Just the Facts, Ma'am: Alisha Kebbe's three-pointer with 22 seconds left turned out to be the game-winner in the Red Storm's hard-fought 56-52 win over Yale. Three Red Storm players had 12 points each to pace St. John's. Camilla Emsbo had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Yale, with Roxy Barahman adding 13 points and 11 rebounds.
For elbows, overwhelming frustration, deep concern, and the worst case scenario, join your intrepid and panicky blogger after the jump.
Good grief, it's cold today. I know it's going to get worse, but I don't approve. Maybe I'm getting old. But still, it's game day, and that's all that matters. St. John's plays their second home game of the season, as the Bulldogs of Yale come on down I-95.
Schedule magnet giveaway to fill that hole on the door! It looks really nice- the total team picture is a nice touch. Usually there's a heavy emphasis on the seniors, but since two are one-year wonders, I can understand the design choice.
Shenneika Smith still has the moves defensively. Tiana couldn't get past her.
Choral anthem has been the best part of the night. Game is tied at 26 at half, and I'm pretty sure Curteeona Brelove has a broken ankle. So, yeah, things are going about as well as you'd expect, now that we're down to eight players and all our tall people are picking up fouls at a horrendous rate. If it weren't for a big push in the last minute, we'd be down- we put up five points in the last minute of the second quarter. We started off with a lot of energy, but we couldn't maintain it. Losing Kayla Charles to foul trouble in the first quarter exacerbated the problem. Kadaja Bailey is not ready to play the five, which leaves either Kayla or, um. Well. Then it's adventure time.
Yale has height, especially in the person of freshman Camilla Emsbo, and they're using it whenever they can. Their coach is a very snappy dresser. She's sort of got this Ellen vibe going.
It is now officially "I have not had enough vodka for this season" o'clock. I think that's a land speed record in that regard, though only having three non-conference home games helps. Or doesn't help. Whatever is even going on here.
Yale leaned heavily on their bench in the first half, and not so much in the second half, and I'd be lying if I thought that didn't play a role in the Bulldogs' fortunes. Also, can we please at some point play a team that has names on their jerseys? It would be really helpful.
Erin Hill and Bronwyn Davies both got a little run in the second quarter. Neither of them had a huge impact on the game. Mackenzie Hewitt sort of sneaked into the game at some point during the second quarter (our new PA guy is extremely enthusiastic and I like his style, but he's a little slow on announcing subs) and ran a little point.
Ale Aguirre canned a couple of big threes for Yale in the second quarter to help them take the lead. She did commit a couple of moderately dumb turnovers, though. She's still fairly young. Alex Cade soaked up the bulk of the bench minutes for the Bulldogs, especially in the second half. She was exchanging pleasantries, or so the euphemism goes, with Kayla Charles for much of that time, and I'm surprised the refs didn't notice the little elbow jabs both players were throwing at each other during play and even after the whistle. Actually, I don't know why I'm surprised, because there are a lot of things the refs didn't notice in this game. We'll get into that later, though.
Camilla Emsbo is still a little raw, but she's going to be very good for Yale once she really finds her confidence. When she goes to the rack, she can't be stopped, and her height presented us with a lot of problems on the glass. 5-10 on 6-4 does not usually end well for the 5-10 people. Alexandra Maund really threw her weight around down low, and then seemed gravely offended that she would ever be called for a foul. She got into early foul trouble, and Yale seemed to be playing better with Cade; Maund's too similar to our own post players, so she didn't provide the kind of advantage her build usually does. And her footwork was off too; at one point, the phrase "prima ballerina" may have been bandied about for her spinning around so much. She got called for a lot of travels and could probably have been dinged for more.
Tori Andrew came in to shoot, and she took a lot of shots. We contested her well on the outside- well, I mean, we have good defensive guards, this is a thing we can do to people. She has an exceptionally quick release on her free throws. I like Roxy Barahman- she controls the game well at the point, and crashed the boards like crazy. I don't know if I would have called my own number as often as she did, or made it so obvious that I was going to (we can all see you pulling the jersey, Roxy). Megan Gorman didn't leave much of an impression, except for a couple of good defensive stops on attempted Red Storm fast breaks.
Yale looked better than I expected. They countered us well, and they've got some depth, and they've got some height; to us, that's a deadly combination.
