Connecticut Sun 72, New York Liberty 65
Katie Douglas loosens up, mullets are only good if they confer power on Elena Baranova, and the Game Notes are actually playing with a full deck.
"She's like a goddess in Minnesota."
"I didn't know they went in for devil worship there."
As you might be able to ascertain, my mom doesn't like Lindsay Whalen.
Katie Douglas has got some range on her; she was putting on a shooting exhibition during warmups, hitting a shot from the G in the secondary logo over by the hash mark. She also got tangled up while practicing with the trainer. I thought she tripped over her own feet, but she claimed that the trainer tripped her. I gotta say, she's really loosened up this year. Yay for her!
Anthem butchery. Goddess in heaven, that was painful. I don't *care* if the kid has a disability, you make damn sure you put someone out there who can sing the anthem without torturing notes or holding them so long that you could be justified in expecting a ransom note. The lady who sang "God Bless America" wasn't bad, although I think she's watched too many seasons of American Idol.
Taj stole Keesh's hair. Not that it seemed to confuse either of them, nor did having Taj listed as #78 on the scoreboard. Keesh was in that place where if she shot it, it was probably going in. I don't know how much having Shameka on her affected her, but I know that when Erin was in the game I had flashbacks to Lindsey Yamasaki. Katie Douglas was the defensive demon, ball hawk, and deadly shooter we've all come to know and... well, know. She put the daggers in. You can't ice ice, and that woman has ice in her veins. Margo seems to be relearning how to use her size to disrupt passes, although, really, what peabrain throws a lob pass to 6'4" being guarded by 7'2"? She also showed that she can, ironically, use her size better when she's outside, because inside she doesn't have the room to work that she needs, and her jumper and its release are still gorgeous. Asjha Jones was amazing. It's great to see one of the Fab Four come into her own; people focus so much on Bird and Cash that Williams and Jones kind of get shoved off to the side. Granted, it would have been nice to see it as a neutral observer, but I'm a basketball fan first and foremost. Derevjanik didn't show me much. Whalen, besides inspiring a quote of the day, demonstrated a classlessness that I had not thought I would see from her, when she went on a fastbreak with nine seconds left and a six-point lead. It may not be a flattering remark, and it may have been stupid for Shameka to be the perp, but it was one of the few times I've been thrilled to see a player flattened the way she was. At least *on* the court, she handles herself like she's entitled, and no second-year player has the right to that kind of attitude, not even Taurasi or Beard. Yes, she has a knack for slicing through defenses like butter, and yes, she piles up assists like a klepto piles up theft offenses, and yes, she's a heady playmaker. She's got game. Doesn't mean I have to like her.
Ah, Shameka. What you will be next year, Goddess only knows. I still maintain that she's not ready yet, that she's not a star yet, that she shouldn't be the focus of the offense yet, but I'm starting to soften a little on the future. I still don't know whether she is *the* answer, but perhaps if they keep her paired with Ann, she's a part of the answer. Of course, keeping players around seems to be a problem in this league. There were some brain farts, but Lord knows she wasn't the only one. I'm looking at Ann's fifth foul, myself, as much as I liked seeing Whalen get smushed. Ann looked... I don't know, out of it tonight. She used to have Margo's number, but not tonight. She got pushed around a lot inside. Part of it may have had to do with Bryan Enterline, but really, the Garden should have dealt better when he didn't buy her flop. Elena had better luck, and notched a double-double. Granted, six of the ten points came in that last elongated minute, but ten is ten. Yay Elena! Who was it so many years ago that described the Miami Sol players as being blue-collar, nose-to-the-grindstone types of players? Elena's getting back to that mentality, and it makes me happy. Maybe she's like Samson: the longer the hair, the stronger she is. Go, Mullet of Power! VJ still seems to be living on another planet, one where basketball is something to be looked down upon. She was a little better tonight, but... man, I don't know what's up with her. Becky did the drive-the-lane trick a little too often for my liking tonight- trying to best Whalen, maybe? Her folks are apparently *still* hanging around, so I'm starting to wonder if they're the problem. La'Keshia was nothin' tonight. I mean, f'real, WTF. Crystal came back, hit a couple of shots, still looked a little rusty, but we really did miss her. Erin actually hit a shot, and that "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" thing competes with "Sister Christian" for Cheesiest Music Clip In Liberty History. Even if it is a righteously cool song. Still, she commits one major flaw on defense that drives me crazy: she watches the ball far more than she watches her offensive player, and it gets her burned and burned bad. Loree got very little run, and already I see t-shirts saying "Give Loree More Minutes". Ah, I love when fans get defensive of the bench. *hugs the bench except for La'Keshia* Catherine sets some wicked screens; Katie Douglas ran into one and went sproing! She was the designated eater of minutes when the fouls started piling up at the end of the game. Amisha and Jennifer may be our best pair for the IR; both of them looked very nice tonight. So did Jess Brungo over on the Connecticut bench. Patty is starting to turn a red so brilliant it can be seen from behind the opponent's bench. (We were in 128 tonight.) Mom and I think that color should be in the new Crayola box. We'd call it Richie Red.
I guess an emergency substitution for the tchotchke is never a good sign. But the original plan was nightlights, and that makes me feel approximately five years old.
They saluted women in the military. It's a nice gesture, but it seems kind of offensive to me to salute an organization that doesn't want a large chunk of the fanbase involved in its activities.
Career fair blew. At least I got a free deck of cards with it. So *yes*, for once, I'm playing with a full deck.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
August 2nd, 2005: Connecticut at New York
July 31st, 2005: Indiana at New York
New York Liberty 67, Indiana Fever 53
Elena Baranova wears a skirt, the Indiana Fever are comfortable at the Garden, Crystal Robinson needs a fashion intervention, and autographs are gotten at an authorized time and place.
As I do before every game, I hung out by the stage door. You've never seen a more miserable team come through that entrance. One of the people I was with swore that Ann was hung over when she came in; I don't know what a hangover looks like, but poor Ann looked like death warmed over. La'Keshia was in such a mood that she was glaring at the universe in general; it's the first time I've ever gotten a dirty look from a player for not asking for her autograph. VJ was just as puzzled as we were about that Connecticut game. And in possibly the most brain-exploding, mind-blowing development of them all, Elena strolled on in wearing a skirt slit nearly all the way up the side. Elena. Skirt. Does not compute.
Catch is quite the social butterfly. During the pre-warmups, she was chatting in the courtside seats with Loree (who was using the seats as a convenient spot for stretching) and had a hug and a few words for Becky at halfcourt, not to mention chatting with the fans. You can't not like Catch. She's just so cuuuuuuuuuuute! Tully's also chatty- she and Alison (LibertyMascot to WNBATalkers, that crazy boa-wearing lady in the orange hat to the rest of you lot) had a few words while Tully was stretching at that end of the court. I find myself liking a lot of the Fever players, though I won't be cheering Indiana on any time soon (sorry, but they are kind of a conference rival in an inconvenient spot in the standings).
They made a point of talking about the anthem, which was good, though I think it was lost on the guy who was on his phone through the anthem. *headdesk* The kids were so cute, and so on key, and so so good. I'm not a rabid patriot, but I do like when people do right by the anthem, and neither cell phone dude or the boors who tried to buy cotton candy during the anthem did that.
Catch actually had a subpar game scoring today, although she was the leading rebounder with 10. VJ and mostly Shameka stayed on her pretty well so that she couldn't find her shots. Finding their shots seemed to be a problem for both offenses in general, but we'll get to that later. Natalie Williams was the star for the Fever today; she muscled in on the Euros over and over again, hitting easy shots in the lane and stepping out periodically to put in jumpers. Defense, on the other hand... but cross that bridge in the next paragraph. Streimkyte started getting hot in the waning minutes of the first half, and if they'd kept going to her when Ann and Elena were getting tired, things might have been a little different; however, she had a couple of dumb turnovers that made me shake my head and laugh. Tully ran the team well, although I was surprised at the open shots that she pssed up. She made it a game at 16:45 of the second half, by the way, so Stormfans can rest easy. Kelly Miller hit her shots late, but not often enough. Her defense is intriguing, though. It's nice to see a high pick blossoming out from under the stultifying influence of the Sting. Tan White had a flash of amazingness where she hit two shots in a row and started sparking the team, but once she missed a shot, it came unwound for her. The only thing I remember about Deanna Jackson is that red streak in her hair, which really is striking, but not related to her game. I dimly recall Kelly Schumacher playing solidly on the inside, but I think it was mostly defensive. I have got to start actually using the notebook I carry with me. I might remember things better.
Ann! Yay, Ann! 24 points and 9 boards; I think the 24 points is a career high, though I'm not sure. She hit timely shots on the inside and some lovely outside jumpers, although she keeps setting outside the arc and making me cringe. No, Ann. Three-point shots are Elena's territory. Stop poaching. Shameka looked solid out there, with 12 and 6, although her defense occasionally left something to be desired; Catchings had one possession where she gave a textbook demonstration about how to fake out a player and get open. I think it was the shot that temporarily gave the Fever a 32-30 lead, and if it wasn't, it was sometime in the same time frame. Still, she looked notably better than she did in the last few games. Elena looked great, with open threes and solid screens; both she and Ann played a lot of minutes, and spent much of the game glowing a gentle red. Becky was big down the stretch, and I was impressed with how she played at the point. Handy, that. VJ. WTF, VJ? It's a slump like this that got Katie Smith traded, you know, and Liberty fans are a lot more militant than Lynx fans; we might cause bloodshed, and that would be bad, right? I wish Erin would hit her shots in New York. She seems to be better on the road. Maybe the Board Junkies are scaring her. La'Keshia is way too strong on her shots. She needs to settle down, relax, and stop taking her shooting lessons from DeTrina. Loree played very little, and that only in the beginning of the game, when Patty had to yell at Becky about something. If Jennifer stays on the DL the whole season, at least we'll have someone easy on the eyes to look at. Much as I adore Crystal and DeTrina, their fashion sense makes my quiescent femme side come out and scream at the top of her lungs, and especially today, when Crystal was wearing a shirt that was patently too big for her and needed to be tucked in, or preferably burned. She looked like she was wearing a straitjacket, or hospital pajamas. Not an attractive look. It was neck and neck with Patty's shirt for winner of the ugly award for tonight's game.
