Just the Facts, Ma'am: 10 first-quarter points from Kia Vaughn started it, and 10 fourth-quarter points from Ivory Latta finished Washington's 68-60 home win against New York. Latta finished with 15 to lead the Mystics, while Vaughn and Jelena Milovanovic each had 14. Cappie Pondexter led New York with 20.
For questionable shots, bad ideas, hesitancy, local grub, a missed pun, using momentum, caffeine caffeine CAFFEINE, new looks, and dumb ideas, join your intrepid and hydrated blogger after the jump.
Hello, loyal and patient readers! Your intrepid blogger, with her dashing partner in tow, has headed down to DC for what was supposed to be the first half of a two-game swing in the nation's capital. However, the Mystics' final cuts included Nadirah McKenith, and therefore we decided that we didn't want to spend extra money to watch a team we had no rooting interest in.
We're still saddled with the blue pants that don't go with our black uniforms. I am disappointed in Adidas's color coordination.
A couple of scattered groups of Liberty fans are here- one even infiltrated the poster-making station and made a pro-Liberty sign.
I do appreciate the Verizon Center security personnel and their common sense. Why not spend the time before the gates open checking bags to speed up the initial rush? Nice folks.
We got free cups! Unfortunately, they're strictly Dunkin' Donuts branded, no Mystics logo.
Dear gods, that was an awful anthem. Too much vibrato. She sounded like one of those tin sheets they use to simulate thunder on stage.
It's 38-30 Mystics at halftime, and we've looked awful. I don't know if I've ever seen so many bad shots- short, wide, left, everywhere but the basket. Kia Vaughn was on fire in the first quarter. I think she takes these games kind of personal. I like Cappie's new 'do. We're not doing well getting around screens, which is a little bit of a problem when Washington likes screens. We need to play smarter here. This might be a little bit of a problem.
Well, we hustled more in the second half, but dear sweet hypothetical baby Jesus rolling over in his manger, we took some of the dumbest shots I have ever seen from a basketball team, and I have seen some dumb basketball teams in my time. Washington forced us out of our comfort zone, and we played right into their plan. We have no way to adapt. I put that on Bill. Either he came up with a crappy plan, or he couldn't get us to listen.
I can't with Sugar Rodgers. I really just can't. I don't understand why she's so high in the rotation, and I don't understand why Bill gives her so many chances. She can shoot, but that doesn't mean she can hit. She got good looks and missed them; she had bad looks and took them. I like that she'll fight for loose balls, but Chucky Jeffery does that too, with fewer bad decisions. Shanece McKinney got some run to give Tina Charles a break, but mostly got into foul trouble. I like her defensive mindset, of course. Alex Montgomery brought the big defense, and I think the flagrant foul on her was a load of malarkey. I question her shooting judgment, but as much for the shots she didn't take as for the shots she took. DeLisha Milton-Jones remained convinced that she had the midrange shot tonight, and she didn't. I love the way she uses those long arms, though. She smothered Stefanie Dolson on a shot where it was clear Dolson hadn't read the scouting report, and had a thunderous spike on an offensive rebound that led to Tina diving for the ball.
Cappie Pondexter and her short new 'do (varnished with the Andy Landers special) was spectacular. She got good looks and hit them. Wasn't notable defensively, but she wasn't asked to be. She looked like the Cappie we expect her to be all the time. Near the end, she forced things a little bit, but she had to, because it was either that or have someone else take a dumb shot. Speaking of dumb shots... Tina Charles, it might behoove you to try to establish yourself down low before you go out and start taking outside jumpers. Or, you know, stop letting your defender slip past you to get to the basket. If you're going to play like this and fall apart whenever Cappie's playing well, we'll take Kelsey and Alyssa and our first-round pick back and you can go be Sulky McChucker in Connecticut again. Essence Carson looked really out of it out there- she all but airballed a free throw in the first half, and I'm starting to wonder if her vision is affecting her more than she wants to let on; combined with the admitted weakness from her knee, I'm really starting to worry about Essence. Plenette Pierson was a gamer inside, but no one seemed inclined to give her the ball. She can be a bit of an offensive catalyst, but not if she doesn't shoot. Anna Cruz played tough defense, but took really bad shots and passed up open looks. I think she might have been pressing a little too much.