Shamachya Duncan is aware she's allowed to pass the ball, right? It seemed like every time she touched it, it was going up. I realize she hit the first one, and that shooters gotta shoot, but at some point passing the ball to a teammate is an acceptable option. I did like the defensive hustle she showed on the sidelines, though. Jasmine Sina is scrappy, and maybe a little too scrappy; she had to have her hand retaped at some point in the second half.
Kadaja Bailey looked shell-shocked for much of this game, like she had no idea where she was or what she was supposed to be doing. She's going to spend a lot of this season playing out of position, and if Joe made her any promises about what she'd be allowed to do on the floor, they're probably going to get trampled. She's not a post, and we're going to have to ask her to play post, and she's going to have to be ready for whatever comes at her. Ditto for Kayla Charles- we only have one true post player if Curteeona Brelove is out for any length of time, and that would be Kayla. She got really frustrated in this game, to the point where I think she mentally ascended to another plane of existence sometime in the fourth quarter. When she's on, she's unstoppable and she's going to make someone else's life miserable. But she can't get into her feelings about the officials. They're all terrible, K, just roll with it.
On one hand, Tiana England did a lot to keep us in the game with her drives and her determination. On the other hand, she had a terrible case of the fumbles, with at least three of her turnovers being unforced. And her ability to slow the game down, whether by her design or Joe's, is something that has driven me nuts for a long time and will continue to drive me nuts. Apologies to long-time readers for harping on a theme. Qadashah Hoppie brought speed and distance shooting to the floor, but that extra something I can't put my finger on seemed to be missing. She wasn't as electric as usual, and I can't tell why.
Akina Wellere is definitely tuning her game to be more of an interior game, and it shows- there was one sequence where she passed on a corner three she would have taken all three other years of her St, John's career. She's doing what she has to for the team, but that doesn't mean I have to like the necessity. Alisha Kebbe was a monster defensively and on the inside. I can't bring myself to squee too much about the big two-handed block she brought down early in the game, because that's the play where Meemo got hurt, and given all the contact on the sequence, I'm not entirely certain that wasn't a cause of the injury. Poor Curteeona. Ankles are not supposed to curve outward. She spent most of the first half on the trainer's table and most of the second half on the bench in a walking boot, with an expression so desolate the bench priest was trying to cheer her up. It didn't work.
So now we're going to have an in-depth discussion of why you carry more than nine players on your active roster (remember, Alissa Alston is an ineligible transfer sitting out a year). And the discussion is going to be: THIS. This is why you carry at least ten active players and preferably twelve. You need to have a full second unit. You need to be prepared for the worst that can happen, because if you don't, that's when it will. Now we have eight players, only one of whom is over six feet tall. Now we have to rely on 5-10 forwards to do our defending inside, and while I love Alisha and Akina to death, I do not see this working out well against Kiah Gillespie. Or Kimi Evans. Or Tori Schickel. Maybe against Erika Davenport, but even then, Davenport has more experience down low at that size than they do. With a lack of size, you'd want to play fast; with a lack of players, you'd want to play slow. So what do we do now? I harp on "what is Seton Hall going to do to us?" because I know their personnel, but I am imagining all those guards and a roster that goes 11 deep on the regular, and then their bigs inside. And I'm trying to imagine us having the energy to keep up with Marquette's seniors for forty minutes. DePaul's constant ball movement. Georgetown's defensive pressure. Creighton's shooting. I don't see any of this working out well for us with the roster that we have.
I'm not going to blame Joe for injuries. I'm going to blame him for not being properly prepared for disaster, and for not having either depth or balance to compensate for things going dramatically wrong. Recruiting is on the head coach. And if he's being told he can't carry enough players by the administration, Val Ackerman needs to get over there and tell the administration to knock it off. I'm not saying we need to go to the full fifteen, because that's too far the other way, but this is ridiculous.
Also, the officials in this game were terrible and let way too much contact go. We're lucky there weren't more injuries.
This is my team, and I love them, and I love these kids, but the decisions that are made over their heads are making it harder and harder to take pride in the name on the front. It's going to be a long season, and I'll still be here for it, so if you think I'm going to let up on the terrible decision-making, nope, that is not a thing that is going to happen.
