Just the Facts, Ma'am: In a game that featured bad shots, contested shots, and ill fortune for both teams, the West Virginia Mountaineers took out the Georgetown Hoyas 39-32. The Mountaineers got 11 second-half points from Taylor Palmer to break the game open, while Asya Bussie had nine points and 13 rebounds. Sugar Rodgers led the Hoyas with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but no other Georgetown player managed more than five points, as Georgetown shot 14.7% from the field for the game.
For amateur photography, battling bands, the song that never changes, and shooting so bad the rims were unkind the rest of the night, join your intrepid and drained blogger after the jump.
Good morning, everyone! We're coming to you on a slight delay from the XL Center in Hartford for what I can only describe as a metric ton of basketball. Please note that your intrepid blogger had been up since 3:30AM, so if these notes descend into incoherency and/or more tangents than usual, I beg your forgiveness (and Q's editing).
It's a good sign when your bus driver is a St. John's fan as you make your way out to Hartford. We arrived right on time, maybe even slightly early, and found breakfast at the Hilton next to the XL Center. Got to wave hello to our team, which was nice. Pretty sure I saw Harry Perretta jogging past in shorts, which was not so nice. Definitely crossed paths with Quentin Hillsman, and furthermore deponent sayeth not.
The XL Center was prepared for fans to come early- this pregame prelude is being typed in the Hoopla Hangout just off the Hallway of Champions. Unfortunately for the sanity of all involved, it is also being typed to a repeating loop of "A Horse With No Name". It's already played at least six times; if you don't get any further notes from me, it's because I went berserk and damaged XL Center property. The chairs and couches are very comfy, though, and the power strip is much appreciated.
I would love to win one of the autographed balls, except for the St. John's one because I've already got a poster on my wall at home and a poster on my wall at the office, both signed by this year's team. It's fascinating to see teams' culture as expressed by signatures and game balls.
There will be beads. It will be glorious.
So far there's been a batch of UConn fans, some Rutgers fans, a couple of Notre Dame fans, scattered members of the West Virginia band, a few Marquette fans who wished us luck, and some Nova people. I'm hoping to see someone from every team, even if it's just team officials.
Just saw a guy in an awesome West Virginia jacket. The Mountaineers' fans are drifting in in greater numbers. Credit to them.
The XL Center/ESPNU is doing their best to make sure that folks in the upper deck on the non-TV side are represented. They're doing it by moving us down to the lower bowl and on the TV side in exchange for a blurb for a video for the 30th anniversary or something- look, it's a free upgrade, I don't care.
A few Georgetown fans have arrived to back their team. There's a few well-dressed Louisville fans in the next section with some very nifty gear, and a Pitt fan who seems to have joined them just to cheer against West Virginia. And the Georgetown and West Virginia bands have declared war on each other- Georgetown's band played "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)"- at which point West Virginia answered with the same song (and better). And then there was cacophony as the teams came out around the same time.
This is forty-seven flavors of ugly at the half. It's 15-12 West Virginia, and there is some impressive tackling going on by the Mountaineers. Georgetown's been retaliating with trips and hip-checks. I've seen Georgetown players leave with blood three times already.
There is a random Maryland fan over by the Louisville fans, sitting with someone in a "I Back Pat" shirt. Lost Rebounders? Have the Basketcases misplaced anyone? Props also to the guy in the Cincinnati cap- it takes a real fan to admit to being a Cincy fan these days. We are currently being serenaded by a high school choir (guys, "America the Beautiful" is not the national anthem, you don't have to stand).
Rodgers has eight to lead Georgetown; five each for Bussie and Bethel.
Holy Mary, mother of God. Don't ever let that happen again. I am not taking the Lord or the Virgin's name in vain. That is a prayer, not a blasphemy. Do not let a game like that happen again, I beg You.