So many dumb decisions, so little time. Great hustle, especially in the third quarter, but bad, bad shooting. We lost that game, but Washington made us lose it.
I was surprised to see Monique Currie coming off the bench, and fairly deep into the rotation. She hit a couple of shots but didn't seem to be a major factor. Kara Lawson came in to run the point, take off-balance shots, and tackle like she wanted to play for the football team. I don't know if that's the role she expected to play for Washington when she signed with them. Bria Hartley looked a little rookie-esque out there, but didn't commit any crazy mistakes. The same could not be said for Stefanie Dolson. She played Tina tough early in the game, but Tina got more of an advantage in the second half, and the veterans really worked her over. For some reason, the Mystics were forcing the ball in to her in the last few minutes, and she played like she didn't know what to do with it. If we'd been able to turn it around and sit on that bug-eyed midget, it would have been easy to declare Dolson the goat for freezing up in the clutch. Tianna Hawkins owned all the rebounds- those Maryland players are very good at finding the baseline and grabbing missed shots. Langhorne does it, Thomas does it, Hawkins does it. I think she was trying to extend her range a little, and she was not ready yet, though.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt was a defensive catalyst, though not a force on the offensive end... well, okay, except for that INSANE wraparound pass to Kia Vaughn for the finish, that was utterly gorgeous. That is not a woman I want to anger. Vaughn, for her part, started the game on fire, but cooled down somewhat after her first rest. I seem to recall that pattern from the game last year too. Maybe that's the way to use her- get as much as you can out of her, wear her out, and then anything else is gravy. Jelena Milovanovic provided a huge match-up difficulty for the Liberty- she used her height on smaller defenders like Essence Carson and took it outside against taller defenders. I could have done without the slide-tackle, but that's the kind of thing you have to learn to live with from opponents. She took a lot of shots and seemed to hit them at the right time. Emma Meesseman did as much to facilitate the offense with screens and pick-and-rolls as she did when she hit shots. I love her footwork. She moves so fast for a big girl. Ivory Latta was pretty quiet for most of the game, but in the clutch, she was cool as a cucumber. The shot that clinched the game, the crossover that led to the dagger three- ice in her veins, no fear. I could have done without the taunting and histrionics afterwards, but that's Ivory Latta for you.
Washington swarmed on defense. They worked well together on offense, and they used each other well. They panicked a little in the second half, but that's a combination of unusual lineups and a young team.
The officiating was pretty sketchy on both sides. I haven't heard the name of Tommy Nuñez in ages, and in retrospect, that was a good thing. I find it hard to believe that glancing contact, even off the forehead, is a flagrant when a slide-tackle isn't. I find it hard to believe that a player getting hit in the head at one end is a no-call and is a flagrant at the other end. There was a lot of stuff by both teams that went uncalled, and what worried me most was the distinct lack of attention paid to feet. Lots of tripping going on, and I worry about that more than I do head shots.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt and Ivory Latta play a mean game of Pyramid, but I'd love to see Ivory give the clues. Then again, you'd have to tie her to that chair they use in the bonus round, just because she's so physically demonstrative.
Fantastic use of momentum by the winning contestant in the Dunkin' Donuts contest.
I'm amused by the fact that Christy Winters Scott wore that purple dress the last time we were here, too. Does she have a specific outfit for each opponent, or is it just a coincidence?
Katie Smith looked like she stitched together two different tops to make that one. The suit is fantastically sharp, though.
I don't even know what to do with these players. I don't know what to do with this team. Do we know who we are yet?
Friday, May 30, 2014
May 30th, 2014: New York at Washington
Sunday, September 15, 2013
September 15th, 2013: New York at Washington
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tayler Hill had 16 points off the bench to lead the Washington Mystics to a 70-52 win over the New York Liberty in their regular season finale. Kia Vaughn added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. Kelsey Bone led New York with 11 points; Toni Young had 10.
For farewells, beginnings, causing trouble, courting trouble, photobombing, free stuff, and well wishes, join your intrepid and conclusive blogger after the jump.
Here we are! It's the end of the season, for good or for ill, and if this is how we're going to end it, then we're ending the season in style.
You see, Albert hooked us up again, this time with his season seats... which are in the first row behind the road bench. You know you're close when Plenette Pierson is asking WTF you are doing when you're posing your moose on the chair behind the bench. There will be pictures.