Friday, December 7, 2018
December 6th, 2018: Yale at St. John's
Thursday, December 28, 2017
December 28th, 2017: UC Davis at Yale (Fordham Holiday Classic)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Aggies of UC Davis used their speed to their advantage in a 71-61 win over Yale at Fordham's holiday tournament. Rachel Nagel led the Aggies with 17 points, while Cierra Hall chipped in 15 points and a team high nine rebounds off the bench. Tamara Simpson had 18 points in a losing cause for Yale, with Jen Berkowitz notching a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds.
For seniors, coincidences of nomenclature, tempo changes, a lack of musical accompaniment, fancy fleeces, disconnects, and the power of speed, join your intrepid and groovy blogger after the jump.
On to the next one, as the saying goes, and the second half of our double-header features the Aggies of UC Davis and the Bulldogs of Yale. Since the first game ended rather earlier than I think the organizers were expecting, these two teams have extra time to warm up. (And in Yale's case, perhaps find the rest of the team, since I doubt they only brought six players with them to the Bronx.)
Look, I know I'm probably the only person in this section who cares about the second game, but y'all are either going to have to sit down or leave in the near future, because y'all are clogging the aisle and blocking the view. (It looks like they're choosing to leave. Hey, your loss. I'd think you'd want to scout the team y'all are playing tomorrow, but maybe that's just me.)
Meanwhile, the Rams are putting in overtime, signing posters in a cramped row behind the VIP seats across from the visitors' bench. (Normally they use the media table, but that's not practical in a double-header.) Dead serious, I think G'mrice Davis is actually sitting on the aisle stairs because there isn't quite enough room to make this whole thing work.
(Update: Yale has found all the players. But also, UC Davis has quite a lot of players.)
It's nice to get to see family for the holidays- it looks like Johanna Klug has folks in from Germany, and our North Carolina gals Halei and Ralene were talking to someone who looks like a slightly older Halei around the face.
Y'all. I know your butts probably hurt, but if you are standing in front of me in twenty-five minutes, we are going to fight. (Again, they left.)
The seats in front of me and around me have been filled with Tamara Simpson's family, both nuclear and extended. They're enthusiastic, but not obnoxious like the Hartford fans were, so it's cool. (Also, the Yale family gets some nifty swag- Patagonia fleece with logo and number? Swanky.)
At halftime, UC Davis is up 38-33. Rachel Nagel has 11 points and three boards to lead the Aggies, who have also gotten timely points from Cierra Hall. Tamara Simpson is putting on a show for her family and folks, with 15 points, three rebounds, and three steals.
Fordham scouted the first half, and bailed for a while, but they're wandering back now. I think they get to relax now.
Yale's coaching staff has some snappy dressers on it, whether it's the head coach's tailored suit or the young person in the black jacket and gray shirt with matching bowtie. And if that's Melissa D'Amico in the Irish green skirt- well done, I saw what you did there.
UC Davis did a better job of controlling the pace of the game and getting Yale to play at their faster tempo. That might be a problem for Fordham tomorrow, so it's a good thing I'll be in Brooklyn. The Aggies seemed to like longer passes and uptempo play.
(Huh. The work at 121st Street is done.)
Sophia Song has one of my favorite names in college hoops right now, and some instincts around the basket. Kaitlyn Hsu came in at the very end of the game, with just a few seconds left (almost to the point where you wonder what the point is, but I guess it makes sense if you're trying to keep someone higher in the rotation from getting hurt in garbage time). I think Karley Eaton was mostly in as an accurate free throw shooter, especially at the end of the game.
Cierra Hall reminds me a little of Cierra Burdick (not just because of the name, she looks a little like her around the face), but she more reminds me of Jackie Nared from St. Mary's. She rebounded ferociously and showed a knack for being in the right place in the right time. I love her moves, and I love her potential as a freshman. Marly Anderson is not terribly mobile, but she gets good position and I'm sure she'll get some of those shots to go down in other games. She laid a couple of monster blocks on the Yale guards. Nina Bessolo is quick, especially on defense.
Morgan Bertsch rebounded well close to the basket. She made herself available down low and finished at the rim. I thought the Aggies did a good job of managing her fouls. I'm still not sure how you pronounce Nafekh, but I think it might sound like three-pointer, because Dani Nafekh came up with two threes in the second half. She's an interesting match-up. Pele Gianotti is long and lanky, and I think she thinks she has an elbow jumper, but it's not a reliable shot.