The refs didn't suck tonight! I don't remember the other two, but I know one of htem was Bonita Spence. The game seemed to be called fairly evenly, and if there was any bias, it was towards the Liberty. I like it when the refs don't suck, don't you?
Maybe they were intimidated by the martial arts group that performed at halftime. Wow. Those were some impressive jumps for the purposes of splitting pieces of wood with one's feet. Kids with nunchuks (sp?) are not to be messed with. SpongeBob, however, can go find some other team to pester.
For five seasons, my mother and I sat in section 210, giving up our tickets after Tari-gate. In those five seasons, 210 never came up as the lucky autograph section. Today, it did. After a couple of shrieks of frustration and bursts of laughter at the way the universe works, an old neighbor of mine offered me his voucher and ticket stub because he and his girlfriend had to leave right after the game. I hesitated a bit because I might have had a dinner date, but then decided, to hell with it, and took the proffered gift. I ain't proud. So I went to DoubleTeamed after the game for the session. Erin and Shameka were the sacrificial lambs today. Erin got a haircut, though optical illusion might say otherwise; when once she had a bun that unraveled down to the bottom of her number, she's now in a ponytail that brushes the top of her number. I feel kinda skeevy for noticing this, actually, even if it is just my predilection for long, long hair (and long, long words) making itself known. I also handwriting-geeked, because I'm an autograph collector, that's what I do. When Shameka doesn't have space to work with, she keeps it simple and straightforward, every letter clear and precise, but when she has space, she has a little more flair: she draws out the end of the 's' in Christon across the t, brings it over the staff of the 'k' in Shameka, curves it out over most of her name, then brings the curve back up across the staff of the 'k' to form the second bit-that-sticks-out. Yay for experimenting.
This extended play version of the Game Notes of Doom brought to you by the kindness of strangers, Diet Sunkist, slight sleep deprivation, and victory.
July 27th, 2005: Houston at New York
Houston Comets 71, New York Liberty 69
The Liberty do lots of boneheaded things, Patty Coyle needs to go away now, and Becky Hammon and Crystal Robinson decorate.
This, my fellow fans, was the very definition of a choke job. We had this game in the bag. We should have won it going away. Instead, boneheaded mistakes by everyone eligible to make boneheaded mistakes cost us the win. I spent most of my ride home plotting colorful ways to kill Patty.
What Crystal was thinking when she launched that shot with four left on the shot clock, I will never know. That wasn't the shot we needed, and we had time to put something better together. In any case, her common sense and her shot are both still on the baggage carousel, so I don't think tomorrow will be much of an improvement. Vickie was quiet. Too quiet. Plus, she seemed to get awfully chippy with Tari during #24's limited minutes. I think she objected to us chanting for Tari when the subs came in. News flash, Cap: maybe you should have gotten off your ass and done something authoritative instead of letting Tari turn into a cause celebre. Weird as it sounds to say it, I don't think Becky got enough touches, but there will be far more on that later. She made a couple of dumb plays, but that was the story of the night, so I can't come down on her too hard. Elena was quietly savvy; a buddy of mine from the lobby brought up an interesting question that may be more profound than he knew: "When did Elena Baranova turn into Sue Wicks?" As in, making contributions that don't necessarily show up in the stat sheet but do change the game. She was hot offensively early, but then Patty pulled her and it all went to shit after that. Ann was a player of extremes: she made some fabulous plays, she made some incredibly stupid plays, nothing really in the middle. La'Keshia was on fire in the first half, but then Patty pulled her and it all went to shit after that. Loree was nothing, Catherine was nothing, Erin was nothing.
*puts on flame-retardant suit* Which, of course, leads me to everyone's favorite precious Baby. She has shown flashes, I'll grant that much. Flashes, however, should not merit a player more minutes than two starters and almost twice as many touches as the next most trigger-happy player. More often than not, she chucks up the first shot she sees, her defense is shite, she's overaggressive when she needs to step back and thinks too much when she should just drive. For some reason, the playbook seems to have been the Son of Van's Playbook: "Get the ball to [Baby] Swoopes." Comet fans understand the furstration of that kind of play-calling, and they have the original Swoopes to make the play more often than not. I'd be bitching any Lib player out for 4-14 shooting, but the fact that it was Sista Christon makes it even more galling. Don't tell me Becky couldn't have taken Canty on a couple of more drives. Don't tell me Ann couldn't have gotten up in Snowy's grill. Don't tell me Vickie couldn't have... well, done anything that might have been helpful. I like the girl, don't get me wrong, she's a total sweetheart with a world of potential... but this was not the time and not the place for Patty to decide that she should try to unlock her inner Swoopes. Not in front of Her Majesty.
Oh yes, Patty. Dear Coach: Please die now, in as painful and public a manner as you can, thanks.
For Houston, Swoopes was amazing. I suppose you lot in Houston are used to that, though. Tina looked good, too, although she's not quite back on form. She got an elbow in the throat, from what I've gathered from postgame reporting, and went down like a stone. We worried about her, and we were relieved when she got back up. Snow got into foul trouble, but she kept Ann off balance, and of course, at the end of the game, she struck (like a COBRA!?). In general, the Comets killed us on the offensive boards. I grant that we had fewer missed shots than Houston did, but still, we whould have been turning their offensive boards into our defensive boards. I don't even want to think about how many second or third chance points they had. It would probably make me froth at the mouth and fantasize about dismembering Patty again, and my shrink says that's not healthy. Janeth, of course, was ice down the stretch. That woman knows no fear and no doubt. Canty wasn't really an offensive threat, but she seemed to run the offense well. Tari played five ineffective minutes, and was fully aware that we still love her. The only thing I remember about Rasmussen was her dramatization of the hit that Shameka put on her with the booty. If the deep bench played, I wasn't aware of it. The damage was done by Houston's starters; Sheryl never sat. Van threw candy to the crowd. Really, Lib fans, y'all should know better than to take candy from strangers.
The refs didn't suck tonight so much as they tilted. I'm willing to accept that the Liberty were guilty of most of the calls made on them, but I find it hard to believe that the Comets weren't pulling any of that borderline legal crap that the Liberty were. It also didn't help that the callling-style changed throuhout the game, alternating between a sensible use of the whistle and excessive blowing.
"Reality show night" should generally be a sign of impending doom. They did, however, have a hysterical Trading Spaces with Becky and Crystal, in which they decorated each other's lockers. Becky did Crystal's with olive green drapery and a birdhouse. Crystal did Becky's in shades of purple, with a welcome mat and a stuffed pillow thang that said "Cutie Pie". What I found most interesting about it is that to the casual fan, they seemed to be decorating in schemes that would match the recipient's, but to those more in the know, the decorating schemes seems more in line with the decorator's personality. (Plus, I get to find out yet another reason why I like Crystal: she shares my color sense. *grin*) And the blooper reel was a hoot; Becky seemed amazed at the concept of foldable Frisbees. But seriously. Next time they do a reality show theme, I want a chance to vote Blaze off the island by dumping her in the Hudson.
Our tickets were next to a set of boors who didn't seem to understand the concept that the national anthem is a time to shut up, stand up, and take your hat off, not a time to buy cotton candy and get pissy at the people who are respecting the anthem. If foreign nationals can get the concept, why can't some Americans? As soon as the anthem was done, we moved our seats. We were going to anyway, because the chairs we had were sagging and the seats blew, but I could not stand the thought of being next to those assholes any longer.
So between one thing and another, and the giant-ass cockroach that is crawling around on the outside of my screen, I am NOT a happy camper.
July 15th, 2005: Minnesota at New York
Minnesota Lynx 64, New York Liberty 60
Games like this are what the phrase "what the shit?" was invented for.
Games like this were what the phrase 'what the shit?!' was invented for. Seriously. We *had* that game, and we should have won it, but we killed ourselves at the line, and the Lynx killed us on the boards, plain and simple.
The problem with having two Euros as your two main post players is that your interior defense suffers. A lot. Usually Ann brings enough offense, and Elena brings just enough rebounding, that it isn't as obvious, but that doesn't work when facing physical post players as the Lynx have. They put Ann off her game and chased Elena back into her slump. Crystal, fortunately, shows signs of coming out of her shooting slump, but what on earth was she thinking with her last shot? Her defense is also suffering. That is NOT of the good. Then again, everyone's defense was suspect tonight; too many Lynx players were left open in spots that were far more to their convenience than to the convenience of the Liberty. Becky seems to have swapped brains with Ticha Penicheiro; tonight, she wasn't even looking for her shot, forget about hitting it. I don't know if that was because of the Lynx D, to be fair, though. VJ looked like a Pod Person; there were a couple of very uncharacteristic and selfish moves on her part that surprised all of us. La'Keshia brought sorely needed physicality when Elena and Ann faltered, but neither she nor DeTrina were assertive enough to combat the Brickhouse in the lane. Loree was quietly effective, and I think she might have been more useful if she'd gotten more minutes, but then, isn't that the story of the Liberty bench's life? Shameka... no. I don't know what to say. In the first half I wanted to scream. In the second half, I did scream, but in a good way. When she went off, I thought for sure she was going to have a full-fledged Meek moment, but just as quickly as it came, the flash was gone, and we were left with with plain old Shameka, lost and a little confused. With a couple of years more of seasoning, she might have been enough to pull us through, but not here and now. Coach needed to give the crack pipe back to Blaze, 'cause that was some pathetic coaching out there. She made some moves that had us up in the stands scratching our heads in confusion. Apropos of not very much, it's nice to have someone on the IR with a lick of fashion sense. Amisha cleans up nice. Who knew?
