Erica Morrow got in on a few nice plays, but overall I wasn't impressed with her. I did, however, enjoy watching Elashier Hall (who appears to have gotten tired of people mispronouncing her name, because the way she was announced, it sounded like her name was given to the PA guy as Lacy). I find the jackknife fold of her shot peculiarly endearing, and I like her ability to fake out an defense on the fast break with her hesitation move. I think she needs to get the hesitation out of her offense when she's not faking out opponents, but she's only a sophomore. She has time to work on that. She hit one three from far out it came from freakin' Suffolk County. Kayla Alexander- who we called Six-Four during the entire game because that was the relevance of her existence- killed us. Killed us dead. Splattered us, smashed us, and ruined us. We had no answer for her height, and for some reason, Kim Barnes Arico decided not to play the one answer we did have. Syracuse understood that she had a height and length advantage over everyone on the floor for St. John's, and she took advantage of it.
Jennifer Blanding should have gotten more than six minutes. She was the only answer we had for Alexander- the one play where they were up against each other (okay, maybe not the only one, but the most memorable one), Alexander wasn't able to shoot over her. (Of course, Syracuse ended up scoring off the play because we couldn't get the rebound because of Leary's bulk, and she had the putback. But Jennifer's defense on the original shot was on point.) She had a pretty little skyhook as well. These notes are supposed to be my immediate post-game reactions, with a minimum of research, but Barnes Arico's quotes about Jennifer made my blood boil. Amanda Burakoski can apparently only score in threes- she hit a long-range shot and an old-fashioned three-point play (though can we really call it old-fashioned when the three-point shot has existed for more than thirty years?) She had some deplorable defensive lapses, though, including one near the end of the game where she all but joined in allowing Harris to part the Red Sea. DO NOT WANT, okay? Some of that might have to do with exhaustion, because she was starting to register on the Adubato Meter for being ungodly shades of red. Eugeneia McPherson found her offense in Florida (which is a sensible place to be in February), but had apparently traded her free throw shooting for three-point shooting,. She also had only the one free throw in the second half, and that bothers me. She got more desperate and less accurate, which was a team-wide problem. I love her work on the backcourt trap, but she wasn't as ready as usual when Syracuse was able to break the trap.
Shenneika Smith was not herself today. Or maybe she was and that's what we should be afraid of. She took a lot of off-balance shots that were not well thought out, and her defensive lapses were deplorable. She cheated off her assignment way too much, and part of me wonders if she got distracted by Harris possibly talking trash. High school ball in NYC is sort of like that, from what I've heard. (I don't know from personal experience, because for one, I don't play, and for another, my high school alma mater was not exactly a sports powerhouse.) Nadirah McKenith ran a solid game- lost her head a little at the end and dove for the lane, either to draw fouls or just to get herself into double figures. Her teammates weren't ready for some of her passes, and maybe that says something about her reading of the floor, and maybe that says something about how ready they were for the game, and maybe that says something about how ready Syracuse was for us. I don't know. Sky Lindsay barely played because Gina and Buzz have been hot, but she was brought in late in the game. Of course, when she came back in, she notched a steal and a fast break layup, and Kim promptly sat her back down again. That made no sense, especially when Day was hurting and Buzz's defense was falling apart. Da'Shena Stevens had one heck of a first half, and played well in the second, but after one particularly hard hit, it looked like all the fight went out of her. With about five minutes left, it looked like she had cracked under the pressure. I don't know if she was hurt or if she was panicking, but all of her shots at that point were quick and bad- the free throws, the twos, and the straight on three. She just could not contain the bigs from Syracuse. I know it seems like I'm harping on the inside play, but that was really the difference. They killed us inside, and our undersized posts could not compete. However, that is no excuse for the awful play of Coco Hart. It's one thing to be unable to defend physically larger players. It's another thing to be so off your game that your coach would rather attempt to counter size with small forwards while you sit on the bench for ten and fifteen minutes at a stretch.