Have yourself a day, Rachel Nagel! She sliced her way into the lane like nobody's business, going to the basket with authority and without fear. The play of hers I actually remember most is watching her leap after an offensive rebound on a missed three- I'm not sure she didn't move before the shot actually went off. I love that kind of rebounding focus. Kourtney Eaton had a great deflection in the third quarter that broke up a Yale possession and hit a couple of threes. She's a steady hand, good for them.
The pace of play seemed really important to the Aggies. When they were able to make it work, they took over the game; the times when Yale was able to bottle them up and either deflect passes or just stop them on defense were the times the Bulldogs were able to get back into the game. (Except for that mind-numbingly stupid over and back, there was no excuse for that, I don't know what that even was.)
I get the feeling Yale's coach might need ot learn to trust her bench a little more. I think part of why they started to fade in the second half was the virtual lack of substitutions. I know exactly what that can do to a team, having survived both the St. John's and Fordham experiences. I also get the sense there might be a torch-passing in progress, but it's definitely a work in progress, and the underclassfolk might not be as ready as the coach wants them to be.
The only reason I noticed that Alex Cade was in the game was that she committed a foul. Either I need to get the wax out of my ears or the PA guy needs to do a better job of announcing substitutions. People, if y'all don't have names on your jerseys, it's that much harder to tell y'all apart. Bronwyn Davies gave the Bulldogs a little relief in the first half, but I don't know if she knew where she was supposed to be on the floor. In her case, I can understand why Yale didn't go back to her in the second half.
I did like the energy that Alexandra Maund brought, both on and off the floor (when the ref had an issue with the players gathering behind the bench during timeouts, she proceeded to leap over the chairs to get in the official-approved spot). She wasn't necessarily able to get it corralled into a useful form, but I get the sense that this might not have been her best day. Mary Ann Santucci started the game on the bench, though she started the second half, and I can't help but wonder if that's part of that "my underclassfolk should be readier than this" sense I'm getting off Yale. She set up Jen Berkowitz with a nifty feed down low and came up with a couple of threes, but it looked like she was missing easy shots when they counted. That's a problem for a senior.
Tamara Simpson started the game on fire, and though she cooled down somewhat in the second on offense, she remained ruthless in the passing lanes, intercepting balls and returning them on fast breaks. I love the leadership she showed on the floor, and I'm a sucker for a steals specialist. The folks around me seemed extremely fond of Roxy Barahman, despairing when the looks she got at the basket in the first half didn't go down and exulting when she started to get the shots in the second half (especially the three-pointers, they were super hyped about those). (Also, I love when player families show vocal support for their kid's teammates and not just their own kid.) She made a great defensive play in the fourth that ended up leading to one of her threes. Hard worker, and that's always rewarded in the end.
Jen Berkowitz stepped up big time in the second half. She started getting better rebounding position and making more plays on the inside. She had a couple of monster blocks, one on Gianotti and one on Kourtney Eaton that was a very poor life choice on Eaton's part. I don't know if it was the Aggies' tight man defense or the original Yale game plan that made her less of a factor, but it seemed like they should have maybe gone more to her sooner. Megan Gorman got the start, but didn't play much in favor of Santucci, and left no real impression when she did. Ellen Margaret Andrews is carrying around a lot of name, and I can see the potential Yale sees in her (she had one nifty play on an offensive rebound and putback that was especially nice) but there's a lot of work to be done with her. Her shot is almost embarrassingly not sound.
There were stretches when Yale seemed very disorganized; there were stretches when they had their act together and were able to get a run going. But there's a disconnect they're going to need to get past if they're going to succeed in the Ivy- and given the phenomenal individual talents they'll be facing, even that might not be enough.
Officials were fantastically lax on travels, to the point where I got to break out the "counting is hard" line, which is always a fun one when you're sitting with folks from an academically inclined school.
There will be interesting clashes of styles tomorrow (or, technically today but I haven't slept yet because sleep is of the weak). I'd like Yale to shut up the Hartford fans.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
December 9th, 2015: Yale at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a slow start, St. John's came back to win over Yale, 69-56. Danaejah Grant led the Red Storm with 23 points and six rebounds. Tamara Simpson had 20 for Yale, but she and Nyasha Sarju (18 points) were the only Bulldogs in double figures.