Do not leave Katie Smith open. Do not leave Svetlana Abrosimova open. Really, are these such hard things to remember? You'd think Liberty players would equate the number 25 with solid long-range shooting just from association with Becky, but yet they managed to slip up again and again on her. Also, Geno must have been having a conniption somewhere in Connecticut; four years he had her and he could never get her to play defense, and suddenly she's hawking the ball like she was born to it? She's really turned a corner, and I'm happy for her. Now if she can only stay healthy... Katie was quiet, but you know, in all the talk of her shooting and her offense, what's forgotten is that she's a *big* guard. She's a fierce rebounder, a solid defender, and a great playmaker. Why Katie Smith gets so little love outside Minnesota and knowledgeable hoops fans is completely beyond me, and I'm not ascribing the reasons to it that the Lynx commentator did against Detroit, because I don't like to think in those terms. It's also nice to see Kristi Harrower back in the league. That little floater in the lane is a thing of beauty, and a heady point guard is a nice thing to see on a basketball court. Vanessa Hayden... man, that is one big woman. If she learns how to use it better, centers across the world will tremble in fear and have nightmares of being devoured by the Loch Ness Monster. As is, she's pretty damn intimidating, and the laws of physics are squarely on her side. She scared the crap out of Ann, I think, or at least made Ann very leery of going into the lane. And Nicole Ohlde is the perfect complement to her, because while Ohlde is a solid inside player, she seems more comfortable facing the basket; between one thing and another, a post defender can be easily confused and decide 'to hell with this, I'm going to jump out and scare a perimter player'. For the sake of the game, I hope this tandem doesn't get broken up any time soon, because it'll give Lynx fans something to look forward to for years; Hayden brings the power, while Ohlde, so far, seems to be the better playmaker. Tamika Williams... you would think the highest-percentage shooter in league history- possibly the only player in league history to shoot better from the field than the stripe- miiiiiiiiight merit some coverage. Then again, these are the Euros we're talking about. Yes, Elena, I'm looking at you. Okay, so La'Keshia and DeTrina weren't all that effective either, but still. Amber Jacobs played back-up point guard this time around- Tyger was a DNP-CD, so far as I know. Solid, although she didn't take advantage of a couple of times when shewaas open.
The refs blew, but they blew more or less equally, so I can't really use that as an excuse for the game. However, both teams need to take some FT shooting lessons, mmm'kay?
Special props must go to Amber Jacobs, for having what might be one of the funkiest and coolest signatures in the league- very stylized and angular, but with every letter legible. I'm a handwriting geek, and I love to see a neat and nifty sig. Special props must also go to Stacey Lovelace-Tolbert for stopping for us even though she was running dangerously close to late. I'd like to think it was the sight of her rookie card that gave her pause. (If we got her in trouble, I'm really sorry.)
We need a banger, and we need one bad. I keep thinking Wendy Palmer-Daniel would be a good fit for the Liberty; in the three games I've seen her now (CT, NY, and Sac), she's been a beast on the boards. If San Antonio starts looking to dump veterans for youth, I would not be averse to getting her and maybe Tai Dillard or a lower-round pick for the Liberty's first-round pick and one of our corps of flawed post players- La'Keshia because she's the best of the trio (and might have the best chance at salary matching), Amisha or DeTrina because of the youth factor. Or if Charlotte were willing to deal Teana Miller. Something like that. We need an enforcer. DeTrina's willing, but she just doesn't have the height, and ups can only do so much.
Frustrating game. Game we should have won. And really, nothing rubs in such a loss like having to walk through horseshit to get across the street.
July 9th, 2005: 2005 WNBA All-Star Game
West 122, East 99
"Sleep deprivation: like being drunk, but it's free!" The Game Notes are off to Mohegan Sun for the All-Star Game and associated festivities. New words are coined, all kinds of fans are everywhere, there's a disconnect between players and coaches, and Ashley Battle may or may not be drowning her sorrows.
"Sleep deprivation: like being drunk, but it's free!"
Man, these All-Star Games take a lot out of you, don't they?
So my mom and I drove up with a friend of ours, and as soon as the gates opened at the fan fest, that was the last that either of them saw of me until about ten minutes before tip-off. I was all over that place like a fungus. I love the look of the new cards, and some of the photos they chose- the Katie Smith one that was on display at the autograph table, with her flexing and grinning, comes to mind- were a hoot. Stood on the autograph line for both East and West- got the East, didn't get the West, but got DeMya Walker later, so that didn't really matter. I spent most of the festival in search of a complete collectoin of fans- every year at All-Star Games, I do my annual check of 'does every team still have at least one fan proud enough to wear their gear and travel X number of miles to se them?' So if you were accosted by a crazy brunette who said she was collecting fans, holla back. I got some great throwback shots in the collection, though; there was a lady in a Janice Braxton jersey, a little teeny girl in a Zheng Haixia jersey, a Jen Gillom jersey and a Bridget Pettis jersey, and a Sales Miracle jersey. I got pictures from every team except San Antonio, and I saw a lady with a Silver Stars backpack, so we're all set. I'd rate this fest/gathering/jam above both New York ones, but below the two-day affairs in Orlando and Washington. The picnic tables alone give them the edge- they were mighty good for my sore and aching feet that I spent all day on. And the lady at the first-aid station was very sweet when I asked for tape to stick my nametag back on my bag (I said was going to wear it, and why would I lie about a thing like that?).
Kate, the Adminitrix at WNBATalk, and Ali were making fools of themselves, as usual- how many times do I have to tell you not to encourage the idiot MC? If you see Lib games, you'd know them in an instant; they're the boa-clad dancing maniacs who sit behind the Liberty bench. They were in full form at the ASG.
I've coined a new term. The collective noun for fans is obsession. For example: "If you see Kelli, tell her that there's an obsession of Sacramento fans over there." This matches up with the collective noun for referees, confusion. For example: "The confusion is at center court- you think they'll get the call made sometime this century?" *grin*
I went inside at five to three, in the company of dts, a Board Junkie with a heart of gold, and his family- his daughter, who I know to be a talented autograph collector, also turns out to have a knack for coming up big in pressure situations- she won a pair of the new Taurasi sneakers in a game of Knockout. They slipped me down courtside for the pre-pregame warmups- if y'all are really nice, I'll post the shots I took down there to my Webpost archive. The sides by the tunnel were mobbed- some players stopped for some folks, some players stopped for other folks, and Ann, Taj, and Becky stopped for 'most everyone. Oh- I think the Shock were filming a commercial down there, to judge from the amount of loaned-out Shock paraphernalia and the way Ruth kept looking at the camera. Shoot, if I'd known that, I would have tracked down the nice ladies I saw in the Shock t-shirts- including a Ruth Riley #00 tee- and told them to come down there. Damn, you forget how striking Ruth is up close- she's not necessarily a traditional beauty, but she's very, very striking. Guess y'all Shock fans are so dazzled by Swin, Barb, and Kara that you miss Ruth.
Oh yeah. Did I mention that the rows in front of dts and family were the friends and family/comped tickets area? We got to chat with Cheryl Ford's mom- she's a total sweetheart, was touched when we pulled out a couple of Cheryl's cards for her. Various and sundry Hammons were also in that section- think we saw DeMya Walker's mom, too, sitting just down the row from Chantelle Anderson. *That* was nifty; it's nice to see the people who gave us these great players- to any basketball parents out there, thank you for loaning us your children.
I eventually decided to be honest and went up to my seat in 107-J. I think it was mostly Liberty fans in that area, although we sat in front of a pair of very sweet Minnesotans. I sold them a batch of Lynx cards- you should have heard them squeeing at the Vanessa Hayden rookie card and laughing at Suzie McConnell Serio's player card from way back when. I sold 'em cheap. It seemed fair. The people in front of us, the poor souls, got delayed because their bus got lost out of New Haven- they missed most of the first half, and they weren't even the worst off. Carrie- the girl who won last year's auction for the game of HORSE with Tamika Catchings- was down the other end of the row in front of us- thought that was cool; I spent a lot of the waiting-on-autograph-lines time chatitng with her and a couple of friends.
The problem with the game was the mismatching. No, not just those times that Dawn Staley ended up guarding Claw. The problem was that the Eastern players cared and the Eastern coaches didn't, whereas the Western coaches cared and the Western players were just like 'whatever, let's watch DeMya bust some moves during the timeout'. The West was loose, which you'd expect when they've won all the games and the only coach who ever came close to beating them is now on their bench, but Anne Donovan and crew kept them focused enough to kick butt. Thibault, on the other hand, seemed to think the game didn't matter; I think his priority was making sure that everyone played and everyone scored- I don't know how many times they tried to feed Dawn before the ball finally went in and theycould get back to trying to play the damn game.
Speaking of the game: I hadn't seen Houston this year, so I hadn't seen with my own eyes that Sheryl Swoopes is kicking rear and taking names. If ever there was a year that she deserved the nickname Her Majesty, it is this year. What is it with Comet players and getting better when they're supposed to be past their primes? This isn't fair! I want an investigation! She was a worthy MVP- that wasn't booing y'all at home heard in the background, that was the sound of several thousand impressed fans going "Swooooooooopes!" Bird and Taurasi, in addition to keeping the Western players in stitches, ran a couple of plays that I swear Geno would have recognized from the sideline- but they worked, they got 'em open threes. Birdy looks strange with the mask on, but today it didn't seem to bother her. Maybe the meds were really kicking in. *grin* Taurasi was adorable- oh yeah, she also hit a three-pointer from what had to be thirty, thirty-five feet out; her feet were on the little secondary All-Star logo off to the side. It was near the end of the game, so we were all out of ooohs and ahhhs for something like that, but it was still impressive. Yolanda played like it was her last game, as she walys does, and she got her groove on prettygood during the tiemouts. LJ did the defensive work, what little of it there needed to be. Katie Smith off the bench- which are two phrases that should never be stitched together, by the way- took a few bad shots, but then one three fell and it was all over after that; she just wound up and put them in- I've never seen a shot as automatic as hers in my life. Marieeeee's shot is still gorgeous, and one of the debates in the car on the way home was ' who has the prettier shot, Ferdinand or Swoopes?' She also brought the D, getting some flashy steals off casual ballhandling. Holdsclaw had a couple of reverse moves that were siiiiiick. Leslie played tough; more than that, I dare not say. DeMya, in addition to some nifty moves on the court, kept us all laughing up on the seats when she pulled out her dance moves during the timeouts. She got this All-Star thing in a way that most other players and folks didn't- play hard when you get out there, but have fun while you're doing it. After free throws, and there were a ridiculous amount of free throws, the sight of her and Dawn Staley tangled up in the frontcourt (or what would be the frontcourt- you know what I mean) was hysterical, but also pointedup the problem with the East's lineup. I liked the shimmeryness of AD's shirt. Yes, Seattlites, y'all really do have a well-dressed coaching staff.