Kim's head was not in the game today, plain and simple. I don't know if she was worrying about her kid, who was watching the (very thrilling) game over at the Garden, or if she was trying to figure out if Hillsman TP'd her house, or what, but she was off her game from the start, and it became clear that she wasn't deviating from her plan, no matter what. There were times when Buzz and Gina needed rest and Sky should have come in. There were times, especially in the second half, when Da'Shena and Coco needed to sit down and Jennifer needed to come in, especially when Syracuse kept pounding it inside and Day and Coco weren't able to defend their inside players. Her handling of Jennifer was egregiously awful. I don't know if we would have won on that substitution, but I think it would have helped if Kim had been paying attention to what was working and what wasn't. I think it would have helped if Kim had accepted when players were injured and worked around that- I don't think she wanted to take Day out even when there was blood. Blood is bad, Kim.
The officiating was just barely acceptable. There were a few plays that I thought should have been called against Syracuse, and one awful call against Da'Shena that should have been on Hall (the football tackle came from the player whose school has football, Bonita). Norma Jones was on point, though. She made her calls quickly and accurately, and called for help just as quickly when she didn't have the call. I have to wonder how Hillsman didn't get T'd up for coming all the way out to the center court logo to argue an out of bounds, though. I thought keeping coaches in the box was a point of emphasis this year, and... that's pretty far out of the box.
I'm disappointed in my team and a bit broken up. There's no sign of leadership, either from the bench or from the players, and that doesn't bode well for the rest of this season. I'm starting to wonder if Kim hung all her hopes on the sophomore class- on Shenneika, Nadirah, Eugeneia, Amanda, and Jennifer, and mostly on the first three, from the way she talks about Jennifer. None of the freshmen played today, after all. I wonder if she's written off the seniors already, if she's pinning everything on the class of 2013, and maybe on Da'Shena. I don't know if she still has this team. I don't know if this team still has this team.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February 19th, 2011: Syracuse at St. John's
Thursday, January 13, 2011
January 12th, 2011: Syracuse at St. John's
Boys? In my blog? It's more likely than you think. It's also more Orange than you think, what the hell?
Hello, Rumble in the Garden readers! I don't think we've been introduced, unless you were over in the comment thread from the explanatory post. My name's Rebecca-call-me-Becky-and-you-die, but around these parts, I'm known as Queenie. You can call me either- heck, you can call me anything so long as you don't call me late for dinner. I've answered to a wide range of nicknames, mistaken names, profanities, and the ubiquitous “Hey you!”
If I go to a basketball game, I write Game Notes of Doom. I've done this for the NBA, the WNBA, men's college basketball, women's college basketball, and a couple of international friendlies. I can usually be found over at Swish Appeal, but in honor of the doubleheader, I'm making a guest appearance here.
Be warned that I'll be approaching this game more or less like a novice. What I know about the St. John's men's team this year can be summed up as follows: they have a lot of seniors, they have a new coach, the women's team gets along with them really well, and Shiz Evans does a pretty good Ric Flair impression. There will probably be more questions in here than usual.
Today's notes will be coming from the vantage point of the endcourt seats in section 20, fairly low down. I expect to be able to see a lot of post play and three-pointers.
I was wrong about the seats. They're what we refer to as the sucker seats- deceptively low-priced low-level seats that face onto the seats. We've sat over here once before, in a memorable Maggie Dixon Classic game where Kia Vaughn puked her guts out in front of us. Fun, laughs, good times. Because the Powers-That-Be-Flaming-Idiots decided to reverse the benches for the two games, we have the distinct displeasure of being squeezed in among Syracuse fans and drunken idiots. Bonus points for those who combine both. I'm really hoping the switch is real, or I'm going to have some very pointed words for our connection in the marketing department who got us these tickets after two months of waiting. I'm also hoping a goodly number of the fans from Syracuse leave so I can see the goddamn game, because I've had to rely on the big screen far more than I like.
Things I have noticed: no one can shoot tonight, though Syracuse found their stroke in the second quarter. St. John's does not appear to actually know where their players are supposed to be. Kris Joseph's getting hot for Syracuse, which is not a good sign for the Red Storm. Burrell's got nine in the first half for St. John's, but it's on volume as far as I can tell. Megan, come and save me from this hell! (And in an exceptional moment of good timing, guess who's two sections over chatting up some more important people?)
So, remind me why the Garden is a recruiting draw for St. John's? “Come to New York! Play in front of thousands of opposing fans!” I'd say Syracuse fans outnumbered St. John's fans at least two to one. There were multiple audible chants of “Let's Go Orange!” How exactly does this work as a benefit?