For trains on fire, corner shooters, size mismatches, chewtoys, and frustration, join your intrepid and pained blogger after the jump.
We're continuing on an Ivy League trend tonight, this time at St. John's, as the Red Storm host the rematch with Yale. It's a doubleheader with the men, so you already know it's going to start late, that people are going to give me grief about going to my rightful place, that most of the crowd will be filing out as the game begins, and that the fans who do stay will most likely incur my wrath by asking me about the men and ignoring the women.
The ad for today's game says that this is a red-out, and that you have to wear red to get in. This isn't a problem for me, since my shirt and my jersey are both red, but what if your St. John's t-shirt is white? And what about the Niagara and Yale fans? Will they be forbidden entry because they have the audacity to wear their team's colors? I'm really hoping this is an exaggeration, or that it's limited to students or something.
Now that I'm in the arena, it's actually super depressing. They weren't supposed to let us in until the final buzzer of the men's game, but we sneaked in for the last sixteen seconds or so. My impression is that it was a really bad men's game, from what attendees tell me and from the fact that it ended 48-44. The place was still packed. And most of those people are leaving, even though they can stay for free if they want to.
Because it's a red-out, St. John's is in the red, while Yale is in the white. So I still don't get to see Yale's road kit.
I forgot the flag. I feel awful.
Seriously, they did not think their cunning plan all the way through.
Oh, come ON, Yale fans, you're seriously going to sit in the section where the band normally sits? I may have to go take them in hand. Not to mention that now anyone who's staying from Niagara is behind our bench. Did NOT think the cunning plan all the way through.
At halftime, St. John's is up 31-21, and that's after allowing a 7-0 hole shot to the Bulldogs. Aliyyah Handford has 9 for St. John's, Danaejah Grant 6, and Jade Walker 6. Tamara Simpson has 10 for Yale.
I seem to have given my mother my bad transportation karma. I'm sorry, mom.
Who did Whitney Wyckoff piss off? She's gotten the short end of the stick from the refs all night.
I'm not sure how we turned that into a 14-point win. I'll take it- I'll always take a win. But it didn't feel like we did anything spectacular to change the momentum of the game. It might have been as simple as Yale not having the players to compete once you got past Nyasha Sarju and Tamara Simpson.
You're getting the St. John's notes first because I don't have names for many of the Yale players, and "what's-her-face, with the braid" is not an acceptable epithet in game notes.
I really liked what Tamesha Alexander brought off the bench in the first half, and I'm surprised she didn’t play in the second half. She was tenacious and tough, and the offense seemed to be moving well with her at point. Crystal Simmons brought solid defense and one of the funkiest three-point shots I've ever seen actually go in after being deliberately taken. Akina Wellere's three-point spots are definitely the corners- I think all the ones she hit were from the corners, and the ones she missed were straightaway. She's still learning the ropes on defense, but I like her effort and her hustle.
Brief Jordan Agustus sighting near the end of the first half. Unremarkable. We can all act surprised that she wears #23 for Jordan, though. Jade Walker brought offense and some interior swats off the bench. I know I harp on this, but I really like her offense when she goes inside out- intimidates defenders with that big build of hers, then steps outside for the sweet, sweet jumpshot. But I'm maybe a little in love with offense in the paint. I accept that. I'm okay with that. Wonder of wonders, Jade was not a magnet for mind-numbingly stupid fouls today.
Danaejah Grant has really buckled down and turned herself into a get-things-done player. Y'all know how much I love some Aliyyah Handford and her eye-catching plays, but Nae has turned herself into a great rebounder, an acceptable defender, and a solid offensive option, with more range in her game than Liyyah has. She's come a long way. She just needs to keep her head in the game and not get distracted by bad calls, because there will always be bad calls. Aliyyah had defenders all over her all night, and even going Neo-in-the-Matrix on them didn’t always work. So she passed off down low instead. She's just so damn fun to watch. Aaliyah Lewis moves like a jitterbug and covers space in a hurry. I think the stretch where she was on the bench for Sox helped clear her vision and get her head back in the game- it seemed like the taller Yale players were throwing her off. She's mom's favorite, in case y'all didn't know. (Me? Aliyyah and Sox, if I have to pick.)