The Guest Notes of Doom mentioned that Briana Brown off the bench was the heroine of the game when Georgetown was the home team against St. John's. Taylor Palmer served the same role for West Virginia. She got West Virginia going with a three that sparked off a full-fledged offensive run. Akilah Bethel provided a full third of the Mountaineers' offense in the first half, all five points of it. Averee Fields came on late. I don't remember Brooke Hampton doing much other than committing a foul.
Asya Bussie was how we knew that the Connecticut Sun's old PA announcer was doing this tournament. We thought it was him from the voice and the flaming red hair, but then he gave Asya Bussie the same call he gave Asjha Jones back in the day, and that was a clincher. She came up big for the Mountaineers, though how she didn't get called for anything after giving Adria Crawford some free dental work, I will never know. She didn't have to score a lot, but she was big on the boards and in the middle. Ayana Dunning ran into foul trouble in the second half and was generally knocked out of her comfort zone. Not that anyone was actually comfortable in that game, but you know what I mean. I think Christal Caldwell was the one who kept getting bad luck on her shots. I don't recall much about Linda Stepney and Harlee, other than tough play and missed shots.
Alexa Roche played well for Georgetown in the first half, but not so much in the second half. Tia McBride tried to get things going, with no luck. You're going to hear that phrase a lot in this part of the game notes; we're talking about a team that shot 14.7% from the field. Andrea White looked lost in the one stretch that she was in for, which was probably why she only played in that one stretch. Alexa Roche had the hands going on defense with steals and two gorgeous blocks. Morgan Williams is not ready to take over for Rubylee Wright yet. She doesn't have good control (or perhaps understanding) of the offense, and her judgment is a bit suspect.
I thought Tia Magee was going to kill someone by the end of the game. It might have been one of the West Virginia players, it might have been one of the refs, it might even have been one of her own teammates. But between her inability to hit even the chippies and the physical beating she was taking, she was hot under the collar. Adria Crawford was also irked, though that was from a simpler reason- she got an elbow in the mouth and nothing to show for it. Sydney Wilson played well in the middle, but I think she was out of position more than she would want to admit. She had to come out for blood early in the first half. Rubylee Wright was at a major disadvantage for most of the game, and it didn't help that defensive switches or a lack thereof kept leaving her on Asya Bussie. I don't think I have to tell you why it's a bad idea for little bitty Rubylee Wright to be on a big bruiser like Asya Bussie. Sugar Rodgers tried so hard to keep her team in the game, crashing the boards and fighting for loose balls in addition to her usual shooting, but West Virginia's defense was keying on her for most of the game, especially in the second half, and she was often trying to force things against two and three defenders. When those defenders are Mountaineers, that plan does not work all that well.
Lots and lots of physical play. Lots and lots of fouls that should have been called. Lots and lots of fouls that were called. And then the clanking began. West Virginia missed something like five free throws in a row to let Georgetown stay within six points until they got one from Bussie.
West Virginia played ugly, but Georgetown played ugly, stupid, and desperate. They were forcing things, and I suspect they were missing their signals. There were a lot of looks back and forth and a lot of animosity in the air after turnovers or especially egregious defensive breakdowns.
The best part of the game was when the Georgetown band played "Hey! (Baby)" and the West Virginia band immediately started singing along. That's really not the kind of thing that should be the best part of the game.
Monday, March 5, 2012
March 4th, 2012: West Virginia at Georgetown
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
February 21st, 2012: West Virginia at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Red Storm led wire to wire in their 63-54 win over the Mountaineers of West Virginia. Nadirah McKenith filled the stat sheet, leading all players with 26 points and adding six rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Ayana Dunning led West Virginia with 21 points and 16 rebounds, with the 14 second half points of Christal Caldwell the only other double-digit output for the Mountaineers.
For heart, soul, Valentines, the crazy things we do for love, scheduling conflicts, and really bad choices of phrase, join your intrepid and drained blogger after the jump.
It's hard to describe a game that St. John's never trailed as having two fatal flaws for the Red Storm. But they were there, and they were glaring, and if Mike Carey had pulled this rabbit out of his hat, I would be ranting about them like a talk radio caller.