C. J. Fair is the first player I can honestly say strikes me more as a point guard than he does as a forward- not even a point forward, but a straight-up point guard who's playing the forward position for reasons understood to no mortal man other than Jim Boeheim. I like his court vision- he made a couple of very pretty passes. Baye Moussa Keita was the first guy off the bench for the Orange, but I don't recall him making any plays worth remembering. James Southerland shows promise, but I might be biased because he's a Queens boy and we Queens kids have to stick together. Dion Waiters brought some canned heat off the bench.
Boy howdy can Kris Joseph shoot. He had some incredible shots in the lane, and a couple of nasty blocks on defense as well. Scoop Jardine also showed off his array of moves. And here's one of the differences between the men's and women's games- 6-2 and 190 in the women's game translates to a fairly hefty post with occasional delusions of three-shooting. I love to watch him work, though. Brandon Triche kept bringing the big shots whenever St. John's had some notion of making a run. I was also impressed with the work of Rick Jackson in the middle, setting screens and making room for his teammates to work. I like seeing a post player set things up for his teammates, doing all the little things so they can do the big things. He's the kind of guy who will have a solid game that no one will look at because someone else is always having a phenomenal game. Fab Melo has either the most ironic or most appropriate name for a Syracuse player ever. I'm honestly not sure which. I think I recall him doing some good things on the boards- I know that whatever he did, he did it in the middle.
Boeheim's zone is not nearly as much fun to watch from the endcourt corner. Since that's the only thing I like about Syracuse, this is sort of a depressing realization.
By the end of the game, Steve Lavin was throwing things at the wall to see what would stick. We saw a few rotations and bench players in the second half who didn't even think about taking off their warmups in the first. Justin Burrell had himself a very nice first half, albeit on volume. He put in a lot of work on the boards, but the man seriously has to improve his dribbling and general ballhandling skills. He lost a few boards out of bounds because he couldn't keep his hands on the ball. Paris Horne brought the blend of stylish moves and boneheaded plays that I remember bemoaning the last time I took in a men's game at Carnesecca Arena. Malik Stith didn't have a bad run near the end of the game, but it was the end of the game, and it's not always easy to tell whether a player can work under pressure when he's not under pressure.
I'm not impressed with Dwayne Polee yet. I see flashes of potential, but he's got to bulk up if he doesn't want to get broken. Dwight Hardy scored a lot, which was helpful, but he had some incredibly dumb shots and a lot of shots that he should have hit that he left short. I would have liked to see Dele Coker produce a little more than some free throws. It's a bad sign when a post player doesn't have any fouls- that sounds counter-intuitive, but if he's not banging down in the post and not using his body, then he's not helping his team. Malik Boothe did not appear to have actually shown up, other than for fouls. This is not something you want out of a guy who starts. At least Justin Brownlee had a decent game.
The Syracuse fan behind us made a couple of really good points. Why run with a team that can run? Why play a zone and leave a team open for threes that specializes in the zone on the other end of the floor and has a reputation for hitting threes against the zone? (Of course, my view of that is based on the McNamara teams, so if I'm out of date, please let me know gently.) I do wonder if Lavin's inexperience with the Big East came into play, and will continue coming into play- you don't necessarily know what these guys are going to throw at you if you haven't been going at them for years on end.
The officiating was odd. They were really letting them play, especially St. John's, as I thought the play was equally physical on both ends of the floor and Syracuse had more fouls for the bulk of the game. At the same time, there were some pretty rough plays that weren't called. Maybe that's the difference between the men's game and the women's game. I don't know. I'm not enough of a connoisseur of the men's game to judge it, and I doubt I'll ever be.
So that was disheartening. I don't like having my arena invaded by opposing fans, and the Garden is always my arena (the other team of my heart is the New York Liberty, and except when they're getting their house renovated, they play at MSG too).
Sunday, March 7, 2010
March 7th, 2010: Syracuse at UConn (Big East tournament)
Comments are closed on this post; please leave any comments on the mirror post at Swish Appeal.
So we sat and marinated in our fury and frustration for twenty minutes, waiting for the second game to begin. We debated leaving because we knew it was going to be a blow-out, but we paid for the ticket and our dinner reservations weren't until 5:15, so there was no point in going anywhere. We chatted up the UConn fans around us, some of whom commiserated with us about the previous game. Then Elvis entered the building and it got hard to do much of anything.