I'm honestly not sure why Imani Littleton is still starting at this point, unless it's to protect players who are more prone to stupid mistakes. She barely played in this one, and I can understand why- she was passive on both ends of the floor. When you're the tallest player on the team, you have to make plays, and you have to at least have your hands up. Sandra Udobi wasn't very mobile, but when she made blocks, you knew she was making blocks. She didn't quite bring out the Mutombo finger-wag, but after the third one, I got the sense that she was tempted (or that one of her teammates was).
Our PA guy wasn't really good at announcing subs, so I'm not rally as sure as I should be as to who played when. Elizabeth Haley got some brief minutes in the first half. Mary Ann Santucci was tall and awkward and in everyone's way on both sides of the ball. I honestly have no real impression of Emmy Allen and Jen Berkowitz, except maybe for fouls?
Whitney Wyckoff got some very bad calls against her in the first half, on two fouls that should not have been called against her, and got a little bit of her own back in the second. I was surprised that she was doing so much ballhandling in the second half- she didn't seem all that comfortable with it. It might have been bias on my part because I tend to gravitate to names and faces I know, but she always seemed to be in the middle of play, whether it was setting up the offense or making plays on the defensive end. Tamara Simpson was strong on offense- not just in the "please allow me to introduce you to my 20 points" sense, but in the sense that she was strong and physical. The way she was hitting that one-handed shot off the glass, she's got to be a finance major, because she knows her banking. (I'll stop now. I've been sitting on it all night, though.) Katie Werner was small and kinda quick-moving. I seem to remember her around the sidelines a lot. Nyasha Sarju was one of the only Yale players who knew what to do with the ball when she was in a decent position to score. She had nice range on her jumper. She was very deft with the ball as well.
There was a stretch in the third quarter where the game briefly turned into a ref show, but it calmed back down after a correct out-of-bounds call against St. John's. Other than that, it was the usual round of inconsistency.
The men's team came and sat a few rows in front of us, with what looked like really bad Italian food. I hope it wasn't. Bad, I mean.
Dance team has been working on their moves. Cheer team needs to. They showed a lot of interesting stuff during Tip-Off- don't lose it now!
Aliyyah and Danaejah are going to win us a lot of games. It's up to everyone else to step up around them.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
November 15th, 2014: St. John's at Yale
Just the Facts, Ma'am: After a shaky start, St. John's settled down to a season-opening 61-50win at Yale. Danaejah Grant led the way for the Red Storm with 30 points, whiel Aliyyah Handford had 18 points and Amber Thompson added 14 rebounds. Sarah Halejian led Yale with 15 points.
For big performances, bad calls, creepier than usual graveyards, gorgeous architecture, lots of trains, and satisfied exhaustion, join your intrepid and hungry blogger after the jump.
It took four trains and sixty-odd dollars, but here we are at Yale for the first game of the Red Storm's season, as St. John's visits Yale.
Payne Whitney Gymnasium is one of the most beautiful facilities I've ever had the privilege of visiting. It looks like a cathedral. We actually almost passed it because we thought it was the campus chapel, but no, it is just an exquisite piece of architecture... with automatic doors. In old-fashioned style, the aactual place where games occur is the John J. Lee Amphitheater within the building. It has high-back seats that demand proper posture, wooden seats that remind me of my elementary school auditorium. The windows are tall and narrow, like church windows. Most of the seats are elevated away from the court, so if something happens in front of the opposite bench, for example, I won't be able to see if from where I am behind the St. John's bench. This is the facility for basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics, and they have banners for each of those sports, one in each corner. It's been a while since women's basketball was even remotely relevant.
Yale has a pleasantly loud fan base- not necessarily large, but a solid mid-major fan base, and they care about their team. I'll give them that.
It was a slow start for St. John's, but when the game was tied at 17 we cam up with a 10-0 run to create a cushion. It's 31-21 at the half. Danaejah Grant leads the way with 16 points. Part of the challenge has been integrating the young players, and that's led to a fair amount of hesitation both for the frosh and the upperclassmen.