Tamika Catchings. How anyone can speak ill of that woman is completely beyond me. She had such hustle, such passion, such beautiful shots, that if the East had managed to pull this one off, she would have been MVP, no doubt. Becky was the only other starter who looked like she really belonged there; she hit some deep shots too, one only a little bit closer to the arc than the Taurasi 'eh, what the hell' shot. But Dawn, much as I hate to say it, looked old, slow, and lost out there. Swin might have been ready to play ball, but she wasn't ready for an All-Star game. What Bill Laimbeer was thinking, I suppose we'll never know. Ruth chose a good night to have a good game, but she and all the other Eastern posts looked like they didn't know what they were doing. Much as I hate to say it, that includes Ann; she was caught totally flat-footed out there, lost and confused. My friend, who's a die-hard Liberty fan who will never admit that any Lib does anything wrong other than Elena, says it was because she didn't get enough minutes and she didn't get enough touches. I say she looked like a damn rookie, and tha t was the reaosn why she wasn't getting minutes and wasn't getting touches. Taj looked like shewas playing in pain for parts of the game- her back spasms? Keesh was out of it, plain and simple- missed two passes that she should have had- yeah, her offense turned on in the second half, but by then, it was too late. Alana Beard does a better impersonation of a point guard than I thought. I hadn't seen her in that position (not and remembered, in any case; remember, I missed the first Mystic visit to the Garden this year, and last year, I had other things on my mind during the Washington game). It might well be a position that suits her after all. Tweety couldn't get her shots to fall until late. We were all hoping she'd make the dunk she was trying for- wouldn't that have just shut Lisa up? She came mighty close, too. Keeep practicing, Tweety; we'll see it next year, right? Cheryl Ford got hit in the face sometime near the waning minutes of the second half, came off holding her jersey over her face. Other than that, I don't remember what she did. That's the problem with the morning after, you never remember things...
After the game, I went to hang out by the box office. dts, Dani, and crew were there- so were a couple of other Board Junkies. After some time, Ann popped out on the phone. A wave of fans descended upon her, and after signing a few 'graphs, she fled back into the arena. She was the only player we saw. Ann Meyers also came out that way, but I wouldn't get too close to her. She might have cooties. DeMya Walker's mom and grandma came out that way too- DeMya's looks and personality definitely come from that side of the family. Oh, and Lib fans, you'll never guess who was there on a league credential- Boris, Elena's boyfriend. No, I don't know why.
So around sevenish, I went up to Lucky's, where the Board Junkies were having the meetup. It was mostly Lib fans, actually, drinking, watching the Yankee game, and wondering what precisely Thibault was on while coaching that game. We were wondering who else off that board was going to pop in- some out-of-area folks were supposed to be stopping by, but we hadn't seen either of them. Along around seven-thirty a guy in a Comets t-shirt wandered in, looking around for a group. We acted on a hunch and waved him over. 'Twas pilight, who had missed the whole enchilada because of flight troubles at O'Hare (and I've been stranded at O'Hare- it's NOT fun). Lucky's also played host to a couple of former Huskies, Ashley Battle and Jessica Moore. Is it wrong for me to wonder if they were drowning their sorrows after being midseason cuts?
If anyone has that photo from open practice where Sheryl was sitting on LJ's lap, please e-mail me the image or a link to the image? That needs to be used for something.
Damn, I'm exhausted just typing this.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
July 7th, 2005: Connecticut at New York
New York Liberty 89, Connecticut Sun 79
The Maalox Moments return home, Vickie Johnson does not seem to be present despite all appearances, and Taj McWilliams-Franklin is (ahem) solid in more ways than one.
Ah, the Maalox Moments, how I love thee. They lose to Charlotte and San Antonio, and then they whip Connecticut. It makes my brain hurt.
A minor miracle occurred during warm-ups: Katie Douglas stopped and signed for all of us. Taj and Lindsay didn't join in the pre-pregame warm-ups, dunno why; someone said that Lindsay had been and gone, and they've been talking about Taj's back spasms, so maybe those are their alibis. *shrug* I was a bit miffed, though, 'cause I need Taj for my collection.
The anthem sucked. Emoting and histrionics are all well and good, but they don't disguise the notes that the guy beat to death and the two words he muffed. Save the drama for your mama, dude.
Ann! Holy cow, Ann! She was amazing tonight, inside and out. Her shooting touch was on, she was rebounding, and she set some mean picks- though she didn't have to do that very much (a lot of the plays went to her). She played like an All-Star. So did Becky. She came on in crunch time, which had been one of my criticisms of her earlier on in the season. And she dished. Dishing is good. Shameka was... tonight, she was a Meek. I refuse to use that silly Meeksiah nickname, but tonight she earned the right to be spoken of in the same breath as Chamique and Tamika. She had some awesome moves that left us gasping in awe, and then there was that block on Nykesha Sales- 'get that shit out of here!/not in my house!' kind of stuff, man. She took control late. She's looking more and more confident every day. If she can keep that up, I may be somewhat converted. VJ has been replaced by a Pod Person. If you see the real VJ, please return her to Madison Square Garden; there's probably a mondo reward. But she and Crystal brought defense. Payton may be the Glove, but what good does one glove do you? We've got two. Crystal also contributed a key three and a lovely reverse layup that had us oohing and ahhing. Elena sucked. Period. Loree was quiet, La'Keshia was quite handy, and everyone else warmed the bench. (And Amisha Carter lies about her age. Why you'd want to do that at 23 is completely beyond me.) Kraayveld needs to get into a game so I can find out how to pronounce her last name, since she's going to be around for the rest of the season. Patty finally blew her top at the refs and got a T. I was yelling for Marianne to leash her after that. And DeTrina actually scored a 7/10 on the fashion scale- new shirt, even.
Okay, I have seen Lindsay Whalen go off. Remind me again why she's not on the All-Star team. Oh, right, because Dawn Staley is starting. Right now I'd take her over Dawn, or Alana Beard even, and I'm partial to Alana. She's a playmaker who knows when to dish and when to swish, when to shoot it long and when to drive. I don't particularly like her- something about her style, or her personality, or something, just rubs me the wrong way- but I have to admit that she's got game. Taj also looked very solid tonight. (Very solid. Anyone who was there can attest to that after she took her jersey off.) She's a wicked awesome rebounder, and I wish to Goddess we had her. Margo looked off tonight- wasn't in position, wasn't working for the rebounds, wasn't going inside. She does, however, have one of the prettiest releases and followthroughs on her jump shot. Maybe it's just that everything she does is magnified because of her size, but her followthrough is much clearer and more pronounced than any I've seen on someone other than VJ, and y'all know how exaggerated VJ's jumper is. Katie Douglas is an awesome defender, the kind of woman who will not give you an inch of space unless you physically move her somewhere else- and don't leave her open, for Crissake! Keesh was off early tonight; I think that got into her head, and then the rotation of VJ and Crystal on her really rattled her cage. The block by Shameka was just icing on the cake. Asjha Jones got a lot of minutes- more than Dydek? She was the one Coach Thibault preferred to go with down the stretch. She's another tough one, a banger through and through, and she's got a nice stroke. I like Brooke Wyckoff- she's a servicable spare part. The rest of the Connecticut bench didn't do anything for me, though I admire Coach for sending everyone in during the foul derby. It's more than Patty managed. *rolleyes* And yes, he was deserving of that technical. Considering the incompetence of the referees, he really shouldn't have been complaining.
Dancers with balls just don't do it for me, but then, I spent most of halftime on the concourse, chatting and buying a large soda to soothe my throat. I spent two and a half years in theatre training, so I know how to breathe deeply and let it out on a "deeeeeee-fense!" sound, but it takes its toll after a while. Plus, it scares small children.
Kym sighting! And A'riel! Such a cuuuuuute kid. (And her mommy's not bad either. )
I love this team. But I do wish just once that they'd stop driving me crazy.
Wooooowee, WNBATalk party behind the bench! I was so tempted to stay, you have no idea.
June 30th, 2005: Sacramento at New York
Sacramento Monarchs 61, New York Liberty 50
The Liberty are confused. So are the Game Notes.
Mom kept describing this game as lackluster, and that seems to be the right word for it. There was a distinct lack of energy in the building, at least on the Liberty's part and on the part of Liberty fans. There were times when this logically seemed like a winnable game, but deep in the pit of my stomach, I knew there was no way we were going to pull it off, even when we closed to within six or four or three.
Amisha Carter didn't even bother to show up tonight. I mean, I can understand it, there's really no point to coming, except for the free courtside seat, but it just struck me as a BAD THING. She better have a reason for it. DeTrina was in street clothes- word to the wise: iron the shirt before you wear it. Especially when the other team's IR player is Erin Buescher, modeling a rather nice top and slacks, with sensible enough shoes that she was helping with some of the inbound passes for the pregame warmups.
I didn't know refs had friends. Did you? Ref #25, a lady with a blonde ponytail who could have passed for a scion of the Black family tree, had a hugs-and-kisses moment with someone pregame. She also high-fived the kids from the biddy game. I fear for their souls now. Said biddy game was actually pretty damn good for a bunch of kids. They ran fastbreaks, they tried cross-court passes, they used the glass, and one of them even hit a midrange jumper. Seriously, they were awesome. Best biddy game I've ever seen at MSG. Would that it had been an omen.
Anthem was done by the guys from Altar Boyz, which I now want to check out. They've got the sound pretty much down, and they sounded good. The high notes made me wince, though, but I expect men to have trouble hitting higher notes. It's when they don't that I worry.
My scribbled notes indicate that at 11:52 of the first half, I was thinking, "Holy hell, do we ever have butterfingers tonight! We look miserable and confused out there!" The plays that worked against lesser teams weren't working against Sacramento, who's bigger, tougher, and more defensive-minded than any other team in this league. Ann might be able to budge Ruth Riley or Kelly Schumacher, but if she tries to shove Yolanda, Yo shoves back twice as hard. I think at that point, I was also thinking, "No, I can't see La'Keshia as a realtor. Actress, yes, after her cameo in Love and Basketball, and for some reason I can very much see her at the front of a classrom that's about to stop being unruly, but I just can't imagine her showing off houses."
Um, guys with German flag? WTF? Linda's not here anymore, you know...
Halftime=dancers. Aieeeeeeeeee, why must we have dancers inflicted on us? Do something basketball-related, for the love of Goddess!