Star-divide
I don't want to be a UConn fan- I love my team, I'm happy with my team, I think we can do great things- but I want something like what UConn has. I understand that it takes time to build a fan base like that, and that there's a bit of a perfect storm in Connecticut, given their placement between the New York sphere of influence and the Boston sphere of influence with no real outlet for those passions nearby. But the feeling of sitting in an arena for a women's basketball game and being surrounded by thousands of cheering fans... it's good for the soul if you're a fan of the game, and not just of one particular team or another. It's something to aim for.
I swear Kayla Alexander felt she had something to prove. I don't know who she wanted to prove it to, given that she made the All-Freshman team and it's pretty obvious that she's going to have to fill in when Nicole Michael graduates. She showed some nice moves inside, though her propensity for elbows will probably not serve her well in later years. Carmen Tyson-Thomas also showed me something, though perhaps it was just the ability to not look like someone who had never played basketball before when confronted with the machine that is UConn, which I suppose is a moral victory. Tyler Ash started getting fearless late. There comes a time when it's hard to really care. Lampkins fancied herself a three-point shooter- haven't seen enough of the Orange to determine if she normally hits those and tonight was just not her night, or if she just can't shoot.
Maybe Syracuse just gave up, but their starters didn't seem to be in the game at all- both literally, by not playing a lot, and figuratively, by not having their heads in the game. Michael barely got any touches, which you would think would be unusual for Syracuse's all-time leading scorer. The way Tasha Harris played today, I'm surprised she was even in the first twelve for the Lieberman. Maybe it's the lateness of the hour or the quality of the game, but I'm having a hard time remembering Syracuse doing much of anything other than missing even the easiest of shots that UConn gave them.
That's the scary part. UConn gave up 19 offensive rebounds, and Syracuse still couldn't get it in the hole. They had two or three chances at some shots and could get nothing. That's the scary part- this was far from the best game UConn has played this year, and they still curb-stomped a Syracuse team that's on the bubble. That's the most terrifying thing about UConn. They're just that good.
Their bench didn't impress me, but I guess they didn't need to. More to the point, I'm not the one they need to impress. Kelly Faris, especially, looked very ordinary, and I was given the impression that she was the next big thing from UConn. I also thought Gardler was a smarter player than she showed today; you'd expect that from a coach's kid, right? McLaren... uh, has she put on weight? I completely have no right to ask this, I know, but she looks bigger than she did last year. Dixon's still a little out of control. Perhaps there's just some sort of peculiar plague afflicting the Christ the King alumnae? Should we check on Bird or Doron to make sure they haven't been replaced by aliens? Buck looked really uncomfortable out there. Fernandes at least looked somewhat comfortable, even if she didn't meet the high standards basketball fans have come to expect from folks wearing UConn jerseys.
But hey, who needs a bench when you have Tina Charles? That was one of the most dominant performances I've ever seen from a post player. Her moves in the paint were ridiculous, and her blocks powerful. Her free throw shooting could use some work, but no single person is perfect. And Maya Moore brought it too. Slick, graceful, and acrobatic. Tiffany Hayes got into foul trouble early and really couldn't get going. Doty couldn't hit a shot, but she was brilliant passing on the break. And Kalana Greene is a great Robin to the Batman/Superman combo of Charles and Moore. She takes advantage of the space she gets because they get so much respect from the defense.
I'll tell you, it's really hard to do a player-by-player breakdown of UConn. They come at you in groups. When the ball comes off the glass or the rim, there are two, three, four players crashing the boards like their lives depended on someone from UConn coming down with the ball. Same deal with loose balls. Their passing is crisp and slick. They work as a unit like no team I've ever seen. They work harder than just about any team in the game, looking like they have to work for every loose ball in order to win. I think sometimes they pretend not to know they're talented so they keep working like this.
Not that it would matter with a margin like this, but if the refereeing was biased, it was biased against UConn. There were a couple of odd out-of-bounds calls that I thought should hae gone to the Huskies. And I'm not sure about Moore's... third foul, I think it was, though if it wasn't, I claim the excuse that it's 1AM and I'm in my nineteenth straight hour of consciousness. It was either the third or the fourth that I thought was pretty questionable.