Washington was far more courteous than Connecticut- the fan bus is low down and directly behind the road bench. The team has noticed, and appreciated. We've been getting a little grief from some of the locals, but that's understandable. It's like there's a cultural divide between DC and NY or something.
Lot of Katie appreciation going in the stands, though I don't know if the Mystics have anything planned. I've seen jerseys and signs. Katie seems to have made herself popular in the one year she spent in DC.
Very breathy anthem. Stop gasping for air and sing. She had a pleasant voice otherwise.
That was worth it. I don't care that we lost, except that's not how Katie's career should have ended, but that was worth it. The fan bus behind us was loud and into the game, which I think spurred some of the Mystics fans in the area to actually get more into the game. (Well, except for the peculiar gentleman in the fourth row who appeared to be under the influence of illicit substances. Sir, the women three seats away from you do not care about your HIV tests. Security escorted him out before the second quarter started.)
Mini-posters of Ivory Latta and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt were the giveaway today, handed out as people left the game. Sensible approach to giveaways. Less chance of them being scattered and lost.
The peril of being super close to the bench is that you can't get a really good overview of the game. You get some amazing moments, but you don't get the whole game.
Kamiko Williams brought energy off the bench, but a lot of it was misdirected energy. She had a very makeable shot that she blew. Her defense was better than the average rookie, but not as good as it could have been. Being up close allows you to really get a good look at DeLisha Milton-Jones and her amazing extendable arms as she pulls rebounds away over people's heads. She spent a lot of time in the middle clogging up space and getting called for nonsense fouls, but we'll get to the nonsense fouls in a little while. Kelsey Bone was not as strong on the boards as she should have been- she's a very big and very strong woman, she should be going hard after the boards. I think the refs might have gotten into her head a little bit. She picked up steam in the fourth quarter. Alex Montgomery was off her game- busy on defense, but not necessarily effective, and her shot was somewhat questionable. I mean, more than usual.
Cappie didn't look bad at all. I'm going to pretend the over-the-top lipstick was part of a Tina Thompson tribute.
Toni Young started the game off hot on offense, but Bill was yelling at her a lot for lapsing on defense and fumbling passes. I don't know if he was being extra hard on her today because she wasn't playing great or if she's his usual target, but I can't imagine it was fun for the kid. Plenette Pierson cleaned up the boards like a vacuum cleaner- if balls were being tapped out, she made sure that she was the one who got them. She was having all kinds of issues with her shot, though. The shooting overall was pretty awful. Leilani Mitchell looked spent. Even the shot that went in look like it was taking all her energy to get up and over. She had moments on defense, but mostly looked ineffective, even against guards her own size. Kara Braxton showed flashes of fight and skill, but mostly moments of standing there and watching other players get rebounds. She brought the ball down low a lot more than a post player of her size should. Katie Smith was trying to have the kind of send-off that Tina Thompson did in Seattle. It didn't go well. My camera was not in position for the moments that she and Tayler Hill were guarding each other, and those stretches did not go well for Katie.
Lots of opportunities at the basket, so little finishing. They better be working on that during the off-season, if they don't all want to face the wrath of Bill Laimbeer by the time they get back to training camp. (Okay, all of them except Katie, and she might be dishing out the wrath as an assistant.)
Emma Meesseman showed off her midrange game more in this one- most of the shots she hit were open jumpers. Not that she didn't mix it up a little bit, but she seemed to be working more of the high post than the low post. Michelle Snow doesn't seem to mesh with the kids- she'll do well enough for herself, but she doesn't seem to be looking to get the kids involved in the play, which is not good for the long-term good of the team. The box score claims that she had two assists, but I don't remember her passing the ball all that much. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense and hit a couple of shots (of course, the first photo I took {after realizing my mother would disown me if I came back from Washington without any pictures of Nadirah} was of the perfect fast break lay-up that she blew). The people around us were confused that we weren't thrilled for her. Well, part of me was and always will be, but it's summer, and therefore I root for the Liberty. I don't root for opposing players against the Liberty; if I were going to do that, I wouldn't have taken a day off work to come down to Washington on Friday and root for the Mystics. (Not that I'm not glad she's happy, and not that I don't love that Mystics fans like her. But I'm a Liberty fan. {And she knows that too.}) Tierra Ruffin-Pratt is tough, especially on the boards, but her shot wasn't falling today. She reminds me of a miniature Monique Currie, which probably means she's in the right place. Tayler Hill was feeling it beyond the arc. She stepped up when her team needed her because of Ajavon's foul trouble. If she keeps shooting like this while I'm around, I'm afraid Albert's going to forcibly relocate me to Washington. She was also pretty good defensively on Katie Smith- stripped her a couple of times. Quanitra Hollingsworth is tall. Uh. That's about it?