A'riel (sp?) is the epitome of cuteness. She knows how to work the camera. I think several thousand people fell instantly in love with her when she looked right at the camera and stuck her tongue out at the lot of us. Between the knack for the camera and the toy cell phone, I think it's safe to say that she's very much her mother's daughter. And that's a good thing for Baby Liberty.
Okay, so maybe Loree wasn't a wasted draft pick. She does have a knack for running a team, which is very important for a point guard. She kept the offense flowing pretty well. Now, if she would only discover a shot, before we end up infected with Four-Woman-Offense Syndrome again. But why Tamara remains a DNP-CD is utterly beyond me. I'd talk about everyone one by one, but I'd start to sound like a broken record. No one had anything working tonight. Ann came the closest, because she wasn't foiled by sheer bad mojo, but by the fact that Yolanda is a hella better player than she is, on both ends of the floor. VJ also had her moments, but she didn't look like the player we've expected her to look like this season. Shameka did not have a lot of offense- again, she was hesitant- but she was a terror on the boards, she stuffed Yolanda twice, and I think she was the one with the wicked tackle on Nicole Powell. Crystal certainly didn't set back the Shameka-as-starter cause, and if Elena keeps this shit up, we're going to have a La'Keshia-for-starter campaign going soon. Becky, odd as it sounds to say, didn't spend enough time looking for her shot. I don't know if it's because we've come to expect it or because teams are keying in on other players, but she's passing up shots she should be taking, making passes she doesn't need to make, and I can't believe these words are coming out of my fingers, I really can't. But the offense tonight looked like crap. I don't know why the hell Patty was reaching for Gatorade, because it wasn't like she was doing anything.
DeMya Freaking Walker. If this is how she's been playing all season, she damn well better make the All-Star team. Although I've never seen a player more aptly named- three TOs on traveling violations, each with a different cheesy song attached. Chelsea Newton played a solid defensive game (yeah, I know, the word I'm reaching for here is 'duh'), but it would have been nice for all the RU fans who were there to see her go off. Ticha, Haynie, and Lawson may be the toughest, scrappiest, stubbornest backcourt combination in the league, and if you factor in Chelsea, it only gets worse. I mean, damn, those women are stubborn. They were getting floorburns with under a minute to go. Yo was... Yo. You know Yo. Although the oncourt supportive mother/daughter thing she's got going on with Rebekkah Brunson nearly had me rolling in the aisles. Bekkah's taking that Baby Yo nickname seriously- I think she's even got a tat similar to one of Yolanda's, and she's certainly got the tangle and bang down pat. I'm going to work under the assumption that Nicole Powell spent most of the game under the aegis of one of the Liberty's defensive aces, because otherwise there really isn't an excuse for the way she played tonight. Tante didn't strike any chords with me, but she may well have been of use to Sacramento defensively. Darned if I know. Coach Whisenant, though, is one of the most emotive coaches in the league. He's a hoot to watch.
Just in general, no one should have been taking hook shots tonight. Whether it was Elena, Ann, or DeMya, they weren't falling. Of course, that usually meant therewas a Monarch there to pick up the rebound and put it in the general direction of the appropriate basket. I don't have the final rebounding totals, but the halftime differential was 21-11, 4-1 on the offensive boards. The Liberty just weren't boxing out and the Monarchs most definitely were. I remember one play where the two players crashing the boards the hardest were Crystal and Ticha, and I couldn't help but wonder precisely what the HELL our post players were doing othe than looking right idiots. I think I yelled something to that effect, too. Man, my vocal cords haven't hurt this much in ages. Then again, I wasn't in my normal seat- I scored a courtside ticket off Jean, the nice lady who's doing the photos for SportsPage. So I was in with a crazy crowd, and I kind of wanted to fit in. The only problem with shrieking is that by the second half, it's impossible to do the Xena warcry that puts free throw shooters off their timing.
We got hella more free throws than they did up until hopeless foul derby time, so I ain't gonna get fussed. Seriously, though, other than Reggie Miller, has that 'foul desperately, hope they miss, and hope we hit a lot of quick threes' strategy EVER worked in the history of foul shots and three pointers? Drives me NUTS.
Rutgers orchestrated a takeover of the Garden, and I'm not just talking about the fans who gave Chelsea such a warm welcome home (although the one girl in the #2 Monarchs jersey definitely gets props). Sue was there, of course- she walked by our section, we did the "Suuuuuuuuuuue!!" thing, and she covered her face with her hands. We like her. We really like her. Apparently Vivian Stringer was also in the house, though I didn't see her, and there were a hella lot of Scarlet Knights and former Scarlet Knights kicking around, including our erstwhile draft pick.
The Hustle is not a good song to put on the PA for a raffle. The Monarchs are not a good team to go cold against. Whether it was just because Sacramento's D makes anyone look bad or because we really *are* that bad remains to be seen. Unfortunately, I don't think Connecticut is going to be a fair bellwether of that, either, because the same argument can be made for the Sun as for the Monarchs.
June 21st, 2005: San Antonio at New York
New York Liberty 77, San Antonio Silver Stars 59
The Liberty celebrate their eighth birthday in style and start to show flashes of brilliance.
Ah, now that's more like it. For a change, the Liberty smacked around a team that they were supposed to smack around. They didn't play down to the other team's level, which is always a good thing. This is just what they needed to get their arses in gear.
It always helps to have a good anthem- barbershop women's group style.
Congrats to Ann for tying her career high. She held her own against Chantelle Anderson, not so much against Feenstra, but then, there are linebackers who would have to yield ground to Katie Feenstra. Elena didn't score much- shots fell short, and that's not a good omen- but 10 rebounds make me verra verra happy. Ann needs to lay off the hook shots, though. Try them out against less impressive post players. Becky continued on that lovely trend of playing the point to a tee. I'm starting to be less afraid when she drives the lane, although I still cringe. Her passes amaze me. I still think we sacrifice too much offense when she's not a shooting guard, especially since Crystal has been in such a slump, but if we keep winning, I can't say very much. VJ was actually kind of quiet tonight, but we didn't need her to heat it up. She did her Miss Intangible trick. Is Crystal okay? The boy spotted her being taken care of by the trainer, and that would certainly explain why she hasn't been herself. Shameka decided that today was a good day to live up to the Baby Swoopes moniker in the second half- she went on a scoring burst with acrobatic moves and nifty tricks. She also racked up a few rebounds, which I like out of a six-one forward. La'Keshia started finding her stroke, although I'd much rather have my post player finding her stroke from the paint than from the elbow and the midrange, you know? Tamara actually got to shoot the ball! I thought a miracle had occurred; I also like the way she runs the team, although I'd like to see more of her and Becky at the same time. We even had Erin and Amisha sightings- Erin notched an assist to La'Keshia, while Amisha had a foul and a TO. DeTrina was back to battling, and she got to the line four times, scoring thrice. The plays being called and the substitutions being made caused me to wonder if one of the other Coyle sisters had socked Patty over the head and taken her suit before the game. Why, yes, I do have a vivid imagination.
Marie looked like herself. She's one of the few determined drivers in this league, and she used that effectively to make sure she could get her outside shot off. Pee-Wee didn't look all that great, although she had a rather... interesting tackle on Becky during a jump ball situation- except the ball was already well away. *laughs* You know a team's bad off when Dalma Ivanyi, a journeywoman point guard by trade, is starting at small forward. She actually presented herself well, both as a playmaker and an outside shooter. It's nice to see her making her mark. Wendy Palmer-Daniel is rebounding like there's no tomorrow- ah, if only San Antonio's two forward slots on the ballot weren't taken by two gimps, she might get some well-deserved votes. She's been amazing in the two games I've seen her (remember that I went up to Mohegan to see the Sun and the SASS). Today was Chantelle's day to be effective- she's got a lovely touch, which would make sense for one of the best shooters in recent NCAA times. But when Feenstra comes in, it's a complete change of pace, because Chantelle's one of those long, skinnyish posts, while Feenstra's big and solid. She sucked tonight, though, and that makes my heart skip a beat with joy. (What can I say? Talking about God gets my hackles up. You wanna be a devout Christian, fine, but I don't want to hear about it. I realize that it's not a particularly rational reason to dislike a player, but I am not a creature of logic.) Meanwhile, back on the bench, Nikki McCray is really at the end of her string- she just comes in now as a defensive sub, and even not that often. A slightly lesser ditto to Edna Campbell, although Edna still seems to have a bit left in the tank. Not much, though. Shyra Ely came, she saw, and she went back to the bench. Not exactly a lot of run for Ely. Dan Hughes, while he substituted freely, used a tight rotation.
No particularly heinous refs, just general badness. The usual array of ticky-tack calls while wrestling matches went on uninterrupted. Consistency was once again missing. The Liberty got the benefit of the doubt on some out of bounds calls, but got called for more phantom fouls, so the idiocy evened out. We did have the guy who can't toss the ball. Yes, pilight, I know that that doesn't narrow things down very much.
Favorite moments of the game: Becky's gorgeous pass to La'Keshia that La'Keshia proceeded to botch up finishing twice. Erin on defense- her hoops IQ impresses me whenever I see her. Elena blocking folks. Sista Christon fouling Feenstra- that just tickles my bad pun center. Seeing the team not fuck up. I like that.
Small crowd, but a good one. It was fun hanging out with the boy and one of my other buddies during the game- I love being able to talk to people about the game instead of watching dancers. And, hey, return of Liberty Ad-Libs, which always garner a chuckle out of folks. Sent the twins off in style- WNBATalkers, if you saw a pair of virtually identical brunettes with press passes, those would be them.
On to Charlotte, where hopefully the Liberty can keep up doing what they're supposed to do so that Erin and Amisha won't have time to count every single fan in the stands while they wait for their minute.
Happy 8th Birthday, Liberty! Nice to know it went as well as the first one.
June 18th, 2005: Phoenix at New York
New York Liberty 65, Phoenix Mercury 54
The Game Notes would like for screaming fangirls to find a new idol, recognize the talent of Plenette Pierson, and have a run-in with rosemary.
Let me preface my remarks by saying that I rather like Diana Taurasi. I don't have a problem with her attitude or the way she plays. She brings back fond memories of the early years of the league, when everything felt spangly new and shiiiiiny. I wish her nothing but the absolute best, unless she and the Mercury come up against the Liberty in the Finals one of these years.