So let's review. The guard who usually shoots pretty well went scoreless (though she had seven assists). Her running mate only had seven, and only one field goal. The bench was substandard. The passing game early on wasn't as sharp as usual. They hit barely half their free throws. They got the short end of the stick from the referees. And they won by 36. They scored more in the first half than the other team did in the game. In the Big East tournament, against a Syracuse team on the bubble.
I saw the monster last year- quite a few times, in fact, given that we went to the Trenton Regional and St. Louis for the Final Four, as well as the home game at St. John's. Somehow, they've gotten even better after graduating Renee Montgomery. This is scary, guys. This is really scary.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
February 14th, 2009: Syracuse at St. John's
Syracuse Orange 79, St. John's Red Storm 78
Happy Valentine's Day! Britney Murphy has big brass ones, but Nicole Michael and the Syracuse Orange are bigger in less metaphorical ways.
I maintain, and I suspect that I always will, that a one-point loss is more disheartening, more demoralizing, and more frustrating thay any number of blowouts will ever be. I know in my heart that we really had no chance of winning this game, and that we shouldn't have been as close as we were, but it still drives me up the wall.
Epic fail: Monique McLean was not with the team, and isn't going to be for a long time. Which brings us down to 10 players, only four of them guards, three of whom start. Slim pickings. Not amused.
Hillsman reminds me of a teeny tiny Charles Barkley. That's not a sight I really want to see. His team doesn't have *that* much size, but they used what they had effectively, especially when it came to Nicole Michael- because she's so long-limbed, she was able to reach over our posts and snag rebounds, and when she didn't snag them, she was able to bat them to her teammates. They absolutely kicked the shit out of us on the glass. It wasn't the second chances that killed us- it was the third and fourth chances that got us. Morrow didn't have a great shooting game, but she hit the shots when she needed to. Chandrea Jones went off like a firecracker in the first half- for a while it was her and Kelly going toe-to-toe. She quieted down in the second, but by that point, 'Cuse had gotten their city girls going. What's up with Tasha Harris and the sleeves? Just curious. They got decent bench play out of Troya Berry, who was helpful when Jones got into foul trouble- they could go to a bigger lineup and really drive us up the wall. Gobuty hit a critical shot to help put the kibosh on one of our comeback tries.
Without McLean, we had to start Britney Murphy, who's normally the first guard off the bench. She's a freshman, and there were times during the game when she looked like she was in over her head- but gun-to-the-head time, she showed that she has brass ones like church bells- the three shots she hit were all big ones: one right at the half to put us up four, one to cut Syracuse's lead under double figures, and one with 2.6 left that put us within one and made a win at least theoretically possible (until Syracuse went long and the ball went right to Michael). She needs to not be so tentative when it's not gun-to-the-head time, though. Kelly was red-hot from downtown in the first half, but 'Cuse got on her in the second. Joy tried, God knows Joy tried, but Michael and Murray really exposed how unsuccessful a slender six-footer is going to be at the four in the Big East- she got pushed around and beat up a LOT. Da'Shena Stevens is missing. Goddamn UConn fans must have kidnapped her and replaced her with a Pod Person that doesn't know how to shoot free throws; airballing one free throw is barely acceptable for a post player with a dicey release, but airballing two is completely not on. Fess up, Husky Hardcores- which one of you took her, and what do you want for ransom? Sky had a decent game- not great, and she and Britney both showed that they're not ready to be primary offensive options yet. The two shot clock violations proved that- we just don't know what to do without someone to take the shot, and with Pod!Da'Shena and no Monique, we don't have someone who'll take the shot. Coco continued the trend of not completely sucking, although she committed some very stupid fouls. We can't afford stupid fouls right now. Kristin came up big off the bench. I've always liked her. She has a steady hand and a quirky jump shot that looks like she's throwing every ounce of her soul into it. Recee was critical off the bench too- with Joy and Da'Shena both being ineffective, she had to step up and throw down with the Syracuse posts. Doing so literally, however, was not really necessary- she and Erica Morrow got into it near the end of the game, though from the looks of it, Morrow started it by taking a shot at Recee's masked face. Antagonizing 6'1" of Texas badass=FAIL.