Got in late, so I missed the anthem. In fact, I arrived just in time to see the video tribute to Kim Barnes Arico's 169th win, including pics of the sign my husband made. They also had replicas of the sign available for fans (which we suspected, since they asked us for the master file). Coach signed one for us, which is going to take pride of place in the apartment. Amazing. I am full of glee and squee.
The pink shirts are moderately acceptable. They are more team-oriented than usual, which is a relief. I still didn't wear it, but that's because if you want me to take off my Red Storm jersey at a St. John's game, you're going to go explain to Joy McCorvey why you asked me to take off her jersey. There is one potential exception.
Brooke Hampton is a shooter. We left her open too many times for my comfort- though it helps that West Virginia sets good screens. Fortunately, her shot was off. Akilah Bethel got on the boards, but was high risk/high reward with foul trouble. Averee Fields needed to do a little less talking and a little more everything else. Props for a pretty head fake in the first half, though. Froze her defender solid. Taylor Palmer also needed to concentrate more on her game than on her mouth.
Ayana Dunning was the only reason West Virginia had a chance in this game, and the only reason that that chance went through their hands. She was hitting everything she looked at, no matter where it was on the floor, and pulling down every rebound, and blocking shots, and using that considerable posterior to move defenders and would-be seekers of position out of her way. But that was pretty much all West Virginia had to offer. Christal Caldwell scored all her points in the second half, but never felt like she was a major factor. Asya Bussie got busy with the elbows and the hips, but that was the most impact she had on the game. Ditto for Linda Stepney, who was involved in the play that got Mary Nwachukwu's face broken. Take that ish outta here. I can't remember anything of note that Jess Harlee did. To be fair to the other Mountaineers, in a backhanded way, Ayana Dunning was so dominant that it's hard to pick out anything that wasn't done by #33.
Tesia Harris went in briefly, but she did not match up well with West Virginia at all- a slim guard whose most consistent strength is offensive rebounding will get mashed by the Mountaineer posts. Briana Brown got more minutes than usual because of the injury to Nadirah McKenith, and she took advantage of them with a couple of quick hits and great on-ball defense. She's got to hit her free throws, though. Keylantra Langley was better on defense than on offense- she serves as a point guard, but she's not a point guard. She's much more Ashley Battle than she is Essence Carson. Amber Thompson got a lot of extra time when Mary Nwachukwu's face got rearranged, and when she's a sophomore she'll hit the shots that rim out or the shots that she backed down from taking tonight. She brought some of the presence in the middle that we needed to back down some of the crap that West Virginia was dishing out.
Eugeneia McPherson, I can't really bring myself to be as enraged at your timidity in shooting and your all-around invisible game (save the deflection on West Virginia's last shot). If it had been a closer game, I would probably go back in time and whack her over the head with my clipboard. Mary Nwachukwu did what we needed her to do up until the point where she got hit in the face, came away holding parts of it in place, and was summarily escorted off the floor and never seen again. Feel better, Mary. We miss you and we need you. Shenneika Smith, while occasionally guilty of questionable shot selection, brought the rebounding and defense with those go-go gadget arms- she had one that looked straight out of the NBA. She's a matchup nightmare in college- bet more than one BEast coach will be glad to see her graduate next year. Da'Shena Stevens couldn't get the scoring opportunities she's been getting lately- this is not a good matchup for her, even though she plays well against bigger posts. I think she got tired of getting hit by Asya Bussie's... um, bustle. But when she gets knocked down, she gets right back up and gets back into position. She makes things happen.
And once more, there was Nadirah McKenith, who is apparently not one of the best eight point guards in the country, but is the one I would take if I needed a point guard who could carry my team in any category on either side of the floor, including the non-statistical. If I want a scorer, a distributor, a thief, a spearhead to my defense, a playmaker, a leader, a rebounder, a competitor, I will take her over all of the decorated and hyped guards you can name today. She knew how important this game was and she played like it.