Having said that, I devoutly wish her term as the Next Big Thing would come to an end already. It's really quite frustrating to walk into an arena full of a visiting player's jersey, or to be helplessly surrounded by her acolytes when I'm trying to 'graph collect from Anna DeForge or Kamila Vodichkova. The Merc, at least at the Garden, have a very sneaky trick of drafting behind Diana as they leave the court- everyone latches on to Diana, and therefore no one can get through to go for her teammates. When you're someone who isn't interested in the Diana all that much, it's the kind of thing that can put you in a bad mood.
Bad anthem. No cookie.
But on to the game. Most of you will have seen it. So y'all know that VJ joined the 3000 Club. Yaaaaaay, VJ! Quiet game for her, but the 14 points were enough to put her over the top, so that made it her day all by itself. No one really stood out tonight the way they have other games. Becky continues to show that maybe she can be a point guard after all. I'm slowly starting to believe that it's a viable possibility. Bear with me. I change my mind slowly, and I reserve the right to point and shriek "I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!" if she starts backsliding. I *would* like to see her and Tamara on the floor at the same time, just to make sure that Becky can keep her two-guard skills sharp. Crystal, being rather busy on the defensive end, didn't have time for much offense, but she put in a couple of rather nice shots. Ann was solid on the boards and great in the paint. Would whoever's voting for Ruth Riley out there please watch some games? If this keeps up, either Annie or Margo Dydek is going to get shafted, and that's a bad thing. Elena's game seems to have arrived on American shores; the shots that were hitting the rim and falling out before are hitting the rim and falling in this time, and that's good. As for everyone else... if I say what I thought of Shameka today, I'll be tarred and feathered on Tuesday, and I really don't like that- takes forever to get the tar out of my hair, you understand. At least La'Keshia's alive. That's always good.
Patty, give Blaze back the crack pipe. Please. Playing the Crystal-at-the-two lineup works about as well as the Shameka-at-the-four lineup. Neither of them make any sense to a sober person. The substitution patterns today bore as much resemblence to sanity as a Rorschach blob. Seriously. In, out, hot hand benched, mistakes rewarded- I swear, I was watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers whenever I looked at Patty on the bench. Is there a pool on when she'll be forced out? Can I put an entry in for when Marianne Stanley pulls out a samurai sword and goes Kill Bill on her ass?
Too many Liberty defenders were buying the hype. That's the only reason I can think of for people making the unconscionable mistake of leaving Penny Taylor open. I don't care if it means you have to single-cover Taurasi, you make DAMN sure you have someone on Taylor and someone on DeForge. I don't care if either of them is 0-skaty-eight, you do NOT leave them uncovered. You may switch your weakest permiter defender on whichever one of the trio is having a bad night, but you don't double down on one of them unless you're a post player coming in to help. Taylor burned us too many times, and DeForge burned us too many times. Of course, Taurasi got her own back; this wasn't the icky performance she put on last year. She's getting used to the place. As a Liberty fan, I'm thinking that's not of the good. Vodichkova was tough inside. Plenette Pierson impressed me. Keep that one, Phoenix. Keep that one. Shereka Wright also looked good- if I were Carrie Graf, I'd play her more often and let one of the Trio rest for reasons other than foul trouble. (I'd also be Aussie, and that would be very cool, but that's apropos of absolutely nothing.) The bench players function very well as a unit, which would make sense, since they'd be used to working with each other.
Refereeing: June Courteau. 'Nuff said.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuue sighting, yay! She was sitting with someone who Glenn thought looked suspiciously like one of the Scarlet Knights (either Locke or Adams). Bethany was also in the building. Both of them were quite well put together. I miss the days when the Liberty had players with fashion sense. Someone was able to tell VJ that pink was a no-go. No one does that sort of thing anymore, leading to the increased sightings of pink. They made a point of showing us Allan Houston and his adorable daughter. Cute kid, not so cute daddy. But at least he cares for one game.
If you were the guy in 226 wearing the Mets gear and booing Taurasi, hit me up. Don't worry, I won't tar and feather you.
Went to the Play By Play after the game, upon the twins' request. I didn't know they'd put in arcade games! They had an NBA pinball machine. I was in seventh heaven. I am now the proud holder of the Knicks high score. Boo-yah. Don't order anything on their foccacia. I nearly choked to death on a stray piece of rosemary, and that would have blown chunks.
Dads and Daughters is a cute promotional thing. I'd like the season to extend slightly towards Mother's Day so we can see a Moms and Daughters thing, because you might get more meaningful stories. When you have to go to Erin, Shameka, and La'Keshia for the balance of the team's heartwarming stories, you might have to get a new schtick, Becky aside. But the games? The timeout activities needed to go away as soon as was humanly possible.
June 12th, 2005: Detroit at New York
New York Liberty 72, Detroit Shock 69
Becky Hammon has a good point guard day, Deanna Nolan is remarkable, and both Patty Coyle and Bill Laimbeer need to shaddap already.
I had to leave this game with nine minutes left in the second half. They had an eleven-point lead at that point, as Becky had just canned her third trey of the half. If they gave it up, I will be seeking Patty's blood on Saturday.
VJ was a monster- 19 points by the time I had to leave. She looked good. Real good. Likewise, Elena's offense arrived in the second half, which was good, because previous to that she had been trying to shoot her way out of the slump, and it, um, wasn't working. Ann was a beast on the glass, although there was another blonde outjumping her. But Becky gets her own paragraph today. Crystal was kinda quiet, came up limping on one play, but I think it was just a cramp. She does, however, need to find a jersey that fits, or make herself fit her jersey, if you follow my meaning. Only saw Tamara, D-Train, and Sameka come off the bench, but happy birthday, La'Keshia. Tamara looks like a nice addition, but it would be interesting to see her play beside Becky a little more often. Except... well, that's next paragraph. DeTrina did her thing, including a nice lay-up. Shameka... eh, not so much. Everyone's entitled to a bad day.
To my utter surprise and amazement- and joy, I should add- Becky looked fantastic today at the 1. Time and time again, she drove the lane and I started wincing that she was going to throw up a shot that had no business being in the air, but instead she dished. The passing game today was great- they only had six or seven turnovers when I left the arena- and I think she had a lot to do with it. And when they needed to extend the lead, to make sure that if Detroit had a run they had enough of a cushion, sehe started hitting the threes, and they were beautiful. I still don't particularly like her, but today, she deserved all the plaudits she could get.
Detroit. Swin looked marvelous. Well, duh. Ruth Riley- what's up with her? She's not even getting the chippies. Getting chippy, maybe, but not hitting them. Cheryl got back on the right track- she wasn't quite all that when they came to MSG last time. Tweety- I swear, there isn't a spare ounce anywhere on that woman, it's all muscle- looked fabulous, speedy and sharp and if she's not an All-Star there ought to be a recount. She didn't get off a lot of shots, which I'd like to attribute to the Liberty defense. No one else for Detroit made an impression, although I gotta say, this extended absence for Swin is giving SFO a helluva bench player in the form of Ayana Walker; she's getting better and better. Of course, the big man himself couldn't keep his mouth shut.
I was sitting with the crazy women with the boas today. Close enough to have Patty nearly take out my eardrum with a shriek of anger. Sitting behind the bench is ever so much fun.
Beautiful, beautiful anthem today from Anthony of American Idol fame. Great voice. I was a little put off by his arrangement, but he got the lyrics right, and that's always a positive.
Kym sighting. Big girls and track/sweatpants do not mix, trust from someone who knows.
I'll be in 109 on Saturday, having bought a ticket off a buddy who's an STH. Jeez, for someone who doesn't go to the box office, I get to a lot of games .
June 4th, 2005: San Antonio at Connecticut
Connecticut Sun 80, San Antonio Silver Stars 69
Girl Scouts, confused Silver Stars, elven warriors, tall women in black- just another day at Mohegan Sun for the Game Notes of Doom.
Bonus game notes coming to you from a half-conscious and somewhat distracted Queenie six hours after game's end. Any errors are due to either my brain going die, my brain going elsewhere, or a change in perception due to the six-hour delay.
Smallish crowd, but what would you expect? The novelty of Pee-Wee returning has worn off, and San Antonio has no UConn players to draw in extra people. Still, it's disconcerting to be there ten minutes before the gates open and see more security guys than people waiting to get in. Okay, maybe the numbers weren't that bad, but believe you me, it was a close ratio.
They search a heck of a lot more thoroughly at Mohegan than they do at MSG or any other arena I've visited. I mean, they put on the proctologist's gloves! They pat you down! Jeez, I know I wield a mean Sharpie, but I didn't think my rep had reached the Nutmeg State.
Forgetting the rosters does not get you bonus points in my book, either. I mean, silly me, what's a lot of Girl Scouts going to do with rosters to identify who everyone might be? But there were folks at that game who weren't hyperactive, hypersonic Girl Scouts and maybe thought a roster would have come in handy. Not cool, people. Not cool.
Met up with dts, the infamous Dani, and the lady of the house (who, from the introduction, I'm gonna assume is the 'nms' at the end of dts's screenname). Pee-Wee knows how to work a crowd, even when it's not technically hers. She's cool. I rather like her. And according to her, people did actually call her Pee-Wee without laughing while she had Debbie Black as a teammate. I don't understand it myself, but I'm just strange.
The Girl Scouts made a big-ass banner for the Sun to run through. Lindsay Whalen just took one look at it as if to say, 'WHAT is this thing doing in my path to the basketball court?' and brushed the paper out of her way. Somehow I don't think that was the effect they were going for. It's all for the best, really. If they'd had the players run through it, someone would probably have tripped, fallen, and taken out a teammate as she did. That's just the way these things work.
San Antonio just looks lost on the court. It's kind of sad. On the plus side, LaToya Thomas seems to be coming into her own. Wendy Palmer-Daniel seems determined to prove that there's power in her yet- I think she was high rebounder for the SASS, and if she wasn't she sure came off that way. Chantelle Anderson still has a long way to go, but she's starting to show flashes of the country's leader in field goal percentage. (pilight, as an aside: has any team ever acquired the #1 and #2 picks from the same draft before?) No one seemed to have their stroke today except for Toya and Wendy. Oh, and Katie Feenstra, but she scares me, so I don't want to talk about her. She splits the center minutes with Anderson; effectively, they play half and half, situationally. It was nice to see Edna on the court- she still looks good; if Chelsea Newton hadn't stepped it up, I bet the Monarchs would be missing her while Lawson was out. But so few Connecticut fans clapped for her that I wondered if they just don't know. No one else really left an impression, other than Pee-Wee blowing kisses to the crowd before tip-off. Whatever she or Marieeeee did, it was on the low- easy when you're in those black uniforms.