Ivory Latta had moments of blinding stupidity (that attempted teardrop... Ivory, you're adorable but you're not Mark Jackson) but quashed any thoughts of Liberty comebacks with big shots. She's much more annoying when you're not rooting for her. Apparently she's also quite amusing in video features, but I didn't see any of those. Kia Vaughn was a woman on a mission, and that mission was to get every rebound she possibly could. Her shooting was only so-so, but she made up for it by attacking the boards. Matee Ajavon committed a lot of stupid fouls, and between that and the hot hand of Tayler Hill, Ajavon spent most of the game on the bench. Strangely enough, I'm okay with this. Crystal Langhorne was the focus of a lot of the Liberty's defensive effort, and I think the one thing we were successful at was getting her out of her comfort zone on offense. She hit the boards hard, though. I don't actually remember most of what Monique Currie did, other than the so-called jump ball during which she never really had possession.
Things what I noticed behind the Liberty bench that I had not noticed before: Taj has a really pretty clipboard, though I can't tell if the design is painted on, stickered on, or custom. The color contrast on Toni Young's tattoos is spectacular. Plenette is very involved in things, whether it's double-checking the defensive schemes, advising her teammates, or letting them know who's doing what out there. Some players have their own smoothies (when we observed them, Laura Ramus offered to whip one up). Bill is really, really tall, and you can't exactly yell "down in front" at Bill Laimbeer.
Both sets of fans chanted Katie's name at the end of the game. We started it, then it died down, then the Mystics fans picked it up, and we couldn't very well let them do it by themselves, could we? Katie kept looking at us like, "uh, hey, y'all, the game's still going on even though I got taken out, you know that, right?" Meanwhile, Kara and DeLisha were pumping their fists in time with us.
Love the way the Mystics give away the jerseys at the end of the season. The random draw is a nice twist.
These officials can step on ALL the Legos. There was a lot of Washington contact not called that was magically a foul when a Liberty player did it. I really didn't appreciate Currie poking Katie in the throat without a call being made. You can look at the foul differential for yourselves.
The Greene Turtle stand in the arena is on point. Almost makes me wish we'd decided to go there for lunch, but if you're in Chinatown (or at least what used to be Chinatown) you should go for Chinese.
So here's to the last of the originals, the last of the first to say yes to the ABL, the woman who put 7,883 points on the scoreboard in the United States of America, the woman with four championships and three gold medals. Here's to you, Katie Smith, for all the awesome things you have done and the feats you have accomplished. Whatever you set your mind to, you'll do, as you've done everything else.
To the rest of you: see you at the Garden next year.
Friday, September 13, 2013
September 13th, 2013: Connecticut at Washington
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Ivory Latta had 19 points, including five threes out of a team-record 12, as the Washington Mystics romped over the Connecticut Sun 82-56. Kia Vaughn added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Washington. Mistie Bass led Connecticut with 13 points.
For injury added to injury, train rides, nosy questions, dressing in weird costumes, misplaced pride, and misplaced fans, join your intrepid and stuck blogger after the jump... and then get her out of this chair, she's stuck.
You thought you were done with me when the Liberty finished their home schedule, didn't you? You thought those long huge blocks of text full of perceived wit and self-proclaimed wisdom were going into mothballs until November, didn't you? Well, think again. Your intrepid blogger came into a bit of money some months ago, and the one big splurge we planned was a trip down to Washington to cheer for Nadirah McKenith.
This is the kind of logic my brain uses: I really like Nadirah. I want to cheer for her. I can't cheer for her when she plays in New York or Newark, because she's a Mystic and therefore I'd be rooting against the Liberty, and I don't root against my team. (I may wish for short-term failure for long-term gain, but even then I want to see some fight out of them.) Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to do it somewhere other than New York. None of the Mystics' games in Connecticut fit into my busy schedule. Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to go to Washington, and so here I am in the District of Columbia, with holes in my shoes and an Internet connection of questionable reliability.