Free throw shooting. Dear sweet heaven. I don't even. 18-34 is unacceptable. Subtract the more than acceptable 11-13 from Nadirah, and you get 7-21, which is somewhere between abysmal and horrific. Neither Eugeneia nor Briana hit a free throw in seven combined attempts. This made the game more interesting than it needed to be.
Play of the game- Tesia Harris misses the shot. Two West Virginia players go for the rebound. Nadirah McKenith weaves her way through their feet, comes up with the rebound, snags it, dishes it to Da'Shena Stevens.
It is not recommended to headbutt your opponents, West Virginia, even if it's an accident. Overall, this game was called loosely. In the first half there were a lot of calls that came up with the right result but for the wrong reason- an out of bounds signaled as a travel, a trip called as a block. Even that pretense of competence fell apart in the second half. We're lucky no one got coldcocked at center court this time 'round.
While this was PinkZone, it was also tied to the fund for Clare Droesch, who spent some time on the St. John's staff. I agree with the Jumbotron people that “Friends of Clare Droesch Crush Clare's Cancer Fund” is way too long, but I don't think a lot of people wanted to donate to the “Crush Clare Fund”. (That may not be the exact shortening, but it definitely included the phrase “Crush Clare”.)
Nothing's scarier than an opponent going on a big run and your point guard clutching her knee. Glory and blessed be, it was just a high cramp. She was in and out and working the bike, but she came back.
Zakiyyah Shahid-Martin, I know you're easily amused, and heaven knows my husband's an attention-getter. (Leos.) And if I've misinterpreted you, I humbly apologize. But if I see you stop, stare, smirk, poke Jennifer Blanding, and point up at him with a smirk, I'm going to assume you're making fun of him. And if I were an expressive, emotional player whose celebratory reactions on the bench are always demonstrative, I might reconsider that.
Major props to the sorority sister in the far student section. I think she, her streamer, and her foam finger induced three missed free throws from West Virginia in the second half. She left early, so I couldn't salute her. Instead, I salute her on the Internet, where tens, maybe hundreds, of strangers, will know of her work. Credit to the RedZone guys in the near student section, too- they weren't in RedZone gear, but the sped-up “DE-FENSE” chant is almost exclusive to RedZone. As soon as I caught the tempo, I knew.
About a thousand words ago, I said that there was only one way I would take off my beloved #25 jersey for the sake of PinkZone... and that's if I get my fannish little hands on the pink #25 jersey used in the Dress and Dribble contest at halftime. I am indifferent as to the fate of Coco Hart's #30. But I have blogged hundreds, if not a thousand or so, words as to why Joy McCorvey is my most favorite Johnnie, and I would pay for that pink jersey. Any BHA organization short of Susan G. Komen. I'd write out the check in a second.
Tonight's game, combined with the later loss by DePaul, clinched a double bye in the Big East Tournament. Translated to those outside Big East country, that means at least fourth in the conference. Third or even second isn't out of the picture.
This is so surreal. In a good way. I'm a little relieved, to be honest. My team needs a break, my coach needs a break, and I need a break. Five games, five venues, four conferences, nine days- you're probably sick of me.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
January 2nd, 2010: West Virginia at St. John's
Comments are closed here- please comment on the mirror post at Swish Appeal.
You know a game's gotten physical when, at halftime, you take a few moments to tweet to the opposing team that you would appreciate it if they stopped elbowing one of your players in the face. I wish I were making it up.
At least we got a good crowd in for the televised game, and at least people got into it at the end. But close games are frustrating enough because of all the things you think you could have done right- it's worse when you can see them as plain as the nose on your face and dissect them as neatly as some poor fetal pig in high school bio.
I thought I saw former Red Storm guard Kristin Moore in the crowd, but I might just be going crazy. That's never an option that should be discounted with the Game Notes of Doom.