Guess who's back from knee surgery? Lisa Mattingly! Guess who didn't miss her? Me! The refereeing got pretty tight near the end of the game, and she had a lot to do with it. I felt bad for Darryl Humphrey, being stuck with her and Mrs. Enterline. We got the benefit of a lot of borderline calls, though, I'll say that. When I'm making the sign for three seconds at Joy, yeah, not such great refereeing.
Decent crowd, though the sheer number of city girls on 'Cuse's roster might have something to do with that. Very cheesy Valentine-themed contests. I think they're desperate to find fans, though, given that I was offered the seat upgrade for the fourth time this season. Trust me, guys, you don't want my mouth down there.
I think some of the band may have been missing. The sound was lacking something. (Okay, it was also lacking competence, but what else is new?)
I honestly don't know what to say anymore, I really don't.
Photos will be in the SJU album by tomorrow morning. I've got some other red-and-white plans first.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
March 1st, 2008: Syracuse at Rutgers
The Game Notes bid a fond, if temporary, farewell to Essence Carson and Matee Ajavon, and look forward to the Big East's future in Vionca Murray and Erica Morrow.
You know what the really nice thing is about having the WNBA around? Senior Day/Night isn't nearly as much of a goodbye as it could be. At least when it comes to Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson, I know they'll be back in town at the Garden at least once this summer. It was emotional to know that this would be their last game at the RAC- the last game at the RAC for the season- but it wasn't "adios" so much as it was "hasta luego". Probably also helps that Rutgers has another road game and a couple of dances to attend.
The pregame ceremony was beautiful- did Stringer write that opening speech and just have the PA guy read it? It sounded a lot like her phrasing. It's nice to see folks with their families, and just to hear the incredible stats that Matee and Essence have put together in their four years as Scarlet Knights… it made me realize how lucky we've been. Yeah, I got misty-eyed, and I won't deny it.
So really, I'm not surprised that Syracuse eventually succumbed. They just had too much to go up against. That being said, I really like the job Hillsman is doing with his team. He's done a great job mining the New York City talent, a skill that I ardently wish the Big East school in New York City would actually look for. He needs an assistant who can work with that team on fundamentals such as ballhandling, but I like how he handles his players and how he reads the flow of the game, not to mention that he's absconded with the zone that the Syracuse men use, a defense that I've always found incredibly sexy. It definitely threw Rutgers off (of course, then the Rutgers offense adjusted in strange and unexpected ways). I was really impressed with Erica Morrow (yeah, yeah, I know, late to the party on that one, but I haven't watched high school basketball since I graduated high school)- she's got the cojones necessary to survive in the BEast, and to make Syracuse a serious contender in said BEast. She and Murray make a good combo, and I don't think the Orange lose anything with Murray stepping into the lineup next year. Michael seems to have regressed a bit; she looks like she needs to be picked up by the collar of her jersey and shaken a little bit, because I think she thinks she's still the first option on this team, and she's not anymore because she doesn't need to be. I like the way Tasha Harris runs her team- as a freshman, no less. Wow, she and Morrow are gonna be an awesome tandem in a couple of years. I felt that Syracuse played as well as could be expected, going into the teeth of the Rutgers defense, and the balance that they showed bodes well for them in the future.
Appropriate that Essence and Matee both played well on Senior Day, although Matee needs to stop doing stupid show-the-ball tricks. Essence did it somewhat quietly; I looked up after one of her field goals and asked, "Hey, when did Carson get into double figures?" Katie Adams seemed scared to shoot; didn't she know the fans were waiting to blow the roof off when she got the ball while open? Ah, well. Can't change the past and all of that, and it's not like she needs any pointers on basketball anymore. I've rarely had the chance to see her play- she's a lot faster than I thought she was. Epiphanny was quiet- I think she knew this needed to be the seniors' show. Otherwise, that probably would have been how Rutgers attacked the Orange zone- have Prince penetrate and kick out. Instead, they force-fed the post a lot- no, passing in to a quadruple-covered Kia Vaughn is not necessarily going to end well. Then they went to shooting threes, and lo! the threes were good. The threes were *very* good, actually. We got some great, great bench play- Heather led all rebounders with seven and provided a boatload of hustle, while Brittany was bombing threes like there was no tomorrow. I didn't think Rashidat played that well, though; both she and Kia spent too much time staring at loose balls instead of rebounding them. And we will not speak of the free throw shooting again. Epiphanny hit the first of the game, and then the rest of the first half until Essence went to the line was a disaster upon a nightmare. For all I know, they're shooting free throws right now. This game was much more on fluky outside shooting and the seniors' determination not to fuck this up beyond all redemption for the last time at the RAC. If this is what they bring to Connecticut tomorrow, it's gonna be brutal.