Albert, one of the finest bloggers Swish Appeal has to offer, hooked us up with our tickets, for which I am eternally and infinitely grateful. Mystics fans in general, every time I've been to DC, have been amazing, from my first trip (tickets to All-Star practice) to the last Board Junkie get-together (poster) to this. (Especially when I saw the ticket prices, yowza.)
But you get bang for your buck, I'll say that. The inside of the arena is nice. The boards are bright and sharp, and there are stat boards in all corners to go with the giant jumbotron over center corut. The set-up for the team store is pretty sweet (and 40% off is one of the holy phrases of my people, so I bought a couple of things, and if there's a clearance sale on Sunday I might just buy a Jasmine Thomas shirt and vandalize it). I love the season ticket holder shirts- "if lost, please return me to Verizon Center" on the front, "because I never miss a game" and the schedule on the back. The staff is really nice- bonus points to the security guy who checked my bag before the gates opened, which is a practical time-saving step that neither New York nor Connecticut will take.
Well played, cameraman: during one of the "na na na-na na-na" segments of "Can't Hold Us", he stuck the camera on Nadirah.
Friendly but extremely nosy child, why are you asking me what I paid for my hotel room?
Missed the biddy game at halftime, on a wild goose chase for I know not who carrying I know not what, hence the lack of halftime notes. Your intrepid blogger will attempt to not make the same mistake on Sunday.
Cute anthem kid, less cute anthem, but when an armed forces specialist tells you to stand for the anthem, boy howdy do you stand for the anthem. A very DC touch.
Connecticut was down to seven players- I don't know what happened to Tan White (yes, I know in the box score it had something to do with her left hand). All I knew at the time was that she was in the starting lineup when we got into the building, and then suddenly Iziane Castro Marques was in the starting lineup and Tan still had her pants on. Which sounds wrong... I meant her tearaway pants.
So the entire Sun bench was Kayla Pedersen and Sydney Carter. Obviously, both of them got a lot of minutes. Pedersen got on the boards well, though there did seem to be a lot of flailing by her. Sydney Carter had a really nice game- I think she's trying to prove that she belongs in the league, and in the games that I've seen her, she's definitely proven that. She ran the offense very well, and her shot was sweet. She had a very pretty steal to start the fourth quarter while Ivory Latta's mind was perhaps not on the game. Maybe she needs to work on her defense a little, but she's got game.
You would think Mike Thibault and the Washington Mystics would know that Iziane Castro Marques likes to shoot a little bit. But they were letting her have that right corner all night, and that's where she hit both of her threes. She even tried passing the ball a couple of times, but after what Kelsey Griffin did with it near the end of the game, I'm not sure she's ever going to do that again. Come on, Sun. Y'all need to hit shots if you want Izi to even consider passing the ball again. Renee Montgomery got on the ball a lot on defense, and she seemed much less involved in the offense than usual. Her shot selection left a lot to be desired, as it usually does. Mistie Bass did work down low. I think her teammates accidentally fought with her for rebounds a couple of times. I know Pedersen was getting tangled with her own teammates. Kelsey Griffin had occasional lapses of sanity wherein she was under the impression that she was in fact a mythological griffin and could fly. Kelsey, I regret to inform you that you can't fly. Sorry. You rebound pretty well, though. And people do like to leave her open for that long two. I'm sort of grateful the Liberty aren't the only ones who do it. I don't remember what Kalana Greene did, except for one successful drive and the occasional attempt at a rebound, attempts that were not as successful as I'm sure Anne Donovan would have liked.
I suspect that because the Sun don't have a single go-to player, they have to work as a team unit a lot more. They played a lot of help defense, with a lot of switching and doubling. I also was impressed with their on-ball defense and some of their ball movement.
Quanitra Hollingsworth looked surprisingly ineffective for a player I'd seen be somewhat useful in New York. Q, stop trying to solve Fermat's Last Theorem in your head and work on calculating the angle of your shot. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense; I think she'd have had more assists if Kia Vaughn could hold on to the ball, but I recognize my biases. She had a shoulder sleeve on and was applying heat. If that's an ongoing situation, that might explain why she's been shooting less. Tayler Hill decided to show off her stroke from long range- she and Ivory Latta were taking turns at one point, and it was kind of awesome. She still does stupid things on the court, but that's to be expected from a rookie, and I'm glad she's making strides. Emma Meesseman hit the boards well and looked good. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt followed her shot with impressive ferocity- I think she got all her offensive rebounds on two possessions. That is not a woman I neither want to anger nor mess with in a dark alley. Michelle Snow spent a lot of time arguing with the refs and doing stupid things.