Taj was unconscious tonight. Not literally, but figuratively. She was unstoppable inside, and even when she felt like popping a three it went in. If she hadn't spent about half the game on the sidelines, it might have been an even uglier margin of victory. Keesh stepped it up late, including bringing her defense, which was appreciated. Whalen had a quiet game, unless she got a lot of assists. She also needs to learn the same lesson as Becky: that trick only works once, after that, you end up getting reintroduced to it at high speed and with a bit more force behind it. Margo had a good game, although she needst o learn to grab a rebound instead of tapping it every which-way; several times I was sure that she had forgotten which team she was on, so many taps and tips were going to Silver Stars. But she's got a nice-looking shot and if she gets in the right place she can be a very effective defender. Connecticut has a funy way on offense: they look so lost, like the play's constantly broken down, and then suddenly the right person ends up with the ball and takes the right shot. It's some kind of magic. Uh... Sun bench: since Taj spent so much time on the bike machine, Thibault had to go a little deeper into his bench than he might have ordinarily. Asjha Jones seems to have some sort of philosophical difference with the rims at the Mohegan Sun Arena; given time, I'm sure they'll all learn to get along, but until then, she can't rely on any bounces to go her way. Le'Coe Willingham looks good- more svelte, still as willing to kick ass and take names. Brooke Wyckoff is a favorite of mine (it's the avenue), and she made a couple of nice plays today, including one that will get its own paragraph. The SWGs were interchangable.
Katie Douglas is getting her own paragraph, and it's not for good reasons. Talented she may be- she went on a 8-0 run of her own in the second half to effectively make San Antonio go die- but she carries a lot of attitude for a young player. I can understand not being Miss Congeniality with her backstory, but there was one play near the end of the game that riled up even the coach. It was under a minute left- I think it was the 27-second mark- where four bench players were in with her, three of them being kids who hadn't scored, and she still went in for a difficult and unnecessary shot. San Antonio got the ball and play stopped, and Thibault promptly sent in Derevjanik and proceeded to try and tear Miss Douglas a new one. It might have worked if she'd bothered listening, but she blew right by him to sit on the end of the bench. No. This is unacceptable.
Play of the game- end of the first half: Sun have the ball, with a shot clock differential. Keesh throws up a three, airball, Wyckoff runs under the basket to snare the rebound and set up someone else for a shot, shot misses, San Antonio has possession, except for the matter of a steal involving Douglas and Wyckoff, half ends with a Keesh lay-up. I think that really deflated the Silver Stars, as if they needed it further.
Second favorite moment of the game: anything that involved Chantelle Anderson doing her porny player tricks. Those are always good for a laugh, although I don't think Mr. Daniel would be too happy with where she touched his wife at one point. I like her, don't get me wrong. I just think she makes the perfect foil to the pious Baptist girl who signs with a Bible verse about God knowing your thoughts of peace.
I still miss catching out-of-town scores, but I'll live with that. I definitely like not having people hawking crap in my line of sight. The seats could use some work, though
Anthem singer blew chunks. Dude, there is no excuse for not knowing the words if they're on the jumbotron in front of your face. Halftime was Simon Says. We avoided that. There were a whole passel of activities set up in the corridor for the Scouts. If that path was true, Jenn Derevjanik has no feet. That would make her story even more compelling. They had one of those mini-hoops with mino-balls set up, and it even came with mini-shothogs. I was this close to addressing them as Diana, Anna, and Nykesha, but I don't think the guys would have appreciated that.
Refs didn't noticably suck, even though Thibault was doing his best to make people think they did during a couple of calls. Good for a laugh, though. Coachepiece Theatre should be a staple in every league.
Stayed after the game with Sharpie in hand and boyfriend in tow. (He's a good boyfriend. I think I'll keep him.) Sandy Brondello cleans up niiiice! It's funny to see her working in street clothes. I still think of her as the Sol's elven warrior, or if I have to modernize, in Storm green. If only her Aussie magic would work on the SASS. Some of the Silver Stars sent their bags up with the bellhop. That amused me no end.
Oh, and someone needs to tell evil-troll-Debbie that Margo Dydek cleans up quite well- maybe not quite like Danica Patrick, but she knows how to present herself and dress stylishly; black may be simple and overused, but there's a reason people keep going back to it, and she looked good in it.
Overall, it was nice to go to a WNBA game as a complete neutral and take everything in. So that's, what, my third game of the season? Not bad for a non-STH.
May 26th, 2005: Indiana at New York
Indiana Fever 67, New York Liberty 59
The Game Notes would like to be wrong about Ann Wauters, the Fever are kinda awesome, and there's too much jiggling going on.
By the grace of wnbatalk.com's adminitrix Kate, I got to go to this game. And sit courtside with two screaming maniacs in boas. Life is good, at least until gametime.
Such a nice bunch, those Fever players. Tamika Catchings must be catching. (I tried to avoid the bad pun, but it's eleven at night and my brain is in a happy place without me.) Okay, so maybe I wish Kelly Schumacher would settle on a hair color, but that's just me.
It's never a good sign when your anthem singer comes from a national 'singing in the shower' competition. Nice enough voice, no range.
How long has Ann been this good? If she can keep it up, I will gladly admit that I was wrong about her. While she still shows too much of a propensity to not bang, she's more willing to mix it up on the inside than Elena (okay, so maybe everyone up to and including Erin is more willing to mix it up on the inside than Elena, but still). She showed a gorgeous little hook shot that made me squeal, clutch my heart, and then clutch the person next to me. Now if only we could get her to the point where she can outjump Kelly Miller... Meanwhile, back on the ranch... y'all know I love Crystal to death, but I gotta be honest here. She's starting to look a little like Stint in the front and Jen Gillom in the rear, if you follow what I mean. And trust, that *hurts* when you're trying to go up for a jump shot. At least she hit some of those jumpers today, and she's still being tenacious on the boards, but her defense was a bit suspect tonight. Becky... Becky needs to learn that that trick only works once, maybe twice, a game. They catch on eventually. She's getting better defensively and as a floor leader, though. VJ was VJ, back to her old self. Elena is still struggling, and that bothers me, because I heart Elena. Edwige has impressed me; it's good to have a solid point guard coming off the bench, so let's hope she doesn't get sucked into the vacuum that is Point Guard Purgatory and has sent a couple of point guards on to Hell. Erin got points, yay! (Erin also lost track of her defensive assignment, so she and Edwige got mixed up on a defensive series. Bad Erin. No cookie.) Amisha Carter is not yet worthy to wear #24, although she showed flashes of hustle. La'Keshia must have said something about Patty's momma, because she only got three minutes, and there were times when she would have been more effective than Amisha or even Elena. DeTrina did her high jumping and rebounding thing, plus a pretty lay-up. Shameka... ah, poor Shameka, scared to shoot. It wasn't like anyone got a buttload of shots tonight, but three shots does seem a bit low.
Catch was off tonight shooting-wise, but she dished the right ways at the right times. Her presence opened up Kelly M., Tully, and whoever else happened to be open. I love to watch her make her moves; she's poetry in motion, the intelligent-design template for a basketball player. Natalie Williams still got it. She still knows how to move people around, both by brute force and by making them realize she's there so that they move of their own volition. Kelly Miller nearly turned on the waterworks in the first half. Then she went and turned on the scoring works instead. I'd forgotten how much of a nice shot she has; I'm usually too busy telling her to shut up already from my old safe seat up in the 200s. Likewise, I'd forgotten how much of a scoring threat Tully Bevilaqua could be if left open. A shooting point guard, gee, why does that seem so novel? Stormfans will note that she officially made it a game at 16:54 of the first half. She brings a sense of fun to the court that a lot of players don't. Tan White is the real deal- cocky and with the game to back it up; she's a streak on the court when she needs to be, with a nose for the ball. (I don't mean cocky as in a bad thing; I mean it as in she knows she belongs in the W.) For some reason it feels like Deanna Jackson made a contribution, though I'm damned if I remember what she did. Yo Paige looked a little out of place, but that may just be 'cause I think she looks an awful lot like Adrienne Goodson. Ebony- psst, if Curves offends your belief system, there are other gyms out there, but whatever the case is, lay OFF the KFC. I should not see anything between bustline and waist jiggling. Despite that, she has a pretty shot, if not the world's greatest vertical.
Someone forgot to tell the refs that tackling is illegal in basektball. I made a joke one day about what would happen to a poor soul if Natalie Williams sat on her. I didn't think it would come true this soon! Poor Ann.
Halftime was dorks on parade. Okay, one dork and one dorklet. The dorklet was cute, but if I want to see dorky white people doing dorky things, I'll go to a family reunion or something. Honestly, if you're going to line up shitty halftime entertainment, make sure there's a giveaway to entice people.
The Liberty need remedial lessons on clock management. For starters, try *looking* at the clock. They botched the play at the end of the first half because Crystal thought she could pass it to Becky instead of putting up a heave. If there are 27 seconds left in the game, and you're down seven,and you're still pretending like you have a shot in hell, don't throw a bad pass for a two, okay? If it's three seconds left and you're down ten, don't foul, even if you've had a bad night and copping a free feel is the only way you're going to walk out of the arena on a positive note. Of course, the Fever could serve themselves well by sitting in on the end-of-game-clock lessons; if you're up two or three possessions, with less than a minute to go in the game, you probably shouldn't bother making a quick play- just end the motherfucker already, some of us want to go home.
I think we've established that 'send in the starters' as a substitution pattern doesn't work. The benchies get a good rhythm going, and then it all goes fruit-shaped. She needs to not do it all at once; I think that's the problem. We really do need a longer preseason.
Most bizarre and random moment of the game: Tan White, for no apparent reason, feeling Erin Thorn's abs- just a momentary touch that seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever. Psst, rook: next time, try that trick with someone who *has* abs, like Tweety Nolan.