I'm never reassured by seeing June Courteau as one of the refs, but I thought the two gentlemen with her did a solid job. Yes, Kia, it is a foul if your elbow lands in someone else's face. No, Matee, you cannot fling yourself into an offensive player and get the foul called on her. Yes, Piph, you were out of control. I love my fellow Rutgers fans, but sometimes the ragging on the ref gets to be a little too much.
Hi, Megan! Yes, the Liberty had a table set up before the game. They left before halftime, though. :( Still nice to see them there. Only two months until the preseason- OMG, I think I can make it through.
It's sad to realize the ride's almost over- oh, there's the Little Dance at Hartford and the Big Dance, to be sure, but for those of us who have no intentions of visiting the Nutmeg State any time soon, the ride's pretty much over. It's been fun. Frustrating- hey, you can't spell frustrating without RU- but fun.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
December 8th, 2006: Syracuse at St. John's
Syracuse 61, St. John's 59
The pain continues, but Monique McLean is truly coming into her own as Little Sista Christon.
I'm starting to think that this past Liberty season was actually training for this St. John's season. Injured players out the wazoo, a player who's unable to play because of silly external rules, a player who walks away from her team for no discernable reason… no, not a familiar scenario at all. *rolleyes*
When I read Nicole Michael's stats, I expected her to utterly kick ass in the game, but she was very quiet offensively. She had a stunning block and a beautiful no-look pass on a fast break (I want to say it was Sipaviciute who received it, but I'm just not sure), but she didn't get off a lot of shots. It was Fantasia Goodwin who was on fire in the first half- the woman could not miss. She shredded what you could laughably call the St. John's zone. Cintia Johnson was a little fireplug who set some mean screens. Vaida Sipaviciute, whose name I am seriously annoyed with because I can neither pronounce it or spell it properly on the first try, came on strong late, especially when she was matched against Angel or Joy, who just weren't physical enough to contain her. Riley was tough but didn't impress me, although she had a shotclock prayer go in. Syracuse went with a short bench (finals?), using Ashley McMillen as an outside shooter and the offense/defense substitution for Johnson. Last, and yep, least, the spawn of our favorite Sleestak completely and utterly failed to impress me. I think she had one good play in the entire game, and it was rebounding the shot that she left short… which she then proceeded to leave short on the follow. Honestly, she looked about as thrilled to be there as one would expect, say, Charlton Heston to be if he were an unarmed attendee at a pacifist convention. (Please, also, whoever's supplying the Syracuse uniforms- get better sports bras. Please. My sympathy pains for Riley and Miss Laimbeer are begging you.) 'Cuse did a great job cutting down on their turnovers, although a couple of iffy out-of-bounds calls and the refs' inability to count might have helped; still, great control from this junior-driven team. Also, they play a zone, which brings me back to happy memories of the Orangemen and freshman!Melo with his shirt off.
Liberty fans- do you remember that Washington game where Shameka went off and Alana Beard went off, and it was kinda cool? Well, we had a junior version of the "dueling 20s" tonight; Syracuse's Goodwin had 24, and Monique McLean dropped 23, including five 3's. This is rapidly becoming the Monique McLean show, and those of you who adore Shameka Christon might enjoy her play. Girl can drive, girl can shoot, girl can sometimes handle, although girl cannot quite defend yet. Tiina Sten also found her stroke as the first half ended, and she finished strong, although I'd like to see more interior play from her (I swear to Goddess I've written this sentence in every set of Liberty game notes evar). She also had an awesome block, as did Joy- hell, Joy had three, and I think one of hers was a "NOT IN OUR HOUSE" stuff. For the second straight game, all her boards were on the offensive end. I love that girl. Angel grabbed a whole bunch of rebounds, but the girl has GOT to assert herself more. She's too passive- although, to be fair, that's a general problem; none of these young women, except maybe Monique, were expecting to carry so much of the offensive load going into this season- they had Kia and Angela for that, damn it, their All-Big East returnees. Nikki Jo was very quiet, although this also meant that she was not making with the excessive fucking up with the ball (although, ahem, Miss Rotolo, what have we told you about leaving your feet to pass?) Charisse is still way too tentative with the ball, and when she did attempt one shot, Sipaviciute proceeded to send it into Nassau County. She did, however, have one fierce sequence where she forced a jump ball by leaping upon the Syracuse rebounder as if she hadn't eaten in a week and the ball were a chicken salad with cafeteria coupons stuck randomly in it; she also hit the three that delivered the final margin. Hopefully that'll up her confidence for Nicholls State. Allie… um, she was Allie. Which is to say she's a liability and not exactly helpful.