Kia Vaughn came with a lot of energy in this one, on both ends of the floor. I'd have liked if she had better hands, but we can't be perfect, and she was fierce. Ivory Latta was balling. She took a couple of those threes from Tina Thompson land, and they were nothing but net. I was taken aback by her utter lack of lateral quickness. Like any. At all. It's such a stark contrast to her usual caffeine bullet time that it becomes noteworthy. I don't remember Matee Ajavon doing much except committing fouls and taking shots that seemed designed to look good and not be effective. Crystal Langhorne hit the boards and boxed out well. I love when she gets her blue collar on. Monique Currie was hitting from deep; even the two-pointer she hit was with a foot on the three-point line (a call she does love to argue).
The shooting was amazing. Every time Connecticut tried to get a run together, Washington hit a three. And then it snowballed and suddenly they were up 20. I love seeing the kids play together- that's a very promising young core, and a very collegiate style of building a team.
I don't know if manipulating a double bungee cord is a life skill that she'll have any use for, but the woman in the Dunkin Donuts contest used momentum to her advantage.
How does one go about acquiring a Chick-Fil-A sandwich? Izi Castro Marques gave the whole arena one by missing two free throws in the fourth quarter. I don't like who they give their money to, but if I can sate my curiosity for free, I'll do it.
I thought the tech on Latta was weak, though we don't know what she said.
LOL of the game: Ivory Latta getting her groove on at the start of the fourth quarter.
I couldn't bring myself to say "Let's Go Mystics", but I can chant "DE-FENSE" real good. And if they keep using the opening clap from "Car Wash", they're going to get it from Liberty fans on Sunday.
This was fun. It's going to be more interesting next time.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
July 15th, 2007: WNBA All-Star Game
East 103, West 99
The West has flash but the East has grit. Stargazing and awe at All-Star as the Game Notes hit the road.
We arrived safely in Washington around ten-thirty and proceeded to find our way to the hotel and to the site of the Be Tour. It's not a great neighborhood- there were homeless guys wandering and out most of the day. Not the vibe I'd want, but that's just me.
I liked the selection of activities, although I'll have more information on them tomorrow. I think. We may be playing tourist that morning. It was fun to watch people shooting around and having fun. Sparse crowd; I expect it to be higher tomorrow. Mad love to the Chicago fan with the awesome shoes, the Houston fan in the Cynthia Cooper shirt (even if she wouldn't let me take her picture), and to anyone who came out from the West Coast.
The Western Conference players seem to be both having more fun and taking the game more seriously than the Eastern Conference players, judging from the way the activities they chose and the way they interacted with the crowd. When the East came out for availability, Bill had them do some shooting drills and then do a dance off. I wish I'd gotten pictures of DeLisha Milton-Jones all up on Kara Braxton. It was... wow. Something else, to be sure. They had a better autograph set up, although I don't blame th eteams and I think it might have had something to do with the fact that half the East team was otherwise engaged. The West was scattered all over the place, as far as I could tell, but I didn't get to stay long.
See, one of The Usual Suspects wangled an invite from The Prima Donna to bring some diehard fans to the West practice, and I said duh. It was a bit of a ways out, just over the border in Maryland. We weren't the only fans who had gotten the memo, and there were clinic kids all over the place, too. We arrived in the middle of media availability and the madhouse that always is. I was pleased to see some out of town reporters- the boy and I had chatted with the guy from San Antonio, so we knew they were in the house, and I stayed after to fangirl at Jayda Evans, 'cause she's one of those people I kinda want to be when I grow up. After that madhouse, the practice began. Coach Boucek had them run some sorta plays, then (in some order) there was a modified three-on-two into which the clinic kids were brought after a while (TT swatted one kid's shot hard, snort. One kid shot through Taurasi's arms. They really liked the kids.), two rounds of Five Spots that the starters won after coming back from two spots down both times, a halfcourt contest that TT was rather stupid in losing her $100 on a double or nothing bet with Jenny Boo, and a game of knockout that resulted in Taj and Becky both schmoozing with the crowd.