Sitting courtside is fun. You get to hear the cussin', the complaints, the orders, and the commentary. You know VJ's pissed if you can hear her when she's under the basket comlaining about a call on Ann.
Kym was around for a while with kidlet and dude, sitting under the basket closer to the road bench. She took off sometime in the first half. Dude skedaddled with kidlet early in the second.
There's something missing about this team- not heart, not hustle- maybe familiarity? They don't seem to click properly. I just hope time is the only problem about that. If they're not better by July, then there are issues that need to be addressed.
May 22nd, 2005: Detroit at New York
Detroit Shock 78, New York Liberty 71
Loree Moore is an attentive Libkid, and the New York sports scene is awful crowded.
There's nothing like game day, plain and simple. The adrenaline catches you up and makes the blood sing in your veins. Your step is faster. Your senses are sharper. It's easier to laugh, harder to cry. I forgot how much I missed the camaraderie of hanging out four hours before tipoff with fans who are crazy enough to have been there before you.
Worst.Scheduling.Ever. Final game of the Subway Series was at 1. Zootopia, a big concert sponsored by the local top 40 station, was at the Meadowlands at 6. Fordham Law had their graduation sometime before the game, so when we were hanging around up front, you could hardly see Liberty fans for all the proud parents and relieved graduates. Oyyyy. The cynic in me wants to believe that they did this intentionally so they would have something to point to if the attendance sucked.
Each of the rookies seems to have attached to a second-year Liberty player. Erin came in with Loree, which led to an exchange of 'there's Erin and K.B.!' 'no, K.B. got cut, that's gotta be Loree Moore...' 'no, it's K.B.!' 'no, K.B. got cut!' and so on until we actually *looked* at the roster. I was right, of course. Loree must have felt so unwanted if she heard us. La'Keshia came in with Amisha, game faces on. Ann and Edwige arrived together; everyone flocked to Ann and no one could figure out who poor Edwige was until after the fact. (Sorry 'bout that.) Everyone was in waaaaay early, earlier than usual. I couldn't help but wonder if Patty wanted them in by 1 so no one would get distracted by the baseball game.
Okay, so, MSG? If someone hurls on the floor in the box office, you might have the heat up too high. Seriously. One poor girl pulled a Jessie Hicks all over the floor. Worse, she had tried to stop it, so... I'll stop. Most of the folks I chatted with before the game were stunned an ddisappointed that K.B. got cut, and some of them even expressed disappointment over Bethany getting the axe. My opinon still remains guarded, depending on how the replacements pan out.
Shooting shirts! The shooting shirts have players' names on them! I no longer have to be the walking encyclopedia! God, that's fucking brilliant, it really is! No more guessing games, no more mistaken identity, no more confusion! Sure, the year I only go to one game, they get around to it. While I'm thinking of it, does anyone have any dish on why Chandi Jones and Stacey Thomas changed numbers?
Perfect photo op, if I'd had a camera: Val Ackerman, chatting with SFO and FFO (for those as might not know, that would be Bill Laimbeer {Shock Front Office} and Blaze {...well, if the FO stands for front office, you figure out what the F stands for!}) I'd call it Study in Contrasts, or summat like that. And yes, Val still looks like she needs a good night's sleep. Some things don't change.
Lovely anthem by Andrea McArdle, although it had a little too much vibrato for my liking. The calendars are nifty, too. Ann should never have revealed her middle names. You know she's gonna get shit for that. I *love* the new roster sheet design this year. Beautifully done.
Why the first three possessions went through Ann Wauters, I will never know. She wasn't all that strong in the first half, but kinda lit on fire in the second half- finished with 14 and 8, not bad considering that Crystal spent large stretches of the first half outrebounding her. She had her moments- very good at shotblocking and getting simple rebounds, but very soft when someone was driving on her. If a guard's going to the basket, you knock her on her ass, you don't let her go to the basket, not even if she's got a mean right cross or a rap sheet at the Garden. Elena... lose the mullet, 'kay? She had a gorgeous hook shot that made my heart stop, and some nice screens, but was kinda forgettable otherwise. What Patty thought she was doing, starting two Euros against Walker/Ford/Riley, I will NEVER know. Crystal was ice cold from the field, but scrapped for every rebound she could, even boxing out VJ at one point, and she was mostly her usual tenacious self on defense, although she got beat pretty badly a couple of times. Becky is back to thinking that the 'drive the lane into three massive defenders and throw the ball in the general direction of the basket' trick is working again, and while it worked once, it didn't work three or four times. Someone seriously needs to put her hard on her ass so that she'll think twice. She had one three-pointer from almost the G on the secondary logo, and while I shrieked in dismay as it went up, I shouted for joy when it went down. I'll admit when I'm wrong. Sometimes. She's also gotten better on defense- yay! VJ was VJ, and you have no idea how good it feels to type those words. She filled the stat lines, she played D, she got knocked down but she got up again. Meanwhile, off the bench... La'Keshia was awesome, whuppin' ass and takin' names. Shameka... not so much. Sista Christon still isn't ready for the big stage. She plays too tentatively, thinks things through too much. Such women are dangerous. What's frustrating is that I see the potential. Maybe she needs to learn to meditate? Edwige (and that would be ed-WHEEJE, for all y'all scoring at home) stole K.B.'s jumper, but was otherwise blah; had a few great defensive sequences, but nothing spectacular. Erin was... well, Erin, although her basketball IQ is improving; I loved the way she sagged off Stacey Thomas when they were matched against each other, because she knew that Thomas wasn't going to shoot, no way, no how. She also did well getting herself open, the shots just didn't go down. She looked so forlorn at the end of the game without K.B. there to gossip with. Loree Moore gets a 7 out of 10 on the fashion scale, if only because she looked presentable in a charcoal heavy-duty shirt and khakis, and let's face it, some of the Liberty, not so good with managing to look presentable. Loree and the new guy were taking a lot of notes today. I'm not sure if Patty's giving them a final tomorrow or not. I don't know if I agreed with all her moves today; I would not have put Shameka in at the end of the game, during clutch time. She's not ready for that pressure yet. Let her get over her Garden jitters first, then make her perform under pressure. Most of the time, she showed a good knack for seeing who needed to come out of the game right that second; not so good with the more subtle indicators like Ann or Elena turning bright red, though.
Swintayla, save the drama for your acting class! Good Lord, she got more heated up about the calls than the players involved did. There were a couple of times when she went to her knees on the sideline that I had to laugh (in my safe seat up in 110, well away from anyone who might take offfense at me laughing). She does clean up nice, though, I must say, although those shoes did NOT go with that outfit. Cheryl Ford is definitely her daddy's little girl- she's got the elbows, the mouth, the serious rebounding skill, and the free-throw shooting. All she needs is his scoring touch and we can start being freaked out. 18 boards was pretty freaking impressive, although that tech really was unnecessary. Ruth Riley still has the prettiest release I've ever seen on a big girl- not necessarily the prettiest shot, but the prettiest release. It's so fundamental. She used her size effectively today, although I don't recall her putting up the stats. Tweety's on fire this season. Someone's tired of being overlooked. I had forgotten how effective Elaine Powell was as a floor leader, as a ball hawk, and as the occasional offensive contributor. This Shock team is a brutally efficient offensive machine. Chandi Jones showed us some mighty pretty shooting, but I'm glad the point guard experiment is over with her. Farris and Braxton were dangerously tough inside, which is really the last thing you need when you're giving the bulk of your post minutes to two Euros and Shameka Christon. *rolls eyes* Stacey Thomas came in to match Erin Thorn, then stuck around to play with the starters. Don't know why. If Coach wants to give up his reasoning, I'd love to hear it. Niele Ivey's threes are killer- big surprise that she and Riley work well together- and good Lord but that woman registers so high on the hawtness scale that she knocked the dial off. Forgive me for leaving Ayana Walker until the end- I knew I was forgetting someone. She was very effective- Swin, hurry backk, we need some rust in the Shock or else the conference is gonna be a runaway! She's shown a nice scoring touch and the tenacity you expect from someone with Louisiana Tech background. Coach showed a knack for rebalancing the matchups; if La'Keshia came in, Farris was off the bench in a heartbeat; as soon as Ann and Elena checked back into the game, Riley and Ford leaped off the bench.
The refs suck. And verily the people spoke unto Queenie, saying, "Tell us something we don't know!" If you blinked at the beginning of the game, you didn't know how Vickie ended up on her ass under the basket. I blinked. Someone wanna fill me in?
Kym made an appearance. A'riel was with her, as was some dude who may well have been the baby daddy (he came in with Kym, carrying the baby, so...) Likewise, Suuuuuue was there, looking ridiculously good. She came by our section on her way back from getting a drink; we Suuuuuuued her, as was proper. (And only my mom could pass Sue in the aisle and completely fail to notice her. How you can miss a six-three blonde walking right next to you, I don't know.) She was sitting right over by Stephon Marbury. I couldn't help but wonder if she had to swap seats between halves so that he could get an unobstructed view; in the first half she was right on the court, but in the second half she was in the second row. Stephon came with two of the cutest kids; I'm assuming they were his and not just two random kids who were sitting with him. But they were very cute, in any case. It looks like the Knicks are getting more involved with the Liberty, which is good; one of the things that's always disappointed me about the New York franchise is the lack of synergy as compared to the other partnerships.
Halftime celebration for Val Ackerman. Lots of chatter, and VJ and Kym were involved in celebrating. Iono, I might have invited Stint to take part, since she's also a founding player. But I understand that this is the Liberty's show.
Not that I was out of it today or anything, but it took me most of the afternoon to realize that, no, the San Antonio-Phoenix score didn't mean that the Mercury and the Silver Stars were pouring on the points in double overtime. Sometimes I forget that men play basketball too.
Do we really need to be introduced to the dancers? Uh, no. And please, ditch the Timeless Torches. Besides, 35 really isn't over the hill.
This is going to be a better season than I thought, I suspect. They've shown a heart that I've missed in the last couple of years, and a hint, just a hint, of the old team-oriented Liberty squads. They may have lost by an indecent amount, but trust, most of that was from the foul derby at the end (to wit: what the fuck? Give it up if it's 14 seconds, y'all.)
This is a team you could fall in love with, the way you could fall in love with the '97 team, with the '99 team, with the '00 team.