Kyra Dunn, I'm going to need you to pull your shorts down. Honestly. I shouldn't be aware that you have a tattoo that high up on your left leg, because that part of your leg should be covered by your shorts.
"The dead shall be raised"? What is wrong with you, New Haven? Why would you ever think that was an appropriate thing to put on the gate to a cemetery? Who raised the funds for that gate, Alester Crowley? (Yes, I know the real story behind it, because I'm a giant dork and I looked it up on Wikipedia, but these were the thoughts that passed through my head on the walk to the campus.)
So. Johnnies in reserve. They've still got a little adjusting to do. Most of them are freshmen, which is understandable. I like Kyra Dunn's shot-blocking, but if she's going to back off plays and not hold on to the ball and not rebound, we are not going to be friends. I think Coach agreed with my frustrations, since she didn't play at all in the second half. Tonoia Wade went in very briefly and did nothing of note, except that she was either wearing false eyelashes or has spectacular real ones, and I'd be concerned about a player who wore such long ones on the court if they're fake. Crystal Simmons was unremarkable, though I worry a little if her shooting motion today was what her shooting motion is actually like, as opposed to what happens when there's ridiculous amounts of contact being allowed and she pulls up lame. (The two aren't fully connected, and might not be at all. My brain is a little fuzzy.) She went off hobbling, but I think she's going to be okay. Tamesha Alexander was solid at the point, more defensive-minded than offensive-minded. The freshman who impressed me most out of our class was Imani Littleton. She committed some truly spectacular blunders (a pass smacking off her hands, having the ball plucked from her hands on a rebound), but she was great on the boards and looked aggressive offensively, which was a big deal given how tentative the offense was much of the time.
Aaliyah Lewis is growing on me. Now, if she could just grow a little bit, period, she would be fabulous. I don't think I ever noticed before how good her body control is- she was able to prevent herself from moving on catches that might have forced an extra step from other guards. She got bounced around like a pinball trying to run through Yale's screens. Give Tiny Aaliyah a break, would you, universe? Jade Walker already has a propensity to commit bad fouls. We know this; she still thinks defense is played with the hands and the body, not the feet. But she also has an unfortunate tendency to draw calls whenever there's a stoppage, whether she merits them or not. She threw up a lot of bad shots, including one where she had been dancing around in the backcourt as if she were Aliyyah Handford instead of Jade Walker, after which she was summoned to the bench for a teaching moment. She was a big part of the second-half answer to the Yale run, and we needed her to be big, and I think she can be a major player for us if she can stay on the court. Amber Thompson needs to go up strong instead of backing out, and she needs to hit her shots. These are all complaints I've made about her before, and I guess I shouldn't expect her to change from her freshman year in that regard, though I certain can hope she does. That being said, she was great on the boards and altered a lot of shots. Part of why I hope Jade and Imani develop is that it would free up Amber to be more of a defensive presence and we wouldn't have to rely on her for offense. Aliyyah Handford missed some makeable jumpers in the first half, and the Yale defense was all over her, but she seemed to find her stride in the second half. She played the passing lanes aggressively. And then there was Danaejah Grant, who was starting to look pretty tired by the end of the game, if only because she was carrying the team on her back. She went to the basket. She hit jumpers. She capped the scoring with a three, which was good, since I was almost out of room for two-point baskets. I wish she could get her free throws down, but that's the eternal complaint about this team that I love.
Yale rotated their bench pretty frequently, often bringing in two or three players at a time. Jen Berkowitz pulled down some good rebounds. Tamara Simpson drove to the basket nicely, though I thought she traveled on most of her drives. The other bench players were not memorable.
Sarah Halejian has a lot of heart and a nice jumper. She was the star of the show for Yale, both as a scorer and a leader. Meredith Boardman has a brilliant last name for a rebounder, and also showed a little range from the outside. Katie Werner seemed integral to Yale's second half surges, but I might just be crazy at this point. Meghan McIntyre popped a couple of threes in the first half.
The officiating in this game was extremely frustrating. If you're going to call a game in a certain way, that's fine. But call it on both ends. The same call, if it's a charge at one end, should be a charge on the other. If it's a shooting foul on one end, it should be a shooting foul on the other end. It seemed very unbalanced from where I was sitting, and I thought Joe was going to lose his cool at one point- except by the time he had reached that stage, it was too close for him to risk the technical free throws. It was very frustrating.