Lots of luminaries there in their official capacities. No sign of The Prima Donna, though we saw her at the Tour. Carla McGhee was there as director player personnel. Nancy Lieberman and some guy were covering the event for NBA-TV. Rebecca Lobo was covering for either ESPN Sports or wnba.com. Ann Meyers was wandering around. Adrienne Goodson, I guess, is covering All-Star for Slam. (Was this the first time that all three Rebecca/Rebekkahs who have played in the league have been in the same gym at the same time?) There was a woman there with gorgeous eyes who I will swear on a stack of media guides was either Sophia Young, Marie Ferdinand-Harris, or had to be related to one of the above.
The All-Stars were really having fun with folks. Taj was especially sociable. What a smile that woman has. My God, she could light up a dark room with that smile. I think we're going to see a very good game from the West.
There's nothing quite like the first time, but there's something about this win that makes it even more satisfying than last year's was. We brought in a team that was seriously hamstrung by two subpar selections and we still won. Yes, I know it's only an All-Star game, and I know I'm going to hear whining from fans about how the East takes the game too seriously and how it's supposed to be fun and an exhibition, and things like that. My opinion is that it's a showcase of the best that the WNBA has to offer. We're not going to beat the guys at showboating, and we suffer in comparison to them. What we bring to the game is defense and wicked ball movement. If the West wants to keep playing the boys' game, fine. We'll play the women's game out here.
Ahem. Sorry about that. I'm a fan of defense, so I tend to, um, defend it.
I don't think I like the free thing they did this year. A book of postcards is awfully chintzy when compared to the programs that have been given out at every previous ASG. And apparently there were programs for sale. If that's true, that's not a trend I'd like to see continue. I like getting my freebie, thank you very much.
Skills challenge. We had fun with Betty having trouble with the passes, and Nikki T needs to work on her dribbling skills. Seimone and Becky tore up the court, and Becky got all pumped up about getting to play alongside Lauren Jackson in the actual game. Watching the final runs was amazing- if Seimone had been just a hair faster, we might have had to go to hundredths or a knockout round. Looks like the difference between All-Stars and non-All-Stars is about eight to ten seconds.
Three-point shootout. Wish they'd held it at both baskets, but I understand the concern. Still, we had a crappy view from our seats in the arena. If Penny Taylor's shots had been just a little faster, she might have given Koehn a run for her money. Then again, Koehn might have decided to go for 30 and really show off. There was one point where she must have hit twelve or thirteen in a row- she had the last round won before she went to the last rack, she was so dead-on. If you were watching the contest at home, you heard the crowd chanting her name; it was even more powerful in person. I get the feeling a lot more people are going to know who Laurie Koehn is… and that it's not going to change the way she plays her game in the slightest.
The West was a lot more into the contests, but that might have been because there were more Westerners than Easterners in the challenges, and also because all the shooting and the skills challenge start and finish line were at the West's end of the floor.
Scottie B. persists in being very annoying, but the Mystics' MC is right up there. Plus, dude, come on, you're not supposed to wear the number of an active player; you're certainly not supposed to stick a corporate logo on it right under your name which shouldn't be there in the first place.
We need to do something about the color repetition in team colors. Way too much blue in the East, way too much purple in the West. If this keeps up, we won't need All-Star uniforms because everyone will be wearing the same colors anyway.
Beautiful anthem by the naval officer. Clear, sweet, and true, and of course she didn't mess up the lyrics the way so many singers do. Usually the All-Star Game goes for name recognition in its anthem singers, but I'm glad they didn't this time, especially with all the discussion I've seen regarding Mya's… ahem, performance.
So in the first half, there were a lot of times when it looked like the West ws going to deliver the anticipated spanking to the East and we were going to be back to the same old same old. The funny thing was that this time around, the East kept getting back into range. Cheryl Ford was hitting, or Catchings was hustling back, or someone was making a big defensive play.
And then there was the second half, in which everyone took their turn stepping up. If it wasn't Beard, it was Douglas. If it wasn't Douglas, it was Dupree. If it wasn't Dupree, it was Jones. And it was pretty much always Ford and Catchings.