The refs were of the average suck tonight, and they were real refs, which I would expect from a BEast conference game; Blauch and Brooks-Clauser both work WNBA games. Only one sequence really stands out: Sipaviciute stayed in the lane ~four seconds, traveled, and fumbled the ball out of bounds. Syracuse ball. There were also a couple of ticky-tack calls at the end that I felt affected the flow of the game, and considering the final margin, all mistakes, both official and by the players, are culpable.
Tonight was autograph night, so I waited in line behind all the baby ballers and some St. John's students who were, um, an edifying experience (boys are *weird*). Victoria says she'll be back in January, although I kind of doubt it and don't know if it would be a good idea even if she could. Allie's kind of a dork, which is endearing but not enough to get past the fact that her nickname seems to be "ALLIE MOVE!" Charisse… yeah, you can tell she's a walk-on. She's not quite up on basketball terminology and strategy; when I mentioned that if Kia were back, she and Nikki Jo would've had more open shots because Syracuse probably would have doubled on Kia, she looked at me as if I had perhaps grown an extra head. Allie also seems to have a semi-hero-worship of Kia, which is kind of cute and yet disturbing at the same time. They seem, as a group, to be nice kids. (And I can call them kids now. I'm in my ninth semester. Unless Kia's birthday is really insanely early or Tiina came over late, I'm older than all of them.)
We can beat Nicholls State, right? What state are they, anyway?
Friday, February 29, 2008
March 6th, 2005: Big East tournament
scroll down for March 6th results
The Game Notes feel like dancing, dancing the night away, in Hartford.
1st game... 41-37 Villanova over Boston College. It was like a trip to the dentist, and not one of those good ones where they tell you you're a good kid and give you a toothbrush. It grated. It went in fits and starts. I was minimally impressed.
2nd game... 69-48 Rutgers over St. John's. My two teams in the Big East, go figure. Rutgers was just too quick for St. John's, too quick and too talented. The Red Storm played with heart, but they just couldn't make any noise early. Chelsea Newton was on fiyah. I suspect she'll be a Lib pick if she makes it to their second round choice; Marianne was hanging around again, sans Patty. Ajavon was also played fabulously. For St. John's, Kia Wright had an off game (must have been the PA announcer calling her Kia White all night...) but Angela Clark picked up the slack in the second half. She's got a very soft touch and a knack for rebounds. There were some moves in there by both teams that made me think they got those refs out of the WWE.
3rd game... 70-59 Notre Dame over West Virginia. I think. I know it was ND over WVU by double digits, but at that point I was rather fried. ND really controlled that game. WVU has a couple of promising players. Yolanda Paige impressed me. She got called for a couple of BS turnovers ("they called a walk because she changed hands?!") to inflate that stat. She also had some gorgeous passes and discovered that hey, for them to play well she needed to find her offense. She showed a great knack for getting into the lane and hitting her shots. #14 for WVU (Soho?) was also wonderful, and I suspect she'll make into one of Keegan's later-class draft databases. Batteast for ND was quiet but remarkable, and you *never* leave Duffy open!
4th game... UConn whomped Syracuse. We left at the half of this one, with UConn holding an 18-point lead. We caught part of it on the radio; when we lost WHUS, it was 64-39 or something like that, as Mel Thomas canned her fourth three of the night. She was impressive, and it was nice to see Nicole Wolff getting something done as well. Syracuse... Syracuse was orange. That's really all I can think of.