There's a lot of potential for St. John's, but I think it'll be a rougher year than we expected.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
November 29th, 2008: New Hampshire at Yale (Turkey Classic at LIU)
Yale Bulldogs 76, New Hampshire Wildcats 55
Yale and New Hampshire get along like 'cats and 'dogs, Yoyo Greenfield is not who you expect her to be, and Kristin Cole is an exceptionally good juggler.
Can you think of anything better to do on the Saturday after Thanksgiving than go to a basketball tournament at a school you know nothing about with four teams you have no emotional investment in? Yeah, I couldn't either, so off we went to the Courtyard LaGuardia Turkey Classic.
LIU has a nice little facility- very clean and crisp and modern, but you might want to eat before the game, or bring something with you, because I didn't see any concessions set up in the lobby. But we didn't venture out between games, so they might have set something up afer the games started. Not completely certain. Also, bring cushions- the entire lower bowl is bleacher seats, and they charge double for the chairbacked upper deck.
We joked that Yale-New Hampshire had to be moved to New York because if they played it in New Hampshire, someone might get killed. Very scrappy, very chippy game. Not that I mind that sort of thing, but the referees in it were pretty bad- there's a difference between taking charge of a game and controlling it, and a difference between calling a fair game and calling an even game, and these referees seemed to not know either.
It didn't help New Hampshire that they seemed to have been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug- they only dressed eight, and from the talk by New Hampshire families before the game, it sounds like one of the injuries was pretty recent. And there was a lot of foul trouble in the first half for their starters, so I give their coach major props for adroit player management- despite having three starters hit two fouls early in the first half, she didn't have anyone foul out until the waning seconds, when Candace Williams committed a dumb reach-in. They've got good height for an America East school. In terms of build and elbow pointiness, Racheal Fowler reminded me a little of Lisa Leslie- she's not someone I'd want to get into a rebounding battle with at all. She had a great save on the baseline that resulted in a basket by Kate Early. Candace Williams has some moves- a good scorer, but she got foul-happy in the second half, and that got her in trouble when the Wildcats could have used her. Amy Simpson's got a nice shot too. I think I've heard of her before, for some reason. The freshman LaRosa shows promise.
When I looked at the Yale roster, I admit that I wasn't expecting Yoyo Greenfield from Los Angeles to be a white girl with dirty blonde hair and a pixie face. So I stereotype sometimes, 'scuse me. She had a nice game, canning threes and running the offense, though there were a couple of possessions where she was getting her Becky Hammon on, and not in the good way (though also not in the "let me change my citizenship way", either, more like the "let me run into traffic with no help and throw up a shot that has no chance of going in" way). There was something I liked about Ashley Carter, but I can't put my finger on it. For what I'm assuming is a coach's daughter, Mady Gobrecht has one of the least fundamental layups I've ever seen a post shoot. I think she blew two or three chippies. Jamie Van Horne's got a nice three-point shot. Haywood Wright reminded me disconcertingly of Sue Wicks- similar facial structure, same eyebrows, same manner of running, and same need for kneepads. That was one of the things I liked about Yale- there were a lot of skinned knees, which to me means everyone's going after every loose ball.
I don't want to say it was a chippy game and there were a lot of free throws shot, but Yale's Melissa Coborne got to double figures without hitting a field goal. (She hit two shots late, but both after her tenth free throw went in.) There were a lot of jump balls, a lot of players on the floor, and a lot of hustling. A New Hampshire player had her head sat on; Wright had to leave momentarily to have her clawed wrist wrapped.
Yale opened the second half on a 13-0 run, and that really sealed the deal for them; they were up 9 at half and won by 21, so the run basically provided the rest of the cushion and allowed them to let New Hampshire play them even for the rest of the half. Greenfield hit a couple of shots to spur that run.
It's an odd thing to notice, I'm sure, but I like how both teams run their drills. Yale was shooting free throws (hey, Kim, are you listening?) and on-ball defense, and New Hampshire's drills were pretty crisp. Very neat and efficient. Something tells me Yale's going to take the Ivy by storm, given their upset of NC State, their close play against Kentucky in the first round of this little tourney (as reported by the friendly New Hampshire families), and their blowout against New Hampshire.