This game meant a lot to both teams. I don't want to be melodramatic and say that it would define the entire rest of the season, given that it was only the conference opener, but with the middle of the conference so tightly bunched together, and with the odd way the Red Storm's conference schedule happens to be set up, we needed this. We needed it badly, to establish who we were in the pack and to set ourselves up well on what I've been referring to as the "on-ramp". What we did instead was reveal our weaknesses in critical areas, in a game that has easy access to tape for our opponents.
Dear Coach Carey: please shut up. No, really, please. If you would like your team to stop being called for fouls, please teach them how not to commit fouls. He relied very heavily on his starters and on Vanessa House as sixth woman- and even she sort of started, coming out to start the second half in place of Liz Repella. Natalie Burton was the only other reserve to play a role even worth mentioning, as she played spot minutes behind Ali and Bussie thanks to their foul trouble. She was good at getting into the position they needed her in, sneaking up behind the defense for an open lay-up.
I would like to like Asya Bussie. She's only a freshman, but she plays with the poise of an upperclasswoman, and she's not afraid to bang (which has been a problem in the women's game), but right now, the freshman needs to learn when to rein in the physicality. She got Coco Hart at least once in the face and once in the throat. Great job getting her opponents in the air and taking advantage of her height, though. I like that in a young player. Liz Repella almost didn't seem to expect the sort of lanes that were opening up for her on offense- there were two straight plays where she had the ball and drove so deep that she couldn't get up a good shot. She did better when she was hitting the little midrange and long-range jumpers. Sarah Miles showed a lot of hustle and set up her teammates well. Madina Ali spent most of the game in foul trouble, though she had a nice block (which I think was on a three-point shot, which is the kind of block I find most aesthetically pleasing because of the arc of the shot).
Play of the game, from a coaching standpoint: two Mountaineers were being hassled to Morgantown and back by a vicious, relentless St. John's press. West Virginia manages to get a long pass into the frontcourt, where Natalie Burton sets a perfect pick for Vanessa House to slide behind and nail the corner jumper. The press couldn't have been that much better- but West Virginia ran a little clinic on how to beat the press there.
Shenneika didn't get the start today, and did her best to show why she should have been in the starting five- well, at least on offense, and with some flash on defense. She's still not recovering as quickly as she should when it comes time to hunker down and grind out 30 seconds. Run backwards, kids. Important life skill to learn. Loved Eugeneia in this one, though- she really showed her strength and tenacity. She took a few hard hits from West Virginia. So did Coco, who got elbowed twice in the face. At least they called the second one a foul. She wasn't quite the same afterwards, because even though she's especially prone to making incredibly dumb plays, she made a couple of plays that were so dumb I was worried her brain wasn't working properly. We're talking about passing the ball directly to players in opposing colors.
Paging Da'Shena Stevens. Would Da'Shena Stevens please report to the St. John's women's basketball team sometime before Tuesday night? She couldn't hit the broad side of a barn today, and even the extra free throw shooting she did before the game only got her 3-7. That, coupled with her foul trouble, made her a non-factor. I'd like to credit the WVU defense for that, but she was taking a lot of stupid shots. She wasn't the only one, though. Sky, while she was hot on offense early, started taking a lot of ill-considered scoop shots later in the game, as if she was trying to get the foul instead of the shot. Coco, Eugeneia, and Nadirah all shared the same problem. I can halfway understand why, because West Virginia was in bad, bad foul trouble, but go for the shot first and try to get the foul that way. Kelly McManmon got the start for Shenneika, and I wish I could say that that was the worst game I'd ever seen her play, but I've seen games where she missed more shots and looked worse. I'll just have to say that she was very out of it, didn't look ready to play defense, and was more of a liability than an asset. I'm very surprised Joy didn't play near the end of the game. With the stupid mistakes a lot of our players were making, having the senior captain in at the end would have made sense. At least we were hitting the boards.
Play of the game: after the first time Coco was elbowed in the face and found herself lying on the ground in pain, play wasn't even stopped, much less for a foul. The Red Storm were playing 4-on-5 defensively, and still got the stop and the rebound so they could stop the clock and get Coco out of the game.