It was easy to tell which players were taking the game as seriously as they take the rest of the schedule and which ones were just there for the laughs. I suspect that the initial tone was actually set with the selection of the East reserves. Most of them are top-notch defenders who take no crap from anyone. Not that the West wasn't ready to grind when they had Brunson and Thompson on the roster (yes, I know Brunson didn't play), but the West's historical edge has made them much looser and less hungry to win the game. And yes, there were also moments where the East was all 'fuck it, this isn't for keeps' (I'm thinking specifically of one of Becky's drives to the hoop). It's also helped the East that the coaches who have won the conference these last couple of years have been driven, demanding, guys who want to win everything and anything.
A few player thoughts. Cappie was playing like she wanted to be ASG MVP- not necessarily like she wanted anything else out there, just the big glass ball. Taurasi and Taj were having a lot of fun- whether they were taking the game even half seriously was another issue entirely. LJ and TT seemed to have found the happy medium between enjoying themselves and kicking arse. LJ had one spectacular block that took our collective breath away. Poor Lawson looked like her teammates were trying to force-feed her in order to get her some points in her home town, and the shots just weren't falling.
Not that I disapproved of Ford getting All-Star MVP. She played a helluva game, and there were an awful lot of plays when there were four orange jerseys and Ford under the basket. The only thing that gave me pause was her brain freeze in the fourth quarter when she couldn't keep her hands on the ball. I don't even want to think about how many turnovers she had in the fourth. Catch was playing all out, of course, and if that isn't an advertisement for this league, I don't know what is. Douglas seemed so quiet, but she buried the shots that sunk the West for good. Dupree- ah, so beautiful to watch, that hook shot makes my heart sing. Milton-Jones had a lovely finger roll. Beard was all over the place, fierce and proud and determined to win. Laimbeer went with almost three power forwards for long stretches of the game, playing Dupree or Jones with Ford and DMJ. I guess when your centers are Braxton and Sutton-Brown, that might be the best option.
Coach Boucek, please give Linda Hill-McDonald back her shoes. I think she's been wondering where they got to for seven years now.
Philosophical aside: the East's first basket was by Braxton, the last by DeForge, the latter being DeForge's only basket. Strange bookends.
So much star-gazing to do! At least four '96 Olympians were in the house, what with Carla McGhee working for the league, Rebecca Lobo working for ABC, Dawn Staley as the 2006 three-point champion, and Ruthie Bolton working the Be Tour. If Jen Azzi had stuck around after her Saturday work, we might have had a quorum. We also had three-fifths of a very good starting lineup in the house with Kym and Spoon (that puts Lobo at the four, so all we need is a shooter or two). One of my neighbors spotted a few Huskies in the house, Thomas, Houston, and McLaren, and Epiphanny Prince might have been in our section. We spotted Terrapins after the game, outside the Verizon Center; ironically, though my first reaction was 'wow, we're passing a lot of tall people', Toliver was the first one I recognized. Of course, there were also Mystics around, at least for the challenges; we spotted Gillian Goring (has she changed her name?), Nikki Blue, Tamara James, and a tall blonde who we thought might have been Teilane, though I didn't find it likely.
But as y'all might know from my previous descriptions of All-Star time, my favorite people to spot are the fans. So much love for the woman in the Kim Perrot jersey. Shoutout to all the Rocker fans in the house- there were three or four of them I spotted, including a woman in a pretty awesome sweatshirt a few rows down from me. Loved the "TSB" Sting jersey. And how hardcore is a Tonya Washington Mystics jersey? There were three or four of us rocking the #50, and another girl I met at the Tour who happened to be working in the neighborhood. I was so proud of the Los Angeles turnout, and the rest of the West Coast was well represented. I saw gear from every team- I hesitate to say whether I saw fans of every team, because I'm very cynical about East Coast people wearing Becky's San Antonio colors. Cleveland and Charlotte were both well represented. Gotta love the flags that the Indiana fans in the next section over waved so proudly. And I loved the number of Dupree jerseys I saw- that woman needs to be appreciated, because she's so beautiful to watch. (Oh, yes, there will be pictures. You have GOT to see these shoes I found.)
Here's what I took away from the actual game, not from the offcourt stuff: the block by LJ, the drive by Becky, the no-look pass by Diana… and the East win. Take that as you will.