I don't know that I like Mike Carey- he strikes me as Dan Hughes's evil twin, emphasis on the evil, thanks to the line-crossing physicality of his players- but he knows his stuff. Early on, the Mountaineers were taking, and hitting, threes; when St. John's tried to close out on the perimeter, that opened up mid-range shots and driving lanes, which West Virginia took advantage of. That was a sharp contrast to Kim Barnes Arico's uncharacteristic coaching lapses. There was the odd minute distribution between Kelly and Shenneika, which culminated with Shenneika going on a seven-point run with a blocked shot, all of which got us within one... and Coach responding by subbing Kelly in when West Virginia called timeout. Because nothing says "My team needs to win its conference opener" like pulling the hot hand. I also wasn't thrilled with her handling of our posts in foul trouble, and with not having Joy in for the endgame. Fundamental mistakes and stupid play can also be laid at the feet of the coach: if your team's not shooting well from the line, and they're not disciplined enough to take good shots, it's your responsibility to run free throw shooting drills and use your timeouts to stabilize your team.
I wasn't thrilled with the officiating, either. Bonita Spence, I know you can count to two, given your propensity for calling travels, so being able to count up to three when players plant themselves in the lane shouldn't be that much of a stretch. And your colleague Mr. Morris was certainly capable of counting to five, given the five-second call against us on an inbounds (which was deserved, I'm not complaining about that). So I think a few three-second calls would have been order. And I don't mean to harp, but we had a player get ELBOWED IN THE FACE and y'all didn't even stop play while she lay on the ground, much less get around to calling a foul until the second time she got elbowed in the face. I know Coco is a bit of a flopper, and probably does have a reputation for diving, but come on. I think the referees lost control of the game, and I'm just glad that things didn't get bad enough that there were any conflicts.
I'm disappointed and frustrated, because if all these things are obvious to a twenty-something with no coaching experience, someone who's been just watching basketball for... well, okay, thirteen years... then shouldn't they be obvious to someone who's paid to coach? If I've been seeing the same things game after game and season after season, shouldn't someone who sees the team twice as often as I do also see them?
Monday, April 14, 2008
January 19th, 2008: West Virginia at St. John's
Olayinka Sanni is a total bad-ass, Mike Carey outwits Kim barnes Arico, and most of the Red Storm don't even seem to have gotten out of bed.
Dear Team: Please stop sucking ass, okay? Love, one of your long-suffering fans. PS- No, seriously, if you're going to suck ass, at least do so with some spirit.
I'm starting to think our band is a metaphor for our team. There's one soloist who blows his little heart out to try and make the anthem sound passable, but the rest of his ensemble wouldn't know a sharp from a flat if it poked them, so he tries harder and harder and ends up making a fool out of himself. Now, replace soloist with Kia Wright, replace the rest of the ensemble with the rest of the team, and replace a passable rendition of the national anthem with a passable imitation of a basketball game. This is beginning to become a problem for the Red Storm.
Is it just me, or does the West Virginia coach remind anyone of an evil version of Dan Hughes? They look very similar, but Carey's demeanor is much more reminiscent of a cranky Bill Laimbeer. And seriously, dude, there's no reason to bring two starters back out onto the floor with a twenty point lead at the three-minute mark. There really isn't. That being said, I think Carey outcoached Barnes Arico today, and there aren't too many folks in the Big East who do that on a regular basis. Of course, it helps to be able to call upon a six-two center who isn't afraid to be a big girl, in the person of Olayinka Sanni, who reminded me and my mom very much of Kym Hampton in her build and in the way she used that build to muscle her way through the lane and make life a living hell for Joy and Coco. I'd have to see her against real posts in this conference to judge, but she looks like she'd be a good pickup in the draft- not for the Libkids, because we have post players coming out our ears, but for some team that needs young post help and is willing to take a flyer on a project. Meg Bulger had a relatively quiet game, which wasn't helped by the two quick fouls she picked up at the very end of the first half, when St. John's really looked like they were going to make a game of this by making two quick steals in the backcourt and getting fouled on both of them. Chakhia Cole was tough, but as a five-ten four, in an era when the short but tough fours are being phased out of the league, she's not going to go anywhere except Europe. LaQuita Owens was a pretty impressive shooter- after she canned her third 3, I suggested from the stands that perhaps Kelly might want to effin' guard her, if that was okay with her.
My team, let me show you its humiliation. I was furious with most of them for most of the game. About the only ones I think left it all out there, or at least left more out there than they left elsewhere, were Kia and Joy. Kia was all up in everyone's business today, and Joy was working hard out there, between her work as the garbage woman and trying to defend either Cole or Sanni, depending on the assignment. More on why this was a bad idea in a bit. But the rest of them… Sky's playing very tentatively, and she's shown before that she can handle D-I players, so I don't know why she's suddenly being so hesitant. Tiina has never been blonder, both in hair color and in personality on the court. So many times today she just stood there and watched balls go by her. I mean, I know she's a Euro, but this is beyond ridiculous. Monique couldn't throw it in the ocean, not that she didn't try. She's taking the shots that Sky should be taking, the shots that I'm starting to think Sky needs to get her feet under her so she can turn into the top-notch player we know she can be. Kelly took a lot of chances, some of which worked, some of which didn't, and she wasn't nearly aggressive enough on offense- she's got to learn to drive when she has the ball and not just settle for a jump shot; since she's a junior, it might be too late for her to learn to do that consistently. Coco wasn't quite herself today, although I'd credit Sanni with that as much as I'd blame Coco for it. Recee, I think, was scared after her knee, because she played very tentatively, and Recee and tentative don't usually go together unless the words "not in a million years" are also included in the sentence. Whatever the reason was, she was not being bad-ass enough to go up against Sanni, which meant that we really had no one to counter the bad-ass (and the ass, for that matter) that Sanni brought to the game.
I was really not happy with Coach tonight. Kia on Bulger was asking for trouble; I would have switched her over to Cole and put Joy on Bulger to try and get a better matchup. Of course, the whole thing would have become moot once Sanni started going off, because Joy would have had to focus on her, but I don't like the way the game was managed at all- because Coach let the players get out of control. I'd like to think she's not throwing in the towel on Kia's senior year, because I'd lose a lot of respect for her if she were, but I can't think of a reason not to call timeouts that she had in hand in order to- if necessary- grab Sky and/or Monique and/or Tiina and/or Kelly by the jerseys and yell, "CALM THE HELL DOWN RIGHT THIS SECOND!" I think part of Coach's problem is that she gets too involved in the "fairness" of the game- if the refs are giving her team shit, then she gets caught up in it. It's the same problem Kia has. Unfortunately, and I don't necessarily want to buy into a stereotype here, Coach is also in a physical and emotional state where she overreacts to things. But once she and Kia both get out of control and start getting on the refs, then the rest of the team loses it, and we get our doors blown off like a little old lady at a chili cookoff.
I was also not happy with the refs tonight, because the one problem I had with Sanni was that she was pretty blatantly using her ass as a battering ram and doing a bunch of holding. Honestly, I don't care if refs call a game tight or loose, as long as they do it consistently and at both ends, and Barb Smith's crew was doing no such thing.
Even the Let's Make a Deal sucked. I told her not to take the box, damnit. I told her. The box was good last time, and they alternate it. So instead of getting a nice jacket and shirt… she got a cupcake. This is the BEast. There are no cupcakes. Except Georgetown.
Today was also the alumnae game, but I was too cheap to go. We did see Greeba Barlow (who was in training camp with the Sparks last year) and Mercedes Dukes wandering around. Hopefully, they were slated to host a postgame clinic on badassery, because this current team needs a very large kick in the ass, and if anyone's going to give it to them, it's going to be Greeba Barlow.
One last thing before I go, and I know it's not a polite observation to make, but naming your daughter Sparkle actually tells the world, "You know, I didn't want a kid. I really wanted a My Little Pony."
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.